Archive for November 2011
Why Are Smart Boards So Interesting?
A few months ago, I happened to be in a recently constructed middle school in Ohio, and I noticed that sitting in the corner was a smart board. I had to wonder, with a whiteboard, several computers, and a digital projector in the classroom, why did the school need to have this additional tool; especially with all the funding issues that we are having in our educational system?
In my position, I had often heard superintendents and principals advocating that they wanted additional smart board interactive technology in their classrooms as part of their new construction budget. Of course architects, engineers, and construction managers have their own ideas about how the money should be spent, but why is this type of technology so important to today’s school administrators?
Then I remembered something I heard in college a few years back. It’s not the teacher’s job to spoon feed everything to a student, but to motivate the student to learn on their own. I remember when I was younger that computers and technology were very interesting to me and captured my attention for longer spans than a teacher standing at a chalkboard. But spending money on technology just for the sake of having technology may not make sense to a board of education, or those who oversee the use of state funds. Can new technologies such as smart boards with student response systems actually create a positive change in the classroom?
Statistics aside, let’s just think for a moment. Kids love to play video games and text one another on their cellphones. My son, who’s very new to technology, already loves playing video games and typing on my computer keyboard. Given the choice, wouldn’t we all like to view a power point presentation instead of just listening to someone talk at a chalkboard? Of course, because we think in pictures and pictures allow us to retain information more easily.
In a recent study posted on the Smarttech.com website, and conducted by a Middle School Math Teacher at the Pickens county Middle School in Georgia, effectiveness of teaching (in the form of test results) was compared in classes with and without smart board technologies. The standardized testing scores were compared from one year to the next for several classes, and higher gains in average scores were recorded for those classrooms that used smart board technologies. Also, there were more students experiencing gains in their scores in the smart board classrooms (which is to say that the traditional classrooms had more students experiencing a drop in their standardized test scores). This study’s result shows just how important smart board use can be for districts who depend on federal funding that is now based largely upon the result of standardized testing.
I’ve also heard, however, that smart boards can be a distraction; particularly when teachers are unfamiliar with how to use the technology. Clearly the effectiveness of this tool depends on teacher training, and the classroom environment, and simply placing a high-priced labrinth in the corner of a classroom and calling it a “high-tech classroom” is not going to help students learn. Using the Smart Board tool correctly can make learning more effective and fun for students and teachers alike, and that’s very interesting.
Medical Expense Insurance
If you recall, we explained that there are two broad categories of health insurance policies: disability and medical expense. Thus far we have covered disability. Now we’ll take a look at basic medical expense insurance.
Basic medical expense policies provide for medical expenses that result from accidents and sickness. This is a loose term that refers to various medical, hospital and surgical benefits.
The broad category of medical expense coverage provides a wide range of benefits for hospital, surgical and medical care. Other benefits may apply as well, such as private nurses, convalescent care, and more.
Policies may be written as such that they may be limited to only one or two types of coverage like hospital or miscellaneous medical costs or surgical expenses. These are known as basic plans.
Other, more broadly written, policies may cover all expenses resulting from accident or illness using some specific exceptions.
Medical plans include fee-for-service wherein doctors and other providers receive a payment that does not exceed their billed charge for service provided.
Prepaid plans provide medical or hospital benefits in the form of service rather than dollars. Many things need to be considered when selecting a medical expense plan such as:
Specified coverage versus comprehensive care. In other words does the plan feature only specific benefits or is the coverage comprehensive?
Any provider versus a limited number of providers. Are you required to choose from a specific list of providers?
National versus regional operation. Is the plan limited to a specific geographical region or operate nationwide?
Insured versus subscribers. Are participants considered insureds (the person who receives the benefit) or subscribers (the person who is paying the premium)?
We are going to take a look at the limited coverage for hospital, medical and surgical expenses. Discussing this separately first, will help you to understand how the components are combined in major medical and comprehensive policies.
