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It's often said that pupils learn the most from what their teachers do, rather than what they say. Here are eleven good practices you need to adopt if you want your kids to lean good habits rather than bad.

Ensure that computers and software are set up and working properly before the lesson.

Observe health and safety regulations and common-sense rules, such as not eating or drinking at the computer.

Observe the correct procedures for using the equipment, such as by shutting down properly rather than simply switching the computer off.

Save your files in folders on the hard disk or on the network with meaningful names, not Doc1, Doc2, or Joan1, Joan2 etc -- in fact, you should have a system for naming your files.

Organise your computer workspace well.

Save your work frequently.

Use the correct terminology, and not confuse "memory", say, with "hard disk space".

Back up your work regularly.

Use ICT to produce signs for displays.

Use computers for administrative tasks, such as producing lists of pupils, producing quality worksheets, communicating with other schools, exchanging data with examination boards and so on.

Use ICT overtly for real tasks, such as giving each pupil a sticky label with his/her name and class on, obviously mail-merged.

As you can see, none of this is rocket science -- or even complicated. Makes a big difference, though, especially when carried out day in and day out, week in, week out.

Terry Freedman writes and advises on all aspects of teaching and managing educational technology in schools. Visit his website for even more hints and tips, an the opportunity to sign up for a free newsletter called Computers in Classrooms.

You can hardly turn your head these days without seeing new studies that have been done that show the importance of cutting carbs out of your diet. New diet plans are coming out all the time that claim to have the perfect combinations of foods that will magically allow you to lose all of your extra weight without lifting a finger or sacrificing any of the tastes you love so much. Eating low carb foods sounds so boring and hard, but it doesn't have to.

You dont have to stay home to eat healthy. Most restaurants have low fat options and are quickly adding low carb menus. Before going out, call around and find a restaurant with a menu that will be a good match for your diet. Once at the restaurant, there are ways to enjoy a guilt free meal.

The secret to success is in the initial orderingyou dont want to find yourself staring at a plate of bad choices, and regretting it only after the plate is empty.

Some experts suggest that once served, you should ask for a take-out container and put half of it away for the next days lunch or dinner. This works great if you are incredibly self-controlled. However, if the knowledge that there is more food under the lid of that Styrofoam container is too muchchange the way you order.

Side dishes, childrens plates, and appetizers are all great alternatives. Request that extras like gravy, butter, sauces, salad dressings, and sour cream be served on the side. Slightly dipping a fork in a condiment before you stick it into your food is a great way to limit the extra calories while adding flavor to your food.

Dont be afraid to substitute. Substitute a salad for fries, a green vegetable for potatoes, or low fat versions for their fat laden counterparts. If there are no substitutions available, ask to have the item left off the plate. Such a request may result in your waiter explaining that you have to pay for it anyway. Simply let him know that you dont mindor youll end up paying with your waistline.

Sometimes another person at the table will want the item you want left in the kitchen. If this is the case, ask the waiter to serve the item on a separate plate.

Fast food restaurants offer a challenge to the average weight loss plan. However, if you must go to one, there are usually a few healthy choices you can make.

Order a salad, grilled chicken, or a roast beef sandwich. If you are on a low carb diet, request a plate and a fork with your sandwiches so that you can eat it without the bun. In casual and fine dining scenarios, simply choose items according to the way they are cooked, avoiding anything that is battered and fried. Instead, order items that are steamed, broiled, baked, roasted, or poached.

Stay away from food that is creamed, cheese sauce, or items marinated in oil. Especially destructive to your weight loss efforts are casseroles and pastry crusts.

As for drinks-- water, diet sodas, and ice tea are all good choices. A single glass of wine fits nicely into most diets, but only if you have the willpower to pass on a second glass when offered.

Desserts dont have to be off limits, especially if everyone else at the table in partaking. This will only cause you to dig into the ice cream in your freezer with wild abandon once you get home. Choose a dessert that does not come with ice cream, whipped cream, or any kind of sauce. But only order it if you have someone willing to share it with you. Have the waiter bring it out already divided up.

