Tuesday, November 30, 2010

How to Speed Read Tips

When it comes to speed-reading, you're basically covering two things: comprehension and the act of reading itself. You should not study speed-reading before you've learned how to comprehend and absorb information. Therefore, you should know how to read very well before you try to conquer speed-reading. If you have trouble with comprehension, it's not going to help you to learn how to speed-read. In order to have the full benefits of what speed-reading can give you, you have to be able to understand materials written at the college level.

If you are an efficient and effective reader, you actually use more than one technique when it comes to reading. When you read, you can scan, peruse or do critical reading. Before you read, you'll decide what type of reading you'll be doing and adopt the proper technique as described above. For example, your reading techniques will change depending on whether you want to, for example, see how an author presents his subject in rhetorical fashion, or whether you want to look for specific facts and details that you can use for the basis of an argument. Or, you might want some background information on a subject you know something about already.

You need to know why you're reading, because it's going to help focus you on particular parts of the text. So before you go on to the next page, for example, take a moment just to clarify what it is you really want to do with your reading.

There are lots of ways you can get a broad overview of the text itself before you actually get to the work of digesting and absorbing what you read. Watch out for information about what the piece of writing is about, what its purpose is, and what the general content of it is. There may also be an author's note or abstract preceding the article that summarizes the article itself. Read any background information available that you can find quickly about the way the article was written, the author him- or herself, what the audience is intended to be, and anything else you can find.

Tips on speed-reading

Once you begin to read, read quickly and don't stop. Read straight through the text and if you have any questions afterward, go back and reread the sections you have questions on.

At the beginning of the chapter, summarize what you've read in writing, about three or four sentences' worth. If you need to go back to the text later, it's much easier to refresh your memory with the summary material you've already written.

Read what you need to once, and skip anything you don't need to read right now. Make your reading time the most efficient possible.

Read the title of the piece and the first paragraph much more carefully than other parts of the article, because these two things will summarize what the article is about for you.

Read any summarizations at the end of the chapter or article, too.

Make note of how you think the material is organized.

If you need more background information, look up another source.

Taking notes while you read is very helpful, so have a paper and pen nearby while you read.

If you're reading on a computer, use the cursor as a sort of "pointer" to keep you on track.

If you're reading on paper, you can use your finger, a pencil, etc., as a sort of "guide" that your eyes can follow, just as you use the cursor on the computer.

Instead of automatically speaking each word mentally as you normally would, try to capture phrases in their entirety, along with the message they convey.

If necessary, you can use "helpers" like highlighting, annotating, and underlining as you read. This can help you emphasize and retain information from the mature though you've read.

If you find relevant information in a particular section, underline it as if you are preparing notes to study from.

Underline all terminology definitions.

Label or mark examples that denote main ideas in a particular paragraph, etc.

Circle or "encapsulate" vocabulary words and phrases or words that are transitional in nature.

Number or bullet sequential or important ideas.

Write down summaries, questions, paraphrases, etc., in blank spaces within the text.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Free Online Brain Games to Increase Your Brain Power

To improve your mental health and to prevent brain aging all you need to do is spend sometime on a daily basis playing brain games; rather make it a regular habit and then start a game you are familiar with and later opt for a new game, eventually increasing the level of difficulty.

Free online games offer a variety of puzzles, brainteasers, riddles or mind puzzles that will help your brain exercise with absolutely no cost at all! So, you have got no excuses to make. Simple day-to-day activities can indeed naturally train your brain. For instance, make associations with the things around you, this sharpens your creative skills and also helps in recalling past memories.

Singing while driving helps you exercise the right side of the brain that features better pattern recognition (are you reading this?). To improve concentration try and clear minor irritations in your brain, find out the reason behind the irritation that will make you less stressful or simply memorize your grocery list to improve your memory. These simple methods exercise your brain free of cost!

A simple and a free brain exercise known as the Cross Crawls will improve your writing, reading, listening and coordinating skills. Place your right elbow on to the left knee as you raise it and repeat the process by placing your left elbow on to the right knee, right to left and left to right, you can do this free exercise while your sit or stand for up to 2-3 minutes. There are other free exercises that are as simple as walking or jogging but they benefit your brain-health to a great extent. Drinking large amounts of water also helps the brain, as 90% of our brain is just plain water.

Your daily newspaper can be a great friend; it provides you free crossword puzzles, sudoku, riddles, word search, picture puzzles and brainteasers. These games are a total free brain games that help you acquire resources for your brain. And, they help it to have a free workout or exercise. Online free brain games such as Brainwaves, Sharp Brains, Brain Arena and Borrow a Nintendo DS offer a wide range of free brain games that will provide a good exercise regime for your brain.

A study reveals that drinking caffeine during middle age will reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Simple practices such as focusing on a given activity in spite of distractions concentrating on work will automatically boost your memory. Try to associate or connect things from the storehouse of your information data and it enables to you to remember for a longer time and sharpen your memory too. All these are easy and free exercises that help your brain to remain fresh and active throughout. And, stop worrying or wasting your money on the so-called expensive brain games, because now you know the free solution for a healthy brain.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Easter Math is Fun Math

Easter is an exciting time for kids. But the good thing is that you can use that excitement to help kids develop their math skills. Turning regular math into Easter math makes math much, much more exciting. You can use Easter math games or Easter Brain Teasers and the kids will beg you for more.

Below are some simple ways that you use Easter math in the classroom or at home.

Bunny Hop
Here is a simple Easter math game that you can use to practice any basic math skill. You start by selecting a start line and a finish line. Next two children compete to jump from the start to the finish by taking two bunny hops every time they answer a question correctly. You can use any questions that help kids to practice the skill that you want. For example you could ask '6 times 8', 'half of 34' or 'What is the number before 87'? The first child to answer correctly takes two jumps and the first one to reach the finish line is the winner.

Easter Counting
You may know the old favorite counting game Buzz. But did you know that you can easily turn this into an Easter math game by replacing the word 'Buzz' with an Easter word. Try using 'Bunny' or 'Easter Egg' instead. The kids sit in a circle and count around a circle but replace the number 7, each multiple of 7 and every number containing a 7 digit with the word 'Bunny'. If a child says the number instead of saying 'Bunny' they are out.

This is a tricky game that requires concentration and a good knowledge of multiples. You can also try playing it with other digits instead of 7. For example, you could use 5 or 10 for an easier version or use 8 or 9 to make a more challenging version.

Easter Brain Teasers
Brain teasers are a great way to get kids thinking math. Many number problems can also be made a lot more interesting by using Easter as a theme for the problem. Here are a few that you can start with.

The Easter Bunny has 15 Easter Eggs in a Basket. He gives our 3 then collects 7 more then gives 6 children 2 eggs each. How many eggs in the basket now?
You can easily change the numbers in this one and then have a completely new problem to present.

Tom has been dyeing eggs. He used green and red dye. If he has dyed 17 eggs and he has 5 more red eggs than green eggs. How many eggs does he have of each color?

How many eggs did I find in the Egg Hunt? I found between 10 and 30. The number is divisible by 4 but not by 7 or 8. I found an even number of eggs.

There are many different ways to use Easter math get kids adding, multiplying, comparing and using other math skills. You'll find that kids will definitely agree that Easter makes math load more fun.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Fun Games For Halloween - Parents Use at Home When the School Bans Kids Halloween Activities

Many school systems are trying to be politically correct and therefore ban kids Halloween Activities during school hours. This leaves many parents searching for educational, yet fun games for Halloween to use at home. Parents might search for free games on line, or purchase a fun Halloween activity book at a bookstore or find an downloadable eBook. Here are some ideas of the sorts of educational games or activities kids love and can be used to reinforce their skills.



Word Puzzles are always fun and simple activities to give children. They are generally individual so can be used in the car, while in a waiting room, or on a rainy weekend afternoon. Word puzzles would be variations on word searches, unscrambling words, or creating words based on a theme.

Mazes are always a great problem solving activity, quick and simple. Educational mazes might have problems to solve or riddles to answer along the way, generally ending up with a secret word or phrase.

Math worksheets provide many options for kids Halloween activities with quality, fun exercises that motivate students while giving extra practice on skills covered in school. These worksheets might be a riddle, puzzle or even a Sudoku type problem but they all need to use current math skills to be effective.

Writing prompts used at home will challenge the family to write some fun and interesting Halloween stories and share with each other. Parents can motivate the students to get some journal writing in with few complaints if they find some different and interesting prompts.

