FAQs on Non-Verbal Communication/Body Language

A recent article in Discover magazine on how we recognize faces said that we have such powerful brain “circuitry” for facial expressions that we insist on seeing faces where there are none – in clouds or in the wallpaper pattern. Non-verbal communication takes place whether you think it is important or not.

There are underlying, unconscious mechanisms in our brains that insist on evaluating everything about what the person is doing; not just what they are saying. And we judge the other whether they say anything or not. How often have you thought “that person has a bad attitude” or something similar just by observing them? 2. What constitutes non-verbal communication? Is it body language?

Non-verbal communication is everything except your words. It includes body language (which by itself includes facial expression and body attitude) but also include many other factors such as object language (driving a BMW says something, wearing torn jeans and a dirty sweatshirt says something). All of us have looked at someone standing across the room and thought, “Man, what an attitude.” That constitutes non-verbal communication.

3. I think body language is overrated as a way of understanding someone. Why is it important?

Close your eyes and hold a conversation with someone. See if your level of understanding is hampered in any way. Remember phone conversations where you weren’t sure where the person was coming from. And remember, as well that body language is just one component of non-verbal communication. So while body language is not a complete method of understanding someone else, it is a key factor.

4. How can I use non-verbal communication to improve how others perceive and understand me?

Remember that our listeners process non-verbal cues automatically and almost unconsciously. Use gestures and facial expressions to reinforce what you’re saying. Be aware that you are sending out non-verbal messages all the time. Become more self-aware of how you speak and the impact of your mode of dress and even the way you stand or sit. Increased self-awareness (without becoming self-conscious) and using non-verbal cues on purpose are probably the best ways to improve your non-verbal impact on others.

Hal Warfield is a speaker, teacher and coach. Contact him at mailto:warfield@midsouth.rr.com warfield@midsouth.rr.com. Or read other self-development articles at halwarfield.com halwarfield.com.

Science Fair Project on Testing Drinking Water

You are intelligent enough to know that the purpose of most science fair projects is to teach students how to use scientific methods to solve problems on their own. A science fair project can allow students, parents, and teachers to make new discoveries together. One of those discoveries might be how clean your drinking water is.

Students may expect faucet water to be clean, but is it? A science fair project on testing drinking water can help them learn what is in the water they use. This outline will help them and you conduct a drinking water test.

State Your Hypothesis

A good example might be, “If I test drinking water from different sources, which will I find to be the best for my health?” A poor example would be, “If I drink tap water, what happens?”

Background Research

Learn all that you can about what water may contain. Research the effects of various contaminants, minerals, etc.

Develop a Drinking Water Test

What kind of drinking water test will you use? What kinds of drinking water will you test? Will you buy a kit, or simply order appropriate test materials? How will you collect the water to be sure you do not change its content?

What You Need for Drinking Water Tests

Students will need Colorimetric test strips for many drinking water tests. Kits are available from science fair websites. Water Safe Drinking Water Test is an EPA standardized, laboratory certified simple kit that identifies harmful levels of 8 different common contaminants in water: bacteria, chlorine, lead, nitrates, nitrites, pesticides, pH, and water hardness.

Predict Results

Write out a prediction of what you expect. Will your city tap water be the best water for your health? Should your family pay money to drink only bottled water? What do you predict your drinking water test will reveal?

Conduct Your Drinking Water Test

Students may choose from many drinking water tests. Here are a few possible tests. Younger students may want to use only one. Older students may combine a series of drinking water tests.

1. Basic: A basic drinking water test might allow students to test water for alkalinity, chlorine (both free and total), nitrate and nitrite, pH, and water hardness. What is the basic make-up of your water?

2. Bacteria: Along with a basic drinking water test, you might test for bacteria in the water. Water from a drinking fountain may show bacteria that collect on the bubbler and wash into the water.

3. City Water: What is in municipal drinking water? You can use the basic drinking water tests above, but check, too, for metals and sediment. Are corroding pipes contaminating the water?

4. Well Water: Since the government does not test private wells, there may be contaminants in the water taken from them. What might you find? Would you expect more sediment or less? Would your drinking water test be likely to find pesticides if the well is near a farm or garden where they are used?

5. Bottled Water: Is bottled water really pure? Is it better than tap water or worse? Run a drinking water test on it and see what you find.

6. Water Cooler: If your water cooler is typical, a large five-gallon bottle is turned upside down into the drinking water crock. Might there be germs on the bottle top? Will a drinking water test show up these germs?

7. Pet Water Bowl: Pet drinking water tests will show you what your pet’s water contains. The pet bowl should not be cleaned right before the test. Allowing your pet to drink from it will show whether or not the water is still pure enough for humans.

