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Interactive Techniques
These techniques have multiple benefits: the instructor can easily and quickly assess if students have really mastered the material (and plan to dedicate more time to it, if necessary), and the process of measuring student understanding in many cases is also practice for the material—often students do not actually learn the material until asked to make use of it in assessments such as these. Finally, the very nature of these assessments drives interactivity and brings several benefits. Students are revived from their passivity of merely listening to a lecture and instead become attentive and engaged, two prerequisites for effective learning. These techniques are often perceived as "fun," yet they are frequently more effective than lectures at enabling student learning.
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Not all techniques listed here will have universal appeal, with factors such as your teaching style and personality influencing which choices may be right for you.
- Instructor Action: Lecture
- Instructor Action: Lecture (Small Class Size)
- Student Action: Individual
- Student Action: Pairs
- Student Action: Groups
- YouTube
- Wikis
- Blogs
- Clickers, Student Responses, and Alternatives
- Creating Groups
- Icebreakers
- Games (Useful for Review)
- Interaction Through Homework
- Student Questions
- Role-Play
- Student Presentations
- Brainstorming
- Online Interaction
Best Practices from YouTube
The following YouTube videos contain some valuable, practical wisdom related to the classroom assessment techniques found below:
Instructor Action: Lecture
- Picture Prompt– Show students an image with no explanation, and ask them to identify/explain it, and justify their answers. Or ask students to write about it using terms from lecture, or to name the processes and concepts shown. Also works well as group activity. Do not give the "answer" until they have explored all options first.
- Think Break – Ask a rhetorical question, and then allow 20 seconds for students to think about the problem before you go on to explain. This technique encourages students to take part in the problem-solving process even when discussion isn't feasible. Having students write something down (while you write an answer also) helps assure that they will in fact work on the problem.
- Choral Response – Ask a one-word answer to the class at large; volume of answer will suggest degree of comprehension. Very useful to "drill" new vocabulary words into students.
- Instructor Storytelling – Instructor illustrates a concept, idea, or principle with a real-life application, model, or case-study.
- Socratic Questioning – The instructor replaces lecture by peppering students with questions, always asking the next question in a way that guides the conversation toward a learning outcome (or major Driving Question) that was desired from the beginning.
- Reverse Socratic Questioning – The instructor requires students to ask him/her questions, and the instructor answers in such a way as to goad another question immediately but also drive the next student question in a certain direction.
- Pass the Pointer – Place a complex, intricate, or detailed image on the screen and ask for volunteers to temporarily borrow the laser pointer to identify key features or ask questions about items they don't understand.
- Empty Outlines – Distribute a partially completed outline of today's lecture and ask students to fill it in. Useful at start or at end of class.
- Classroom Opinion Polls – Informal hand-raising suffices to test the waters before a controversial subject.
- Discussion Row – Students take turns sitting in a front row that can earn extra credit as individuals when they volunteer to answer questions posed in class; this provides a group that will ALWAYS be prepared and interact with teacher questions.
- Total Physical Response (TPR) – Students either stand or sit to indicate their binary answers, such as True/False, to the instructor's questions.
- Student Polling – Select some students to travel the room, polling the others on a topic relevant to the course, then report back the results for everyone.
- Self-Assessment of Ways of Learning – Prepare a questionnaire for students that probes what kind of learning style they use, so the course can match visual/aural/tactile learning styles.
- Quote Minus One– Provide a quote relevant to your topic but leave out a crucial word and ask students to guess what it might be: "I cannot forecast to you the action of ______; it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." This engages them quickly in a topic and makes them feel invested.
- Everyday Ethical Dilemmas – Present an abbreviated case study with an ethical dilemma related to the discipline being studied.
- Polar Opposites– Ask the class to examine two written-out versions of a theory (or corollary, law of nature, etc.), where one is incorrect, such as the opposite or a negation of the other. In deciding which is correct, students will have to examine the problem from all angles.
- Pop Culture – Infuse your lectures, case studies, sample word problems for use during class with current events from the pop culture world. Rather than citing statistics for housing construction, for instance, illustrate the same statistical concept you are teaching by inventing statistics about something students gossip about, like how often a certain pop star appears in public without make-up.
- Make Them Guess – Introduce a new subject by asking an intriguing question, something that few will know the answer to (but should interest all of them). Accept blind guessing for a while before giving the answer to build curiosity.
- Make It Personal – Design class activities (or even essays) to address the real lives of the individual students. Instead of asking for reflections on Down's Syndrome, ask for personal stories of neurological problems by a family member or anyone they have ever met.
- Read Aloud – Choose a small text (500 words or less) to read aloud, and ask students to pay particular attention during this phase of lecture. A small text read orally in a larger lecture can focus attention.
- Punctuated Lectures – Ask student to perform five steps: listen, stop, reflect, write, give feedback. Students become self-monitoring listeners.
- Word of the Day – Select an important term and highlight it throughout the class session, working it into as many concepts as possible. Challenge students to do the same in their interactive activities.
- Recall, Summarize, Question, Connect, and Comment – This method of starting each session (or each week) has five steps to reinforce the previous session's material: recall it, summarize it, phrase a remaining question, connect it to the class as a whole, and comment on that class session.
- Focused Listing – List several ideas related to the main focus point. Helpful for starting new topics.
- Background Knowledge Probe – Use questionnaire (multi-choice or short answer) when introducing a new topic.
- Goal Ranking and Matching – Students rank their goals for the class, then instructor combines those with her own list.
- Interest/Knowledge/Skills Checklist – Assesses interest and preparation for the course, and can help adjust teaching agenda.
- Documented Problem Solutions – Keep track of the steps needed to solve specific types of problems. Model a list for students first and then ask them to perform similar steps.
- Provocative Picture – Begin the lecture with a picture meant to provoke discussion
or emotion (another option: a cartoon). back to top
Instructor Action: Lecture (Small Class Size)
- Pass the Chalk – Provide chalk or a soft toy; whoever has it must answer your next question, and they pass it on to the student of their choice.
- Pass the Dart – Like Pass the Chalk, use a real dartboard to decide which student must answer the next question (student names are arranged on the dartboard already).
- Beach Ball Bingo – Write questions or prompts onto all surfaces of a beach ball (or tape them on). When the next student catches the ball, he/she answers one of the questions where fingers are touching the ball.
- Quaker Meeting – Students highlight key passages of the reading, and there is silence (like a Quaker meeting) until someone wants to read his/her out, and others follow. End with brief writing about what they learned from the sentences.
- Town Hall Meeting – Abdicate the front of the room for a student willing to speak out on a controversial subject, and when she is done with her comment, she selects the next speaker from the hands raised.
- The Half Class Lecture – Divide the class in half and provide reading material to one half. Lecture on that same material to the other half of the class. Then, switch the groups and repeat, ending with a recap by pairing up members of opposite groups.
- Tournament – Divide the class into at least two groups and announce a competition for most points on a practice test. Let them study a topic together and then give that quiz, tallying points. After each round, let them study the next topic before quizzing again. The points should be carried over from round to round. The student impulse for competition will focus their engagement onto the material itself.
- Three Part Interview – Pose the following question to the entire class: "What do you
think are the three biggest issues related to ____." Choose the student with the birthday
closest to today's date and have them stand and share their 3 responses to the question
for one minute. Move clockwise around the room until all have shared. back to top
Student Action: Individual (many of these can be used as partnerwork or groupwork instead; or may escalate to that after some individual effort)
- One-Minute Papers – Students write for one minute on a specific question (which might be generalized to "what was the most important thing you learned today"). Best used at the end of the class session.
- Muddiest Point – Like the Minute Paper, but asks for the "most confusing" point instead. Best used at the end of the class session.
- Misconception Check – Discover class's preconceptions. Useful for starting new chapters.
- Drawing for Understanding – Students illustrate an abstract concept or idea. Comparing drawings around the room can clear up misconceptions.
- Turn Taking Reading – Instead of the instructor reading a paragraph on screen (or leaving silence for students to do it), instruct them we will sit in silence until someone is moved to read ONE sentence, then someone else – anyone – will start the next sentence. Adds "good" tension and raises energy.
- Haiku – Students write a haiku (a three-line poem: 5-syllables, then 7, then 5) on a given topic or concept, and then share it with others.
- Board of Artwork – Post publicly the collected drawings / abstract concepts that students turned in for a previous activity and create an opportunity for discussion and debrief.
- Voting Dots – Provide colored dot stickers to students and ask them to "vote" on statements they agree with the most, by using up their limited dot supply on the pre-written topics displayed around the room on poster boards.
- Circle the Questions – Pre-make a handout that has a few dozen likely student questions (make them specific) on your topic for that day and ask students to circle the ones they don't know the answers to, then turn in the paper.
- Ask the Winner – Ask students to silently solve a problem on the board. After revealing the answer, instruct those who got it right to raise their hands (and keep them raised); then, all other students are to talk to someone with a raised hand to better understand the question and how to solve it next time.
