Ultimate Spelling For Education

Ultimate Spelling EDU is the world's most advanced spelling learning system for schools. With Ultimate Spelling, you have your spelling teaching requirements completely under control.

Based on proven science, Ultimate Spelling EDU contains all the features of Ultimate Spelling plus:

It's absolutely essential your students graduate with their spelling educational requirements met. With Ultimate Spelling EDU these spelling requirements are more than met. Students also improve academic performance, are prepared for standardized tests, and improve their confidence.

The next step is to see Ultimate Spelling for yourself. Simply fill out the form and we'll send you a free no obligation trial of the full version of Ultimate Spelling EDU.

The Science

Ultimate Spelling is scientifically designed, and utilizes principles based on decades of research in learning, retention, and psychology. Here is a summary of the theory and research behind Ultimate Spelling's effectiveness.

Craik, F., and Tulving, E. "Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol 104(3) (1975): 268-294. Print and PDF. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.268

In this seminal study performed at the University of Toronto, Canada, the authors performed a series of tests in which they gave the study participants a sequence of words to learn, with information related to each word as it appeared in order. They discovered that when the information provided stimulated the participant's brain to process the word on a more involved level (referred to as "deep encoding" or "degree of elaboration" in the study), that word was more effectively learned and remembered. With Ultimate Spelling, the user is given a wide range of additional information about each spelling word, including the word's definition - one of the key factors in enhanced memory, according to this study - as well as usage examples, synonyms, and antonyms.

Gelman, B.D., Gruber, M.J., and Ranganath, C. "States of Curiosity Modulate Hippocampus-Dependent Learning via the Dopaminergic Circuit." Neuron, 22 October 2014, 84(2): 486-496. Web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.08.060

Students who are eager to learn are more likely to remember what they have learned, something that the authors of this study demonstrate. They used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to show real-time connections between a person's curiosity about a specific topic, and the production of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and the brain's reward system. The authors also concluded that a higher level of interest and curiosity in a topic or question leads to better memory and enhanced learning. Including exercises that stimulate curiosity, and providing reward mechanisms as part of the study process, also increases a person's ability to absorb and retain information, as the researchers found. Ultimate Spelling has a text import feature that allows each user to include and incorporate practice material that matches their interests, while learning the spelling of words in those texts. The system also uses several different reward systems to encourage users to continue working towards their defined goals.

Garcia, S.M., Tor, A., and Schiff, T.M. "The Psychology of Competition: A Social Comparison Perspective." Perspectives on Psychological Science, November 2013, 8(6):634-650. Print and web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691613504114

Each person is influenced by a unique set of factors related to their own status and progress towards goals, but is also affected to a greater or lesser degree by the achievements and perceived standards of the people around them. This analysis of past and current studies looks at the way people view and are motivated by individual goals as well as societal achievement (competition). The authors conclude that effective use of motivational strategies must take both into account. This is something that Ultimate Spelling accomplishes by providing each user with the ability to set personal goals, earn reward points, and view their own progress tracking reports, and also to publish all of those results on public social media platforms.

Kivetz, R., Urminsky, O., and Zheng, Y. "The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention." Journal of Marketing Research, February 2006, 43(1):39-58. Web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.1.39

In a study focusing on the influence of reward-scheme programs on behavior, the authors found that when people see visible progress towards their goals they are more likely to increase the activity required to reach those goals. The study also confirms that most people are also motivated by receiving rewards for completing specific activities, even if those rewards are not immediately transferable to actual material or monetary benefits. Status points, rewards, and real-time progress tracking are all methods used in Ultimate Spelling to encourage frequent spelling practice by awarding points for the completion of exercises and activities. Because the user can access their progress charts at any time, they will always be able to see how close they are to achieving their personal spelling goals.