Brain Teasers or trivia cards are always an engaging way to pass time with the family. Families at the dinner table or while riding in the car can take turns reading brain teasers or Halloween trivia. Many of these promote problem solving and higher level thinking skills while the children think they are just having fun!

Game boards with a Halloween theme give the family a break form the standard games they use all the time. Finding Halloween board games that tap into school topics, math vocabulary, problems solving make it even better.

Parents searching for educational, yet fun games for Halloween will be better off if they find one or two products that have quality activities spanning several grade levels. That way all the children in the house can use just one resource, and there will always be new activities available for future years. It is also important to be sure there are enough activities at each skill level so the resource can be used several times during the holiday.

If the school system near you bans kids Halloween activities and you happen to love the holiday, then finding fun games for Halloween to use at home will be just the thing for you. Parents looking for an alternative to handing out candy could even run off a bunch of downloadable puzzles on orange paper, roll it up with a cute bow and hand it out for trick or treating!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Improving Brain Functioning For Healthy Aging - Interview With Scientist Jerri Edwards

Today we are fortunate to interview Dr. Jerri Edwards, an Associate Professor at University of South Florida's School of Aging Studies and Co-Investigator of the influential ACTIVE study. Dr. Edwards was trained by Dr. Karlene K. Ball, and her research is aimed toward discovering how cognitive abilities can be maintained and even enhanced with advancing age.

Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Please explain to our readers your main research areas.

Jerri Edwards (JE): I am particularly interested in how cognitive interventions may help older adults to avoid or at least delay functional difficulties and thereby maintain their independence longer. Much of my work has focused on the functional ability of driving including assessing driving fitness among older adults and remediation of cognitive decline that results in driving difficulties.

Some research questions that interest me include, how can we maintain healthier lives longer? How can training improve cognitive abilities, both to improve those abilities and also to slow-down, or delay, cognitive decline? The specific cognitive ability that I have studied the most is processing speed, which is one of the cognitive skills that decline early on as we age.

AF: Can you explain what cognitive processing speed is, and why it is relevant to our daily lives?

JE: Processing speed is mental quickness. Just like a computer with a 486 processor can do a lot of the same things as a computer with a Pentium 4 processor, but it takes much longer, our minds tend to slow down with age as compared to when we were younger. We can do the same tasks, but it takes more time. Quick speed of processing is important for quick decision making in our daily lives. When you are driving, if something unexpected happens, how quickly can you notice the situation and decide how to react?

AF: Please describe how the ACTIVE trial used the cognitive training program, and what the results were found to be when they were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 2006?

JE: I was a co-investigator of the ACTIVE study, a multi-site, controlled study, with thousands of adults over sixty-five, to evaluate the effectiveness of three different cognitive training methods with three different groups:

- The first group used a memory training program including a variety of traditional memory techniques such as mnemonics and the method of loci.

- The second group was trained in learn inductive reasoning skills.

- The third group was exposed to computer-based programs to train processing speed.

All 3 groups spent the same amount of time in their respective training programs, around 2 hours a week for 5 weeks, going through exercises of increasing difficulty. The ACTIVE study was designed to track participants' performance over a number of years, so, after this initial 5-week intervention, some groups received training booster sessions, after 1 year and again after 3 years.

Willis and colleagues published the 5-year results in JAMA last December and the results were very positive. All 3 types of cognitive programs were shown to have an effect immediately after the program, after 3 years, and after 5. But, the results of the group that used a computer-based program to train processing speed showed clear short-term and long-term results. Individuals who experienced improved speed of processing also showed better performance on tasks of instrumental activities of daily living such as quickly finding an item on a crowded pantry shelf and reading medication bottles. They also reacted to road signs more quickly. We found this transfer of training in our prior studies using the training protocol as well.

In short, significant percentages of the participants improved their memory, reasoning and information-processing speed across all three methods. The most impressive result was that, when tested five years later, the participants in the computer-based program had less of a decline in the skill they were trained in than did a control group that received no cognitive training.

AF: The results of the ACTIVE study were quite impressive and contributed in large part to the amount of media coverage about brain fitness last year. However, as you have probably seen, there is a good deal of confusion about brain fitness among the media and the public at large. Can you help our readers understand two common questions: 1) Why are new programs better than, say, doing crosswords puzzles?, and 2) Can one really say that these programs can reverse age-related decline?

To answer the first question, I would say that a crossword puzzle is not a form of cognitive training. It can be stimulating, but it is not a form of structured mental exercise that has been shown to improve specific cognitive skills - other than the skill of doing crossword puzzles, of course.

In terms of the second question, it is too early to say whether we can really reverse decline in a permanent way. There are many skills involved and the studies are not long enough to really compare different trajectories. What we can say is that by doing some exercises, one can improve cognitive speed of processing by 146-250%, and that a significant portion of that improvement stays even after 5 years. We cannot say more definitively.

But I think it is noteworthy to be able to say that, in all of the programs tested, the payoff from cognitive training, or what we can call "mental exercise", seemed far greater than we are accustomed to getting from physical exercise. Just imagine if you could say that 10 hours of workouts at the gym every day this month was enough to help keep you fit five years from now.

AF: Research like this seems to present major opportunities for society. For example, wouldn't insurance companies, or the AARP, want to sponsor more research and evaluate whether to offer this type of training to their members? Won't major employers see opportunities to improve the performance of older employees by identifying the cognitive skills that may need the most improvement and offering tailored training? We could speculate that a person with faster processing abilities will also be able to make faster decisions and learn faster...

JE: That makes sense, based on what we know. Cognitive abilities evolve in different ways as we age, and some typically start to decline in our thirties. Cognitive interventions may help train and improve those abilities, and there is already research that strongly indicates where and how training can be useful. More research is still required to deliver more precise and tailored interventions in a variety of environments. I suspect we will see the field grow significantly - and not just for aging-related priorities. Cognitive training may become useful for a variety of health conditions, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's patients, for example. More research will help researchers refine assessments and training programs.

Copyright (c) 2008 SharpBrains

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Top 7 puzzles and puzzle interviews and Brain Challenge

A recent CNN article explains why a growing number of companies and puzzles logic puzzles of a type called "guesstimations" used during the interviews:

- "Seemingly random questions like these have become commonplace in Silicon Valley and other tech outposts, where companies are not as interested in the answer to a difficult question, as they are, as a prospective employee might try to solve it as today's businesses. must be able to react quickly to market changesDynamics, want more transcripts of engineers with high IQs and good college. You want people who can think on their feet. "

What are technology companies (Google, Microsoft, Amazon) and consulting firms (McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Accenture ...) looking for? You want people with good brain teaser interview so-called executive functions: solving, cognitive flexibility problem, planning, memory, decision making, even emotional self-control (nottry to solve one of these puzzles, while angry or stressed).

Want to try some? Here we have our Top 7 Guesstimations / logic puzzles for Brain Challenge:

Please try to guess the answers to these questions on your logical approach. The goal is not to discover (or Google) the right answer, but 1) to identify the logical approach that will help "guesstimate" an appropriate range, say + or - 30% of the actual response, and then 2) complete calculations(Ideally, mentally, but you can also take notes), provide an estimate.

Ready. Go September!

1) How many times heavier than an elephant is a mouse?.

2) How many firefighters in San Francisco?.

3) How many trees are there in New York's Central Park?.

4) How many shoes do you have in your life?.

5) How many balls can fit in a school bus?.

6) In 1999, as these guys have been organized by popularity: Kevin, Jose, Hugh.

7) What is the weighta large commercial airplane?.

The answer appears below. Once again, groped for the key schedule the procedure for the solution and make mental calculations to find a reasonable offer. The challenge is the brain. The goal is not the exact right answer can be found.

ANSWERS:

1) About 150,000. An average elephant weighs 4,000 kg, on average, an average of 25 grams of mouse.

2) About 350 firefighters in action on a given day, a pool fire of 1700 totalStaff.

3) There are more than 26,000 trees (about 175 species) in the park

4) Do not know (or should know) how many couples have had.

5) About 500,000, assuming that the bus is 50 balls high, 50 balls wide, 200 long balls.

6) list of male names in 1999, according to the Social Security Administration: 1 Jose (# 30), 2 Kevin (# 32), 3 Hugh (# 830).

7) For a Boeing 747 - Empty: 400,000 pounds (lbs) or 181 000 tonnes - maximum take-offWeight: about 374 000 tons or 825,000 pounds - For context, the weight of the empty lobster £ 8,600.

The executive functions of another context:

To learn more about what they want to know, here are some quotes from my interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg:

- Alvaro Fernandez: Please tell us more about what are the frontal lobes.

