Thursday, June 28, 2012

How to Find Teaching Assistant Courses?

Are you thinking of becoming a teaching assistant but you cannot find the right program? There are many ways on how you can find courses for this profession. You just have to make use of the resources that you have as well as the connections that you already have.

Use Search Engines on the Internet

The easiest way to find them is to look for them over the internet. Just use the top search engines that you know and key in teaching assistant courses.This will give you websites that can help you find courses that you can take within your country, state, or city. You may even be more specific by looking for courses that are done in colleges or universities, community education centers, online or web schools, as well as other educational centers.

Visit Schools

You may also want to visit the schools that you have in your area. Most colleges and universities will have assistant courses that will help you with your career plans. The advantage that you have when you visit the schools is that you can see the facilities, classrooms, and the surrounding areas. You can also have a feel of the place and see if this is the right school for you. You can even talk to a career counsellor or some members of the faculty if you have questions about their teaching assistant courses.

Ask Teaching Assistants

If you happen to know any of your friends or family members who are teaching assistants, you may want to set a meeting with them and ask questions about these courses. You can ask them how they got their certification as well as their license. You can inquire about the place where they were able to apply for teaching courses as well. This way, you can have an idea how they became a teaching assistant and you can inquire about the difficulty or the complexity of the things that they had to go through while they were studying their courses in order to become what they are right now.

Join Forums and Discussion Boards

If you do not know anyone who is a teaching assistant, you may want to look for one through the internet forums or discussion boards about it. Here you can start a thread about courses that they had to take and where they had to take them. You can get hints and tips on how to go about the difficult courses as well as how to go through the trainings and seminars. By signing up and being a member in forums, you can have people who can directly give you their experiences about the these courses.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Deciding On an Engineering Degree

If you are currently a college bound student and have yet to decide on a degree you'd like to acquire you are not alone. Choosing a degree that will suit you well is a daunting task and your future job and career will depend on it. If you are still undecided, you should consider studying for an engineering degree. Why an engineering degree, you say? Believe it or not, there are vast opportunities that lie in the broad field of engineering.

If you are part of the general public that does not understand exactly what an engineer does, than you'll be glad to know there is a plethora of different types of jobs that falls under "engineering". If you graduate with a degree in engineering, you will likely be involved in the research, design and development of new products and services. Whether it's electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, bioengineering, or civil engineering, you have a number of different choices that can cater to things that interest you.

If you like designing medical technology, gaming systems, cellular phones, robots, or cars than electrical engineering is for you. If you prefer working with large buildings, bridges, roads, and dams than you will be interested in civil engineering. Whether it's big or small, the field of engineering encompasses designing and creating most of the world in which we live.

Engineering also incorporates skills more than just that of the technical variety. Even though it is a technical subject, a good engineer will also need to develop considerable management and communication experience, as both of these are important to the engineering field. The degree will encompass a number of different subjects and skills from math, to design, to mechanics, and more.

Whether it's designing and manufacturing computers or cars, or helicopters and houses, engineers have had a hand in it. While a scientist will ask why a problem arises, an engineer wants to find a solution to the problem. If you like to use your imagination, judgment, and reasoning to solve problems, then this degree is the perfect option for you.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

How Alternative Educational Methods?


21st century, latest technological gadgets and modern outlook - we seem to have everything. There's still something which we crave for when it comes to education for our little ones and that is different teaching methods. Why is it that, we, as parents are not satisfied with the teaching methods adopted by schools and colleges? Is it because children are pressurized too much into studying or is it that education in school is only limited to academics?
Whatever be the reason, parents are trying to look for alternative educational methods, wherein their children can not only learn better, but also in an easy way, without stressing them. So, what are the other methods available for parents to explore? As of now, we can find that there are 3 alternative educational methods available for parents and children. They are:
1. Montessori schools 
2. Waldorf/ Steiner schools 
3. Friends schools 
4. Homeschooling

While the Montessori schools and Waldorf schools are gaining popularity among many, friends school and homeschooling are not much known in India. One can find that the Montessori Method of learning is fast catching up in our country as an alternate educational method. Initially, one may notice that the child is not taught on par with the subjects and topics in regular schools, but as they get used to the schedule and pattern of learning, they are exposed to more topics and subjects. With hands on experience given importance to understand the various concepts, children find that they love the very thought of going to school and learning.
Montessori methods not only emphasize on the importance of the child to understand the concepts, but also help them in their overall development. A 7/8yr old child being able to give a speech on a greener planet and global warming with data is something which can mesmerize anyone of us. Yes, this is possible through the Montessori Method, wherein children learn to deliver speeches and take part in debates as early as 8/9years.
The Waldorf method is also on the similar lines, wherein a child's creativity is put to task to imagine and understand everything and also use analytics to analyze the same. One can also find that in this method of teaching/learning, a teacher is given the freedom to choose the syllabus and curriculum that they term fit for the students of their class. This helps the teacher decide on how much to cover in a topic and also how much can the students understand and learn.