Quality Based Learning

Abilene State of the City address topics

Lachlan Dease — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:11:12 +0000

During Monday’s fifth State of the City address, Mayor Norm Archibald and Abilene ISD Superintendent Heath Burns highlighted projects and successes from the previous 12 months, including:

Pine Street corridor: the recently completed landscaped median “is going to be a big improvement to a corridor that is always changing,” Archibald said.

New tower at Abilene Regional Airport: Construction on the $9.24 million new tower, paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration, is the equivalent of a 10-story building and should be commissioned this spring.

Animal adoptions: The adoption rate at the Abilene Animal Shelter has nearly doubled the past two years thanks to increased focus on finding animals new homes.

Sales tax receipts up: Three weeks before the state releases sales tax receipts for December, which should show the typical Christmas boom, sales tax receipts are up 26.8 percent year to date.

Sign ordinance: The city’s proposed ordinance to regulate signs has encountered flak from business owners who say it will increase their cost of doing business.

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VCU Opera Receives Honor from National Opera Association

Imogen Radcliffe — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:24:49 +0000

VCU Opera’s spring 2011 production of “Hansel and Gretel” was awarded second prize in the National Opera Association’s (NOA) Opera Production competition. Entries in the competition were “blindly” judged in a videotaped performance and were divided into five categories based on production budget, size of overall music program and the level of vocal training of the cast members.

“Hansel and Gretel” was directed by music faculty members Melanie Kohn Day and Kenneth Wood and featured undergraduate students from the Department of Music’s Voice program.

Each spring, VCU Opera presents a full-length opera production, with costumes, sets and lights. According to Day,

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Primary school population to hit a 50-year high

Luca Kibble — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:04:20 +0000

Figures show almost 800,000 additional children aged 11 or under will be in state education by 2020 because of rising birth rates and the effects of immigration.

According to the Department for Education, the primary population is set to soar by a fifth – reaching its highest level since the early 70s.

The disclosure underlines the crisis facing local authorities in some areas that are being forced to cope with the biggest surge in school applications.

It also prompted fresh claims that Labour ignored repeated warnings over the looming population boom by cutting primary school places.

Local authorities in parts of London, the West Midlands and South West have already been forced to install mobile classrooms and educate children in church halls in recent years because of a shortage of space.

LAUSD board orders study on doing away with attendance boundaries

Luca Kibble — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:47:56 +0000

Expanding the debate on the future of Los Angeles Unified, a divided school board on Tuesday ordered a study on the pros and cons of erasing the district’s attendance boundaries.

Superintendent John Deasy will return in 90 days with a study that dovetails with another report he’s compiling on ways to increase the district’s sagging enrollment and expand its successful magnet program.

On a parallel track, administrators at underperforming schools are preparing their own plans to improve student achievement, beginning with the fall semester.

This convergence of events sparked vigorous debate among board members, who split 4-3 on whether to explore the attendance boundary issue.

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Sunday Afternoon…TWB Blitz

Imogen Radcliffe — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:45:04 +0000

#Rivalry

Good afternoon, everyone. I know youre all probably nursing well-earned hangovers, so I promise to type softly. Anyway, as you might know, I have a short segment called the Sunday Morning Twitter Blitz the morning after every game, where I break down what my eye saw from the game, adding my two cents. Well due largely to my access to a blog with wider circulation (than my twitter), the magnitude of yesterdays game, and the recruiting impact Ill be discussing, I decided to hop onto TWB for my thoughts this afternoon. Lets start off with the Game.

The defense was scary, but still played pretty well.

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Online Trading: Your Cutting-edge Strategy

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:16:08 +0000

Commodities trading is a great way to generate a stream of income. However, the place you trade and the method you use for your trading is just as important as the commodities you end up with. While every commodity has the potential to grow your wealth considerably within a short span of time, you will ultimately be more successful if you use a simpler strategy and a commodity trading platform you can easily navigate and trust to carry out your trades promptly. Full Post…

Collectors to exhibit their treasures at Florida Museum Jan. 21

Lachlan Dease — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:21:38 +0000

The Florida Museum of Natural History will display individuals collections from across the region during the 33rd annual Collectors Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 21.

At this free event, visitors may see more than 90 collections ranging from U.S. military uniforms and Beatles memorabilia to classic cars and dolls.

“Each collection is a representation of recent history, culture and passions,” said Florida Museum education assistant Tiffany Ireland. “Just as archaeologists study the artifacts from centuries ago, Collectors Day visitors can study the artifacts of the past century.”

