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"The workouts we completed years ago may continue to influence and improve our health today, according to a fascinating new study of the current lives and health of people who joined an exercise study a decade before. The findings suggest that the benefits of exercise can be more persistent than many of us might expect, even if people are not exercising to the same extent as they previously did. But the impacts also may depend on the types and amounts of exercise involved."

"What if you could squeeze an extra ten minutes out of your busy day and devote them to more meaningful interactions with students, colleagues and parents? While a school day is estimated to be around 6.7 hours, every educator knows that a teacher's workday is much longer. Carving out extra time in a teaching day may seem like a tall order for many educators, who often must steal hours from their evenings, cutting into their own professional development time and tipping the scales on their work-life balance. While a school day is estimated to be around 6.7 hours, every educator knows that a teacher's workday is much longer. Add the time required for all the other parts of the job-lesson planning, providing students extra support, grading, and parent and staff meetings-and teachers can expect to put in a 12- to 16-hour workday. Recent advancements in data analytics and artificial intelligence, however, may help teachers gain back some of those hours. These technologies offer new efficiencies and insights into classroom learning, allowing educators to harness the power of data from their learning management systems (LMSs) and freeing them up to focus their time on activities that truly lead to better learning outcomes."

"Although it's difficult to change the way the (school) system operates, it is possible to adjust how you operate within the system. Introducing meditation and mindfulness techniques in the classroom not only allows you to create a calmer environment, the practice has proven to have verifiable benefits on the human brain. A 2011 Harvard study of MRI images showed a thickening in the cerebral cortex (an area responsible in part for attention and emotional integration) in meditation participants in as little as 8 weeks. So, it's more than a good habit and some quiet time in the classroom, you may be helping the brains of your students develop even more than you realize. Where do you even begin teaching meditation when you may not be familiar with the practice yourself? Although it seems like an incongruous match, this is yet another area where technology steps in to make learning convenient, and a variety of apps offer options for every age, ability, and amount of available time. Here are a few to experiment with as you get started."

"When students are learning about research topics and current events, they must also learn about how perspective and bias may affect the information they are reading. Teaching these lessons explicitly is critical in this era of "fake" news. The following tips and activities are designed to help students understand the choices that journalists make that may affect how readers interpret a story."

"Adobe Photoshop is considered the gold standard in photo editing software. In fact, it can be hard to picture (see what I did there) a world without the amazing images created with this software. In the right hands, photographs can be created that would leave you believing that a magical unicorn had walked through your back yard. But, with all its power comes a steep learning curve. And that's intimidating. Simply loading up the software and trying to figure things out on your own doesn't work as well when you want to learn Photoshop as it does for other pieces of software. And, while you could try and read the manuals (which may be more effective at putting you to sleep than anything else), a more visual and interactive learning approach is almost always the better option. Luckily, a high-quality learning experience may be just a few clicks away. Here are 14 places that will let you learn Photoshop for free, giving you all of the information you could want for the most reasonable price in the world."

"With so many Raspberry Pi projects to choose from, it can be tricky to find the one you really want to build. Our advice is to find a way to marry the Pi with something you really love. One great example is TV and movie robots - iconic characters from popular sci-fi that can be rebuild at home with a Raspberry Pi built in. Once constructed, your robot might be able to utter commands when a condition is met (perhaps a sensor detects motion). Or it might move around, learning about its surroundings, or reading information to you from Wikipedia. Whatever you have in mind, it should be relatively straightforward to plan and execute. It may take some time, however. Here are five example projects that show how you can combine a Raspberry Pi 2 or later with your favorite fictional robot. 5 Things Only a Raspberry Pi 2 Can Do 5 Things Only a Raspberry Pi 2 Can Do The latest edition of the pint-sized computer is awesome. So awesome, in fact, that there's 5 things you can only do on a Raspberry Pi 2. READ MORE 1. R2-D2 We've all wanted our very own astromech droid, haven't we? Sure, no one on earth is (currently) operating a light speed drive, but Star Wars droid R2-D2 has far greater abilities than onboard spacecraft maintenance. For instance, he can hold torches, carry a tray of drinks, and launch lightsabers across pits in the desert. Okay, it's unlikely you'll manage to get your own R2-D2 robot to do that… but don't let that put you off. Check out this little guy, controlled by a Raspberry Pi. While this project was based on an existing R2-D2 toy, that shouldn't limit your ambition. You'll find plenty of R2-D2 builds on YouTube. There's a massive R2-D2 building community online. Finding one that has a drive unit should be ideal for integrating a Raspberry Pi (and perhaps an Arduino, which you can use the two together) and developing a more realistic R2-D2 experience. Arduino vs Raspberry Pi: Which Is The Mini Computer For You? Arduino vs Rasp