- Elkhonon Goldberg: Generally the researchers call them the direction in the brain young. We have The prefrontal cortex isevolutionary terms, and is the brain area critical to adapt to the new plan for the future, and self-regulate our actions to achieve the long-term objectives. We could say that this part of the brain, just behind the forehead, acts as a conductor, directing and integrating the work of other parts of the brain.

- I offer a good example in the book executive brain, where I explain how I could organize my escapeRussia to the United States. Significantly, the ways to connect to the rest of the frontal lobe of the brain are a mature slowly, reaching full operational state between the ages of 18 and 30 years, or perhaps even later. And why are so hard-wired brain rather than the other parties, are usually the first areas to decline.

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Ready for the job interview now?

Copyright (c) 2008 Sharp Brains

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Improve Brain Fitness With 5 Fun Brain Games

No one ever said you couldn't have fun while improving your brainpower. There are plenty of online resources to help improve brain fitness. Here are five that you might enjoy.

1. Strimko

This is a numbers logic puzzle, based on a well-known idea about Latin squares, first considered by the famous Swiss mathematician Leonard Euler back in the 18th century. All challenges presented to a game player can be solved using logic and no special knowledge of anything else is needed. These are very simple puzzles possessing only three basic elements that include rows, columns and strength. Each of the game elements has an equal number of cells and the goal is to make each cell contains a whole set of specified numbers.

2. Speed Match

This is a game that is designed to train your brain to process information in a quick fashion and respond to it in an ever-decreasing time allotment. Game players are challenged to focus on improving brain processing speed which is often considered the obstacle for people using other cognitive abilities. Game players are going to develop skills for thinking faster as well as reacting to information presented to them in a quicker fashion.

3. Word Crunch

Game players are challenged to use a group of presented letters to create as many words as possible. All recognized words that are between 3 to 6 letters in length can score points. Bonus points will be awarded if a game player can cover all the different sets of words that are possibly available. Players develop memory and concentration skills along with associative reasoning powers.

4. Lost in Migration

This is one of the brain games that helps a player improve both concentration skills while developing increased brain fitness. Players will develop a greater degree of paying attention as well as deeper concentration and focus. Players learn to suppress any automatic responses to stimuli while putting into play cognitive skills to discern how to react to the stimuli in a planned fashion. Game goals include helping players avoid distraction while increasing concentration creating greater productivity.

5. Grow Cube

By initiating different relationships and combinations, players actually create a society of strange little people. Players add items that affect how other items react depending upon what order is used to introduce these into the game. Players come across hidden surprises and when the correct pieces are placed together, points are rewarded. A player must select items in the correct order so these items interact in the right manner growing to each item's maximum to score more points. It helps players develop greater memory and concentration skills as well as using stored information to make creative problem solving decisions.

Brain Games Online Improving Brain Fitness

These are only five of the many online resources one can find and put to task helping increase brain fitness. Like any other physical exercise that helps improve muscle power, brain exercises go a long way toward improving brain fitness and function. Access these brain games though simple search in your favourite search engine such as Google or Yahoo.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Boosting Your Intelligence

Make Me Smarter

Everyone wants a better memory and a higher IQ, but many people just don't know where to start. You could buy a book or a program, visit your hypnotist or you could even drink "smart drinks", but none of this will supplant the effort required to build a sharper mind.

When you mention the word effort, roughly half of your audience sigh and think "oh no", but the unavoidable truth with cerebral function is - you have to work your mind and work your mind hard. Just like muscles to a body builder the dictum "use it or lose it" applies.

So you are prepared to put in the hard yards, because for whatever reason you have, you know that having a better memory and a higher IQ will enrich your life.

What Next?

What to do now? - Well there are a few things that you should do to immediately start the ball rolling, the first of which is to complete puzzles. Not just word find puzzles - things like sudoku, crosswords, brain teasers and that sort of thing. These help to exercise your brain and keep you sharp and alert.

What else?

Cerebral activities, such as reading, researching and writing, all contribute to training your mind and preventing the brain drain.

The Brain Drain

Many things can and will dumb you down, but none more so than the idiot box, yes - T.V will zombiefy your mind and prevent you from reaching your full potential. Other things to avoid include; white sugar, white flour, salt and any high glycemic carbohydrates that will cause hyperglycemia.

Hydrate

Be sure to drink plenty of water, as dehydration will adversely affect your cognitive abilities and dumb you down.

In conclusion, the solution to a better memory and a higher IQ may reside in your ability to continuously use your mind for applications which require detailed thought and intense mental focus.

Don't throw your mind on the scrap heap - "use it or lose it"

I know that I don't want to lose it so I'm going to keep on training that old brain of mine, how about you?

Monday, November 22, 2010

Natural Remedies For Depression - They Are Sick!

Did you know that playing brain teasers and joining brain training exercise programs is one of the most popular natural remedies for depression?

What is depression?

Depression is best described as alteration in mood, emotional state, behavior, feelings and overall mental being. This state of mental disorder can occur across all ages and the reasons can be manifold. But, most importantly it has been found that depression sets in from a sense of loss. This feeling of loss may range from financial loss such as loss of job to emotional discomfort such as losing someone near and dear ones. Often, ill health and loss of mobility due to prolonged sickness are contributing factors in being depressed. Loneliness is a very important cause of age old depression.

What are the natural remedies for depression?

Depression if not treated can be fatal as it enhances suicidal tendency of an individual. Psychotherapy is one way to treat depression. In this method, trained healthcare professionals work as counselors and talk to patients suffering from depression and probe to understand the root cause of depression.

Then, people are either treated individually or in group and priorities are restructured to treat depression. Other natural remedies include disciplining oneself by regular exercise or cultivating a hobby. In this way the hormone imbalance can be negated by secretion of mood elevating enzymes. Depressed feelings lead to chemical changes in the body and if left untreated can lead to crisis situation.

The most important natural remedies for depression that has worked wonders for people is to play brain games. Brain games help stimulate the organ, thereby leading to increased blood flow and balanced secretion of hormones namely serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, essentially to negate low feelings and negative mood. A population based study was also performed to understand the relationship between cognitive impairment and depression. It was found that cognitive impairment may lead to depression but vice-versa is not true. This is the underlying tenet of treating depression with brain games.

What are the brain games that help treat depression?

Brain games help a lot to improve cognitive function such as memory, speed, attention span and logical reasoning ability and as a net benefit it helps to ward of diseases such as depression, Alzheimer and Dementia. Again, brain games are great companions and are fun to play. They act as stress-busters as well, thereby improving upon hormone secretion.

Some of the popular brain games include word bubbles, birdwatching, moneycomb, disillusion, monster garden and many more. For example there is one game called Penguin Pursuit, in which you can improve your sense of spatial direction as you race against a rival penguin in ice. There comes obstacles and playing these help to respond to your stimuli faster.

So, play these games and see the changes if you are depressed and if you are not then be happy to be away from this mental disorder.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

How to Improve Your Intelligence

A healthy brain is not only an important factor for social success, it has also an impact in the way we enjoy life, maintain a good relationship with our family and friends and overcome every day challenges. Just like everything, this amazing tool that we use for basic and complex daily tasks needs care to perform at its maximum potential. And potential, it has...

Here are 10 tips that will help you improve the power of your brain.

1- Read and learn - I like to say that a book is an infinite universe in itself. Diving in somebody else's ideas is a great way to nourish your mind and thoughts. All books have their values. But for a novel, I suggest an author that not only knows how to tell an interesting story, but can really use words to trigger emotion, imagination and questions. Also read to learn. Learning is like renovating an old apartment. You provide your brain with new tools, new concepts, new ideas, just like a growing baby.

2- Challenge your brain - Our brain is made of a very complex network of neurons. Challenges like brain teasers, puzzles or any problems that require deep logic thoughts to be solved, put at work unused and lazy neurons, forcing them to create other connections with other neurons, creating at the end shortcuts in your brain. You will be more and more comfortable finding solutions to complex problems. You can find brain teasers in a lot of places on the internet like on my website for example.

3- Unleash your creativity - You are more creative than you think you are. You just have to force it. The best way to do that is to free yourself from your usual straight forward perceptions. For example a match can be lit. It can also be put in your nostrils. Two matches can be a X. How many matches do I need to put together to go to the moon? A skinny man, dressed in white, with a red cap? Must be a match! Pay more attention to your craziest ideas.

4- Write- Writing helps you give an external life to abstract ideas. It forces you to arrange and discipline frivolous thoughts. This will make you more comfortable in the way you categorize ideas and thoughts. It increases your logic and judgment. When I say writing, I don't mean writing books. It's just for example taking notes in a diary, writing simple paragraphs where you group and link different thoughts.

