Social Networking, The Pros and Cons of Social Networks

Social Networking has become increasingly popular nowadays as there are a lot of sites that offer this service. MySpace and Friendster are two of the most popular sites that aim to build communities of people who share common interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

THE PROS

A social networking site is like a virtual meeting place where people can hang out and discuss different topics. Anything under the sun, in fact. Some use these networking sites to promote their blogs, to post bulletins and updates or to use them as a bridge to a future love interest.

Social Networking, The Pros and Cons of Social Networks

These are just a few of the reasons why social networking is getting a lot of attention lately -- it makes life more exciting for many people.

THE CONS

However, it would be best to make sure that safety and security are the topmost concerns of the social networking site that you currently use. This is because social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be "you" when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site.

You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you.

THE CONCLUSION

So take your time and be careful in choosing who to trust so you can hopefully avoid this sort of unpleasant thing happening to you. Apart from that, social networking is great thing.

Social Networking, The Pros and Cons of Social Networks
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

If you found this article helpful, you might appreciate my FREE report called "GET TO THE MONEY FASTER". Get it now at http://eprofitnews.org

Article by Gary Harvey of http://FindHotMarkets.com the Internet's BIGGEST LIST of ways to find hot niches, best selling products and hot markets.

cell phone watches Discounted Discounted Bronze Finish Lion Fountain

How to Start A House Cleaning Business In 7 Simple Steps

One of the main reasons people start businesses is to make money. For some it's a blessing to make money doing something they love. I'm not saying that you have to love house cleaning in order to have a successful house cleaning business; however it would be a good idea if you didn't hate it.

How much money you make depends on how big you want your business to be. It could be a one person operation where you set up at home and service areas close to home, or you could set up a commercial office and hire people to work for you.

Here are 7 simple steps to get you started on your own house cleaning business.

How to Start A House Cleaning Business In 7 Simple Steps

1) Decide exactly what kind of house cleaning services you will offer.

Here you decided what cleaning you will do, like making beds, vacuuming, mopping and waxing floors, dusting and so on. Also note what you won't do, e.g. laundry. You can also decide to specialize, e.g. by cleaning carpets only, or cleaning suspended ceilings only.

2) Pricing your housecleaning service.

To have an idea of how to charge for your housecleaning service, use your competition. Check your telephone directory and the classified ads section in your local newspapers for cleaning businesses, call them up (pretend to be a prospective client) and find out exactly what cleaning services they offer and how much they charge. With this information gathered decide the best price to charge for your cleaning service.

3) Workout startup costs.

For this you need to consider, tools, material, transport, advertising, insurance etc. Write down a list all the tools and material you need, like cleaners, sponges, mops, carpet cleaning equipment etc. Next find out the cost of each item on the list and write it down next to the item.

Transport: you will have to estimate your costs here. You see it depends on where your client is located and your means of transportation to get to your client. (Having your own vehicle would be to your advantage).

Advertising: You can use free advertising (word of mouth) and paid advertising (classifieds, telephone directory ads etc). Phone calls to your local newspaper and the telephone company who publish your telephone directory will tell you the cost of placing ads.

Once you've gathered all this information, calculate your total startup costs.

4) Name your business.

Choosing an appropriate name for your house cleaning business is important. Here are a few examples I got of the internet, 'Maid Brigade', 'All Shine Cleaning', 'White Glove Cleaning Service'. Please avoid using 'Your Name Cleaning Services'. Using your own name as part of your business name is over done by many house cleaning businesses. Brainstorm and come up with a name that helps you stand out of the crowd.

5) Learn the zoning regulations of your community.

Check the city clerk's Office or your local library for a copy for a copy of the zoning laws governing your community. Your reason for doing this is that some zoning regulations prohibit home businesses in a community.

6) Do a few free cleaning jobs.

Well you're not actually doing them for free. You're doing them in exchange for references (these add to your credibility for future paying clients and are invaluable). You can offer these free cleaning jobs to friends, non profit organizations in your communities etc.

7) Get your first paying client then get another and another and another and so on.

Tell everyone you know that you've started a cleaning business and place ads in the local newspapers. In the beginning you need to spend most of your time and money getting paying clients. However, the more clients you get the less time and money you spend on marketing and more time you spend on cleaning and making your clients happy.