"Say you're trying to solve a sudoku. You look at the various numbers that fill the squares and begin to work your way through the lines and boxes bit by bit, adding values and searching for any unused digits. If the puzzle is easy, you may be able to brute-force a solution. But what if the sudoku is a bit more challenging? As you look at the puzzle, you may notice how numbers seem to be arranged just so. A number here, a number there… In fact, by recognizing the arrangement of the numbers, you're able to solve the sudoku lightning fast. What's going on? It's all in the pattern."

" PreviousNext The True Meaning Behind 50 Flower Types By Janelle | source:HereDec 31st, 2019 Whether or not you realize it, you see flowers every day. A joyful budding bloom peeking through your window, rich and lavish arrangements perched on pristine vases, freshly cut stems ready to be sold in the market. But though you may admire the colors and fragrances of these flowers, do you ever stop to ponder past their beauty? What do they mean, and what do they symbolize? The etymology of flowers has indeed survived, shifted, and grown throughout thousands of years. Arisen from this is the term of floriography or 'the language of flowers'. This is defined as a cryptological communication through the arrangement or use of these flowers that can be seen as you trace through history. Though the term was first introduced in the seventeenth century, there is no arguing that the symbolism of flowers was well reflected through means of art, literature, and mythology at an even earlier age. There is a beautiful correlation between a flower's physical attributes and the meaning it takes possession of. For instance, the taraxacum-commonly known as a dandelion-comes from the French dent de lion, literally translating into 'lion's tooth'. If you have seen and touched an actual dandelion, you might be aware of the fact that its leaves are rather coarse, poking out like little teeth, yet with its sunny yellow hue, it is said to be a flower of hope and joy. Thus is the strange and amusing nature of the monikers and the meaning of flowers. As you grasp a better understanding of the soul of these petaled wonders, perhaps you may take an extra moment to stop and consider their beginnings. Whether you are choosing flowers for your wedding, picking a bouquet for your loved one, or simply gazing at a lone bloom, remember how they sprung from the fertile grass of our lands."

"So, why might silent reading need 'sorting out'? Along with the benefits that come along with silent reading, there is evidence that it may not be so effective as we may assume."

"School Design May Affect a Child's Grades"

"Is the PD day broken? Professional development days may do little to improve teaching"

"Welcome to this week's edition of Treasure Chest-98 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed."

"Welcome to this week's edition of Treasure Chest-91 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed."

"Welcome to this week's edition of Treasure Chest-73 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed. It's really difficult to keep up with all that happens in educational technology. This is my attempt to make it just a little easier. I post a Treasure Chest every Sunday!"

"Recent Free NonFiction Kindle Books (May 31, 2012) "

The best way to improve children's performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it.

In this Connect@NMC online seminar, Lee will share a bit on their development and video process for the unique style they call "Paperworks." This session is designed to be an open discussion, so please come with some questions you may want to ask Lee about his technique or some suggestions for what other topics should be explained in "Plain English." If you missed this session, you can now view the archived recording http://nmc.na3.acrobat.com/p92246187/

These images won't show up in search engines' image searches or on Flickr (save one exception), but instead can only be accessed via the links below. The images are a part of online collections created by institutions in the U.S. Some of the images may be a part of the public domain, but many will require permission or accreditation in order to use. So, no, these aren't necessarily images you can use in your next blog post, but that doesn't mean they're not useful. Instead, if given permission, these images could be used in the classroom, in private study, or even included in a media project or publication.