- What's the Principle – After recognizing the problem, students assess what principle to apply in order to solve it. Helps focus on problem TYPES rather than individual specific problems. Principle(s) should be listed out.
- Infographic – Students use online services (visual.ly, infogr.am) to create an infographic that combines flowchart logic and visual presentation
- Bookmark Notes - Distribute full-length paper to be used as a bookmark for the current chapter. On it, record prompts and other "reading questions", and require students to record their notes, observations, and objections while reading onto these bookmarks for collection and discussion in class.
- True or False? – Distribute index cards (one to each student) on which is written a statement. Half of the cards will contain statements that are true, half false. Students decide if theirs is one of the true statements or not, using whatever means they desire. Variation: designate half the room a space for those who think their statements are true, and the other half for false.
- "Real-World" – Have students discuss in class how a topic or concept relates to a real-world application or product. Then have students write about this topic for homework. Variation: ask them to record their answer on index cards.
- Concept Mapping – Students write keywords onto sticky notes and then organize them into a flowchart. Could be less structured: students simply draw the connections they make between concepts.
- Advice Letter – Students write a letter of advice to future students on how to be successful students in that course.
- Tabloid Titles– Ask students to write a tabloid-style headline that would illustrate the concept currently being discussed. Share and choose the best.
- Bumper Stickers – Ask students to write a slogan-like bumper sticker to illustrate a particular concept from lecture. Variation: can be used to ask them to sum up the entire course in one sentence.
- One-Sentence Summary – Summarize the topic into one sentence that incorporates all of who/what/when/where/why/how creatively.
- Directed Paraphrasing – Students asked to paraphrase part of a lesson for a specific audience (and a specific purpose).
- Word Journal – First, summarize the entire topic on paper with a single word. Then use a paragraph to explain your word choice.
- Truth Statements – Either to introduce a topic or check comprehension, ask individuals to list out "It is true that..." statements on the topic being discussed. The ensuing discussion might illustrate how ambiguous knowledge is sometimes.
- Objective Check – Students write a brief essay in which they evaluate to what extent their work fulfills an assignment's objectives.
- Opposites – Instructor lists out one or more concepts, for which students must come up with an antonym, and then defend their choice.
- Student Storytelling – Students are given assignments that make use of a given concept in relation to something that seems personally relevant (such as requiring the topic to be someone in their family).
- Application to Major – During last 15 minutes of class, ask students to write a short article about how the point applies to their major.
- Pro and Con Grid – Students list out the pros and cons for a given subject.
- Harvesting – After an experience/activity in class, ask students to reflect on "what" they learned, "so what" (why is it important and what are the implications), and "now what" (how to apply it or do things differently).
- Chain Notes – Instructor pre-distributes index cards and passes around an envelope, on which is written a question relating to the learning environment (i.e., are the group discussions useful?) Students write a very brief answer, drop in their own card, and pass the envelope to the next student.
- Focused Autobiographical Sketches – Focuses on a single successful learning experience, one relevant to the current course.
- Course-Related Self-Confidence Surveys – Simple questions that measure how self-confident students are when it comes to a specific skill. Once they become aware they can do it, they focus on it more.
- Profiles of Admirable Individuals – Students write a brief profile of an individual in a field related to the course. Students assess their own values and learn best practices for this field.
- Memory Matrix – Identify a key taxonomy and then design a grid that represents those interrelationships. Keep it simple at first. Avoid trivial or ambiguous relationships, which tend to backfire by focusing students on superficial kinds of learning. Although probably most useful in introductory courses, this technique can also be used to help develop basic study skills for students who plan to continue in the field
- Categorizing Grid – Hand out rectangles divided into cells and a jumbled listing of terms that need to be categorized by row and column.
- Defining Features Matrix – Hand out a simple table where students decide if a defining feature is PRESENT or ABSENT. For instance, they might have to read through several descriptions of theories and decide if each refers to behaviorist or constructivist models of learning.
- What/How/Why Outlines – Write brief notes answering the what / how / why questions when analyzing a message or text.
- Approximate Analogies – Students provide the second half of an analogy (A is to B as X is to Y).
- Problem Recognition Tasks – Offer case studies with different types of problems and ask students to identify the TYPE of problem (which is different from solving it)
- Switch it up! – Ask students to work on one problem for a few minutes and intentionally move to a second problem without debriefing the first one, then solve the second one and only then return to the first one for more work. A carefully chosen second problem can shed light on the first problem, but this also works well if the problems are not directly related to each other.
- Reading Rating Sheets – Students fill out a ratings sheet on the course readings, on how clear, useful, and interesting it was.
- Assignment Assessments – Students give feedback on their homework assignments, and evaluate them as learning tools.
- Exam Evaluations – Students explain what they are learning from exams, and evaluate the fairness, usefulness, and quality of tests.
- Group-Work Evaluations – Questionnaires asking how effective groupwork has been in the class.
- Teacher-Designed Feedback Forms – Rather than use standardized evaluation forms, teachers create ones tailored for their needs and their classes. Especially useful midway through the term.
- Writing Fables – Students write an animal fable (or at least sketch its outline) that
will lead to a one-sentence moral matching the current concept discussed in class.
May be done verbally instead. back to top
Student Action: Pairs
- Think-Pair-Share – Students share and compare possible answers to a question with a partner before addressing the larger class.
- Pair-Share-Repeat – After a pair-share experience, ask students to find a new partner and debrief the wisdom of the old partnership to this new partner.
- Wisdom of Another – After any individual brainstorm or creative activity, partner students up to share their results. Then, call for volunteers of students who found their partner's work to be interesting or exemplary. Students are sometimes more willing to share in plenary the work of fellow students than their own work.
- Forced Debate – Students debate in pairs, but must defend the opposite side of their personal opinion. Variation: half the class take one position, half the other. They line up and face each other. Each student may only speak once, so that all students on both sides can engage the issue.
- Optimist/Pessimist – In pairs, students take opposite emotional sides of a conversation. This technique can be applied to case studies and problem solving as well.
- Teacher and Student - Individually brainstorm the main points of the last homework, then assign roles of teacher and student to pairs. The teacher's job is to sketch the main points, while the student's job is to cross off points on his list as they are mentioned, but come up with 2-3 ones missed by the teacher.
- Peer Review Writing Task – To assist students with a writing assignments, encourage them to exchange drafts with a partner. The partner reads the essay and writes a three-paragraph response: the first paragraph outlines the strengths of the essay, the second paragraph discusses the essay's problems, and the third paragraph is a description of what the partner would focus on in revision, if it were her essay.
- Invented Dialogues – Students weave together real quotes from primary sources, or invent ones to fit the speaker and context.
- My Christmas Gift – Students mentally select one of their recent gifts as related to or emblematic of a concept given in class, and must tell their partners how this gift relates to the concept. The one with a closer connection wins.
- Psychoanalysis – Students get into pairs and interview one another about a recent learning unit. The focus, however, is upon analysis of the material rather than rote memorization. Sample Interview Questions: Can you describe to me the topic that you would like to analyze today? What were your attitudes/beliefs before this topic? How did your attitudes/beliefs change after learning about this topic? How will/have your actions/decisions altered based on your learning of this topic? How have your perceptions of others/events changed?
- Get One, Give One – Students fold a piece of paper in half and write "Give One" on one side and "Get One" on the other side. On the "Give One" side, as them to write four insights from today's material. Have them stand up and find a partner. Each student shares one idea from their "Give One" side of the paper and writes down one idea on the "Get One" side of the paper. Find a new partner until your "Get One" side of paper is full of new ideas!
- Comparing Notes – At regular intervals in the lecture, allow students to share and
compare notes to review and reinforce understanding. back to top
Student Action: Groups
- Jigsaw (Group Experts) – Give each group a different topic. Re-mix groups with one planted "expert" on each topic, who now has to teach his new group. Also useful to have them teach each other sections of the syllabus on the first day.
- Board Rotation – Assign groups of students to each of the boards you have set up in the room (four or more works best), and assign one topic/question per board. After each group writes an answer, they rotate to the next board and write their answer below the first, and so on around the room. Variation: pass around flipchart paper with the same task.
- Pass the Problem – Divide students into groups. Give the first group a case or a problem and ask them to identify (and write down) the first step in solving the problem or analyzing the case (3 minutes). Pass the problem on to the next group and have them identify the next step. Continue until all groups have contributed.
- Pick the Winner– Divide the class into groups and have all groups work on the same problem and record an answer/strategy on paper. Then, ask groups to switch with a nearby group, and evaluate their answer. After a few minutes, allow each set of groups to merge and ask them to select the better answer from the two choices, which will be presented to the class as a whole.
- Layered Cake Discussion - Every table/group works on the same task for a few minutes, then there's a plenary debrief for the whole class, and finally repeat with a new topic to be discussed in the groups.
- Student Learning Communities – Like faculty learning communities, these communities of practice are meant to invest the participants with ownership and a focus on sharing and joint discovery. Can be structured or unstructured.