Buton, M., Winterbauer, N., and Todd, T. "Relapse processes after the extinction of instrumental learning: Renewal, resurgence, and reacquisition." Behavioural Processes, May 2012, 90(1): 130–141. Print and web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2012.03.004

Instrumental learning, also called "operant conditioning," is a method by which behaviors are learned in connection with a stimulus, a reward, or both. In this research done at the University of Vermont, the authors studied the ways in which the information connected to a specific behavior is retained when the stimulus is removed, and how subsequent repetition or reward reinforces information recall and a resumption of previously learned behaviors. They conclude that there are two primary methods of reinforcing active memory and behavior: by creating a different way to test the subject's memory, and by providing the opportunity for intensive focused repetition of that stimulus-behavior response. These two methods are widely used in the Ultimate Spelling activities and games to create the link between instruction and memory that is so crucial in effective spelling learning on the student's part.

Xue, G., Mei, L., Chen, C., Lu, Z-L., Poldrack, R., Dong, Q. "Spaced Learning Enhances Subsequent Recognition Memory by Reducing Neural Repetition Suppression." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 2011;23(7):1624-1633. Print and web. http://doi:10.1162/jocn.2010.21532

In this study comparing long-term and short-term memory, the study authors tested the neural activity of participants as they memorized a set of images. Half of the study participants used massed learning techniques, in which each new image was presented multiple times in a row; the other half were given the images in a spaced repetition mode, where the images were shown in alternating order. Although each participant saw each image the same number of times, the people in the spaced-repetition exercise were able to accurately remember more images, and for a longer period of time. Repetition is a key technique in learning spelling, and Ultimate Spelling incorporates spaced repetition in two ways. First, the system uses randomized selection of spelling words from the user's current list to populate the activities and exercises, ensuring an interval between word reviews. Second, the system's Word Discover feature provides pop-up instant review of the words on that list, again in random order. By providing users with multiple opportunities throughout the day to read and review their words, Ultimate Spelling provides all of the benefits of the spaced repetition methodology in its spelling instruction.

Blocki, J., Cranor, L., Datta, A., and Komanduri, S. "Spaced Repetition and Mnemonics Enable Recall of Multiple Strong Passwords." Cornell University Library, January 3, 2015. PDF. http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.1490v2

Spaced repetition is a memory training tool that relies on frequent and consistent review of information; mnemonics is a memory technique that involves multiple ways of looking at that information, such as the incorporation of images or story lines. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University focused on the combination of spaced repetition and mnemonics in evaluating how best to train people to remember specific pieces of information: computer passwords. They found that by combining the two methodologies, the results in both ease of learning and retention were increased. Ultimate Spelling uses each method separately and together to help users learn and remember new spelling words by using the same words in multiple exercises, presenting spelling words in a variety of formats, and encouraging users to add information related to each word to make a personal connection that helps them to remember that word and its correct spelling.

How Speech and Language Therapy Helps TBI Survivors





People who’ve suffered and survived a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can see tremendous improvement after the event with the help of speech and language therapists. The recovery process might seem long and tedious, but with the guidance and scientific rigor provided by a speech therapist, the recovery comes faster. The results can often astonish both the recovering person and their family.

Coping with lost or damaged language skills after a TBI accident

One of the most stressful issues TBI survivors need to grapple with is their difficulty with verbal communication. Some find themselves with speech deficits and mild to serious cognitive impairment after a TBI accident. This not only is mentally and emotionally frustrating but it also disrupts most of the TBI survivor’s daily activities.

Common language issues include the inability to recall the appropriate word or follow through with a discussion, difficulty understanding written language, and having unusual trouble in reading, spelling, and using language efficiently.

For many people, this difficulty in communicating is aggravated due to physical limitations, again result of the acquired brain injury. Many TBI survivors are left with facial deformities that affect their mouth and lips and make speech troublesome, or make them self-conscious about trying to speak.

When TBI affects language performance, language therapists offer a systematic solution for gradual rehabilitation.

Evaluating language challenges

A language and speech therapist will first identify the linguistic skills brain injury has affected. This gives a clear picture of the situation, and the language therapist and the survivor’s relatives can use it to decide what the best course of action is.