5- Sleep- Proper sleeping habits will be beneficial for your mental health. Sleep early and wake up early. Don't sleep for more than 8 hours. In the middle of the day each time you can take a 10 - 15 minutes nap.

6- Exercise - Controlled physical activities are not only good for your body but also for your brain. Your hearth at that time provides to your brain a more consistent supply of oxygen. This will relax you, dismiss negative stresses that block your concentration.

7- Practice relaxation - In the morning or before sleeping or at any time where you can find loneliness and peace, sit or lay down on the floor, close your eyes, breath calmly. Focus on anything thing that inspires you or any object that just inspires nothing. Focus. Don't let your mind wander around. At some point you can also review all the things you have seen or heard during the day. Remind yourself of strangers you have seen on the bus or in the street. This is a good way to improve your memory.

8- Eat brain food - Essential nutrients for the brain are carbohydrate (fruits, grains, and vegetables), omega-3 (salmon, sardines, trout, herring, anchovies), protein (milk, meat, cheese), Acetylcholine (egg, milk, peanuts, liver, fish, wheat germ, and vegetables like broccoli and cabbage), Dopamine (meat, fish, milk, cheese, beans, soy), Serotonin (cereals, breads, potatoes).

9- Avoid monotony - Doing the same thing again and again doesn't stimulate your brain. Broaden your perspectives. Get out. Meet friends. Travel. Avoid wasting too much time and energy in front of a television.

10- Be optimistic - I think that the greatest force in human nature is the will. Believing that you can do something or that you can reach your goal will tremendously boost your brain. Even when obstacles will be in your way, you will be constantly searching for new solutions. Don't underestimate this last point in my list. Most successful people have this in common.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Free Teacher Resources in the Modern World

The way technology and science are redefining means of interaction and communication, teachers have to innovate and create exciting ways of imparting education to the generation next. Laptops, desktops and the latest addition of mobile applications have transformed the teaching techniques and style. Free teacher resources available online has translated this change into a mass movement.

Whether it is the stories and nursery rhymes for toddlers in kindergarten or the exciting experiments for the grownups, the new rage of readily available pictures, postcards, expression cards and much more interactive material for teachers has brought sea change to class room teaching. The free teacher resources available online that can be downloaded or directly printed have made it easier for teachers to focus more on the subject matter and experiment with latest teaching trends.

The introduction of audio visuals, computers etc. for imparting education have helped the teachers to easily and effectively communicate with their students and the same is being strengthened by availability of free teacher resources round the clock via internet.

The most commonly available free teacher resources are:

Sudoku Puzzles, Crossword Puzzles, Brain Teasers, Word Searches, Word Scrambles, Worksheets, Time-telling Worksheets, Fill in the Blanks, Maze Maker and Questions and Answers.
Printable Calendars, Printable Maps and Graph Worksheets.
Feelings bubbles to depict different moods that can be filled with words, pictures or writing.
Different facial expression cards using a variety of models and symbols.
Labels for pictures and drawings.
Easily printable signs and book labels.
Customised spinners to create one's own numbering and text.
Face Spinner to create different spinners with contrasting emotive faces for various interactive activities.
Printable Picture Cards used for matching and sorting the activities.
Behaviour Charts for students of 5 or 7 age bracket with stickers on them.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Looking For Christmas Printable Games to Use in These Days Before Vacation?

If your December is as busy as most people I know, then you will not have time to search high and low online for free Christmas printable games to use with your students. There are tons out there, some are better than others, but weeding through all that is available is a time killer. Finding some you can purchase that will not cost you an arm and a leg might be the time saver you need. The beauty is that once you have them, you never have to search again. This article will give you suggestions of the sorts of activities you should expect to find in one comprehensive package of kids educational Christmas activities.

Suggestion One:

Look to be sure the games and activities also include templates for bookmarks, rewards, gift cards, gift tags, brain teasers and things like that. These are not games, but you may end up using them more than the games! These make great teacher gifts. Print them out and laminate a holiday bookmark or homework pass and you have a simple gift for your students.

Suggestion Two:

A good Christmas printable games package will have a lot of pencil and paper activities. They can be mazes, or riddles, jokes, or strategy games two people can play. These work well as holiday homework in these last few days before vacation and as something to do in those moments they come into class, or the extra ten minutes before lunch. They also keep things quiet.

Suggestion Three:

If the product you are looking at claims they have writing prompts, take a look at them and make sure they are interesting enough for your grade level and not the same old ideas teacher tend to use year after year. You want to keep your students writing, and holidays should create some different themes or topics for you to use.

Suggestion Four:

Check to see if there are plenty of math games in the package as well as language base games. That gives you a chance to spread the activities over several subject areas. Again, make sure the difficulty levels match your needs.

Suggestion Five:

Look to see if there are any bonus materials being offered. Many of these materials that are sold and a downloadable ebook format offer a bonus book or two as an incentive. Make sure the bonus being offered is something you will be able to put to good use. One excellent bonus for a game package would be blank game templates so you can custom design some of your own games. Another good one is some group activity games that can be used with the entire class. Sometimes with holiday game packages there will be a bonus with the historical background information, or brain teasers.

These are just a few suggestions of things to look for when you save yourself some time and just flat out buy a holiday game package. Your students will enjoy the professional quality that these Christmas printable games have and you will enjoy how easy it is to just go to your computer and click on and activity and print it out!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Sudoku, Crossword Puzzles, and Math - A Lovely Trio

You know I have not yet caught on to the sudoku craze but from what I understand this puzzle game can become quite addictive. Maybe that's the reason I haven't dived in yet. You see, there is something delectably delightful about solving puzzles and other brain teasers and I simply have way too much to do already. Yet with all my busyness, I try to get in a good crossword or two from time to time, and I make sure to do some brain teasers. You should too and here's why.

For one, these puzzles keep your mind sharp; for two, these games and brain stimulators keep your mind from wandering into other less desirable territories. The harder your brain works on solving such challenging mind games, the less energy you have to contemplate things like problems and other time consuming frivolities. If you think this proposition is hogwash then take me up on the challenge. Go get yourself a brain teaser, crossword, or sudoku book in your nearest Borders or Barnes & Noble. Learn the rules and start to do these. Watch how after a few days--once the fever has caught on--you are less inclined to frivol away your precious time on senseless and inane absurdities: like what the latest celebrity gossip is and what your neighbor across the street just did to his garden with his new chain saw.

My father was an ordinary mailman yet he had an extraordinary zest for doing crossword puzzles. He had no college education, yet he could pound away at these black and white diagrams until all the spaces were full. I would watch him intently as he racked his brain to get that last clue and complete the grid. Little did I understand the fascination so one day I, the college boy, asked the untutored mailman, "Dad, what is it about those stupid puzzles that you like so much?"

My father, annoyed that he had to lift his head from the clue trail, glacially looked up and stared me down. He responded with utter challenge: "You're the college boy, let's see if you know a three letter word for a sea eagle?" "A what?" I retorted, surprised by the question. "A three letter word for a sea eagle," he repeated. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded by the question and quite challenged by the task. Within a week, I too was a crossword junkie.

When I contemplate the whole concept of brain teasers, math problems, sudoku, crosswords and the like, I marvel at how few people realize the great joy that lies in taking these challenges head-on. Maybe this is why I turned out to be such a normal, fun-loving guy: I had too many challenges on my mind to be sidetracked by nonsense and unproductive thoughts. Try it out for yourself and see whether you too do not become a junkie of the highest order. Indeed, we can afford more junkies like this in the world.

See more at Cool Math Site and Problem of the Week and Cool Brain Teasers

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Free Psychic Test - Have Super PSI? Read on to find out

In this article we will examine the power of psychic phenomena in ordinary people and see if you think of the phenomenal power of the PSI in the general population much larger than some would like. Read how we continue to explore this fascinating topic of the potential of the human brain!

There are many researchers and scientists, that mental phenomena are not a special gift, which prohibited the talk show circuit, 900 telephone lines and the woman with the odd neon sign to believethe mall, or on the waterfront. While much of mainstream science has not provided any mental muscle for the study, they discovered it was a small but growing group of researchers dedicated to the incredible opportunities that average human mind can be much more potential than many of us recognize. Continuation of studies in remote viewing, ESP easy, media research and scientific study of near-death experiences has repeatedly, that our minds are not ... Our brain can be restricted viewing!

