Keys to Being a Successful Teacher

Top 6 Keys to Being a Successful Teacher


By Melissa Kelly, About.com Guide

1. Sense of Humor

A sense of humor can help you become a successful teacher. Your sense of humor can relieve tense classroom situations before they become disruptions. A sense of humor will also make class more enjoyable for your students and possibly make students look forward to attending and paying attention. Most importantly, a sense of humor will allow you to see the joy in life and make you a happier person as you progress through this sometimes stressful career.

2. A Positive Attitutude

A positive attitude is a great asset in life. You will be thrown many curve balls in life and especially in the teaching profession. A positive attitude will help you cope with these in the best way. For example, you may find out the first day of school that you are teaching Algebra 2 instead of Algebra 1. This would not be an ideal situation, but a teacher with the right attitude would try to focus on getting through the first day without negatively impacting the students.

3. High Expectations

An effective teacher must have high expectations. You should strive to raise the bar for your students. If you expect less effort you will receive less effort. You should work on an attitude that says that you know students can achieve to your level of expectations, thereby giving them a sense of confidence too. This is not to say that you should create unrealistic expectations. However, your expectations will be one of the key factors in helping students learn and achieve.

4. Consistency

In order to create a positive learning environment your students should know what to expect from you each day. You need to be consistent. This will create a safe learning environment for the students and they will be more likely to succeed. It is amazing that students can adapt to teachers throughout the day that range from strict to easy. However, they will dislike an environment in which the rules are constantly changing.

5. Fairness

Many people confuse fairness and consistency. A consistent teacher is the same person from day to day. A fair teacher treats students equally in the same situation. For example, students complain of unfairness when teachers treat one gender or group of students differently. It would be terribly unfair to go easier on the football players in a class than on the cheerleaders. Students pick up on this so quickly, so be careful of being labelled unfair.

6. Flexibility

One of the tenets of teaching should be that everything is in a constant state of change. Interruptions and disruptions are the norm and very few days are 'typical'. Therefore, a flexible attitude is important not only for your stress level but also for your students who expect you to be in charge and take control of any situation.

Suggested Reading

The Everything New Teacher Book

Healthy Foods for a Healthy Lifestyle

There are several fad diets that will lead to successful weight loss if you follow them exactly as they are designed. That doesn't mean every food that fits into a diet is a healthy food, but it does mean you have to change your eating patterns to fit the diet's rules.

Rather than worry about following a fad diet, think about your health and your lifestyle instead. Start by learning which foods are good for you.



Healthy Foods to Eat

The closer a food is to its natural state, the better it is for you. Fresh fruits and berries are great and will satisfy a craving for sweets. Whole vegetables have lots of vitamins and minerals, so eat more green, orange and yellow vegetables. Steam them to retain the most nutritional value and be careful with sauces, they may be high in calories and fats that aren't good for you.

Any pasta or baked goods should be made from whole grains. Avoid sugary snacks and pastries as well. An apple is good for you, an apple pie really isn't.



Shop for lean meats and don't forget the fish. The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in ocean fish are often deficient in our diets, so serve seafood two or three times per week. Baked fish and chicken are healthier than fried, and lean meats like bison or venison may be healthier than higher fat beef.



Processed lunch meats, hot dogs, bacon, and sausages have a lot of saturated fat and nitrates in them you don't want in your body. If you love these meats, you can find healthier versions sold at health food stores.



Remember to eat a variety of foods to get all of the vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy.



Stick to water, milk and 100% fruit and vegetable juices as your main beverages and limit sugary soft drinks. If you get tired of plain water, add a slice of lemon or lime to add a touch of flavor. For kids, try some fruit juice jazzed up with carbonated water.