- Lecture Reaction – Divide the class into four groups after a lecture: questioners (must ask two questions related to the material), example givers (provide applications), divergent thinkers (must disagree with some points of the lecture), and agreers (explain which points they agreed with or found helpful). After discussion, brief the whole class.
- Movie Application – In groups, students discuss examples of movies that made use of a concept or event discussed in class, trying to identify at least one way the movie-makers got it right, and one way they got it wrong.
- Student Pictures – Ask students to bring their own pictures from home to illustrate a specific concept to their working groups.
- Definitions and Applications – In groups, students provide definitions, associations, and applications of concepts discussed in lecture.
- TV Commercial– In groups, students create a 30-second TV commercial for the subject currently being discussed in class. Variation: ask them to act out their commercials.
- Blender– Students silently write a definition or brainstorm an idea for several minutes on paper. Then they form into groups, and two of them read their ideas and integrate elements from each. A third student reads his, and again integration occurs with the previous two, until finally everyone in the group has been integrated (or has attempted integration).
- Human Tableau or Class Modeling – Groups create living scenes (also of inanimate objects) which relate to the classroom concepts or discussions.
- Build From Restricted Components– Provide limited resources (or a discrete list of ideas that must be used) and either literally or figuratively dump them on the table, asking students in groups to construct a solution using only these things (note: may be familiar from the Apollo 13 movie). If possible, provide red herrings, and ask students to construct a solution using the minimum amount of items possible.
- Ranking Alternatives – Teacher gives a situation, everyone thinks up as many alternative courses of action (or explanations of the situation) as possible. Compile list. In groups, now rank them by preference.
- Simulation – Place the class into a long-term simulation (like as a business) to enable Problem-Based Learning (PBL).
- Group Instructional Feedback Technique – Someone other than the teacher polls groups on what works, what doesn't, and how to fix it, then reports them to the teacher.
- Classroom Assessment Quality Circles – A small group of students forms a "committee" on the quality of teaching and learning, which meets regularly and includes the instructor.
- Audio and Videotaped Protocols – Taping students while they are solving problems assesses the learner's awareness of his own thinking.
- Imaginary Show and Tell – Students pretend they have brought an object relevant to current discussion, and "display" it to the class while talking about its properties.
- Six Degrees of "RNA Transcription Errors" – Like the parlor game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" (in which actors are linked by joint projects), you provide groups with a conceptual start point and challenge them to leap to a given concept in six moves or fewer. One student judge in each group determines if each leap is fair and records the nature of the leaps for reporting back to the class.
- Sticky Note Discussions – Divide students into cooperative groups and have them read
individually. Ask them to use sticky notes to mark places that they want to talk about
in the text. Then direct them to reread as a group and discuss the parts they have
marked. back to top
- Replace Discussion Boards - Create a Facebook "group" (private/invite only) and use the Wall as the class discussion board. Students are notified by home page notification when someone replies to their thread.
- Notify Students Quickly – Posting to Facebook will reach your students much faster than an email, because most of them check Facebook regularly.
- Fan Page - An alternative to a group is a "fan" page, which has the advantage that your "status updates" will show up for students on their Live Feed. Disadvantage: some students turn off Live Feed and only see status updates of their friends.
- Direct Facebook Friendship - Allowing your students to "friend" you will give you
unfettered access to them (unless they've set up a special role for you), but more
importantly, your status updates will be visible to them on the home page (unless
they block you manually). Disadvantage: too much information will be revealed on both
sides, unless both you and the students set up "lists" with limited access allowed.
back to top
- Report from the Field – Students use smart phones to record their observations while witnessing an event/location related to the course of study, capturing more honest and spontaneous reactions
- Twitter Clicker Alternative - In large classes, a hashtag can amalgamate all posts by your students in one place, giving them a free-response place to provide feedback or guess at a right answer. Also useful for brainstorming.
- Backchannel Conversations in Large Classes – unlike a whispered conversation, a Twitter conversation (searchable by agreed-upon hashtag) becomes a group discussion. Students may also help out other students who missed a brief detail during the lecture.
- Follow an Expert – Luminaries in many disciplines, as well as companies and governmental agencies, often publish a Twitter feed. Reading such updates provides a way to stay current.
- Tweeted Announcements- Instead of Blackboard, use Twitter to send out announcements like cancelled classes.
- Twitter Pictures and URLs - Twitpic and other services allows for photo upload to twitter; bit.ly and other "link shorteners" allow for pasting long URLs as short ones.
- Student Summaries- Make one student the "leader" for tweets; she posts the top five important concepts from each session to twitter (one at a time); other students follow her feed and RT for discussion/disagreements
- Historical Tweets – Students roleplay as historical figures (Lincoln, Napoleon) or fictional characters (Hamlet, Three Little Pigs) and tweet as if in specific contexts.
- Quick Contact- Since sharing cell phone numbers is risky, instructors may wish to let students follow them on Twitter and send Direct Messages that way.
- Community-Building- A Twitter group for your specific class creates inclusiveness and belonging.
- Twitter Projects- Tweetworks and other apps can enable student groups to communicate with each other more easily.
- Brainstorm- Small Twitter assignments can yield unexpected brainstorming by students, since it's happening "away" from the LMS.
- Twitter Poll- PollDaddy and other apps enable Twitter to gather interest, information, attitudes, and guesses.
- Post Links- News stories and other websites can be linked via Twitter (services such
as bit.ly will shorten URLs). back to top
- Video Demonstrations- Using a webcam, record a demonstration relevant to your topic and post it to YouTube.
- Student Videos - Student projects, presentations, or speeches can take the form of video instead of PowerPoint, and uploaded for the class to see.
- Closed Eyes Method – To prevent students at home from "reading" presentations (such as poem recitations) that were supposed to be memorized for YouTube upload, require them to give the performance with their eyes closed.
- Interactive Video Quizzes - Using annotations (text boxes) and making them hyperlinks to other uploaded videos, instructors can construct an on-screen "multiple choice" test leading to differentiated video reactions, depending on how the student answers. Requires filming multiple videos and some editing work.
- Movie Clips - Show brief segments of popular movies to illustrate a point, start a conversation, have students hunt for what the movie gets wrong, etc.
- Embed Into PowerPoint - YouTube videos can be embedded into PPT as long as there is an active Internet connection; create a Shockwave Flash object in the Developer tab, and add the URL for "Movie" in the properties (the URL will need to replace "watch?=v/" with just "/v/"). Alternative: use one-button plugin from iSpring Free.
- Shared Account – Instructor creates a generic YouTube username/account and gives the
password to everyone in the class, so student uploads all go to the same place. back to top
- Group Wiki Projects - Instead of emailing a document (or PPT) back and forth, student groups can collaborate in real time with a free wiki such as wikispaces.com
- Wiki Class Notes - Offering a class wiki for the optional sharing of lecture notes aids students who miss class, provides a tool for studying, and helps students see the material from more than one perspective.
- Wiki Lab Manual – A variant of the class notes idea, a lab book is more produced and
colorful, with images and YouTube videos embedded by requirement, as if the students
were building a book for another crop of students in a future semester. back to top
- Questions to Students- Use the blog to "push" questions and discussion prompts to students like you would email, but in a different forum.
- Provide Links- The native HTML nature of the blog makes it easy to give links to news stories and relevant websites.
- Substitute for Blackboard Discussion Board- Students can comment on each post (or previous comment) and engage in a dialogue that is similar to Blackboard, but while out in the Internet in general.
- Electronic Role Play - Students create their own blogs, and write diary-type entries
while role-playing as someone central to your content. back to top
Clickers, Student Responses, and Alternatives
- Handheld Clicker – External vendors provide hardware (receivers) to faculty for free, and students buy a handheld device (usually $20) and maybe also online access by semester. Vendors include iClicker, CPS, and Turningpoint
- Cloud-Based Clicker Alternatives – External vendors that use a website to track student input data using their own devices (laptop, smartphone, etc) and the campus wi-fi. Vendors charge students per semester (usually $20); there is no hardware for faculty members. Examples include LearningAnalytics, Top Hat Monocle, and Via Response.
- PollEverywhere – Cloud-based clicker alternative that uses cell phone texting (SMS) for student responses. Business model calls for faculty-centered payment by user, but the free option suffices for anonymous polling of up to 35 students.
- Hand Held Response Cards – Distribute (or ask students to create) standardized cards that can be held aloft as visual responses to instructor questions. Example: hand-write a giant letter on each card to use in multiple choice questions.
- Color Boards – Students are issued (or create their own) a set of four paper-sized cards. These can be used to vote on questions raised in class by lifting the appropriate board into the air. Optionally, the back of each card should be white so students do not see what others have answered.
- Fingers on Chest – Students vote on multiple choice questions by showing a finger
count (1 through 4). Rather than raise them into the air, they hold their fingers
across their chests so other students don't see what the majority is voting. back to top
Creating Groups
- Quick Division – Divide your class into two roughly equal segments for simultaneous, parallel tasks by invoking their date of birth: "if your birthday falls on an odd-numbered day, do task X...if your birthday is even, do task Y." Other variations include males and females, months of birth, odd or even inches in their height (5'10" vs 5'11").
