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The National Center for Academic Transformation is devoted to improving learning and reducing cost in higher education.

"Schools across the country are increasingly starting to use mobile devices like tablets and smartphones as classroom tools. But some educators are still skeptical that devices will distract students as much or more than they enhance the learning environment. Because it's still fairly new, there have been few quantitative studies, but Project Tomorrow and Kajeet for Education recently completed a study of mobile learning among 136 fifth graders at Falconer Elementary School, a Chicago public school where 94 percent of students receive free and reduced lunch. The Making Learning Mobile Project study documents how four different fifth-grade teachers and their students used the tablets they were given both in class and at home once the school day was over."

"Incorporating exercise and movement throughout the school day makes students less fidgety and more focused on learning. Improving on-task behavior and reducing classroom management challenges are among the most obvious benefits of adding physical activities to your teaching toolkit. As research continues to explore how exercise facilitates the brain's readiness and ability to learn and retain information, we recommend several strategies to use with students and to boost teachers' body and brain health. "

"We published a post last year titled, "Why Good Teachers Quit." Nearly 70,000+ social shares-and scores of comments-later, and it's pretty clear that this idea (captured so well by Kay Bisaillon) is resonating with more teachers than we were aware. We've taken a few different approaches to the idea in the past, including 25 Ways To Reduce Teacher Burnout & Secrets For Teacher Survival, as well as The Best Teachers Don't Do What They're Told, as well as a recent post about "teaching differently." So here we are again, taking another look at teacher burnout, this time trying to understand how it happens. If you're increasingly tired, prone to the Sunday night blues, and have had your July's excitement increasingly replaced by a sense of dread, teacher burnout could be the reason why."

"It's a familiar classroom ritual - every June, teachers assign summer reading. And every September, students come back to school having read too few books. This is frustrating for teachers, and challenging for students. When kids aren't in school, they forget crucial skills they learned during the year - at least a month of reading achievement, on average. This so-called "summer slide" is particularly pernicious in children from low-income families. Low-income students often walk through the door of their kindergartens already behind their more fortunate peers because of a mix of poverty, poorer health, less parental education, and higher rates of single and teenage parents. With limited access to books and other academic opportunities in the summer, these children experience the summer slide threefold. Over time, this adds up. By third grade, children who can't read at their grade level (a whopping 73 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) begin to struggle with other subjects. Students living in poverty who cannot read proficiently by third grade are 13 times less likely to graduate from high school. By ninth grade, some have estimated that two-thirds of the reading achievement gap can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. There is good news: Stemming the summer slide isn't impossible. Students who read just four to six books over the summer maintain their skills (they need to turn more pages to actually become better readers.)"

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Twitulater is a Twitter client meant to reduce information overload for power twitterers.

Teachers spend out-of-pocket money each year for their classes and this can really add up. To help reduce those costs and enhance your classroom, take advantage of the following ways to get free stuff. From audio books to activity kits to free software, you will find something in this list that you can use with your students.

"These education apps are designed to take advantage of the digital capabilities of iPod Touches and iPhones. They also reduce or even eliminate the need for other digital devices, such as a Netbook computer. One example is an app which turns an iPod Touch into a graphing calculator. There are also several EBook applications which allow you to read books and documents in plain text, PDF, html, Kindle, or Nook formats. "

Good recommendations to reduce eye strain.

"Phrases like "random acts of kindness" and "pay it forward" have become popular terms in modern society. Perhaps this could be best explained by those who have identified a deficiency in their lives that can only be fulfilled by altruism. It seems that we just can't get enough of those addictive, feel-good emotions -- and with good reason. Scientific studies prove that kindness has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. And children need a healthy dose of the warm-and-fuzzies to thrive as healthy, happy, well-rounded individuals. Patty O'Grady, PhD, an expert in neuroscience, emotional learning, and positive psychology, specializes in education. She reports: Kindness changes the brain by the experience of kindness. Children and adolescents do not learn kindness by only thinking about it and talking about it. Kindness is best learned by feeling it so that they can reproduce it. A great number of benefits have been reported to support teaching kindness in schools, best summed up by the following."

"By now, saying that "the iPad is a great tool for customizing the classroom" wouldn't exactly be breaking news. But while this holds true for every student, each of whom learns in their own way, iPads are truly a lifeline for students with learning disabilities and the people who work hand-in-hand with them. For these students, iPads act as a translation, communication, and individualization tool with unrivaled effectiveness. In so doing, these devices reduce frustration, build confidence, and, well, just work in teaching students the skills they need to learn to thrive. Let's take a look at a few more ways iPads are altering the classroom landscape for students with learning disabilities."

"Sitting is undeniably one of the comfiest ways to arrange your body. Almost as good as lounging, really, and just short of "dangling worry-free from hammock." But it has acquired a very bad rap over the past few years. A bad rap it doesn't quite deserve. Studies say sitting will kill us in all sorts of ways. It will kill us by heart attacks, kidney diseases, chronic diseases, and colorectal cancer. If it doesn't outright murder us, it will shorten our life expectancy and give us mental health issues. Sitting has been compared to smoking. It is the reason I panic-purchased an exercise ball chair from the internet. It is the reason fancier people buy stand-up desks and treadmill desks and have jogging meetings. New research from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings joins the pile-on. As Outside pointed out, the Mayo researchers found that every hour you sit reduces the gains of your daily workout by eight percent. Are those of us who spend our days in offices, homes, or cafes huddled in front of our computers, taking notes in lecture halls, or otherwise engaged in activities that generally require butt-to-chair contact really so screwed? "

"There's a ton of buzz in the education world about how dwindling school budgets and pressure to improve test scores are taking time away from recess and physical education so that students can spend more time in the classroom. Despite more time in the classroom sounding like something that would drive academic performance, research shows a strong connection that reduced physical activity limits a student's ability to learn. With growing rates of childhood obesity and its associated issues, there's more reason than ever to make sure to include some physical movement into the classroom. The handy infographic below takes a look at some of the statistics about classroom movement (or the lack thereof!) Do you incorporate movement into your classroom on a regular basis? How? Have you encountered resistance or other issues getting the time allocated? "

"Educational games, or "edutainment," can sometimes be presented as "chocolate-covered broccoli"-that is, learning sugarcoated with fun.  An example is a game that tasks players with reducing fractions to destroy aliens.  Here, the mechanics of play (actions taken in a game) are misaligned with the learning goal. In the past few years, innovative designers smartly began marrying game mechanics to learning goals.  One example is The Land of Venn, in which the mechanic of drawing points, lines, and shapes clearly correlates to the game's goal.  Players draw lines to learn about line"

"You hear a lot of advice about how to reduce stress at work. But most of it is about what to do over the long term - take up yoga, eat a healthy diet, keep a journal, or get more sleep. But what do you do when you're overcome with stress in the moment - at your desk, say, or in a meeting? Perhaps you've heard bad news from a client or were assigned yet another project. How can you regain control?"

Computer repair is a common chapter, though not of the common interest. You could have experienced computer problems - hardware or software related. Sometimes, easy to fix with just a restart, while at other occasions seeking expert's hand might have become essential. Lucky in case, system was in-warranty, otherwise, computer repair charges might have given a jolt. Techvedic, your friendly online computer support vendor, narrates 5 simple tips to save or reduce computer repair bill.

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