Repeat Your Drinking Water Test

A good scientist repeats tests to be sure the results are the same. You will not have accurate results if you run your drinking water test only once.

Analyze

Analyze the results of your tests. Which water is purer? Which one tastes better, looks better, and smells better? From your analysis, do you think your prediction will hold up?

Arrive at Conclusions

Draw conclusions from your drinking water test. Look at all the evidence and decide what it means in regard to healthy drinking water.

1. Which water contains the fewest contaminants?

2. Which water contains the fewest bacteria?

3. Which water is best for your health?

Prepare Your Display

Decide early how the display will look and leave plenty of time to complete it. Will you have photographs? Will you have clear glasses containing water samples? How will you display used test strips?

Most science fair projects require a display board to communicate your work to others. A three-panel display board that is 36″ tall by 48″ wide when unfolded is standard. On your board, include these elements.

1. Title: Make it catchy – and big enough to read from across a room.

2. Hypothesis and research: Organize your information from top to bottom, left to right, as though you were planning a newspaper page. Put Hypothesis and research information on the left side of your board.

3. Materials and procedures: Place this information just under your title in the middle of the board.

4. Data / Charts / Photos: These go at the bottom of the center part of your board.

5. Results and conclusions: The right side of your board holds the final information about your drinking water test.

A science fair project on testing drinking water can be interesting and exciting, appropriate for any age student. The results may surprise everyone.

©2007, Anna Hart. Anna Hart, a career educator and writer, has served as school teacher and principal at schools in the United States and New Zealand. From that perspective, she invites you to read more of her articles about healthy drinking water at healthydrinkingwaterblog.com healthydrinkingwaterblog.com If you are involved in a drinking water test, you will want to learn more about what’s in our drinking water through Anna’s articles.

Sharpen Your Child’s Number Skills This Summer

The summer can be a great time to be outside. It is a good time for some incredible learning for your child as it is the best time he can have during the vacations.

Numerous summer workshops and activities take place during this time and you can enroll your child for one such hobby classes. From Painting to Dancing, from bead crafting to swimming, or even horse riding. One can choose according to his interest levels.

This is also a good time to work on your child’s weak spots and develop his strengths for a better academic performance.

You can be in a surprise for what your child can be if you happen to enroll him in the workshop of the World’s Fastest Mental Math System, better known as High Speed Vedic Mathematics which promises to make your child into a human-bio calculator.

High Speed Vedic Math speeds up the dull and boring mathematics problems upto 1500% and you can do incredible calculations like never before.It is intuitive and uses the right brain for its calculations and is easy to master and apply. One simply needs to have the knowledge of multiplication tables to perform these amazing feats of wonder.

High Speed Vedic Math has its roots in ancient India which was founded by ancient seers. It was rediscovered by the Sankaracharya or the Head Pontiff of India in 1918 after years of vigorous study.

Vedic Math is increasingly getting popular across the world.The prime reason being because of its speed and scope. Vedic Mental Math encompasses Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry unlike other mental math systems like Abacus which focuses on the four basic operations of Arithmetic.

Let me give you a quick example:

62 x 68 = ?

It is quite simple since both digits starts from 6, so you take 6 and multiply with the next number 7 which gives you 42,the first part of the answer. For the second part we take 2 and multiply with 8 giving you 16.So our final answer is 4216.

Isn’t this amazing? No wonder this is the world’s fastest mental math system.

Jane, who just attended a workshop at the Vedic Maths Forum India wonders ‘ Why isn’t this taught in our school because this makes me feel like I can get 100% in my Math exam.”

Visit vedicmathsindia.org/” target=”_blank vedicmathsindia.org to find out more about the system and see some tutorials which has slide shows and videos on the system.

This Article is by Gaurav Tekriwal,, The President of the Vedic Maths Forum India who has been conducting High Speed Vedic Math Workshops for the last five years and has trained over seven thousand students across the world in the field. He is the author of the best selling DVD on the subject which contains over 10 hours on the subject.He is an expert in the field and revolutionizes the way children learn math

Chinese Medicine Diploma – Earn Yours Today

Find Chinese medicine diploma programs in the United States and Canada. Students searching for ways to earn their Chinese medicine diploma will discover that there are many acupuncture and Oriental medicine schools that provide comprehensive Chinese medicine diploma programs.

Earning your Chinese medicine diploma is an excellent way to become credentialed in this ancient healing art. Depending on the course of study in which you choose to enroll, a Chinese medicine diploma can be achieved in a variety of Oriental medicine studies. For example, if you are interested in a career as a professional Chinese medicine practitioner, you will find that a Chinese medicine diploma program can take up to four or five years to complete.