- Question and Answer Cards – Make index cards for every student in the class; half with questions about class content; half with the right answers. Shuffle the cards and have students find their appropriate partner by comparing questions and answers on their own cards.
- Telescoping Images – When you need the class to form new groups, craft sets of index cards that will be grouped together by theme, and randomly pass them out for students to seek the other members of their new groups. Example: one set of four index cards has pictures of Europe on a map, then France, then the Eiffel Tower, then a person wearing a beret (thematically, the images "telescope" from far away to close up, and the students must find others in their particular set of telescoping images).
- Speed Sharing – Students write definitions, concepts, quiz questions, etc. on index cards and form two concentric circles, facing each other. For thirty seconds (or 60), they share their knowledge with the person opposite them. Then, the outer circle "rotates" so that everyone has a new partner, and the sharing is repeated. This can be done until each student has completed the circuit.
- Trio Rotation – Group students into threes, and arrange the groups into a large circle. Each team of three works on a problem. Then, each team assigns a 1, 2, and 3 number to each person. The 1's stay put, but the 2's rotate clockwise and the 3's rotate counterclockwise. Newly formed teams then work on a new problem.
- Go to Your Post – Tape a sign onto opposite sides of the walls with different preferences (different authors, skills, a specific kind of problem to solve, different values) and let students self-select their working group
- Four Corners – Put up a different topic in each corner of the room and ask students to pick one, write their ideas about it down, then head to "their" corner and discuss opinions with others who also chose this topic.
- Deck of Cards – Use playing cards to form groups by suit (clubs, hearts, etc), by
card (kinds, jacks), or by number. You can pre-assign roles by card. back to top
- Introduce Your Partner's Non-Obvious Trait– Students partner up and are tasked with learning one thing about the other person that is not obvious by looking at them. Then, they introduce their partner to the larger class. Instructors can use this time to record a crude seating chart of the students and begin to learn their names.
- Scrapbook Selection – Put students in groups and give each group a big pile of printed photos (best if laminated – maybe different shapes/sizes?) Ask them to choose one as a group that epitomizes their reaction/definition of the topic being discussed, and explain why.
- Brush with Fame– Students relate their closest encounter with someone famous, even if it has to be a story about something that happened to a friend or relative.
- Name Game– Students form circles in groups of 8-10 and one at a time state their name with an alliterative action: "I'm Jumping James!" Optimally, they should perform the action as well. They proceed around the circle, stating names and performing the actions, adding names one at a time, until the last person in the circle will have to say everyone's name and perform all the actions.
- Human Bingo– Students become acquainted at the start of a semester by performing a scavenger hunt you design as a handout: "find someone who dislikes carrots, someone who owns a German car, someone who has read a book about submarines, etc."
- Line Dance – Students line up according to their level of agreement on a controversial subject: strong agreement on one side, strong disagreement on the other.
- Two Truths and a Lie– Go around the room and ask each student to relate two true statements and one falsehood about themselves, without giving away which is false.
- Name Tag Trio – Color code name tags and ask people to form groups of three made up of people with nametags of the same color, then introduce themselves.
- Sketch Intro – Ask participants to draw a picture, using no letters, that captures a key facet of their experience, philosophy, or personality.
- Speed Skating – Like the Olympic sport that moves in a circle rapidly, line up students in a circle and step forward one at a time to say a quick personal statement (I am Belgian, I am allergic to peanuts, I love classical music) and then step back into position.
- Word Association Cloud – Collect secret-ballot responses to a word association prompt related to your topic, and paste them into a word-cloud generator to create an image that shows which words were used the most.
- Answer Any Three – Write 5 questions on the board and ask students to stand (or pair off) and answer any 3 of the 5 questions posed. Some sample questions might include: "I have always wanted to......, The person I most admire is..., The two most important job responsibilities I have are ________ and ________., I'm a sucker for..., One reason why I entered my field is..., Something few people know about me is..." Content-related questions may also be used to review material being presented.
- Family Name Game – To help students (and you!) get to know students' names, ask them to share some history about their name including: 1) who named them, 2) how was the decision for their name made, 3) are they a namesake and do they know that person, 4) do they like their name, 5) have they ever gone by a different name, 6) do they have a nickname, etc.
- What's in a Name? – Pair students up and allow them to interview one another about their first and middle names, noting any cultural uniqueness. Then have each student in the dyad introduce their partner to the rest of the class sharing what they learned about their partner's name(s).
- Line Up – Ask students to arrange themselves in a line according to measure of some characteristic (i.e., height, age, birthdate, level of athleticism, etc.). To add a twist, ask students to complete this task without talking.
- Wheel in a Wheel – Ask half of the class form a circle facing outward. Then have the other half of the class form a circle around those students, facing inward, so that they are facing one of the students in the inner circle. The inner circle remains seated throughout the exercise, while the outer circle rotates to the right, one person at a time. With each new pairing you provide a discussion topic/question that will help the students get to know one another. Make sure both partners have time to share. Some example topics include: What do you consider to be one of your greatest accomplishments in life? What person has most affected your life in a positive way? What are the best aspects of your personality and why?
- Scavenger Hunt – Ask students to circulate around the room and locate classmates who fit in certain categories (i.e., only children, lived abroad, bi- or multi-lingual, same major, etc. You can also include statements that revolve around class content.
- Course Expectation Exercise – Write the name of your course on the blackboard. Ask
students to individually write down three expectations they have for you or for the
course. Then put students into small groups and tell them they must reach consensus
regarding their group's top 3-5 expectations. Then allow groups to report back to
the whole class. back to top
Games (Useful for Review)
- Crossword Puzzle – Create a crossword puzzle as a handout for students to review terms, definitions, or concepts before a test. Some online websites will automate the puzzle creation.
- Jeopardy – Play jeopardy like the TV show with your students. Requires a fair amount of preparation. Can be used also for icebreakers (such as finding out what participants already know about your subject, your university, etc).
- Pictionary – For important concepts and especially terms, have students play pictionary: one draws images only, the rest must guess the term.
- Super-Password – Also for concepts and terms; one student tries to get his partner to say the key term by circumlocution, and cannot say any of the "forbidden words" on a card prepared ahead of time.
- Guess the Password – The instructor reveals a list of words (esp. nouns) one at a time and at each point, ask students to guess what key term they are related to. The hints become increasingly specific to make the answer more clear.
- Twenty Questions – Assign a person, theory, concept, event, etc to individual students and have the partner ask yes/no questions to guess what the concept is. Also works on a plenary level, with one student fielding the questions from the whole class.
- Hollywood Squares – Choose students to sit as "celebrities" at the front of the class. Variation: allow the celebrities to use books and notes in deciding how to help the contestants.
- Scrabble – Use the chapter (or course) title as the pool of letters from which to make words (e.g., mitochondrialdna) and allow teams to brainstorm as many words as possible from that list, but all words must be relevant to this test. Variation: actually play scrabble on boards afterward.
- Who am I? - Tape a term or name on the back of each student, out of view. Each student then wanders about the room, posing yes/no questions to the other students in an effort to guess the term on his own back.
- Ticket out the Door – At the end of class, ask students to summarize the lecture today,
or provide one new personal significant learning outcome (in 3-5 sentences), and give
their response to the professor for their ticket out of the door. back to top
Interaction Through Homework
- Find the Company – Students search the Internet for a corporation that makes use of concepts/ideas from class, and must defend their choice in the next class session.
- Diagnostic Learning Logs – Students track main points in lecture and a second list of unclear points. They then reflect on and analyze the information and diagnose their weaknesses.
- Process Analysis – Students track the steps they take to finish an assignment and comment on their approaches to it.
- Productive Study-Time Logs – Short records students keep on how long they study for a class; comparison allows those with lesser commitment to see the disparity.
- Double-Entry Journals – Students note first the important ideas from reading, and then respond personally.
- Paper or Project Prospectus – Write a structured plan for a term paper or large project.
- Annotated Portfolios – Student turns in creative work, with student's explanation
of the work in relation to the course content and goals. back to top
Student Questions
- Student Questions (Index Cards) – At the start of the semester, pass out index cards and ask each student to write a question about the class and your expectations. The cards rotate through the room, with each student adding a check-mark if they agree this question is important for them. The teacher learns what the class is most anxious about.
- Student Questions (Group-Decided) – Stop class, group students into fours, ask them to take five minutes to decide on the one question they think is crucial for you to answer right now.
- Questions as Homework – Students write questions before class on 3x5 cards: "What I really wanted to know about mitochondrial DNA but was afraid to ask..."
- Student-Generated Test Questions – Students create likely exam questions and model the answers. Variation: same activity, but with students in teams, taking each others' quizzes.
- Minute Paper Shuffle – Ask students to write a relevant question about the material,
using no more than a minute, and collect them all. Shuffle and re-distribute, asking
each student to answer his new question. Can be continued a second or third round
with the same questions. back to top
- Role-Playing – Assign roles for a concept, students research their parts at home, and they act it out in class. Observers critique and ask questions.