What it meansdoes this mean for you and me? It 's easy. Just as philosophers believed by many hundreds of years, our brain can be easily filtered, the instrument of mind that allows our spirit, or consciousness "real" through and through our bodies are interpreted. And as such we all have the opportunity to expand our non - ordinary consciousness ... in other words, our mental abilities that transcend the physical.

This course is suitable for a more spiritual view of the world as one who believesthat our brains are everything. The good news is, you can easily test your psychic abilities on the right, because there are many sites with good information and ultimately incredible games, fun, fun, tests and quizzes for the world to realize their potential psychic ... and you can transform your look in an instant!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Solve a Puzzle and Brain Power Increases

Solve a puzzle and brain power increases, play a mentally stimulating game, read a good book - In fact any activity that stimulates the brain has been found in a recent study supported by the National Institute on Aging to delay the start of dementia related memory loss in older people. So, how are puzzles and brain health linked?

The information comes from the Bronx Aging Study that includes data on nearly 500 subjects between 75 and 85 years old who didn't have dementia at the beginning of the research.

The work appears in the August 4, 2009 issue of Neurology and has found cognitive leisure activities seem to hold off the memory decline in those who end up being diagnosed with dementia.

Some of the factors thought to be involved include what's called cognitive reserve, which may be affected by education early in life as well as taking part in activities that stimulate the brain.

It's this "cognitive reserve" that's thought to help hold off the decline in memory associated with dementia during the preclinical stages, the time before you see the symptoms.

The subjects, all part of the Bronx Aging Study, completed assessments every 12 to 18 months that told researchers if they took part in mentally stimulating out of work activities like reading, crossword puzzles, playing music, writing, playing cards or a board game or participating in a group discussion.

The subjects also indicated how often they participated in these things, daily, a few days a week or weekly. Point totals were assigned to the frequencies and tabulated by the research team.

The data on 101 of the subjects who developed dementia over the five-year follow up was evaluated carefully. The median (middle) total points for this group being 7, which worked out to taking part, on average, in 1 of the six activities each day.

In all, 10 participants reported no activities, another 11 reported only 1 activity per week.

The researchers looked especially closely at the point when memory loss accelerated for each participant.

The more mentally active subjects took longer for memory decline to become a problem. They saw that each additional activity day was linked to a delay in the onset of decline by 0.18 years for these subjects.

The team also so that later-in-life mental stimulation seems to influence your overall cognitive reserve independent of education. Anyone can get the benefit of mentally challenging activities.

The average age of the world's population is increasing at a rate we've never seen before. Worldwide the number of people over 65 is estimated to be 506 million in 2008; an astonishing 1.3 billion by 2040, which is 14% of the total population of the world.

The issues and challenges of aging are going to be hard to ignore in the years to come, which is why learning about dementia and how to overcome it is so important.

So, this study gives us more evidence to show that brain exercises, games and puzzles and brain health are linked.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Solving Cryptograms

Solving cryptograms is not quite as difficult as you might think. Upon first glance, a cryptogram looks like a senseless arrangement of random letters. But if you know a few things about the English language and learn a some expert tips, you will be solving cryptograms in no time at all.

Cryptogram Basics: In any type of standard cryptogram puzzle, one letter of the alphabet is substituted with another letter. The same substitution is used throughout a single puzzle. If A = Z, it will always equal Z in that puzzle. But you should not assume that Z = A. It probably does not. Every new puzzle uses a new code.

Remember:


The most commonly used letter in the English language is E. All the letters of the alphabet in order from most to least frequent are: E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L, U, C, M, P, F, Y, W, G, B, V, K, J, X, Z, Q.
Usually, the only one-letter words are I or a. (Rarely, o is a word.)
An apostrophe indicates either a contraction (doesn't, they've) or a possessive noun (Fred's, the family's).

With these facts in mind, here are a few tips on solving Cryptograms.


Always work in pencil, at least until you are really confident in your abilities.
Look first at the 1-letter words and the 3-letter words. The 1-letter words are either I or a. The most common 3-letter words are the & and. Other common 3-letter words are not, for, but, are, you, all, can and any. If a 3-letter word follows a comma, it is probably the word and or but. A 3-letter word at the beginning of a sentence is often The.
Contractions or possessives most often end in n't or __'s. If two identical letters follow an apostrophe, they are probably the letter L, as in we'll.

Once you have read through the entire passage, make your best guess at some 1-letter, 3-letter words, and words with apostrophes. Pencil in the substitutions for one or two of those words throughout the rest of the selection.
If the letters you have substituted are correct, you will see some other words begin to emerge. If nothing looks right, erase and start over.

Look at this example:

(Three *** represents breaks between words.)

B M Q B ' P *** B M J *** S Q D *** B M J *** L R R D N J *** L K X A G F J P.

You see two identical 3-letter words. You guess they might be AND. If you replace all the Bs with As, all the Ms with Ns and all the Js with D, you will have:

AN _ A' _ *** AND *** _ _ _ *** AND........You think to yourself, what could that first word be????

Then, since you took my advice and used an eraser, you quickly erase those ideas and start over. Now you assume that BMJ is THE.

Now you write:

TH _ T' _ *** THE *** _ _ _ *** THE.....

which looks much more reasonable. Now you can conclude that Q is A and P is S to spell THAT'S. Then you replace the other Qs and Ps with those letters and you're well on your way.

Of course, this is a very short example, so you may be hard-pressed to solve this entire sentence. But in case you are curious... THAT'S THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Educational Toys: Loved by Kids and Parents Alike

If you have kids (or even if you don't), it's relatively evident that no two children are the same. They don't all have the same interests, they don't all like the same toys, and they definitely don't all learn in the same way. As adults, we need to encourage our children to enjoy learning, and it's our job to figure out which way will work the best. One of the best means for us to encourage this striking of a creative chord is with educational toys.

First, let's start with music. Music itself speaks to so many, and instruments help to develop necessary skills and confidence, and are a fabulous means of creative expression. Younger children will adore kazoos, maracas, and other "controllable" instruments that shake, rattle and roll. As they get older, throw in guitars, recorders and other "detailed" types of instruments that require a bit more skill.

Animals: Insect kits like ant farms, ladybug kits and butterfly environments provide children with the opportunity to learn the responsibilities necessary to care for animals and pets as well as to see what goes on in the daily life of such living things. With a butterfly habitat, the caterpillars arrive separately via mail so your kids can watch them grow, spin their chrysalides, and turn into beautiful butterflies.

Pretend Play has been a popular choice of both parents and children alike for generations. Kitchens, cooking and baking toys have continued to encourage creativity among future chefs and soccer moms and dads picking up a quick, yet somewhat healthy dinner for the family. Unfortunately many of the large corporate companies are trying their best to "brand" many of these types of toys to include their name, titles and logos throughout these pretend products, so keep your eyes open for the "unbranded" products.

Brain-teasers and multi-person board-games that make you think are once again gaining in popularity. These games help to develop critical math and logic skills. The ability to think quickly and under pressure is a large part of high school, college and the real world-working environment, so learning these skills during the elementary education years (and even earlier, if possible) will increase a child's ability to problem-solve later in life.

Finally, electronic toys have been pouring out of the woodwork for a few decades now, but more recent advances have brought an educational focus to this genre of gadgets. Interactive play combined with learning and entertainment is a great recipe for educational toys in the new millennium.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Sharpen the Intelligence Through Puzzle Games

The puzzle games are very much popular these days which helps in sharpening the minds. They are interesting and amazing games. There are various riddle games and brain teasers which help in making the brain active. It produces a good sense of thrill to players. The puzzle games are therefore give thrilling spirit of gaming. There are several puzzle recreations which can be played easily.

Puzzles are of different kinds and styles. These puzzles are available in puzzle books, magazines, news papers or on internet. There are variety of puzzles to play from which one can choose from like mind, word, numeric, jigsaw, riddles and other fun puzzles. These puzzles are great, exciting and mind boggling. They are interesting, exciting, refreshing and time consuming.

Classic puzzles are among the most popular kind of puzzles for entertainment. There are no worries for losing the points. The aim is to solve brain games at fast speed so as to test timing in which the puzzle has been solved. These puzzles are now coming with great designing and graphics with amazing features and technology. Word Brain Games are suitable for players who have interest in playing word teasers. Word puzzles are good entertainment source which can be played by people of any group be it kids, adults, senior people.

The main aim of these games is to increase the vocabulary and word power of players. Picture Games are for those gamers who possesses creative mind indulging in architect type of skills. Playing these games is quite interesting where one have to make a specific picture or arrange things in a pattern. The players have to build larger images and blocks in form of basic shapes like rectangle, square, etc. Numeric Puzzles have great demand among the brain game lovers.