Addressing language challenges in TBI survivors

For TBI survivors with extensive brain damage, language and speech therapists often focus on training relatives and friends to understand the survivor’s minimal or challenged communication output.

At the same time, the TBI person learns practices that help them communicate mostly through sensory and auditory output with their environment, if verbal communication is out of the question.

Another issue speech and language therapists immediately attend to is offering comfort and peace of mind to the TBI person. They offer psychological relief and support to help them get rid of their bewilderment with their acquired limitations.

Regaining basic cognitive and linguistic skills

For TBI survivors with mild damage, speech therapists aim at recuperating basic skills:

– Clear, understandable speech
– Putting together thoughts and expressing them, recalling arguments in conversation
– Problem solving and decision making
– Improving memory performance
– Improving literacy skills such as vocabulary use and spelling

With expert and systematic guidance TBI survivors can in many situations fully recover and regain their cognitive and speech skills.


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Ultimate Vocabulary guarantees to help you increase your vocabulary knowledge! Learn more words and apply them in your writings.

Hate Typing? Then You’ll Love Typesy





Let me ask you a question. How many hours per day do you spend at a keyboard? Whether you’re a student or an employee, typing is probably so much a part of your daily life that you don’t even think about it. But you should.

Because if you’re not good at typing – if you’re not an expert touch typist – then you need to really look at the time you’re spending on the task each day, and figure out how much of your time is being wasted due to things that you can easily learn to correct.

When you’re not an efficient and accurate typist, it impacts your attitude and your outlook. It’s frustrating to retype words over and over until you get them right. Even worse, it impacts your professional appearance. Handing in a report full of typos doesn’t exactly label you as a pro, whether in the office or in the classroom.

There are many professional and personal reasons why you should learn to love typing by learning how to type correctly. Here are four reasons why you should learn touch typing with Typesy.

Designed by Touch Typing Experts So You’ll Learn Effortlessly

Typesy is a typing learning program that gives you great results in little time and with minimum effort. Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t.

Typesy makes practice easy with video tutorials. You can set manageable goals and optimize your progress using the easy monitoring tools. And you’ll have fun with the interactive activities and typing games. What more could you ask for?

Protects Your Fingers And Wrists

Apart from teaching you how to touch type correctly, Typesy makes sure your fingers and wrists are in the optimal position when you do so. Ergonomics is extremely important when you spend time at the keyboard, and Typesy will help you see why it’s crucial that you learn how to type in a way that doesn’t put your health at risk.

That’s why Typesy makes sure you learn proper finger and wrist placement and that you create the ideal conditions for touch typing efficiently – all before delving into touch typing techniques.

Makes You More Productive & Helps You Earn More

With Typesy your typing speed will increase, and can even triple your words per minute. Do the math and estimate how much time you’ll save every day and every week simply by learning to improve your typing speed and hone your typing accuracy.

In fact, depending on the amount of touch typing you do, you can save up to 47 hours every month!

Being more productive at your job means achieving more than your colleagues in less time, which can push you up in the office rankings. And the higher you are, the more visible you are (in a good way). Your visibility and productivity is key to keeping you in the manager’s mind when it’s time to decide on promotions and raises.

Makes Learning Dangerously Fun

We do a lot of things out of obligation, or because we were told to and not because we want to. Typesy makes it fun to learn, and you’ll want to spend time using the system.

There are many typing games you can use to practice your typing speed and accuracy. All activities are interactive, and packed with technologies designed to make learning feel more like play and less like study.

What are you waiting for? Use Typesy and turn hate for your keyboard into typing love today!


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4 Skills Every Millennial Needs In 2016





Where do I start? A study by Change for Education recently revealed that 6 in 10 millennials lack basic tech skills. Mind-boggling, right?

It turns out that even though we spend about 35 hours per week on digital media, millennials tend to be unexpectedly illiterate when it comes to using technology to solve simple problems. The result, the nonprofit group says, is that about 13 million US millennials are oblivious to the impact their poor tech skills are having on their future success.