- Role Reversal – Teacher role-plays as the student, asking questions about the content. The students are collectively the teacher, and must answer the questions. Works well as test review/prep.
- Jury Trial. Divide the class into various roles (including witnesses, jury, judge, lawyers, defendant, prosecution, audience) to deliberate on a controversial subject.
- Press Conference – Ask students to role-play as investigative reporters asking questions of you, the expert on the topic. They should seek a point of contradiction or inadequate evidence, hounding you in the process with follow-up questions to all your replies.
- Press Conference (Guest Speaker) – Invite a guest speaker and run the class like a press conference, with a few prepared remarks and then fielding questions from the audience.
- Analytic Memo – Write a one-page analysis of an issue, roleplaying as an employer
or client. back to top
Student Presentations
- Fishbowl – A student unpacks her ideas and thoughts on a topic in front of others, who take notes and then write a response. Avoid asking questions.
- Impromptu Speeches – Students generate keywords, drop them into a hat, and self-choose presenters to speak for 30 seconds on each topic.
- Anonymous Peer Feedback – For student presentations or group projects, encourage frank feedback from the observing students by asking them to rip up a page into quarters and dedicating comments to each presenter. Multiple variations are possible in "forcing" particular types of comments (i.e., require two compliments and two instances of constructive feedback). Then, ask students to create a pile of comments for Student X, another pile for Student Y, and so on.
- PowerPoint Presentations – For those teaching in computer-mediated environments, put
students into groups of three or four students. Students focus their attention on
a chapter or article and present this material to the class using PowerPoint. Have
groups conference with you beforehand to outline their presentation strategy and ensure
coverage of the material. back to top
- Group Concept Mapping – Start with large posterboards on tables around the room, each with only a central node on it. Participants move around the room, adding sub-nodes to each poster until they are full.
- Round Robin – Have groups silently list top 3 answers to a problem/question. Allow all groups to present one idea in a round robin format until all groups have exhausted their lists. Scribe all answers and then discuss how to reduce/re-categorize answers. Have groups vote on top three, provide results, discuss, and vote again.
- Brainstorming on the Board – Students call out concepts and terms related to a topic about to be introduced; the instructor writes them on the board. If possible, group them into categories as you record the responses. Works to gauge pre-existing knowledge and focus attention on the subject.
- Brainstorming Tree – While brainstorming on the board, circle the major concepts and perform sub-brainstorms on those specific words; the result will look like a tree blooming outward.
- Brainstorming in a Circle – Group students to discuss an issue together, and then spend a few minutes jotting down individual notes. One person starts a brainstorming list and passes it to the student to the right, who then adds to the list and passes it along again.
- Chalk Talk – Ask students to go to multiple boards around the room to brainstorm answers
to a prompt/assignment, but disallow all talking. Can also be done in groups. back to top
Online Interaction
- Online Chat (All-Day) – For classes meeting at least partially in an online environment, instructors can simulate the benefits gained by a chat-room discussion (more participation from reserved instructors) without requiring everyone to meet in a chat room for a specific length of time. The day begins with a post from the instructor in a discussion board forum. Students respond to the prompt, and continue to check back all day, reading their peers' posts and responding multiple times throughout the day to extend discussion.
- Online Chat (Quick) – To gauge a quick response to a topic or reading assignment, post a question, and then allow students to chat in a synchronous environment for the next 10 minutes on the topic. A quick examination of the chat transcript will reveal a multitude of opinions and directions for further discussion. In online environments, many students can "talk" at once, with less chaotic and more productive results than in a face-to-face environment.
- Online Evaluation – For those teaching in online environments, schedule a time which students can log on anonymously and provide feedback about the course and your teaching. Understand, however, that anonymity online sometimes breeds a more aggressive response than anonymity in print.
- Pre-Class Writing – A few days before your computer-mediated class begins, have students respond in an asynchronous environment to a prompt about this week's topic. Each student should post their response and at least one question for further discussion. During the face-to-face meeting, the instructor can address some of these questions or areas not addressed in the asynchronous forum.
- E-Mail Feedback – Instructor poses questions about his teaching via e-mail; students
reply anonymously. back to top
This list has been adapted in part from the following sources:
- Angelo, Thomas/K. Patricia Cross, Classroom Assessment Techniques. 2nd Edition. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 1993.
- Morrison-Shetlar, Alison/Mary Marwitz, Teaching Creatively: Ideas in Action. Outernet: Eden Prairie, 2001.
- McGlynn, Angela, Successful Beginnings for College Teaching. Atwood: Madison, 2001.
- Silberman, Mel. Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject. Allyn and Bacon: Boston, 1996.
- VanGundy, Arthur. 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving. Pfeiffer: San Francisco, 2005.
- Watkins, Ryan. 75 e-Learning Activities: Making Online Learning Interactive. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2005.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Texas highway fatalities and the nanny state
Give a guy enough rope and he'll hang himself. Give him enough highway, and …
There's a great Google site called Google Public Data. This site automatically accesses public databases full of statistics on all types of subjects. I was fooling around with it and came across a transportation database. So I started comparing Texas with other states just to see what the interactive graphs would show me. The result was amazing. Texas ranks No. 1 in the country in lane-miles of highways, with more than 300,000 miles of highway more than No. 2 California.
Comparatively speaking, we've got lots of wide-open spaces for our drivers to drive in. California has 23.8 million drivers, compared with 15.2 million for Texas, which means we have less competition with other drivers for space on the highway. California has 31 million vehicles on the road. Texas only has 17.2 million. So each of our vehicles and each of our drivers enjoys a wide berth.
So what do we Texans do with all of that extra highway space? Apparently, we kill ourselves. Texas ranks No. 1 in the country in 2010, with 2,998 highway fatalities. California ranked No. 2 with 2,715 fatalities.
I asked our resident transportation wonk, Rodger Jones, to explain. He drilled into two additional databases — one by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and the other by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — and came up with lots of interesting data. California has mandatory helmet laws for motorcyclists; Texas doesn't. Texas has twice the rate of fatalities per 100,000 motorcycles than does California. We had 1,270 alcohol-impaired diving fatalities in 2010; California had 774. California has more stringent penalties for drunk driving, including a mandatory pilot program for installation of ignition locks for all offenders in four counties.
California has a statewide ban on hand-held phone use while driving. Texas only bans it in school zones. California's law bans all texting and driving. Texas only bans it in school zones.
California's top allowable highway speed is 70 mph. Texas' top speed is 85, with most rural highways limited to 75.


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Two Nebraska children say their new service dogs will change the course of their lives, making them more independent and confident.
Jack Ortegren, of Hastings, and Haley Inness, of Seward, just completed a 10-day training camp where they oriented themselves with pups Kenzie and Roscoe. After the camp concluded on Friday, the penitentiary inmates who trained the dogs handed over the animals to 5 year-old Ortegren and 7 year-old Inness. A third child from Utah also received a service dog.
On Saturday, the recipients of the Domesti-pups commemorated the occasion with a luncheon.
Inness was born prematurely and suffers with balance issues due to Cerebral Palsy, while Ortegren suffered an illness as an infant, leaving him paralyzed. The pups are trained to improve the children's mobility by opening doors for them and pulling their wheelchairs.
Ortegren and Inness are not the only ones benefiting from the new arrangement. About half of the dogs Domesti-pups trains as service animals are rescued from shelters and the program gives them new homes.


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Towering Hopes for Bulgaria-Romania Bridge
The leaders of Bulgaria and Romania symbolically walked over a much-delayed, EU-funded new bridge aimed at generating badly needed economic growth when it opens to cars and trains in 2013.
The bridge spanning the Danube was connected last week and is only the second such link along the two former communist countries' 470-kilometre river border.
The 1,791-metre bridge cost 250 million euros (4 million) to build and was partly funded with money from an EU aid programme that had to be spent by the end of 2012.
Once completed, it will have four lanes for cars, a rail section and passenger and bike lanes.
The bridge, first conceived during the 1990s Yugoslavia war and which has taken five and a half years to build, is particularly welcome in Bulgaria's northwest.
The region is officially the poorest in the European Union and people pin their hopes on the new link to boost economic activity, travel and trade.
Lack of good adjacent infrastructure has however led experts to believe that it will take a long time before the link manages to attract much international traffic.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta were also joined by European Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn at Wednesday's ceremony at the bridge linking Vidin in Bulgaria and Calafat in Romania.
"We agreed with the builders (Spanish company FCC Construccion) to fully launch travel on the bridge next spring," Borisov said, while Ponta expressed hope that he and Borisov will be the first to then cross in a car.
Meanwhile, the European Union will reduce development funds for Romania because it is judged too inefficient to use them properly, Prime Minister Ponta said.
Romania, the EU's second-poorest member which joined in 2007, has struggled to use some 20 billion euros in development funds allocated by the bloc until 2013 - a quarter of it for transport - due to red tape and poor administration.