Unhealthy Foods

Battered and deep fried foods

Sugary sodas

Processed lunch meats

Greasy snack chips

White bread and refined pasta

Most canned spaghetti and ravioli

Sugary breakfast cereals

Frozen fried chicken, fish sticks and corn dogs

Healthy Foods

Green and brightly colored vegetables

Dark leafy greens and lettuce

Fresh fruits and berries

Lean turkey and chicken

Nuts, dried fruits and healthy snacks

Whole grain breads and pasta

Healthy cooking oils like canola and olive oils

Grass fed beef and bison

Cold water oily ocean fish

Low fat milk or soy beverages

Nuts, seeds, and legumes

Assess Your Lifestyle

Once you learn which foods are good for you, you need to look at your eating habits. If the foods you eat are not healthy, you might want to work within your habits and current lifestyle conditions, since they are usually tough to change. Consider these questions, then read on for tips to help you add healthy foods:



Do you eat because you are bored, sad, or happy?

Do you snack in front of the TV without even giving it much thought?

Are most of your meals eaten at home or in restaurants?

How often do you eat fast food?

Do you like to cook?

How often do you grocery shop?

Do you skip breakfast or lunch, then overeat later in the day?

How big are the portions you consume?

Do you crave sweets?

Are there foods you won't give up?

Healthy Foods for Snackers

If you are an emotional eater, keep the junk food like potato chips, tortilla chips, ice cream, and candy out of the house. Keep healthy snacks like fruits, crunchy vegetables with dips, or nuts handy. If you absolutely feel the need for a treat, then purchase a small piece of high quality chocolate or your favorite treat and enjoy it, just don't buy any to bring home.

The same tips are helpful for those who enjoy TV snacking at home. If you don't want to give up nibbling while watching your shows, keep low calorie foods close by, because it is very easy to eat too much when you are entranced by your favorite drama, football game or cooking show. Eat crisp raw vegetables with your dip instead of greasy chips.

How to Create a Successful Marriage

Instructions:
1. Cherish compatibility. Seek out the things that interest, please and delight both of you.
2.Respect and treasure your differences. Learn from one another. Appreciate and understand your spouse's  distinctive style, approach and personality - especially when it diverges from yours. Differences can often turn into delight.
3.Cultivate patience. Give your spouse enough time to reach a comfortable middle ground in his or her own way.
4. Learn how to be understanding, and develop the ability to see through your spouse's eyes.
5. Share your feelings in regular talk sessions. A nice atmosphere in a good restaurant helps open the doors to intimacy and sharing. Really listen to your partner. Be sure to look directly into the eyes of your loved one.
6. Strive for a high ratio of positive to negative in comments and actions.
7. Allow time to pass when you're surprised by a disappointment. Solutions will become evident when there is patience. A good night's sleep will help additional insights to surface.
8. Resolve the inevitable differences in a way that strengthens and deepens your love. Strive to communicate your feelings without being aggressive or defensive. Listen to each other with an open mind and seek resolutions that you both can be happy with.
9. Learn to express thankfulness for the smallest things. This gratitude can be brief and must be genuine.

Things you need to have:
thank you greeting card
flowers
boxes of chocolates

The Greatest Blessing: Children

Unique, dependent on you for all their needs, children are a great gift from God to all humanity and we as parents must tell them who they are, must tell them how valuable they are for us. See more about what every child needs to know from his/her parents!
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Jesus for Kids

Fun way for your kids to learn about living for Jesus. cbn.com/superbook

These little miracles growing up under our own eyes are the cause of our greatest happiness but can also be the source of our deepest pain and just as we need acceptance and love, they also need to know they are loved and accepted. There are two main things a parent must provide for his child and these will leave eternal marks in your child's heart and personality: love and encouragement.
1. Your child needs to know he/she is loved and unconditionally accepted.
To tell a child "mom doesn’t love you when you do this or the other" creates a rejection mechanism that will bear bitter fruit especially in adolescence when the child is looking for answers. A child with a mindset like that will have an even more difficult time turning to his parents when he needs help and guidance. He will think "they don’t love me now as I have done this mistake, they will reject me" and the barrier is set right there.
This sentence passes unnoticed many times but once brought to light it has to be dealt with and one of the ways is to tell them (assuring and reassuring the children) that you always love them but that you don’t approve certain behaviors. Be very clear about what the wrong thing is! The child needs to be notified first!
For example if you see your child doing something wrong that you didn’t first notify him about, in such case punishing the child will create confusion in his mind because he was not informed. It is your mistake you didn’t tell him not to put your cell phone in the toilet for example.