The research brought to light a paradox: that digital natives are not necessarily tech savvy.

The good news is that this is something we can, and should, fix.

I’ll only highlight one more thing from this particular research study, but it’s critically important.

You can boost your earnings by one-third with a small boost to your tech skills.

Yes, that’s all it takes to land a more profitable job – simply improve some easy tech skills.

So which skills are essential?

Vocabulary Improvement

Okay, okay, it’s not like your life always depends on the exact words you choose to use (although I could think of a couple of scenarios where specific words could put you in great danger). The thing is, words matter. Words create our reality and help us make sense of our experiences. But more importantly, words help us think better, think critically, and think more.

Improving your vocabulary means having more concepts to think about and speak with. A good vocabulary helps you make the best first impressions, whether that’s with a new acquaintance or a job interviewer.

Speed Reading

Going through your Facebook feed with lightning fast speed doesn’t qualify as speed reading. (What a pity, I know!)

Being a speed reader is fun. Scratch that. It is essential. Just consider the sheer amount of reading you need to go through every day right now. Now think about all of the text you could be absorbing if you could do that reading even faster. The knowledge you can potentially accumulate in just a few weeks is mind-blowing.

Touch Typing

Yes, we might be speaking in emojis these days rather than actual words, and retinal scanning may replace passwords for online banking at some point, but for now, written communication via conventional words is not going away.

So learn to touch type. And learn it the right way – not that awkward hunt and peck method that makes you look like you’re a Martian seeing a QWERTY keyboard for the first time.

Digital communication is here to stay. From catching up with your friends to taking online courses boosting your knowledge in multiple fields, you need touch typing efficiency more than ever.

Your soft skills and personality might impress a potential employer, but you also need hard skills like how to make a presentation and efficiently operate software. You need the ability to present data in a comprehensible visual way, using words as well as images, and your keyboarding speed has an impact on how well you do that.

IT Skills For Everyone

If you think that IT tech skills are only something designers, programmers, and other tech-related professionals need, think again.

Basic skills such as email etiquette, understanding and compiling spreadsheets, interpreting and reporting graphic and numeric illustrations, and of course doing sound online research are survival skills in the competitive marketplace – and if you don’t have those skills, you won’t be winning that competition.

To take your career into the next decade, even a millenial needs to focus on keeping up to speed on these essential tech tools.


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Easy-To-Use Development Software For Career Prospects





There’s so much talk these days about the best ways to advance career prospects and what the best course of action to take is that it’s easy to get lost in the sea of advice. eReflect, dedicated to providing self-development software, also supports people in their efforts to sharpen their skills and acquire new ones. The company knows that by doing so, people have a better chance at succeeding in today’s cut-throat job market.

Among the many skills people are expected to master by the time they professionally enter the job market, eReflect finds that vocabulary, spelling, and touch typing are in most employers’ “Top Ten” lists when it comes to skills that catch their eye in the hiring process. This is not solely eReflect’s opinion, but something that has been established as a given in the 21st century socioeconomic landscape.

eReflect has been witnessing a steady growth since it was established back in 2006 with its first and most successful self-improvement software, Ultimate Vocabulary™. Today, 10 years later, eReflect serves customers from over 110 countries, helping young people and adults master essential 21st century skills for better career prospects and more fulfilling lives. eReflect is now a leader in the self-development software niche.

Building an armor of words – Ultimate Vocabulary™

People often fail to appreciate the importance of a rich vocabulary in the workplace. They believe that skills like assertiveness and confidence are the only traits they need to stay ahead of the game. But the truth is, without basic skills such as an extended, up to date, and relevant vocabulary it’s easy to lose the competitive edge against candidates and colleagues with more eloquence.

Ultimate Vocabulary™ helps you build a strong vocabulary that makes others notice you. A vocabulary that has a positive impact on people instantly increases and enhances your career prospects and your promotion potential.

People’s first impression of you is largely based on your word choice, so by making those first words count, you’re getting a head start, leaving others lagging behind with clichés and gobbledygook while you speak with intention, accuracy and large-scale impact.