The EU money is designed to help emerging EU states to improve education and other projects, but Romania has used less than a tenth of its funds although the poor state of its infrastructure is stifling growth.
"We will receive official audit results which ... will not be encouraging," Prime Minister Victor Ponta told reporters in the southwestern border town of Calafat, where he inspected works on a bridge built largely with EU funds.
"The solution will be for Romania to accept financial corrections."
Poor rail and roads are among the chief complaints from foreign investors, who say decrepit transport cancels out Romania's advantageous location at a trading crossroads and relatively low labour costs.
Works have been marred for years due to poor legislation, slow land expropriations and poor allocation of funds. The World Economic Forum ranks Romania third lowest out of 144 countries for road quality and 132nd for overall infrastructure.
Earlier this year, the EU suspended payments to Romania on several programmes pending the results of an audit. Ponta - who is favourite to win a December parliamentary election - said he did not know by how much Romania's overall funding would be cut.
The project was first agreed in 2000 by then Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu - now central bank governor - and would have made a big difference at the time, when a Serb trade embargo was still in force and goods had to travel through Romania.
- » DW Reveals How Migrants Are Smuggled out of Bulgaria
- » Sweden Studying Options to Ban Begging
- » DW: Bulgaria Fears Tide of Refugees
- » Weapons of Central and Eastern Europe End up with Islamist Groups - Report
- » NY Times: By Bulgaria's Beautiful Black Sea
- » IFRC: Bulgarian Red Cross Volunteer Campaigns for the Rights of the Elderly in Lovech


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USDA Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting the ARS website and reviewing our privacy statement. Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.
Here is how we handle information about your visit to our website:
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If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:
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If you choose to provide us with personal information, as in an e-mail to the Secretary or someone else or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through our website, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us locate for you the information you have requested. We treat e-mails the same way that we regard letters sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We are required to maintain many documents under the Presidential Records Act for historical purposes, but we do not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to you. We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. Moreover, we do not create individual profiles with the information you provide or to give it to any private organizations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not collect information for commercial marketing.
When You Visit USDA Agency/Staff Office Websites Please read the USDA Agency/Staff Office Privacy Statement when you visit those websites. Where necessary, an Agency/Staff Office may have additional privacy criteria, conditions, or information that you should know.
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View the original article at: http://www.countryweekly.com/news/carrie-heads-saturday-night-live-feb-23
This marks the first Saturday Night Live show back in production since the writer's strike began this past fall. Former Saturday Night Live cast member Tina Fey will host. Carrie is set to perform hits from her recent double platinum CD, Carnival Ride. Her performance on the show coincides with her headlining Carnival Ride tour, which kicked off Feb. 18 in Wilkes–Barre, Pa.
[1] http://www.countryweekly.com/news/country-entertainer-bobby-lord-dies
[2] http://www.countryweekly.com/news/country-acts-doves


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Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative
14,475 (222 Social Security numbers)
A briefcase was stolen from an employee's car during lunch sometime during the spring of 2011. The briefcase contained a company laptop that had not yet been encrypted and paper copies of appointment schedules. The laptop contained the information of patients and providers from 18 practices. A recent backup of the laptop files revealed that 5,338 subscriber numbers, 2,777 names with no other information, and 222 names with associated Social Security numbers, dates of birth, subscriber numbers, and phone numbers had been on the laptop. Seventy of the 222 who had their names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, subscriber numbers, and phone numbers exposed also had their addresses exposed.
Browse Privacy Topics
Background Checks & Workplace
Banking & Finance
Credit & Credit Reports
Debt Collection
Harassment & Stalking
Identity Theft & Data Breaches
Junk Mail/Faxes/Email
Medical Privacy
Online Privacy & Technology
Privacy When You Shop
Public Records & Info Brokers
Renter Privacy
Social Security Numbers
Telephone Privacy
Who We Are
We are a nationally recognized consumer education and advocacy nonprofit dedicated to protecting the privacy of American consumers.


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Southwest Regional Office
Southwest Regional Office
Cindy Davies, Director
2040 W. Woodland
Springfield, MO 65807-5912
417-891-4399 fax
Counties served: Barry, Barton, Camden, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Douglas, Greene, Hickory, Jasper, Laclede, Lawrence, McDonald, Miller, Morgan, Newton, Ozark, Polk, St. Clair, Stone, Taney, Vernon, Webster and Wright.
Satellite Offices
Note: All mail for Southwest Regional Office satellites should be addressed to the Southwest Regional Office, 2040 W. Woodland, Springfield, MO 65807-5912
Lake of the Ozarks Satellite Office
5570 Osage Beach Parkway
Osage Beach, MO 65065
573-348-2568 fax
Area served: Lake of the Ozarks area.
Printable regional and satellite office map and directory - color
Printable regional and satellite office map and directory - black and white


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Blog Archive
- You too can have a body like mine!
- 'The more you tell the more you sell' – true or false?
- Do what I say, not what I do – Facebook's multi-million ad spend
- Celebrity endorsement is great, but creativity is King!
- Digital marketing is dead. Long live digital media!
- Christmas competition Week 3
- Christmas competition Week 2
- Christmas competition Week 1
- Ads that put the 'Ho! ho! ho!' back into Christmas!
- Commercials without a break: celebrating 60 years of itv
- Craft makes a comeback – break out your magic markers!
- The silver economy is about to go gold!
- What 'type' are you? New book reveals all!
- What will 2015 bring? Strap on your jet pack!
- Reaching new heights for Woodall Homes
- Are you a Cinderella, a Snow White or a Dorian Gray?
- Simpsons Creative Quiz 2014
- Creating a social media plan – Part two
- Want more media coverage? – Create your own!
- Creating a social media plan – Part one
- Of penguins, pelicans and toucans
- A retail revolution that takes no prisoners
- Marketing is poised to go 'back to the future'
- Refresh before you retweet
- Why you need a responsive website
- How can I attract more visitors to my website?
- What happens if my website goes down?
- What should I include in my website?
- What kind of website do I need?
- An A to Z of fonts: what's what, what's in and what's out
- Emerald is the new black: Pantone dictates fashion in the ad industry
- Social media is driven by passion – Not greed!
- If you're going to 'be more dog', get one for the blind!
- I didn't go to university – gissa job!
- Preserving Britain's oldest brand: the traditional pub sign
- This is how the world ends – not with a bang, but a wimpy
- Einstein and the new science of marketing
- Another safety first from the advertising archives
- I used to be a copywriter. Now I write my own slogans – for the Big Issue!
- KISS – The first law of successful copywriting
Tweet, Woof, Miaow – Welcome to Social Petworking!
If you thought a dog's networking site was his local lamppost, think again. It seems that pets are more popular than celebrities on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube according to Pet Plan, the pet insurers, who have conducted a survey into the 'social petworking' phenomenon.
Apparently it all started with Beast, the pet dog of Mark Zuckerburg, super-geek and founder of Facebook, who has his own Facebook page (well he would, wouldn't he?). But top dog at the moment is Boo, 'the world's cutest dog', who has 1.4 million 'likes' – or should that be 'licks' on the world's pre-eminent networking site.
Cats – always the dirtiest fighters – have clawed their way even further up the ratings, with Maru (a sort of on-line successor to Bagpuss) being the star of more than 6 million views on YouTube. As they used to say in Hollywood, you should never work with animals or children – now it seems they've stolen the show on the web as well! This puts me in mind of a jokey greetings card I picked up in WHSmith the other day, which showed two dogs using a PC to access a dating site. One taps on the keys whilst his companion, urging him on, says "Don't worry, on the internet, no-one knows you're a dog".
Actually, I think the joke is on us. My advice to social networkers trying to make it big is: on the internet no-one knows you're not a dog – so why not pass yourself off as one, maybe a nice friendly Labrador who's ready to go and fetch the paper, lead the blind or perform other necessary and rewardable social functions. The business potential is tremendous too – why else would Pet Plan have commissioned the research? Imagine having Boo pass the word to fellow pooches about the scrumptiousness of Spratt's Bonio, or Maru the cat giving a YouTube demo of opening a ring-pull can of Kit-e-Kat: "Owner away? – serve yourself today!"


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These are resources to assistance schools planning the development of strong technology programs to support learning in classrooms of the 21st Century.
The two documents attached here provide details on the EES agreement that Microsoft recently signed with the State of Vermont. It is a 3 year agreement, and provides competitive pricing for schools wishing to purchase Microsoft products. The Agency of Education provides this as a service to schools and wishes to make clear to schools that this is an OPT-IN opportunity. To best serve your schools and districts, review the materials carefully to determine if they meet a current need.