But if you repeatedly told him not to place the phone in a glass of water, or in the toilet, if the boy or girl still does it, then you need to apply a form of correction that you’ve also told him about (or maybe even have decided upon together). Not watching cartoons or not going out with friends that day or something you know would make him ponder about his behavior. However, if you are not consistent in this, if one day you punish him but the next day you let the thing go unnoticed, you as parent are silently telling the child "it is all right". Being consistent is crucial for your child’s inner balance, for his trust in you! They need this balance and they need to see consistency in your behavior, trust me, they will test you and push the limits as far as possible - until you intervene.

2. Encourage every time you have the chance!
After doing your best to show your love to your child and also that you love him enough to punish him when he does wrong, the essential role of the parent is to encourage his child all he can, to give that child wings! If you tell him who he is, he will not need all the approval from others (wrong friends especially), he will have it from you. Words like:"you are the best son/ daughter a parent can have" or "you will do great things in life because you have all it takes" are words that a heart of a child is hungry for! If you didn’t receive them from your parents, look in your heart and you will see how much you’d have loved to hear them saying words like that to you!

The role of the parent is unique and you are the one who knows that child more than anybody in the world! Oh, your baby needs your approval, needs to know that you believe in him! Encourage him every time you have the chance! You’ll give him wings!

I remember a story I heard in one of Joel Osteen’s sermons about a child who had his mom speaking the blessing every evening before sleep in a special way, this mother was saying to his 5 year old son:" You are my Superman, you are my Spider-man, you are my super hero!" She went on and on with all the superheroes in cartoons or movies. The boy was thrilled taking in all those good words! One evening came though when she was in a hurry and simply kissed her son good night without going through the whole heroes' list. She got out of the room and a minute later she heard her son crying out loud:

-"Mama, mama!"

-"What is it son?" she said.

-"Mama, you forgot to tell me who I am!"

The most important thing for a child is for you as parent/tutor to tell him who he is: your child is a blessing, an unexplored potential with a divine destiny, a God given treasure that will change the world one day and will be a Prince or a Princess with Jesus Christ for eternity!

By Claudia Miclaus

Obama says Islam not the enemy on 9/11 anniversary

Obama says Islam not the enemy on 9/11 anniversary

Moving remembrance ceremonies were held to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed when Al-Qaeda extremists slammed airliners into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field in Pennsylvania.

But with thousands of people marching in dueling protests over a proposed Muslim community center two blocks from Ground Zero and a Florida pastor triggering demonstrations across the Muslim world with his threat to burn the Koran, this was the most politicized 9/11 anniversary yet.

Speaking at the Pentagon, Obama addressed the politically explosive domestic debate that has enraged Muslims abroad.

"As Americans, we will not and never will be at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was Al-Qaeda, a sorry band of men, which perverts religion," Obama said.

He urged Americans not to succumb to "hatred and prejudice," and vowed: "Just as we condemn intolerance and extremism abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation."

At Ground Zero, where for the first time reconstruction work is visibly gathering pace, a youth choir opened the ceremony with the national anthem.

Vice President Joseph Biden and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among those attending the annual ritual of reading the names of all 2,752 people killed when two hijacked airliners destroyed the Twin Towers.

Bereaved relatives held up portraits of their lost loved ones under a perfectly clear sky as they listened to the litany of names read by often tearful survivors and members of the reconstruction team.

"We come not to mourn but to remember and rebuild," Biden said.

At a third ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field, First Lady Michelle Obama and her predecessor Laura Bush addressed relatives of the passengers and crew.

"May the memories of those who gave their lives here continue to be a blessing to all of you and an inspiration to all Americans," Obama urged.