Here are some of the main benefits of a rich, robust vocabulary can bring to your career prospects:

– You’ll have top-notch communication skills, both face-to-face and in email, video conferencing and more.

– Your communication skills will give you credibility, authority and respect. Having other people respect and admire you gives you the competitive advantage over less assertive colleagues.

– Your authority and the respect you get from others means that you’ll always stand out from the crowd.

Do you ever wonder why inspiring speakers are often called charismatic? They have the ability and talent to persuade and move others with their mere choice of words. By building your vocabulary you are effectively gathering a strong arsenal you can draw upon in the right circumstances to bring forth the right effect.

These are but a few reasons why you should consider improving your vocabulary with a program designed according to scientific evidence on lexical capacity and acquisition and with integrated technologies to accelerate learning without minimizing effectiveness and overall knowledge retention.

When vocabulary just doesn’t cut it – Ultimate Spelling™

Building a strong vocabulary is not always enough. Without orthography skills, people you are communicating with electronically will be distracted by your misspellings and cringe each time you spell simple words wrong, such as mixing up “you’re” and “your.” While these errors can be sometimes overlooked, your communication will suffer from a lack of accuracy and understanding when you have problems with more difficult words like “affect” vs. “effect” or the easily-confused word pair “principle” and “principal.”

eReflect has created a software product that helps children and adults learn spelling in a way that’s not boring and tedious but time-efficient and fun. Through a series of handpicked and well-designed spelling activities and games a learner can gradually improve their spelling skills and become a person that can write professionally and without any mistakes.

While spelling is not the be-all and end-all of a job search, a resume marred by misspellings and typos (more on that later) is bound to land your application in the “not worth bothering with” pile.

If you’re wondering why spelling is so important — or if you think it’s not important at all — let us convince you otherwise.

Spelling and vocabulary are interconnected. If you know the meaning of one word but cannot spell it, you don’t really know it.

To completely know a word you must be able to use it equally well both in conversation and in written communication. Good spelling is invisible, in a way: nobody notices your spelling skills unless you don’t have them.

So what does it mean to have great spelling skills?

Well-prepared

You’re equipped with an indispensable skill for college and for job hunting later on. Employees assume the people they hire have mastered such basic skills. You’d be surprised, however, at the number of spelling errors found in official reports and other corporate publications.

Spelling is, in a sense, the key to a company’s quality. If your brand has certain qualities you need to emphasize, don’t sabotage those with misspellings.

Credibility

Spelling ascribes credibility and leadership to your writing and, by extension, you. People won’t take you seriously if you cannot write an error-free report or email.

Good spelling skills infuse your professional image with positive traits: credibility, trustworthiness, authority, professionalism — the list is endless.

Why use Ultimate Spelling™ though?

Ultimate Spelling™ has been designed with effectiveness in mind. It’s free of those factors that sabotage learning, like uninspiring, tedious activities. It abandons useless passive learning techniques, and instead is equipped with star-studded features and practice material.

With Ultimate Spelling you can improve your orthography through interactive games and  intuitive tools like a word explorer, and use cutting-edge technologies for progress monitoring to achieve better results.

What makes Ultimate Spelling™ different from anything else is the level of personalization it lends itself to. The software can be as appealing to a 4-year-old as it is to a 44-year old wishing to spruce up their spelling skills.

Who doesn’t like learning through play?

Click, Clack, Click-Click, Clack

That’s the sound of you touch typing. Ever wonder how often you touch type on your keyboard?

An increasing number of people are using mobile touch-screen devices for all of their personal and work-related tasks: emailing, shopping, chatting, international meetings, and even legal negotiations.

In fact, in 2016 it is expected that over 3.5 million mobile devices will be purchased and used. Our growing dependence on mobile, Internet-enabled devices means we need to become efficient users. One basic skill that helps with this is touch typing – the ability to type not only quickly, but accurately too.