Students participating in a Chinese medicine diploma program will gain a wealth of knowledge including in-depth studies in Chinese medicine history, herbal medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnostics. Additionally, candidates attempting to acquire their TCM Doctorate diploma will learn about acupuncture, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, pathology, Tuina (Chinese medical massage), biochemistry, pharmacology, and a variety of other related subjects. Most Chinese medicine diploma programs will often encompass an estimated 4,000 hours of academic and clinical training.

Aside from Chinese medicine diploma programs in Oriental medicine, students may also opt to attain a diploma in acupuncture. Chinese medicine diploma courses in this field include a broad variety of aforementioned instruction, with an emphasis on Acupuncture and its various needling techniques. Students participating in this course of study may take up to three years to complete.

In a traditional Chinese medicine diploma (TCM diploma) program, students will receive training and education in both acupuncture and herbology. In addition to academic training, students engaged in this curriculum will learn about herbal formulas, microbiology, traditional Chinese medicine history and philosophies, and other related studies.

Prospective students should always examine school entrance requirements, as many Chinese medicine diploma programs have prerequisites, such as an educational background from a conventional university or college

If you (or someone you know) are interested in finding Chinese medicine diploma programs to help attain your dream job, let education within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, cosmetology, acupuncture, oriental medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! school.holisticjunction.com/clickcount.php?id=6634739&goto= holisticjunction.com/search.cfm Explore career school programs near you.

Chinese Medicine Diploma: Earn Yours Today
© Copyright 2007
The CollegeBound Network
All Rights Reserved

NOTICE: Article(s) may be republished free of charge to relevant websites, as long as Copyright and Author Resource Box are included; and ALL Hyperlinks REMAIN intact and active.

Resource Box: CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd – Freelance Writer and Web Consultant for HolisticJunction.com, in association with CollegeSurfing.com – Educational Resources for holisticjunction.com/categories/HAD/oriental-medicine.html Oriental Medicine Schools, holisticjunction.com/categories/HAD/chinese-medicine.html Chinese Medicine Diploma Programs, and other Alternative Healing Schools.

Is Home Preschool For You?

Many parents are opting for a home preschool program. There are many reasons to home school your child but it is important to follow some basic guidelines to have success.

Sure, you love your children unconditionally, but is it in your disposition to patiently repeat the days of the week umpteen times before he gets it? Some parents decide to home school their preschoolers for various reasons such as transportation issues, cost if the preschool is not free, more than one child whose timings clash and so on. However, before you transform your kitchen table in to a school, here are a few questions you should ask yourself. Are you as patient as a professional teacher? Are you choosing to home school preschool for your own convenience or is it out of necessity? The basics, such as sensory stimulus, recognition of shape and color, numbers, adding, subtracting, matching, and predicting, can still be taught though normal day to day life chores.
The first impression stays long with children, and the way they perceive learning in their preschool days would impact their outlook and receptiveness to learning throughout their lives. So it is very important to have a lesson plan and activity curriculum. Children need a routine and consistency.

Children look forward to learning when it is presented in a fun and exciting way. Especially in the preschool years. It is important to hold their attention to ensure that they are absorbing most or all of the new knowledge that is being offered to them. An alphabet a week is a popular way of teaching a single letter of the alphabet in different ways.Repetition of the same letter repeated throughout the week in songs, stories and activities makes it easier for the child to grasp. Everyone agrees that children love learning through activities.

Children are easy to please, you just have to make sure that you are satisfied with the overall arrangement of things. Socialization is a very important part of the learning years so make sure your decision to home preschool your child includes appropriate activities with other children. Arrange parties and field trips with like minded parents. You may even want to have a special “field trip” day once a week that includes other children.

It is important to hold the attention of the preschoolers to ensure that they are absorbing most or all of the new knowledge that is being offered to them. It is easy for them to drift a little when at home in their own environment. You may want to consider making a part of a room a classroom that is just for school time. This way it is special, when the child is there is will be different than just being at home.

If home preschool is your choice, keep looking for fresh ideas so it is always exciting and your child will be eager for the special time with you.

For more information about preschool activities, please visit us at

Which Criminal Justice Degree is Best for Non-Traditional Students?

Non-traditional students are almost always those who are already employed and are seeking higher education to climb up the corporate ladder. Their main problem is how to get a degree of one’s choice without having to disrupt one’s existing situation. Usually that boils down to a single question: how to get a degree without having to give up one’s job and without having to relocate?

Previously, before the age of distant learning and online education had come upon us, answering this question satisfactorily almost always depended on one’s luck. If you were lucky you could get admission into one of the night schools or evening schools in your locality, continue with your education and still maintain your job and without relocating.
But there was yet another luck factor involved – whether the particular degree you were looking for was being offered in night or evening schools in your locality or not. If not, bad luck. If yes, well you were lucky!