The VTVLC is providing online learning opportunities to students across the state. In its initial year, the VTVLC has orchestrated 7 partnership regions across the state with courses in a variety of curriculum areas available to high school students. Summer school opportunities are also available. Visit the Use the link above for additional details. (Originally Funded by ARRA)
The LNV is a school-based video-conferencing system that supports school-to-school collaborations, virtual field trips, distance learning opportunities and access to meetings/trainings for staff members. The above link will take you to the LNV wiki which has numerous resources about the LNV and videoconferencing in general. For more information, contact Sigrid Olson at (802) 479-1156 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
These classroom scenarios were created in the fall of 2009 by a group of educators coordinated through a Title II grant. Divided into sections based on grade clusters and NETS-S 2007 standards (National Education Technology Standards) for technology and learning, they provide example "scenarios" of what one might see in classroom as each of the standard areas are addresses. Scenarios include the use of Web 2.0 tools, best practice teaching methods and innovative uses of technology in all grade level classrooms. School leaders should use this resources to gain knowledge on what is possible, teachers should use this resource to help design meaningful lesson practices that integrate technology. NOTE: The scenarios may also be downloaded in PDF format using the following link:
Use this link to view the recently completed update to the
Technology Grade Expectations. A grade expectation (GE) is a
stated objective that relates directly to a Vermont standard and
associated evidences. A GE differentiates performance on content
knowledge or skills between adjacent grade levels and describe
clearly what students will do to show that they understand a
designated concept. As a set, GEs should lead to focused,
coherent, and developmentally appropriate instruction without
narrowing the curriculum and can be used for local curriculum and
assessment development.
Peter Drescher at firstname.lastname@example.com or (802) 479-1169


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As a youth I used to draw comic books to amuse family and friends, but a few years ago I discovered that I seemed to actually have a talent for writing (at least I hope so) and started putting pen to paper, so to speak.
I enjoy creating characters, situations and events, hope that comes across and that you enjoy my stories.
A lot of my 'stuff' is of a VERY sexual nature and very descriptive, mostly male sexual fiction.
It's not what I eventually want to write.
I write other genres as well and will bring Sci-Fi, Horror, Adventure and Romance to my stories.
All of my books are 'Dyslexia Friendly' and sentence spaced for easy reading as I too am dyslexic.
I hope you enjoy my work and come back for more.
Review by:
on Dec. 31, 2010 :
Keith McDougall is an author to watch. And read. His stories will find great appeal within the genre. Recommended.
(reviewed the day of purchase)


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Cheers — to McLoughlin Middle School science teacher Tim Turk, who gives his students a lesson in courage and perseverance every day he shows up to school in his wheelchair. Turk is slowly but surely recovering from devastating injuries he suffered when he collided with a motorcycle while on a bicycle ride with friends. Five months later, he's back in the classroom, despite multiple broken bones and a traumatic brain injury.
Jeers — to Los Angeles Unified School District officials who thought they could hand out iPads to students and not expect them to hack the security settings. The basic idea was a good one — provide an iPad to each of the district's 650,000 students, 80 percent of whom come from low-income families who may not be able to afford such high-tech gadgets. In an ideal world, students would be grateful for the access to cutting-edge educational software and would use the devices responsibly. Of course, the first students to receive the iPads promptly disabled the security system the district had installed so they could go on the Internet, play computer games and use Facebook. Red-faced educators say they will go back to the drawing board, think through the project better and install a much more robust firewall.
Cheers — to a $260,000 bequest from the estate of a New York surgeon to Sanctuary One, the Applegate nonprofit that provides a home for animals and education and therapy for people who volunteer to work with animals and in the farm's gardens. The executor of Dr. Jeanne Pamilla's estate, an anesthesiology nurse in Ashland, learned of Sanctuary One from her veterinarian and decided the organization would be a good fit for a gift from Pamilla's estate.
Cheers — to new software applications that target and fight back against those annoying robocalls that disturb our peace and quiet and waste our time. Despite the federal Do Not Call registry, some purveyors of spam telemarketing persist in flouting the law. The Federal Trade Commission, frustrated in its attempts to rein in the bad guys, launched a Robocall Challenge contest inviting developers to tackle the problem. One of the winners, Nomorobo, intercepts calls and screens them against a database of known spam numbers, then disconnects before the user's phone even rings and blacklists that number.
Location, ST | website.com


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Viruses 2011, 3(7), 1015-1040; doi:10.3390/v3071015
Herpesviruses and Intermediate Filaments: Close Encounters with the Third Type
Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Development, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, 5700 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA 94609, USA
Received: 2 February 2011 / Revised: 7 June 2011 / Accepted: 24 June 2011 / Published: 4 July 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cytoskeleton in Viral Infections)
Download PDF [464 KB, uploaded 12 May 2015]
AbstractIntermediate filaments (IF) are essential to maintain cellular and nuclear integrity and shape, to manage organelle distribution and motility, to control the trafficking and pH of intracellular vesicles, to prevent stress-induced cell death, and to support the correct distribution of specific proteins. Because of this, IF are likely to be targeted by a variety of pathogens, and may act in favor or against infection progress. As many IF functions remain to be identified, however, little is currently known about these interactions. Herpesviruses can infect a wide variety of cell types, and are thus bound to encounter the different types of IF expressed in each tissue. The analysis of these interrelationships can yield precious insights into how IF proteins work, and into how viruses have evolved to exploit these functions. These interactions, either known or potential, will be the focus of this review.
Keywords: intermediate filament; herpesvirus; herpes simplex virus; varicella zoster virus; cytomegalovirus; Epstein-Barr virus; Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus; cytoskeleton; infection
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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Hertel, L. Herpesviruses and Intermediate Filaments: Close Encounters with the Third Type. Viruses 2011, 3, 1015-1040.View more citation formats
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Hertel L. Herpesviruses and Intermediate Filaments: Close Encounters with the Third Type. Viruses. 2011; 3(7):1015-1040.Chicago/Turabian Style
Hertel, Laura. 2011. "Herpesviruses and Intermediate Filaments: Close Encounters with the Third Type." Viruses 3, no. 7: 1015-1040.
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People lined up at the Toys For Tots donation center off of 1st Avenue at 4:00 a.m. on Thursady. Many already knew that there would be a short supply of toys, but when the donation center doors closed at 1:30 p.m. it was a shock to everyone.
Crews worked hard to pick up toys from drop-off locations but decided it was best to close doors until Friday to restock what they could.
Toys For Tots received over 1,300 applications from parents hoping to collect toys for their children. Officials say that adds up to more than 3,500 children.
The Donation Center will be open till Monday depending on how many toys are donated.


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As the Fed begins its two-day policy-meeting on Tuesday, market participants in general expect no major policy change, but the Fed could start to lay the groundwork for a reduction in the Fed's economic stimulus that could occur in the first quarter of the year. The Australian dollar, meanwhile, fell to a 3-1/2 month low, after the release of the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Dec. 3 policy meeting. The RBA said the Aussie is still uncomfortably high despite the fact it has weakened noticeably over the past month. The Indian rupee fell with traders awaiting the outcome of the central bank's policy review. The Reserve Bank of India is widely expected to raise its key repo rate by 25 basis points to 8.00 percent on Wednesday, its third such hike in four months after recent data showed both wholesale and retail inflation at multi-month highs. The USDJPY is trading near 5 year highs ahead of the Fed Meeting.
Today's Events • U.S. NAHB homebuilder sentiment index jumped to 58 in December from 54 in November. • US November overall-CPI was unchanged (median 0.1%), while the core index rose 0.2% (median 0.1%) • Canada manufacturing shipments rose 1.0% in October, contrary to expectations (median -0.2%).• German ZEW expectations highest since April 2006, with the reading for investor expectations jumping to 62.0 from 54.6 • U.K. CPI unexpectedly dipped to 2.1% y/y in November, down from 2.2% y/y in October Looking Ahead12/18 YEN: All Industry Activity Index (Nov.)12/19 GBP: Retail Sales (Nov.)12/19 USD: Existing Home Sales (Nov.)12/19 USD: Leading Index (Nov.)12/20 USD: GDP 3Q12/20 EUR: Consumer Confidence (Dec.)12/20 GBP: UK GDP (Q3) 12/20 CAD: CPI (Nov.)12/23 CAD: Retail Sales (Nov.)12/23 EUR: Consumer Confidence (Dec.)FX Indications EUR 1.3732GBP 1.6242CAD 1.0609JPY 102.77CHF 0.8884AUD 0.8892RUB 32.98INR 61.927CNY 6.0715BRL 2.3259ILS 3.5093ZAR 10.411NZD 0.825SEK 6.5774 Stock Indices Dow 15866.1Nasdaq 4015.91S&P 1783.4FTSE 6501.36DAX 9122.29Nikkei 15278.6Shanghai 2151.08 Commodities Oil 97.69Gold 1231.28 U.S. Treasuries 2 Year 0.335 Year 1.5110 Year 2.8730 Year 3.90
The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of SVB Financial Group, or Silicon Valley Bank, or any of its affiliates. This material, including without limitation the statistical information herein, is provided for informational purposes only. The material is based in part upon information from third-party sources that we believe to be reliable, but which has not been independently verified by us and, as such, we do not represent that the information is accurate or complete. The information should not be viewed as tax, investment, legal or other advice nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decisions. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision. Nothing relating to the material should be construed as a solicitation or offer, or recommendation, to acquire or dispose of any investment or to engage in any other transaction.