This is just the beginning. Once you start making money take a house cleaning business course to help you better manage your business in terms of growth, accounting, taxes, insurance better marketing strategies and more.

--

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. fayolap@yahoo.com

How to Start A House Cleaning Business In 7 Simple Steps
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Fayola Peters is the webmaster of housecleaning-tips.com. To find more information about a house business cleaning course check out her website at http://www.housecleaning-tips.com.

fayolap@yahoo.com

watch cell phone Hot Deals Tektronix Power Supply 18V 5A 90W Low Price Mmf Industries Tamper Evident Cash Bags

Professional Learning Communities - What Are They and How Do They Work?

Professional learning communities are intended to promote collaborative learning between educators and other key people within the same work environment. It brings educators, administrators and other colleagues together to work as a group based on their field. Professional learning communities courses can demonstrate how working as a community not only enhances a curriculum, it improves the overall learning experience. By working collaboratively in this community, you are responsible for your own results. In professional learning communities the focus is on learning and performance rather than solely on teaching.

More specifically, professional learning communities are designed to yield results in student learning and achievement. This includes developing a school action plan specific to an educator's school site and classroom or area of expertise.

This reform-minded approach to the education system can be lucrative if practiced correctly. Some schools offer graduate courses about professional learning communities. This may help people interested in education to become aware of how to create more challenging curriculums and collaborative learning techniques and methodologies. This type of training can really transform a school or organization that may be ready for reform.

Professional Learning Communities - What Are They and How Do They Work?

It is important to know about the diverse teaching styles and explore your own learning style as well as how it impacts professional team dynamics and student/teacher rapport for essential learning. Another significant aspect of professional learning communities is how they affect the organizational management for both the organization and classroom setting. Certain education courses and books discuss the changing role of school restructuring and learning practices, as well as the conceptual framework and research behind implementing programs and practices that lead to highest student achievement and staff development in the most progressive educational settings. To make the most of a professional learning community environment it is essential to study this aspect as well.

Educators in this reform system use results-oriented action steps to clarify exactly what each student must learn, monitor each student's learning on a timely basis, provide systematic interventions, and use collective inquiry/feedback to create a collaborative atmosphere of continual improvement. The main goal of professional learning communities is to create a clear and compelling vision of how an organization must shift in order to help all students learn, whether it be a private or public school.

Some of the key objectives of professional learning communities are as follows. To clarify the purpose of educators and develop an action-based mission statement, to evaluate the importance of Systems Thinking and Constructivist Teaching within schools, and to clarify and reach consensus on what the students must learn. It is also important for educators in these communities to underscore the importance of meshing personal learning styles and create a safe environment for effective communication. Personal learning and communication styles play a key role in how effective the learning is because different learning styles affect group performance. Overall, it is clear that team learning can be extremely valuable to everyone involved including the students, educators, and the school. It creates a new environment where people can work together and understand which methods are useful and which need to be improved.

Professional Learning Communities - What Are They and How Do They Work?
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Teacher Education Institute (TEI) offers rigorous, graduate-level professional development courses for K-12 classroom teachers. For more about TEI, professional learning communities, visit http://www.teachereducation.com

watch mobile phone Hot Deals Tektronix Power Supply 18V 5A 90W Cheap Dispenser Kit For Liquid Detergent Low Price Mmf Industries Tamper Evident Cash Bags

Over 55 Retirement Communities - Built With Baby Boomers In Mind

The time has come for many people who fall into the baby boomer generation to retire. Some already have, and some are doing so right now and some will be that age in just a couple of years. And that means a lot of people are ready to move into some sort of retirement living arrangement.

For some, who need a bit of extra care and help in their day, the best choice will be an assisted living facility, for others, a nursing home, but a great many people will be looking into the option of buying into one of the many over 55 retirement communities which are springing up all over the place.

It could be that the developers just finally wised up and figured that people wanted to spend their days with other folks who thought like them. And that is why so many retirement communities were built. It could also be that there are simply so many baby boomers who want the opportunity to live in a place where they can play golf or tennis all day and still be around people who speak the same language. The language of the 60's.

