Credit: Free pictures from acobox.com Continue reading →

Credit: Free pictures from acobox.com

National Punctuation Day was founded by Jeff Rubin back in 2004.  It brings awareness to this important but sometimes overlooked skill.  Knowing how to use correct punctuation is a skill that students need and will use their entire life, but sometimes teaching about it can be a little boring to students.  Here are some ideas to help make teaching about punctuation fun:

A Listing of the Most Used Punctuation Marks:

• 13 Punctuation Marks and information about each one

Fun Activities:

• Punctuation Games

1. The Punctuation Relay
2. Wynken, Blyken, and Nod Poetry Punctuation Game
3. Pin the Punctuation Mark on the Sentence

• Punctuation Rap – view the words
• Punctuation Rap – listen to the rap

More Information:

• How to Celebrate National Punctuation Day (funny)
• Photos for National Punctuation Day (real signs and posters – examples of bad punctuation)
• Punctuation Playtime Video

This is a guest post by Owen Smith from eCertified Learning.

Education is considered to be a stepping stone in increasing knowledge for both professional and personal development. The practical application of education in a certain field of study can give way to obtaining a professional career or even establish a great foundation to begin a very promising business venture. However, many professionals feel that because of the job and time constraints, going to a school or attending a college is quite impossible to do, thus, coming up the wonderful idea of distance learning or online education.

Creating an investment in education can be one of the most compelling and clever decision that you could ever make in your life because it bring forth immediate impact to your future. Basically, online education plays a vital role with regards to connecting student with various colleges through online classes around the world, despite of the location, time, distance or any other barricade. Online education courses are being offered by open institutions to acknowledge the call for internationally recognized quality training and education.

Whether you are a student who is just starting with their road to learning, a successful professional who wishes to further their education through specialized and advanced programs, or simply a person who is bound by health or travel concerns, online education courses are definitely the answers to your problems.

Here are a few of the many benefits that you can be able to obtain in an online education:

• Firstly, students are provided with the opportunity to pick out from different courses, programs and schools which cannot be taken in the area or place they are living in. This is a huge advantage especially for those people who are living in rural areas that usually include only two or even just one educational facility which most only give out limited program and course options for students.
• Another benefit and apparently the most popular one of all is that it provides flexibility. Since they can be able to attend classes wherever and whenever they want as long as they have a computer and an access to the Internet, they can easily come out with a schedule or set up that would work perfectly for them.
• Learning through online can enable a more centered to the students’ approach of teaching. Since every student has their own way or technique of learning that works great for them, having an online education might aid in making sure that each and every material or lesson is totally understood before going on to the next level. This could definitely result to a much better learning for anyone.
• Online education courses materials are available 24 hours every day. This simply means that the students can get access and review discussions, lectures and other more materials that are related to their course. There are other students out there that are finding it hard to apprehend spoken discussion that is usually done in a traditional classroom setting because of too much distraction or because of boredom.
• In an online setting, a student will only be marked as present if he or she is actually participating in the classroom discussion. Thus, encouraging the students to mingle and interact, heightening the variance of opinion as every single student is provided with the chance to speak out and share their thoughts.
• This method of learning brings forth a number of savings due to the fact that there is no longer need for accommodation, as well as transportation costs. In addition, online education courses and programs are much affordable compared to courses that are taken in a typical school.
• There are also several online courses that provide the chance to interact and learn things from the most renowned and outstanding lecturers and professors all over the world.
• Since most of the online instructors come from various locations around the world, students are exposed to knowledge from the online teachers which cannot be acquired in books.
• Students of online education are also provided with the chance to communicate with their teachers whenever they wish to. This can be done through email, online chat and newsgroup discussions. Both teachers and students can be able to discuss with each other their concerns related to their course or material without the need to wait for office hours.

The Internet has truly changed the way in which education is being delivered with the focus that still remains the same and that is for the students to obtain a good environment for learning.

Do you know much about mechanical things?  I surely don’t!  I wouldn’t know if something needed a hydraulic hose, for example, or not.  Now I do know a little about cars, not much, but a little bit.  If my husband is talking to me about something on our van, I would probably know what he was talking about.  I probably wouldn’t know how to fix it, though, because that’s his department!  But at least I’d have an idea what he was talking about.

Have you noticed that housing markets are better in certain parts of the country?  I don’t know about homes for sale in raleigh nc, but I have heard about housing markets in my area.  The higher demand for houses is a seller’s dream, however, an abundance of houses on the market is a buyer’s dream because it means lower prices.  Our son and future daughter-in-law are thinking about buying a house to live in after they’re married because it’s more cost effective than renting.  They’re planning on getting married in June, so they may be making a decision within the next month or two.  We’ll wait and see.

What is web to print storefront? It’s a customizable group of software tools made to enhance all areas of a printing business.  Now for me at home, all I need is a good printer which we happen to have.  At work, I have my desk computer which is fairly new but doesn’t print 100% of the time, resulting in me putting in multiple work orders on it throughout the past few months.  It’s important to me to have a printer that is reliable so at least my home printer fits the bill, so to speak.

Have you ever given a watch for a special gift to someone extra-special?  There are all kinds of prices from top-of-the-line TAG Heuer watches to lower priced brands.   If you ever do give a watch for a gift, find out if they prefer silver, gold, or silver & gold.  Find out what special features they like and what their favorite watch styles look like.  Then your gift will be one they will enjoy for years.

Do you have a friend or family member who is in need of drug rehab treatment centers?  We work with a ministry where we go to church that helps people going through rehab.  The minister who teaches the classes uses a 12-step Bible based program which is very effective in helping people.  It’s a blessing to be able to work with this ministry and see the humility and honesty of some of the people who are trying to straighten out their lives.

I don’t know much about annuities, but I know there’s information available online at sites such as AnnuityAdvantage.com – Home Page.  There are two main types of annuities, immediate and deferred.  There is an advantage to tax deffered annuities because interest can be made on the money not being paid in taxes.  Taxes are paid when the interest is withdrawn.  Check online for more information.

There are a lot of safeguards against identity theft that people can take nowadays.  There are things such as an identity stronghold rfid leather wallet, for example, that are available for added security.   Here are some tips for safeguarding your identity:

• Don’t keep your social security number in your wallet or purse
• Check your credit report yearly
• Make sure you mail bills in a post office collection box instead of an unsecured location
• Shred all credit card offers, ATM receipts, charge slips, anything with your signature, insurance forms, physician’s statements, check and bank statements
• Use one credit card for online shopping and use it only for that purpose so that it’s easy to check for fraudulent charges.  Do not use a debit card.
• Use a firewall program on your computer and update your virus protection software on a regular basis
• Don’t give out personal information over the phone unless you’ve initiated the call

Here’s a couple of interesting facts about Peeps.  Way back in 1953, it took 27 hours to create one Peeps chick.  Today, it only takes six minutes.  Quite a difference!  Also, there have been enough Peeps produced to circle the earth twice.  That’s a lot!  Peeps were nearly always in our kids’ Easter baskets as they were growing up, in various colors from year to year.  I think my favorite color has been yellow.   What’s your favorite color?

Look what I received in the mail recently. What a nice surprise when I learned that I had won these cookbooks! Just want to say thanks again to Laura. And if you haven’t participated in “Menu Plan Monday,” drop by Organizing Junkie and check it out.  Also, if you’re an organizing junkie too, you will love all her tips and ideas!