Visitors may interact with collectors and discover the history behind their unique treasures.

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Having An Organized Home Office

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:08:54 +0000

As a work-at-home parent with young children, an organized home — especially a home office — is important. The more organized you are, the more time you save doing tedious tasks, and the more time you have for your children. The less time you’re worried about finding something in your home, the less stressed out you feel. Staying organized keeps happiness and structure in a home.

Keep The Personal Away From Business

Have a filing cabinet or space for each facet of your life. This makes dealing with bills and magazines separate from your children’s permission slips easy. In addition, it makes faxing from home simple. You Full Post…

Staffing a Successful IT Department

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:20:34 +0000

Business owners understand how important obtaining and maintaining a good staff is to their businesses. Owners want to make sure they can hire and retain staff that will make their business productive and profitable.

Image via Flickr

In this ever-advancing technological age, IT staffing is very important. Information technology is basically using technological tools to handle and treat information. Full Post…

Avoid Spyware and Malware-Ridden Toolbars on Your PC or Laptop

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:45:17 +0000

Image via Flickr

If you’ve ever downloaded anything from the Internet, you’ve probably been exposed to a strange, unannounced new toolbar that randomly crops up on your web browser. Toolbars are commonly embedded into game downloads and other software packages offered at large online, and they’re rarely as innocuous or helpful as they seem. Have Full Post…

Good Careers in a Tough Economy

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:14:05 +0000

When the economy is down, it is hard to achieve job stability because employers don’t want to spend more money than they have to; layoffs are also quite common. This increases stress levels all around. If you want to thrive in a tough economy, choose a career that is recession-proof. Y Full Post…

EKG technician schools and training

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:43:37 +0000

EKG technicians are very important members of the medical staff in any health care facility. That’s why many institutions offer EKG technician training today and you can easily begin your career in the medical industry.

The accreditation is one of the main criteria in choosing your future institute. E Full Post…

Adobe Lightroom 4 Public Beta Release!

Lachlan Dease — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:38:51 +0000

Today at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm EST, join Matt Kloskowski and Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty for the unveiling of The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Beta!

Tune in at KelbyTraining.com to get the scoop on all the latest features, enhancements, and updates from one of the leading experts on Lightroom, and the person who oversees its development, and get some of your questions answered.

You can download and check out the Lightroom 4 Beta right here, and check out the NAPP Lightroom Beta 4 Launch Center, and get more details over at Matts blog, LightroomKillerTips.com!

Sunshine Cup Leaders

Imogen Radcliffe — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:53:50 +0000

Florida high schools receive points for their success in each state sport, and several Brevard teams are ranked highly after the fall season. Here are those listed among leaders, with their rank and points:

Class 5A
9. Merritt Island 189

Class 4A public
1. Cocoa Beach 207
5. Cocoa 98

Class 3A private
6. Holy Trinity 215

Class 5A girls
5. Merritt Island 159

Class 4A public girls
1. Cocoa Beach 122

Class 4A public boys
3. Cocoa 93
5. Cocoa Beach 85

Class 3A private boys
3. Holy Trinity 115

To see more rankings, visit http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2012/0104.

Moving Beyond Political Rhetoric in International Comparisons

Luca Kibble — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:50:57 +0000

Making international comparisons about education systems was all the rage in 2011. Rhetoric suggested that America’s education system is performing so poorly that we as a nation have lost our competitive edge, and that the world’s emerging economies are out-educating us, which will result in the further decline of our nation.

I’m not sure if that rhetoric will stop in 2012, but it is time we move beyond it. How can we do that?

First off, in talking about our education system, we need to acknowledge that, as Dan Domenech (executive director of the American Association of School Administrators and chair of the Learning First Alliance Board of Directors) points out, it is actually the best that it has ever been. Gradu

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Homeschool Changes for New Year

Luca Kibble — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:13:17 +0000

Change if….

*your homeschool feels stagnant.

*your curriculum is not working out for your family.

*your schedule is causing too much stress for you or your children.

*you have a child who is struggling.

*you have a child who is advancing faster than his curriculum will allow.

*your homeschool is not defined by love, laughter, and then learning.

*your homeschool is putting strain on your marriage.

*you do not have time to snuggle and play with your children.

*your children do not have time to play and think freely throughout the day.

*you are controlled by your schedule instead of controlling your schedule.

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