Over 55 Retirement Communities - Built With Baby Boomers In Mind

Not the 60 year olds, the language of the 1960's. Full of bright eyed optimism and hope for a better world. Full of the dream of equality and power to the people. Pretty good idea, for then and for anytime.

And now these folks want to retire and move into a community of their peers. Sounds like a pretty good idea. Over 55 retirement communities have a particular restriction as to who can live there and who can't. One of the restrictions is that normally at least one of the people buying a home there must be at least 55 years old. Some communities require that both people be at least that age, but not too many.

Usually, it is enough that the husband or the wife or one of the partners be the minimum age. And that is not a bad thing at all. Besides the social aspect of residing among your peers, you can often get property loans at a greatly reduced rate because the developers have made particular arrangements with the government to provide loans at a reduced interest rate. That is a very cool idea and one which many people have taken advantage of.

There are so many choices of retirement facilities nowadays and the over 55 retirement communities are one of the best ideas. If what you are looking for in retirement living is to be surrounded by a group of like-minded people who you can relate to, then this might be the best opportunity for your retirement living.

Over 55 Retirement Communities - Built With Baby Boomers In Mind
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Susan is a full fledged baby boomer and avid internet researcher who writes about senior retirement communities and other baby boomer topics on her site at www.second50years.com.

watches cell phone Buy Shure Pg14 Pg30 Wireless Headset System K7

History of the Celtic Druids

The Druids were an ancient order of Celtic priests in the societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland. The Celtic Druids served their communities by combining the duties of seer, priest, poet, philosopher, historian, scholar, teacher, doctor, astronomer and astrologer. The Celts had developed a highly sophisticated religious system, with three divisions of men who were held in exceptional honor; the lowest division were called the Ovates, the second division were called the Bards and then the Druids. The ovates were the healers and seers; the bards memorised the songs, poems, and stories of the tribe (historians); while the druids taught moral philosophy and were experts in the workings of natural science.

The Celtic Druids were advisers to the rulers of that time, acted as judges in the event of disputes, supervised executions and even controlled the legal system. They were held in such respect that if they intervened between two armies they could stop the battle. The Druid priests and priestesses acted as mediums through which the spirits could be summoned and heard, with rituals throughout the history of the Celtic Druids being enacted in sacred groves of oak trees and circles of standing stones

The first surviving and fullest account of the druids and their religion is that given by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, book VI, written in Gaul in 59-51 BC. Overall, not much can be said of the druids with assurance as the sources of information about them is limited. However they continued to feature prominently in later sources of Irish myth and literature. Thus, the history of the Celtic Druids presents many obscurities and our main literary sources date back to the 2nd century BC with Pliny and The Commentaries of Caeser.

History of the Celtic Druids

"The principal point of their doctrine", Caesar wrote, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another."

Caesar continued:

"With regard to their actual course of studies, the main object of all education is, in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibility of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from one tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed. Subsidiary to the teachings of this main principle, they hold various lectures and discussions on astronomy, on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on the different branches of natural philosophy, and on many problems connected with religion".
-Julius Cesar, "De Bello Gallico", VI, 13

After the first century BC the continental druids disappeared entirely and were referred to only on very rare occasions. However, there is some evidence that the druids of Ireland survived into the mid- to late-seventh century. In the De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae of Augustinus Hibernicus, there is mention of local magi who teach a doctrine of reincarnation in the form of birds.

During the first millennium, Celtic and Druid spirituality was preserved by the Christian clerics who performed the valuable service of recording many of the stories and myths by which the oral teachings of the Druids were conveyed. People who think that Druidry was destroyed with the coming of Christianity fail to understand the resilience of spiritual teachings when they are encoded in myths and stories: and it is thanks to the clerics' recording of these tales that we can be inspired by them today. St Patrick also recorded all of the old Druid laws in Ireland - providing us with invaluable information on the ethics and social structure of Celtic Druid culture.

DRUID'S CIRCLES
A Druid's Circle is a popular name for circles of standing stones such as Stonehenge, which is the most famous example. These are also known as the "Temples of the Druids". Great mounds of earth were also built where the practice of seeking rebirth within the Earth was performed (in which initiates would sit in darkness awaiting the time of their rebirth). The best example of this is found at New Grange in Ireland, where a shaft is oriented to the Winter Solstice sunrise, so that the dawn rays can bathe the initiate in sunlight after his or her vigil through the night.