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I was smoky eye challenged until I tried Cover Girl's smoky eye look. I tried the powder eye shadows in the past. I watched more You Tube videos then I care to share. But I still looked like Rocky Racoon when I was done. I looked so bad my son asked why I had on my Halloween make- up. I used the above kit and finally looked like I was embracing the trend and not October 31st.
Here is a video on how to do the Smoky eye with the Cover Girl Kit
Here is a pictorial demo from the Cover Girl Site:
I have one to give to you!!! Here is what you get.
- CoverGirl SmokyShadow Blast in Onyx Smoke
- CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Mascara in Black
- CoverGirl LineExact Liquid Liner Pen in Black Brown
- Step-by-step makeup application instructions
Leave a comment about your favorite fashion trend for the season
Leave a comment describing a fashion disaster


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on June 6, 2011 - 12:01 AM
Can the shaky anti-terror alliance between Pakistan and the United States be saved?
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen made an emergency visit to Islamabad recently to try to ease the tensions between our two countries, one month after Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in the military town of Abbottabad near the Pakistani capital. The Pakistani military is seething that the raid was carried out without its knowledge.
To avoid the need for future such U.S. strikes, Clinton asked the Pakistanis to act against a list of extremist leaders believed to be hiding in Pakistan. They include three senior al-Qaida figures -- Ayman al-Zawahiri, Atiya Abdel Rahman and Ilyas Kashmiri -- as well as Afghan militant Sirajuddin Haqqani and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. (Omar's name could come off the list if he broke with al-Qaida.)
But will such cooperation be forthcoming? Having just returned from Pakistan, I'd say the answer is most unclear.
The disconnect between U.S. and Pakistani views on the killing of bin Laden and the wider struggle against terrorism is depressing. Indeed, the mistrust between Pakistan and the United States has reached such toxic levels that it's hard to see how it will be overcome.
My conversations with Pakistani officials revolved around wounded pride, not introspection. They point to Clinton's statement that there's no evidence that senior Pakistani officials knew where bin Laden was hiding.
Their repeated refrain: "Why didn't you trust us to do a joint operation to get bin Laden?" They kept repeating that Pakistan has helped arrest numerous al-Qaida -- and Taliban -- operatives over the last decade. "We need to know where we stand," I was told by an angry Pakistani security official. "The only issue is whether you Americans trust us as an ally."
Yet, the U.S. perspective on the Abbottabad raid is 180 degrees different. Current and former U.S. officials believe that, prior to 2008, information on drone strikes shared with Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency was leaked to the targets. The drone strikes came up empty, leading the CIA to stop sharing information.
The White House couldn't take the risk of losing bin Laden by informing the Pakistanis of the raid in advance.
U.S. officials believe ISI operatives know the location of Haqqani, as well as Omar and his inner circle, given the long history of ISI ties with the Afghan Taliban. However, Pakistani security officials categorically denied to me they knew where Omar was hiding. "If we knew where he was, we'd catch him," said one senior security official.
At this moment, the Pakistani military badly needs more cooperation with the United States. Yet the relationship appears headed in the other direction.
Pressed by an anti-American public, the military has sharply cut back on intelligence-sharing operations along the Afghan border, and asked most of the 100 or so U.S. Special Forces trainers working with their Frontier Corps troops to leave.
Under internal threat, humiliated at home, Pakistan's military may be unable to reset relations, even as an angry Congress seeks to cut aid to Pakistan. Yet cooperation between the two countries is vital to both countries' anti-terrorist struggle -- and to any U.S. exit strategy from Afghanistan.
"Americans need us and we need them," one Pakistani official told me, correctly. Keeping that mantra in mind will be very difficult in the coming months.


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Automatic Train Control (ATC) and Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System (ACSES); Northeast Corridor (NEC) Railroads
Amendment To Order Of Particular Applicability Requiring Acses Between New Haven, Connecticut And Boston, Massachusetts Rescission Of Temporary Nighttime Operating Protocols.
In 1998, FRA issued an Order of Particular Applicability (Order) requiring all trains operating on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between New Haven, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts (NEC—North End) to be equipped to respond to the new Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System (ACSES). In 2002, CSXT Transportation (CSXT) requested, and FRA granted, permission to run its nighttime operations under temporary operating protocols until further notice. In March 2006, both CSXT and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) requested that FRA rescind the 2002 CSXT nighttime operating protocols because advancements in the ACSES system had made them unnecessary. On May 1, 2006, FRA notified CSXT and Amtrak by letter that it had agreed to rescind the CSXT nighttime protocols as requested. This amendment conforms the Order accordingly.
Unified Agenda
Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System; Northeast Corridor Railroads
2 actions from November 20th, 1997 to May 1998
November 20th, 1997
- Proposed Order of Particular Applicability
May 1998
- Final Order
Table of Contents Back to Top
DATES: Back to Top
The amendments to the Order are effective June 7, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Back to Top
Paul Weber, Railroad Safety Specialist, Signal and Train Control Division, Office of Safety, Mail Stop 25, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20590 ((202) 493-6258) or Patricia V. Sun, Office of Chief Counsel, Mail Stop 10, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20590 ((202) 493-6038).
ADDRESSES: Back to Top
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Back to Top
The Order, as published on July 22, 1998, set performance standards for cab signal/automatic train control and ACSES systems, increased certain maximum authorized train speeds, and contained safety requirements supporting improved rail service on the NEC. 63 FR 39343. Among other requirements, the Order required all trains operating on track controlled by Amtrak on the NEC—North End to be controlled by locomotives equipped to respond to ACSES by October 1, 1999. FRA has subsequently amended the Order nine times to reset the implementation schedule and make technical changes. 64 FR 54410, October 6, 1999; 65 FR 62795, October 19, 2000; 66 FR 1718, January 9, 2001; 66 FR 34512, June 28, 2001; 66 FR 57771, November 16, 2001; 67 FR 6753, February 12, 2002; 67 FR 14769, March 22, 2002; 67 FR 47884, July 22, 2002; and 69 FR 12733, March 17, 2004.
The tenth amendment to this Order is effective upon publication instead of 30 days after the publication date in order to realize the significant safety and transportation benefits afforded by the ACSES system at the earliest possible time. All affected parties have been notified.
FRA is not reopening the comment period since the amendment to this Order is necessary to avoid disruption of rail service. Under these circumstances, delaying the effective date of the amendment to allow for notice and comment would be impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest.
Rescission of Temporary Nighttime Operating Protocols Back to Top
In 2002, CSXT requested that FRA extend a June 2001 exception that allowed it to run under modified temporary operating protocols until field testing of Amtrak software on freight operations had been completed. FRA agreed to this request, and on July 22, 2002, published Notice No. 15 (67 FR 47884), which amended the Order by allowing CSXT to operate trains along the NEC—North End between the hours of 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. with ACSES cut out, without prior notification to the Amtrak dispatcher, to reduce the number of penalty brake applications experienced during switching operations.
In a series of joint meetings, Amtrak, CSXT, and FRA agreed that upgrades to the ACSES system's wayside and on-board hardware and software components had improved their reliability to the point where CSXT could now safely operate on the NEC—North End with its on-board ACSES apparatus cut in and without unexpected penalty brake applications. On May 1, 2006, FRA notified CSXT and Amtrak by letter that it had granted their requests to rescind the 2002 CSXT temporary nighttime operating protocols. The amendment to this Order rescinds those protocols only; the positive stop requirement providing entrance to track 4 at Attleboro remains in place.
Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, the Final Order of Particular Applicability published at 63 FR 39343, July 22, 1998 (Order) is amended as follows:
1. The authority for the Order continues to read as follows: 49 U.S.C. 20103, 20107, 20501-20505 (1994); and 49 CFR 1.49(f), (g), and (m).
2. Subparagraph (a)(1) of paragraph 13 is removed and reserved.
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 2, 2006.
Joseph H. Boardman,
[FR Doc. E6-8859 Filed 6-6-06; 8:45 am]


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FALL RIVER — Is a vacation in Paris not in the budget this year? If so, music lovers can join The Summer Chorus for an evening's sojourn through France.
The 50-voice chorus, led by Beth Armstrong and accompanied by her husband Stewart, has prepared a program of songs in French, and inspired by France. There's a medley from the beloved musical, "Les Miserables," "Bachelor's Dance" by Jacques Brel, "Un Canadien Errant," "Dirait-on," and more. Selections from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" are sure to delight.
This concert, performed by singers from Tiverton, Westport, Greater Fall River and Providence, will have audiences exclaiming "Vive la France!"
Concerts will be given at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at First Baptist Church, 210 N. Main St., Fall River, and at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8 at St. Michael's Church Parish House, 399 Hope St., Bristol, R.I.
Admission is $12 for the general public, free for youths under 16. For further information, call (401) 253-7987 or visit www.summerchorus.org.
Location, ST | website.com