Today that situation has changed dramatically. With distant learning and online education becoming more of a norm rather than an exception, almost anybody can get college degrees today without too much of a hassle. Of course, work and study you still have to do but getting the opportunity to do so is not such an issue anymore. All you have to do is to get admitted into one of the many online degree programs that are now available in almost any discipline you want -. from astronomy to zoology with criminal justice very much there in-between.

Online degrees now enable employed people – people who have to continue with their jobs to maintain home and hearth – to try and become more qualified without disrupting the rest of their lives in any significant way.

Today, online degrees are available for almost every single field within the broad field of criminal justice. These online degrees are best suited to meet the educational needs of non-traditional students, allowing them to continue part-time or full-time work. No on-campus visits are required.

Participants in such online programs can learn about crime causation, criminal justice issues, forensic science, juvenile justice, law enforcement, courts, corrections, homeland security, law – you name it, you get it. And if you are careful about choosing the right online program, you can rest assured that the online degree you will get will be in no way inferior to any on-campus degree.

Professional faculty members who are specialists in their own fields conduct online courses over the Internet. Non-traditional students can earn a degree in criminal justice online, from their homes and workplaces, and they can learn and earn valuable college degrees at their own time and at their own pace.

Non-traditional students should, therefore, look at what they are presently doing, what degree can help them rise up the career ladder, which type of degree will enable them to cash in on their on-the-job training and experience to earn credits and reduce the overall time taken to get a college degree, which college or universities offer the best and most cost-effective degree in the subject of their choice, and so on, to take a call on which online degree they should go for.

All that they will need is a computer at home or easy access to a computer, a reliable Internet connection, and the willingness to study and work beyond the basic demands of their jobs.

For non-traditional students, online degrees in criminal justice that have some bearing on their existing professional calling are the best way out!

Jim Greenberg recommends you visit the Online Criminal Justice Degree Guide for more information on ocjdg.com/2006/03/which_online_cr.html non-traditional criminal justice degrees .

Conservative Report Applauds Bush and Progress of Florida Schools

The Koret Task Force is a group of Hoover Institution scholars and conservative think tank. The group released a nine-month review report in September that commends Governor Jeb Bush on his efforts to reform the Florida schools.

The results were formally announced at an Orlando Hotel with the members of the Task Force and Bush present, as well as Representative Ralph Arza, a Republican from Hialeah and chairman of the House Pre K-12 Committee.

Paul E. Peterson, the editor for the report, commended Bush’s implementation of voucher programs, especially the McKay Scholarship and Corporate Tax Credit programs, both of which pay for students to attend private schools (McKay covers disabled children and the Corporate program covers impoverished children). He called the programs “trendsetters” for the rest of the nation. Peterson also praised the newly implemented merit-based pay system for Florida schools teachers, the first statewide program of its type in the United States.

The report encouraged the state legislature to restore the Opportunity Scholarship Program for the Florida schools, which the Florida Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional in January. The program enabled students who had attended Florida schools graded as “F” twice within four years to use state money to attend private schools.

The report stated that Florida schools students had made “impressive” gains in reading and math on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (F-CAT) since 1998. The Florida schools also are better than the national average in closing the achievement gap between minority students and whites.

The Task Force recommends that the Florida schools accountability system should place more emphasis on student growth, rather than overall performance. Another recommendation is for a less centralized control of Florida schools with more room for individual schools to decide how to spend classroom funding.

The report supports Bush’s efforts to repeal the class size reduction amendment, passed by voters in 2002. Besides being too costly for the Florida schools, Peterson stated that very little evidence supported its benefits and recruiting enough experienced teachers is difficult.

Though the study was intentionally conducted by academics in order to distance it from political views that frame the current educational debate, many question the validity of the report. Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association, the state’s teacher union, particularly took issue with the report’s recommendation to make the probation period for Florida schools teachers five years versus three, noting that it takes away more teacher involvement. As to the other results found by the report, he said they were exactly what the Union expected, with Bush supporters funding it.

The $250,000 report was privately funded with the aid of two Republican donors — Outback Steakhouse founder Chris Sullivan and Ft. Lauderdale cardiologist Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah. Both men have donated extensively to GOP causes, including Bush’s campaigns.

Representative Arza said he would fight to protect the governor’s reforms, as well as to implement the recommendations of the task force to the legislature, including the repeal of the class size reduction amendment for the Florida schools.

“We have made progress in this state over the last eight years,” noted Bush at the ceremonies. “We know, because we measure. It’s one of the guiding principles of what we do.”

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Patricia has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more information on Florida schools visit schoolsk-12.com/Florida/index.html Florida Schools