Technology and research companies predict that it won’t be long before mobile devices outnumber people. At this point, it is forecast that in 2014 there will be more than 7.3 billion active cell phones on the planet. Tablets, PCs, and smartphones are proliferating at an accelerated rate as well.

So why stay behind with a peck and hunt typing method when you can type at a professional level at more than 80 words per minute?

eReflect comes to the rescue once more.

Typesy™  uses the latest technology to help you improve your typing skills through video tutorials that are easy to follow and intuitive. It’s like having a personal tutor at your service.

Wondering what the perks of touch typing mastery are?

– You’ll save up to 47 hours a month. That’s a big deal. Depending on the amount of touch typing you do each day, you can save literally two days a month just by typing faster and more accurately!

– You’ll avoid common computer-related health issues. Touch typing is not only about typing super fast and error-free, it’s about sustainable and healthy typing habits. Typesy™ teaches you ergonomic techniques so that you can spare yourself from painful, irritating problems like carpal tunnel syndrome and RSI.

The world is taking large strides towards an overwhelmingly tech-driven society. Skills like touch typing and proper spelling are indispensable, especially in the fiercely competitive job market young people are getting in today, where the jobs are scarce and the requirements are numerous.

Build your vocabulary and improve your spelling skills; achieve a new touch typing word-per-minute record, and see your career prospects catapult to unimaginable new levels!


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Top 15 Reasons Every Writer Should Organize a Workplace (Guest Post)




Emily Johnson


Have you ever thought about the importance of your workplace organization?

More often than not, people don’t pay attention to their workplace at all. There might be dirty cups and piles of drafts that make your writing surface messy. Maybe the walls are painted color that negatively affects your mood. If you look around, you’ll likely see that some aspect of your workplace leaves much to be desired.

However, workplace organization is not just about looking neat and tidy. There are many reasons to get in the habit of keeping your workplace organized. But before you check the top 15 reasons listed below, take a look at the infographic about workplace organization by OmniPapers.

It is not only interesting but useful as well, so save it and print to get the most out of it later.

Increase Productivity

The fewer distractions you have, the more productive you are. Obviously, the less time you waste looking for things on your messy table the better. Start using drawers and lockers to organize your notes, drafts, and books.

Boost Brain Functions

If your workplace is well-organized, you’ll have time to take more breaks. Take five minutes to drink a cup of green tea. It contains L-theanine that calms your body and boosts brain functions. After drinking green tea, you’ll be relaxed and more focused, and it will be easier to work harder then.

Stick to a Schedule

When you have an organized workplace, it’s easier to organize your life, too. Many people agree that sticking to a schedule is key to a productive working process. Make a plan that includes time for work as well as time for relaxation.

Get the Most Out of Modern Gadgets

Since you’re living in the digital age, make the most of it. There are many modern gadgets that are designed to help writers become more productive. For example, a digital highlighter or a smart pen help to translate and transfer texts. Make a space in your workplace for these device and increase productivity.

Start Writing Faster

Most people know that writing skills need to be perfected. Obviously, a well-organized workplace helps you stay focused, which means you can write more smoothly and quickly. If you do your writing at a computer keyboard, make sure you have the touch typing skills you need to keep up with your thoughts.

Hone Your Writing Skills

Using modern gadgets, investing in online tools and apps, increasing your typing speed, and boosting creativity all help to hone your writing skills. When your workplace is organized, you’ll find that pulling all of these components together is easier, and leads to faster improvement in your skills.

Generate Content Ideas

When you are inspired and motivated, it’s easier to boost creativity. A restful and inspiring workspace will help you come up with innovative and thoughtful ideas that suit your audience’s needs.

Keep Everything Next to You

Writers use many tools daily (notes, drafts, best practices lists, books, etc.). It might seem minor when it happen once, but each time you have to stop and look for one of these things you will be distracted from the working process. Keep everything you need close at hand.

Train Memory

Your brain can be organized, too. With a trained memory, you keep everything in mind and achieve better results. When you are organizing a workplace, think about stickers as a way to keep a back-up memory system. Post stickers with notes on the wall or calendar to keep all information close to you.