There is no reason not to enjoy a guilt free dinner out. There are many options available, you just have to make the right choices.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for caffeinezone.com, mylowcarbpages.com, and homemadewine.com

In the US, you can find huge assortments of boat covers. As textiles science has improved its engineering thanks to cutting-edge advancements, boat covers have improved vastly, but are also more complex. Boat covers now can last for much longer periods of time and can be applied for different types of demands.

You can purchase boat covers designed for storage, trailering or even mooring. And, they can be designed for fishing boats, deck boats, pontoons or pleasure crafts. As well, they can be constructed from an assortment of fabrics and different colors. With all these choices, then its no wonder that you can purchase a mooring boat cover.

A mooring boat cover is a boat cover designed to protect your boat while it is based in the water. It is designed for resisting rain and any other little surprises that birds can leave behind. They are easy to use and are quite common amongst boat owners. They offer good protection and you wont have to spend a lot money in them.

Some stores can even sell a combination of boat covers, like a mooring/trailering boat cover. What type of mooring boat cover should you purchase? There are various factors that need to be taken into account. And these factors cant be easily explained. Your best option is to contact your local boating store. They can help you make the right decision.

Where to Buy A Mooring Boat Cover?

There are two options when purchasing boat covers; local stores and online stores. With a local store (such a marina), you can deal directly with a sales rep and he may give you helpful insights on the peculiarities of using a mooring boat cover in the area.

The local store can also show you the different fabrics with which they work with and the available colors. This kind of contact is vital for some people, when making a decision. What if you dont have the time to look for a mooring boat cover? Then an online store is your answer.

Just do a basic search in Google or any other search engine and you will find dozens of suppliers. These suppliers can offer you different types of mooring covers and the available colors. In addition, you can consult them and ask for any recommendations they can give you for selecting the right mooring boat cover.

Kerry Ng is a successful Webmaster and publisher of The Boat Cover Blog. Click here for more helpful information about Boat Covers: http://www.boatcoverinfoblog.com/hurricane-boat-covers

In 2005 material scientists, wind tunnel researchers and the top human athletes around the world got together to better their teams in the ultimate contests of human will, strength of character and state-of-the-art equipment; The Olympic Games.

Lightweight bleeding edge equipment was on their agenda; the need for speed in their blood. Speed skating saw new clothing to reduce drag, increase flexibility and keep the athletes at optimum temperature, while nations around the world enlisted their top scientists to look for better blade designs to improve speed on the ice.

In the Bobsled competition where every fraction of an inch of parasite drag can cost the team a half a second on their run, the wind tunnel testing, techniques and human ergonomics were studied until both athlete and researcher were blue in the face. For down hill skiing the athletes performed under a microscope or video enhanced digital engineers studying every bend and stress in the body and the skis.

Rigidity and fluidity of motion were nothing to take lightly and ever advantage from the shape and hue of the lenses of the goggles to the bulges in the uniform were considered along with the ski pulls and skis. For these men and women any slight edge could mean the difference between the Gold Metal and the Agony of defeat.

In The 2006 Winter Olympics we will see all this come to life and find out which teams have the best over all teams on and off the snow and ice. So think on this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Most armchair genealogists today are so conditioned to look for just about everything online that they often forget some of the very basic old school methods that worked so well years before anyone had even heard of the Internet. So, turn off the computer, get up from your desk, and get ready to do some down and dirty family tree research the way it used to be done.

Where to start? Well, if your parents or grandparents have an attic, prepare yourself for a dusty afternoon of rummaging through chests and boxes looking for old family records. Papers to look for include: property deeds, military service records, birth and death certificates, and old wills. Take a notebook, and write down the name of each document you find, as well as any dates, and any names (both of people and places), which are mentioned.

How will you use the documents and these names and dates? Try entering the names into any of the online search resources youre no doubt familiar with. One of the reasons so many people get frustrated with their family tree research is that they simply cant find much if anything online. The more names and information you can uncover using more traditional methods, the greater your odds of success when you try todays cutting-edge methods. Remember, as you learn new search techniques, your family tree will take shape from ALL the pieces of the puzzle that you discover.