It helps in developing aptitude level of growing kids. The major segment of numeric puzzles does play Sudoku, which has become very popular in last few years. The main aim of numerical puzzles is increasing the arithmetic ability of players. Crossword Brain Games are the oldest puzzle games aimed to solve the crosswords. They are the oldest and even, today these puzzles are published in dailies and magazines. There are various difficulty levels of crossword puzzles. In fact, online crosswords can be played after selecting the difficulty level one desire to play. Now, online crosswords are available with new gaming strategies.

Puzzle games enhance the creative mind and thinking power of player. Analytical skills are increase through playing these games. Through solving puzzles, players develop decision making ability and analytical power to solve the dilemmas in real life. It is very good for growing children in developing their mind and thinking power. Logic and reasoning games help in becoming player smarter & increasing intelligent quotient level. It helps in increasing the strategic techniques and brushing up arithmetic and language skills. Hence, these puzzles are great way to improve the skills.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Free Online Games

Online games are the best solution to getting rid of the depression and the grueling tasks of everyday life. One can play by selecting from the unlimited selection of games on the World Wide Web, to spend quality time in their leisure hours. One of the most famous games which can be enjoyed by all is the free lotto games. All one has to do in order to play the free lotto games is search the websites offering the lottery games, free of cost. The players have as much chances of winning in the online lotto games as they do in the traditional games. However, this method of playing lottery saves times and energy of the player involved in running after the agents to get their tickets.

When playing the free online lotto games it is important to play via the website that has a good ranking on the search engines. In order to enhance the chances of hitting a jackpot on the online lotto games, the players are advised to gauge the previous three years winning codes of the website in order to be able to identify some sort of a pattern to the code. One can use various tactics in order to win the online lotto games, which include using the significant dates in their life as birthdays or anniversaries etc. to craft their lucky codes.

Another fun filled genre of the game popular among the people is the cooking games. The dynamic and colorful environment of the games, make the players addicted to the interface of the games and keeps them playing more. The players are required to perform the common kitchen chore that range from chopping to peeling to cooking and presenting the food in the most appealing form. Further thrills are added as the players have to conclude their dishes and present before the judges against the set limit of time. The tips offered by the cooking games which can be played online without having to pay anything at all can also be implied in the real kitchens to enhance the cooking approaches.

Another challenging yet, fun filled game option is that of the mystery case files, in which the players have to seek and find the missing items on the checklist provided on the game interface. These items will be needed by the famous fictional game characters like Sherlock Holmes and Madame Fate etc. in concluding their cases and catching the thieves. As the player progresses through the games, the levels become more complicated and advanced and include various brain teasers comprising of word puzzles and mathematical deduction etc.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Trivia and Online Trivia Games For Your Mind

When television started becoming popular, the first shows were all trivia related shows. Shows like Beat the Clock and Twenty-One were the focus of audiences in America. Quiz shows attracted viewers with the large cash prizes and the reactions of the winners.

Around 1957, many quiz shows were exposed to be fake, as a result, they disappeared altogether for a while. Jeopardy was introduced in 1964, and restored peoples trust in game-shows. There were all kinds of new rules and new limitations on prize money. In short, it was ensured that the game was being played fairly. Think about this, when it comes to home games, and television game shows, the common thread is the trivia aspect.

Not to mention, trivia is the most popular type of game for both home games and game shows! It makes perfect sense, trivia not only entertains and challenges, it teaches, all simultaneously. Once the Internet came around, trivia really took off. You can find a limitless supply of trivia websites online for all different kinds of things. And get this, there is even software available to create custom trivia for special events!

Imagine the kind of fun you can have, and this classic form of fun has been proven to always work, whether on television or live in person! Trivia game sites that have point systems or badges tend to be the most popular. It's so users can compare their skill level to other users and be rewarded for them as well. Not always are you rewarded, because your level being shown is sometimes more than enough.

Points are typically given just for fun, and badges tend to take some effort, depending on the badge. Online you can find more than just trivia, there's board games, adventure games, action games, and much more. Games differ in many ways, some take a week to win, others can be a matter of minutes. These websites are scattered all across the Internet, and many have hundreds of thousands of questions, and tens of thousands of active members!

It's free to join most of these trivia sites, and as a member you can create and play games, post in forums, download software, etc. Not all of these sites are free, and some offer no advertising, or real cash prizes, as compensation for your membership fees. Some of these quizzes are fill in the blank, some are true or false, others are multiple choice.

The site will record how you are doing and compare you with the rest of the users online. With advancements in website technology, you can find it's easy to make your own trivia for your friends and fellow members. What's really amazing is that it'll appear online for the entire world to access when you're done, pretty neat if you ask me.

Once you login, you can play all kinds of games, from crosswords to brain teasers. Games for kids, and tournaments for adults. Action games, adventure games and number games are only a click away. There are even multiplayer interactive games you can find.

It's all easy to find too, just look in your favorite search engine, there should be a huge link list for any type of gaming you're into.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Stay Young by Exercising Your Brain

Do you sometimes feel that you just can't remember words? You know they're right at the tip of your tongue, but they won't come to mind for whatever strange reason. This happens as you age and can be extremely frustrating. The time to fight back is now.

Exercising your brain is as important as exercising your muscles if you want to stay healthy and young. Just about any game or puzzle, can help stimulate your brain and that includes playing trivia games and doing quizzes and other kinds of tests. Here are a few ideas of things you can do to spark your brain power and stay in the loop.

1. Crossword Puzzles: Crossword puzzles are available just about everywhere these days: in newspapers and magazines; you can buy crossword books; puzzles are available online at many game sites and you can usually choose puzzles by topic or theme and skill level.

2. Sudoku: This is a number game which can be quite challenging. The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each column, row and sub-grid (the "boxes") contains all of the digits from 1 to 9. Like crossword puzzles, you can find this brain-straining game in many newspapers, web sites, and magazines.

3. Brain Puzzles: You often find mathematics-based and logic "puzzles" in IQ tests and there are many books you can buy that help falling in this category that help you exercise your brain. Even if you don't know the answer outright, you can bet that you will wrack your brain trying to find it and, thus, improve it at the same time.

4. Brain Teasers: Riddles, brain teasers, quizzes, tests and mind puzzles all serve to improve your brain health. They are challenging and fun and something you should do everyday to exercise your brain.

5. Interactive Brain Exercises: These kinds of activities help you to build mental stamina. Look for optical illusions and online games where you match tiles/graphics by clicking on boxes.

6. Read: Lastly and perhaps, most important, READ. It helps keep words fresh in your brain and remind you of forgotten meanings and spellings, all things that dissipate with age. Better still, read about things you know nothing about but may have an interest in. If gardening, for example, is a passing interest to you, then why not pick up a book and read about specific plant species. In other words broaden your knowledge base and you'll be expanding and keeping your neural pathways strong.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Teachers, Teach - Do not Preach!

The fresh air and dry month of September for the lawn area in August 'and you can taste and smell the first day of school, threatening the inspiration behind painfully fade quickly during the summer receive. But even if you can feel inspired, you can not always overcome the frustrations of last year, made as a student apathy and lack of interest in your product doctrine every day seems like an eternity. What can be done to take into account different this year? How can you justifyTheir students, both the slackers and hackers? Maybe some simple tips in your hand the answer.

To repeat the aphorism often rumored that teaching is a difficult task, like playing a song played-out. You already have all the cliches, full of wisdom, such as the teaching is sometimes a thankless job is, but if you save just one student since the career is worth it, touching the lives teaching, the lessons can not pay, but to make the intangible rewards are worth all this
Pain. What nonsense! Who invented these platitudes?

All sarcasm aside, can be a great job teaching, you can not be praised defamed. I feel such an assessment, as was once justified this noble profession, but now chooses to write and teach in other places. If I give my opinion, these brave souls out there were some in their first year of teaching, or even those who have returned to their property once again try to attackthis major task, so let me just say, to teach and not preach.

Yes, that's all. Teachers to teach. Do not preach. They do not preach your life, about the present world situation, politics, preferences, about your favorite color, no. Do not do it, I say. Rather, it teaches discipline and the subject with a passion unrivaled in America. Do not be like other colleagues to do so, to be distracted. Oh, and do not take care of the management and thethink, because the truth is that if you have not already sent, will get rid of her on a whim, and must therefore do what you feel in any way, on the other hand, if you already sent, then this is a point controversial.

only teach regardless of the consequences. When you teach with passion and with the goal of enlightenment and improvement of your students as people, as individuals and as citizens --- then the rest does not matter. How well do you know on the subjectbecomes secondary when you show a genuine concern for the enrichment of your students' minds. Try this philosophy and then suddenly see how a teacher to be considered. Just do not blame me if all your colleagues are jealous because they can not find a way to have the highest ratings of the school.