The broad definition of basic medical expense insurance in most states includes hospital, medical and surgical expenses. The purpose of this type of insurance is to cover a broad range of medical, hospital and surgical expenses as well as separate categories of medical expenses.
Let’s explore individual versus group coverage.
No matter how a policy is written, narrowly or broadly, medical expense insurance is designed to reimburse for the cost of care whether it results from injury or illness.
Both individual and group policies are available to consumers. Normally individual policies are more costly along with having limited benefits but generally speaking, both types cover the same medical services.
Hospital expense benefits provide for expenses incurred during
hospitalization. Indemnities usually fall under two broad groups:
* Room and board – including nursing care and special dietary requirements
* Miscellaneous medical expenses – including x-rays, lab work, medications, medical supplies and operating and special treatment rooms
In some cases, benefits might be included for certain surgeries and related costs like pain killers given during a hospital stay.
Room and board benefits may be paid based on indemnity or reimbursement depending upon the particular policy. When paid on an indemnity basis, the insurer pays a specified rate per day that has been pre-determined and is laid out in a schedule within the policy.
The schedule will spell out the details of the benefit coverage as it pertains to length of stay. Once the length of stay has been exhausted, no more benefits are available. These are sometimes called dollar amount plans and typically the number of days is from 90 up to 365.
More commonly used is a reimbursement basis, also known as an expenses-incurred basis. With this type of coverage the policy will pay in one of two ways – the actual charges for a semi-private room or a percentage of the actual charges. There are no specific dollar amounts but a maximum number of days will still be specified.
Preschool Bulletin Boards
Preschool bulletin boards are a great teaching tool as well as decoration for the classroom. They can be used to teach the children about holidays, seasons, a particular subject, shapes, colors, or just for fun. An interactive bulletin board is especially effective as it can be used for weeks on end to get across a particular objective.
For example, if you are learning about different animals, try making a bulletin board that is sectioned off into several different habitats. (Examples might be desert, ocean, forest, barnyard, etc.) Have the children place each animal in the correct habitat. You could even have different animal tracks to match the footprint each animal makes and see if the children can figure out the clues.
Seasonal bulletin boards are important in teaching children about the different seasons of the year. For fall, you could have each child trace their hand on colored paper to make “leaves” for a large tree. This can help them with tracing and cutting skills. If they’re learning to write their names, have them practice on their own leaves. A similar idea can be used for Christmas where each child gets to design and make ornaments for the Christmas tree on your preschool bulletin board.
Preschool children may have a basic understanding of a few major holidays such as Christmas or Easter, but bulletin boards are a great way for them to learn about other important special days throughout the year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Earth Day can also be easily incorporated into a preschool bulletin board and can teach your preschoolers valuable lessons about history, as well as other important values such as conservation (Earth Day), gratitude (Thanksgiving) and love (Valentine’s Day).
If you are learning about various shapes in your preschool class, try making a bulletin board that has plenty of multi-colored shapes attached with sticky tack. The children can move the shapes around and learn about making patterns at the same time they are learning their shapes!
With a little creativity almost any bulletin board can be interactive. Children love seeing their handiwork showcased. It makes them feel important and special. Having them “help” you make different materials for your preschool bulletin board may mean that it won’t look absolutely perfect, but it will save you a lot of extra work!
Having your students help with your bulletin boards has other advantages too. For example, when certain parents come in with a lengthy list of “helpful suggestions”(translation: everything you are doing wrong) you can distract them by saying, Oh look what little Jimmy made in class today! He is so talented! You must be so proud! Problem averted.
In all seriousness though, bulletin boards are a great way to showcase each child’s development as they learn. Even simple skills like coloring, drawing, gluing, tracing, and cutting are big milestones during this phase of life! You may just find that your preschool bulletin board quickly becomes the focal point of the room. Now go brainstorm and you’ll be amazed with what you can come up with!