Letters from the Past

When you find an old letter, one that's perhaps a couple of hundred years old, you're listening to the voice of your ancestor, in his or her own words. The ink will be faded, and it might take a lot of effort to read the letters. Rather than ruin your eyes or become frustrated, take photos of the letters, or copy or scan them, and have them enlarged. Then transcribe (copy by hand) as much of the letters as you need to help you to identify the person later. Include any dates; also take note of the addresses on envelopes, and the dates the letters were posted. As you go through old letters, many of the names will be completely unfamiliar to you. However, don't ignore them. Write down each name in a master list. If you use a spreadsheet program you'll be able to sort the names alphabetically. The deeper you go into your research, the more you'll come across the same names, and you will figure out just who these people are.

Old Account Books

Families in the 19th century kept careful accounts. These account books can be of several kinds. Women kept household accounts of money spent on food, fuel and other household necessities. Farms and small businesses kept accounts of their business transactions. In addition, fathers kept family accounts with their wills. Any money that was advanced to a child against his inheritance would be carefully written down, along with any repayments, and any amounts outstanding would be calculated against the child's portion of the inheritance when the father died.

Diaries and Journals

People in the past were more inclined to keep a diary or a journal than we are today. Travelers kept diaries of their explorations, and students kept diaries when they went to boarding school. Read any journals you find carefully, and make a note of people and places that are mentioned. These will help you later on.

Chris Simeral is the creator of the 7 Day Family Tree Genealogy Research Toolkit. For more information on last name origins, researching your familys past, or a free genealogy mini-course, visit http://www.7DayFamilyTree.com.

Like the Rose Bowl, the fixed rate mortgage loan is the "grandaddy of them all." If your parents had a home mortgage loan, this is almost certainly the kind they had. With keener competition (sometimes it seems like there's a bank on every corner!) many new and different types of mortgage loans have been created. But that venerable "old" reliable, the fixed rate mortgage loan, is still the best and most popular.

When you obtain a fixed rate loan, you pay the same interest rate for the entire life of the loan. Your property tax and homeowner's insurance payments will fluctuate, and your bank may require you to make these payments with your loan payment. However, you KNOW what your principal and interest payment will be as long as you keep that loan. Most fixed rate mortgage loans are for 30 years, although you can also get them for 15 or 20 years.

The major disadvantage to fixed rate mortgage loans is that they generally have higher initial interest rates than Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs.). You qualify for a home loan based on your ability to pay the initial payment amoumt, so it is usually more difficult to obtain a fixed rate loan.

Closing costs are often lower. This is not always true, though. However, since the initial interest rate is relatively higher, the bank frequently will not feel the need to charge yield-raising points**. Other costs, such as "document preparation" expenses, can be reduced or even eliminated when the interest rate is a bit higher when the loan is originated.

A fixed rate loan protects you from climbing costs of money. IF rates go up, your payment will stay the same. Of course, IF rates go down, your payment will still stay the same - higher than "market.". However, you can refinance your home and get these new, lower rates for yourself.

Yes, there will be closing costs when you refinance, but there are 2 major reasons why this should not concern you very much. 1) as previously noted: costs for fixed rate mortgage loans are often lower; 2) if you have proven to your bank that you are a good credit risk (you make your payments) and thus your loan is good for them, they will try hard to keep your business. The bank will want YOU. Their business depends on getting and KEEPING good customers. Therefore, if you refinance at the sane bank that is your existing mortgagee, you will probably save quite a bit of money.

It might be best, i.e. least expensive, to obtain ARMs or other variable-rate type loans if you plan to frequently buy and sell your homes. The lower initial rates will essentially be lower rates for the lives of your loans in that case. But if you plan to slowly decorate and furnish your new home just the way you like, and hope to really get to know your neighbors - basically enjoy your pride of ownership there for years, the long-term security that a fixed rate mortgage loan offers is for you.

This type of loan is pretty much universally available. Traditional offline banks are good sources for fixed rate mortgage loans - "the leaders and best."

**Points**

Sometimes called "discount points." A point is one percent of the amount of the mortgage loan. For example, if a loan is for $25,000, one point is $250. Points are charged by a lender to raise the yield on the loan.

Paul Anderberg
http://www.first-time-home-buying.net

Mr Anderberg is the author of many helpful articles about home buying. Visit his website to read more. Several other articles of his are also available on this site.