History of the Celtic Druids
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Irish Astrology is about bringing awareness of the Celtic Symbols used in the Druid belief system. They were used as early as the Vedic, Greek, or Roman systems. Click here for more info on Celtic Symbols and here for lovely Free Screensavers

mobile phone watches Discounted Discounted Bronze Finish Lion Fountain Hot Deals Tektronix Power Supply 18V 5A 90W Low Price Mmf Industries Tamper Evident Cash Bags

Reading Strategies Good Readers Use

A few years ago, educational researchers David Pearson and Nell Duke asked the question, "What kind of thinking happens when proficient readers read?" This question led to ground breaking research results that have changed the way teachers teach children to read.

They discovered seven key strategies that good readers use during the reading process. Innovative teachers teach the strategies directly using metacognitive thinking (thinking out loud about your thinking) by modeling their own thinking out loud during the reading process. Students apply the new strategies by practicing their own thinking orally and in writing. Books like Mosaic of Thought by Zimmerman and Keene, Strategies that Work by Harvey and Goudvis, and Reading with Meaning by Miller explore these ideas in great depth and apply best teaching practices to teaching reading strategies.

Strategy One: Making Connections

Reading Strategies Good Readers Use

Readers bring their own experiences and background knowledge to the text. They make personal connections, they connect one text with another, and make connections with the world. These connections enrich the text and helps the reader to understand the text at a higher level of meaning. Teachers teach these connections directly: text to self connections, text to text connections, and text to world connections.

Strategy Two: Visualizing or Envisioning

Readers see pictures in their minds when they read. The best part of reading is watching the "movie in your head." Good readers experience seeing strong visual images. Children can be taught to visualize as they read. Often poor readers do not "see" when they read. We live in a visual world, yet it's the visuals that many readers lack when they read.

Strategy Three: Questioning

Readers are constantly questioning, predicting, confirming their thinking, and adjusting their thinking. Good readers have a purpose for continuing to read. The purpose lies within their ability to question and predict throughout the reading of the text. The adjustments made helps readers to understand the text at a deeper level. Their basic and deeper comprehension soars when their minds are constantly making meaning through questioning.

Strategy Four: Inferring

Good readers read between the lines. The answers are not always black and white, and good readers are able to infer meaning based on background knowledge and text clues. When a reader is inferring they are thinking, predicting, adjusting, and confirming. This leads to deeper understanding of the text.

Strategy Five: Determining Importance

Good readers understand the main ideas of a text and can determine what is important. Readers are answering questions, determining key points, and stretching their thinking as they connect the important ideas with their own knowledge.

Strategy Six: Synthesizing

Good readers are able to synthesize their reading and produce their own ideas or products from their knowledge. Synthesizing is a higher order thinking skill that requires you to reach beyond basic knowledge and create new thinking.

Strategy Seven: Fix-Up Strategies

Good readers know how to tackle difficult text. If they run across a word they don't know they chunk the word and use context clues to determine the meaning. If the just finished a paragraph and don't have a clue as to what they just read, they reread the paragraph and focus on thinking about its' meaning. They identify what they don't understand and read back or ahead to try and clarify meaning. They look at pictures or other text features (like graphs or sidebars) to help them understand the concepts or ideas. Fix-up strategies can be directly taught to help students break down a piece of text and find its' meaning.

These strategies are often taught separately, but they must be integrated and automated in the reader's mind. Once students are aware of these strategies and learn to apply them during their own reading process they begin to become an automatic part of their thinking. The strategies help readers to understand text and gain meaning by applying their own background knowledge or schema, as well as understanding the author's message.

Reading Strategies Good Readers Use
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Lisa Frase is a National Board Certified Teacher in Literacy. During her 14 year tenure she has earned a Masters in Reading, presented at state and national conferences, and earned the 2006 Texas Council for the Teachers of English Language Arts Elementary Teacher of the Year Award. She continues to teach, write, and maintain a website for teachers packed with free resources at http://www.effectiveteachingsolutions.com.

You can find her publications at http://www.etspress.com.

watch cell phone Low Price Mmf Industries Tamper Evident Cash Bags