More of my articles here at Articles Page and see my challenge quiz here at issue this week and Cool puzzles.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Looking For Christmas Printable games these days use before the holidays?

If your December is busy like most people I know, you have no time to search high and low for free online games for Christmas release for use with your students. There are tons there, some are better than others, but weeding through all that is available for a killer time. Find you can buy some that will not cost an arm and a leg might be the time savings you need. The beauty is that once you have them, you'll never look back. This ArticleThe suggestions of possible activities that one would expect in a comprehensive package of educational activities for children for Christmas.

A proposal:

See if the games and activities also include templates for bookmarks, awards, gift cards, gift tags, puzzles and things like that. These are not games, but you may end up with them more than the games! These make great teacher gifts. Print and laminate a holiday or a bookmarkHomework pass and has a simple gift for students.

Two tips:

A good package of Christmas game for the press a lot of paper and pencil activities. You can mazes and puzzles, jokes, or strategy games can play two people. This work as well as holiday homework in the last days before the party and a reason to come in those moments to do it in class or ten more minutes before lunch. They also keep thingsPeace.

Proposal Three:

If the product you claim they have requested in writing, take a look and make sure they are interesting enough for your grade level and not the same old ideas, teachers tend to use many years looking after year. You want to keep your students' writing, and vacations should create other problems or issues that you are using.

Four of excitement:

Check to see if there's a lot of mathematical games in the package alsoas the basis of language games. This gives you the opportunity to spread his work between different disciplines. Be sure to adjust the difficulty levels to suit your needs, how nice!

Excitement Five:

Check to see if there are bonus materials available, they are. Many of these materials are sold and a downloadable ebook format offer a bonus or two books as an incentive. Make sure the bonus offer something that you are in a position for a good cause will be. An excellent bonus package for a gamecorrespond to vacuum models, so you can custom design some of your games. Another couple of good games, group work with the whole class can be used. game with a teaser package holiday bonus there are sometimes historical background information, or brain.

These are the search to just a few suggestions of things if you save time and just flat out buy a package holiday search game. Do your students enjoy the professional qualitythese games for the printing of Christmas and enjoy how easy it is only on your computer and click and go to work and print!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Advanced Mathematics - What is this?

If you think that mathematics is a difficult subject, you should try to study some of the leading industries such as algebra, before reaching that conclusion. E 'in these higher realms of this very important topic you can learn about the mathematical structures like groups, fields and rings, and the intrinsic properties of these objects. After a foray into a mysterious realm, you come up with a new appreciation of this fascinating subject.

What it meansa branch of advanced mathematics such as algebra with it? In short, attempts to classify and categorize in this field for the final sentences math problems, to resolve their differences. To clarify the previous joke said, let's look at some concrete examples. Take the system of linear equations, which take the form y = ax + b where a and b are arbitrary real numbers, not 0. All of these equations is amathematics lessons and, therefore, a member of this series tells a series of similar properties. The parameters a and b variables determining these differences as the slope of the line and the point on the graph, the line crosses the y-axis, also known as the y-intercept

Examining a collection of objects, mathematicians can classify the intrinsic properties of the class and to draw conclusions about what is and is not possible at that rate. For example, the linear equationClass Y = ax + b, we can not establish as ax + by = c, where again a, b and c are real numbers eaeb is not 0. (If 0, then we no longer have a linear equation in x and y.) If a, b and c in a subset of real numbers, to limit the numbers that we have a new class called linear diophantine equations. It is a remarkable group of objects, and one that is rich in real life. For example, many applications require real-world solution thatlinear equations with the restriction that a, b and c are integers. An example would be in agriculture, where this equation could represent the production of cow milk.

Suppose that, on a farm, there are two types of animals that we'll be beef and cattle from B. A call out A-30 gallons of milk a week, and beef output B 40 liters of milk per week. In order for the operation of its quota for deliveries to take 1000 liters of milk a week are required. How many of each type of livestockThese rates will be met?

This problem requires the mathematical class of linear Diophantine equations to study. By expressing this class divide and the search for common traits and characteristics, mathematicians ultimately solve these "animals" to raise questions. In this study, the mathematics class with certain properties will be immutable or rigid, that bind together for the class. These properties are hard theorems that are used to decide whether a particular canProblem or not. In fact, it was the study of second-order Diophantine equations, Fermat's last sentence that was historic, that are fixed only recently introduced. This problem has been solved for hundreds of years later that the margins of a manuscript by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat have been left.

So if you think that advanced mathematics confuse it exists only in retrospect. And 'this higher sphere, which allows us inexorably forward to ourtechnologically oriented world. To refer to this higher sphere, in a future article, I will continue to appreciate further explore this issue. For now, what you have and begin to appreciate this extraordinary area chomp.

Read more articles page articles on my page and get some mental exercise here with these problems Problem of the Week and Cool cool puzzles.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Math Puzzle games make learning math fun

Erno Rubik, inventor of the famous Rubik's Cube, said: "Our whole life is solving puzzles." Mathematics is a mystery in itself because of the many ways a problem can be solved and the approaches that can be used. Math puzzles are a real treat power makes it fun learning math

There are several reasons for mathematics that are used today, such as board games, card games, math tricks, online games, interactive games and much more, but I'm still mysteryone of the materials easier and more fun learning around us. There are several types of mathematical puzzles to choose from, but I would like first to discuss these species.



Math puzzles. Just as the standard crossword puzzle that we have on the pages of our conversation, newspapers, crossword puzzles have the same format as basic mathematics, as the questions above or below a certain number. But of course the difference is that the questions are all equipped with mathematicsConcepts and the answers are all numbers, not words.


In addition, the mathematics. More puzzle, the player must fill the spaces in which the final result, or a total of over and below is the same. This type of puzzle increases beyond the concepts of a child.


Math Word Search. Just as the ordinary jigsaw puzzle search word game, look for the words following terms, whether they go vertically, horizontally or diagonally, forward or backward to read. L 'The main difference is that only mathematical terms and concepts are listed for you to find.


Sudoku. The mathematical puzzles, and his name became popular in Japan by Nikoli Sudoku puzzle, but the first became known as known as "Number Place" and was designed by Howard yarn from Indiana. Sudoku puzzle is a 9 by 9 grid that is filled with numbers 1 to 9 using each number only once did. Most of the puzzles are already partially filled that fill the empty boxes and more.


Algebra puzzle. Just as the crossword puzzle math puzzle algebra follows the same basic format except that the questions in algebra lessons and concepts and the answers to these questions can be expressions or algebraic equations.

Each of these mathematical puzzles would be fun to do alone or with a group, but what is important for these puzzles, and training practice in mathematical concepts and theories provide. The satisfaction we get fromthese mathematical puzzles is the feeling of contentment and joy, especially when it comes to this game completely.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Free games for Culture and Education, at the same time

Key issues for free online puzzle games have been made by producers for the best in entertainment. Today variety of electronic and computer-based puzzles are available online. These games are exciting 3D animation and colorful graphics. Players will receive a unique experience of playing these online quiz, and increase their IQ. Today online puzzle made with high technology 3D digital display and a full sound. NewProperties make these games very dedicated players online. free puzzle games are very popular among the players for many reasons. They have problems of action or violence, because they are favorites of the public. Most puzzle games with surprise themes were designed to test the ability of the numbers of players or track words unsaid. online puzzles are used for educational purposes in addition to entertainment and leisure.

Young children can enjoy free puzzle gamesInternet. You can find these games to be very competitive and encouraging. Hangman word puzzles how to help develop language skills in children. By playing these games, children can develop spelling and vocabulary word power. Even adults can be of great benefit in these games draw. You can also control advanced vocabulary words and to develop clarity of mind with word puzzles.

Who loves math and is happy to play with the numbers as the puzzle game Sudoku.These games have grid of rows and columns. Each column or row must be filled with a lack of digits 1-9 Each numerical value in a Sudoku puzzle have to be added once. Hey, can not be used for the second time. If necessary, will be used in various combinations of numbers? For example, if the value is 4 for a time by a combination of 2, 2 can be used for the second time were used. mathematical puzzles are easy to play, if hey little hints are provided for researchpuzzle games are missing toll popular among players of all ages. Because the owner of the puzzle users mental attitude, a special place in schools and universities have been granted to improve. They are part of extracurricular activities.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

fun experiments and the head of Gio

for some fun experiments on the brain? Do not worry, you can try at home first. If you are absolutely sure, and that will help you demonstrate brainpower.

Fun Experiments

1. Canto access the right brain.

It 'easier to rhyme when you sing because you) work from the hemisphere of the brain that recognizes patterns (usually right. Try an experiment to sing. First of all, try a rhyming poem about something thattoday it happened. Work on this for a minute or two. Then try again, but sing the poem, how to do it.

Most people find that they can easily find rhyming words while singing. You may also remember things from a song. Singing can help activate the right brain, if you work on a problem related to spatial reasoning. This latest proposal is speculative, but can be a fun experiment to try, and no harm should come to sing.

2. conscious controlfunctions of an autonomous body.

Students will be greater if it is darker, but also greater if you see something you like. In fact, they get bigger when you vividly imagine what you want. Now repeat the experiment. Go to the mirror and see for yourself as someone you like, a favorite food, or if you want to see what you can imagine.

You should grow up too fast your students in terms of size. Imagine different scenes to see the job done. With practice you can work outaware of the change in pupil size at will. In view of a light in the room will make your pupils smaller still, among others. There are ways to use this trick of the eye, but for now is our only way to show you how to consciously control what is normally an unconscious body functions. (There are also techniques to control the heart rate as well.)

3. Try fun experiments to motivate yourself.

Sometimes the feeling that you can not just work, or just do not wake up the brainup? Try a simple experiment to talk to you about your plans simple, or what you love. If I'm stuck looking at the keyboard, I could to the next mountain to climb here in Colorado I'm talking about, and suddenly I had the mental energy to go back to writing again.

Try different themes, for what will be different for everyone. You can also try this experiment on friends. If you are in a bad mood, have something to sayPassion. The process will change the chemicals in the brain, and change their mood. Experiment the subjects, the best work - for them and yourself - and remember it for later use.

fun experiments or those just useful? In both cases, there is no harm in trying these and other simple experiments to learn how to make best use of your brain.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Brain Training - does it?

Today you get overrun by IQ and brain training games, and websites. This is a profitable business, because everyone here, whether young or old, male or female, black or white wants is, of course, intelligent. Brain Training is so smart and all the fun before! But is it really? The fun part of the course is purely a personal opinion, but not the formation of the brain actually become more intelligent?

At first we must note that your IQ is usuallyaccepted as a measure of intelligence, as you're smart, "so to speak. If you do different IQ tests your IQ would be more or less the same. At least this works as it should, however, an increase or a decrease in IQ of up 20 points in the course of life is not at all uncommon, regardless of the age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. This means, therefore, may be more or less intelligent in certain moments of your life.

A lot of research on this subject isdone, and one of the most interesting experiments was first conducted in 1950 by Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb Professor and was repeated in 2008 by Professor Ian Robbins. In this experiment, several volunteers were left alone in the dark in solitary confinement for 48 hours. This proved to have sufficient volunteers to reduce some of the IQ test scores over 20 points, that the brain is subject to adapt to the situation. In a nutshell: "They do not use their brain starts to deteriorate as well." This is obviously an extreme example, because the subjects were completely deprived of sensory stimulation, but the fact that the subjects of their "intelligence" is back after some time in the real world, very interesting. This shows that stimulation of the brain indicate the parts actually smarter.

In this way, one wonders, what if? A boring job, did not stimulate the brain at all, "Do you wantto adjust> brains to this situation? It would be really stupid because it's not your brain for 8 or more hours a day? "Would search for this effect is much more complicated to be out because of the large scale of the experiments produced results to gain confidence. However, to the results of experiments in sensory deprivation is obtained in the form to the logical conclusion that you have to train brain to think. This is what applies to yourentire body's muscles, organs, because as your brain to be different, how?

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Free resources for teachers in the modern world

The way in which science and technology are redefining through interaction and communication, teachers have to innovate and exciting ways to provide training for the next generation. Laptops, desktops, and has changed the latest addition of mobile applications, teaching methods and style. Free teacher resources available on the Internet has reflected this change to a mass movement.

Whether it's stories and nursery rhymes for children in kindergarten or the excitingExperiments for adults, anger again readily available images, postcards, maps and materials of expression much more interactive for teachers brought the change of course in the classroom. The free resources available online for teachers that can be downloaded or printed directly easier for teachers to focus more on the subject and the experiment with the latest trends in education.

The introduction of audio-visual, etc. to teach computer education have contributed toteachers to communicate easily and effectively with students and the same is enhanced by the availability of free teacher resources on the Internet all day.

The most commonly available resources for teachers are free:

Sudoku, crossword puzzles investigated, Word, Word Scrambles, spreadsheets, worksheets, telling time, fill in the blanks, Maze Maker and questions and answers.
Printable Calendar, Printable Cards and GraphicsWorksheets.
to represent different moods, feelings bubbles, which can be words, pictures or completed in writing.
Several papers facial expression with a variety of patterns and symbols.
Labels for paintings and drawings.
Easily printable characters and book labels.
To create your own custom spinners numbering and text.
Face to face with different contrast Spinner Spinner emotional create different interactive activities.
Printable Picture Card used for comparison and sortingActivities.
behavior charts for students age 5-7 with stickers on them.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Best Nintendo DS Games

The Nintendo DS is the hottest game console sold worldwide console of the decade, and with all its various models (the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo 3DS), the brand should be enhanced with only Nintendo handheld. This successful system for portable entertainment features a wide range of adventure, strategy, simulation and training produced titles that helped the DS to get stronger in recent years.

With the success ofNintendo DS consoles have been published there, thousands of great games for Nintendo DS, hundreds of which were critical acclaim has been for both gameplay and game. While this large number of DS games means that you never get bored of the Nintendo DS, which means it will be difficult to find the right game.

To help you I will be different categories of games for Nintendo DS can be found are classified massively reduces the time for To find the perfect game for your DS needs.

Puzzles and educational games for Nintendo DS

There are hundreds of games, Nintendo DS, location, and your spirit will, contribute your knowledge. Both language trainer looking for a coach-brain, a portable game Sudoku, or one that you will find a wide range of educational games for the DS mobile use.

I personally have used both the> Brain Training DS and a DS game to learn Spanish, which has greatly improved both my mental reflexes and my ability to speak a different language!

DS Action Games

Forget learning, sometimes you just want to break stuff. There are thousands of fast action games that DS is sent on a variety of missions and landscapes as you / shoot / fly your way through your race slash enemies.

DS Action games are a great way to relieve stress and boredom, and IPersonally, as a few minutes with my campaign slogan to kill Nintendo DS games. There is a wide selection of titles, the action of an industry constantly evolving to bring entertainment to the DSi!

DS Puzzle

There are a variety of puzzle games for all ages with the Nintendo DS set. Whether you drag the road by a mysterious situation or the appropriate symbols on the puzzle as fast as Bejeweled do, you are sure you have a DS puzzle game, you think that will help youentertained.

puzzle games for DS are people like me, often a bit 'of intellectual challenge, but often not to pass the time down, with things like Brain Training DS.

Mystery and DS Adventure Games

There are many mysteries and adventures DS games out there, where to look for clues, solve puzzles, and is the master criminal. These usually contain a lot of puzzles, but I have not DS Adventure GamesDS puzzle games, because the puzzles are usually only a part of a much larger problem solution of the game.

Mystery DS games and DS adventure games to follow a complex rule, but the nice stories that takes you through the fascinating stories. A guide to monitoring those addictive DS adventure games do, and you may find yourself playing with your DS a bit 'too often!

Mystery and adventure games for Nintendo DS includes titles like Professor Layton and even PokemonDS!

DS games for girls

DS to give the girls a tour of the great female Nintendo DS. If your girl wants a horse, owner of a clothing store, or play in the life of a simulated city, there are hundreds of games for Nintendo DS for girls!

A large proportion of female DS titles will help your daughter to teach a variety of things they encounter in their lives, as well as teaching them to care products and fashion and baby!

Educational DS Games

One of the bases of interest to the success of the Nintendo DS is that it has coincided with the release of a wide range of educational DS titles.'s Brain Training software for language learning, Nintendo DS by some brilliant DS games is a valuable educational resource with very educatonal. These educational DS titles and educational programs for subjects such as mathematics, science and geography, as well as languages and> Brain Training applications!

The end

I hope this little guide to the world of games for Nintendo DS cleared things up a bit ', and helped to decide which of the wonderful selection of DS titles, you want to buy!