Draw Inspiration

It goes without saying that a good workplace has an inspirational corner. Here you can draw inspiration from things you like the most: paintings, quotes, books, music, or photos. Think about things that inspire you and add them to your workplace.

Stay Focused

Being a writer means analyzing your niche, generating ideas, writing articles, communicating with clients and audience, proofreading and editing, and more. Obviously, if you want to be a great writer, you need to learn how to stay focused. The most common way to do it is to organize your workplace to minimize distraction and time-wasting searches.

Improve Health

Be picky about your office stuff to prevent health problems. First of all, your office chair should be comfortable and ergonomic. Be sure it supports the lower back. In addition, many studies have concluded that sitting for long periods of time is bad for your health. Mix up the day to include physical activities while working.

Read “Posture and Ergonomics Improvement Tips” now to learn more about proper ergonomics.

Prevent Eyesight Problems

Proper illumination at your workplace helps to prevent eyesight problems. Choose a desk lamp with light level adjustment, and think about getting a lamp that mimics natural sunlight, if you live in the north. Keeping the light level up will stimulate your brain to keep working, even after the sun goes down.

Create a Better Work Environment

A positive work environment affects your productivity, mood, and well-being in general. If you want to achieve success in your career, you need to create a great work environment, and workplace organization is the key!

Improve the Quality of Your Life

When you are productive and work efficiently, you have enough time to spend on yourself, with friends, and with your family. When your personal life is full of happiness and cheer, you will take that positive energy with you back to the workplace, whether that’s at a desk at home or an office in the city.

Most people don’t think that workplace organization plays a role in career development, but we claim that it does matter. If these reasons are not enough for you to agree with our point of view, drop us a line with your comments and ideas.

Author’s bio: Emily Johnson is a content strategist of OmniPapers, a website about writing reviews for students. She is also a contributor to many websites about writing and blogging. You can always find more works of hers on G+ orTwitter.

Exploring the World of Vocabulary Through Technology and Modern Culture





We take selfies while we commute to work, and talk with people on Tinder.

Imagine that you’ve traveled in time, and you’re talking to someone back in the 1930s. Imagine saying to them, “I’ll teach you how to surf the web, post updates on other people’s walls, and change your status every hour.” No matter how knowledgeable that person was in 1930s technology, they would definitely be confused. A “web” was something a spider built. A “wall” was only built of brick and mortar. “Status” meant the social class you belonged to, or earned.

Technology and the fast-growing culture we are all part of has changed more than just our habits and lifestyles. It has changed our language as well. Words take up new meanings. New words are created from scratch to give meaning to new concepts, technologies, and realities. It’s a crazy, crazy world we live in.

Tinder

Tinder use to mean firelighter; any dry, inflammable material people use to light a fire. Today, it’s the well-known match-making app that people use to light romantic fires.

Web

It used to refer to a spider’s web, but now it’s the daily reality for many workers, students, and people in general.

The word used to bring to mind things you’d find in abandoned homes or brush aside during long evening walks in the woods, but now it’s a virtual world in which you work, talk, and entertain yourself.

Surf

Sporty people surf at the beach or ride the waves on a surfboard, but today, surfing is also the activity of sitting or lying on your back and surfing the world wide web — not much of an outdoorsy activity, really.

Mouse

Mice were once pests in your kitchen. Today, mice are found everywhere and are no longer pesky. Today’s mouse is a device you use to move a cursor on a screen and click on links. We used to try and trap mice, now the tables seem to have been turned.

Application

You apply for college or a job, but forty years ago you would never have thought you would download and install applications on devices to play games, educate yourself, listen to music, or book your flight tickets. The times they are a-changin’.

Traffic

Traffic jams, road rage, and a boss calling to ask for your whereabouts, that sounds hellish. Modern day traffic is not that bad, though. In fact, online traffic is desirable, because it shows your business website gets visitors and clicks and people are interested in what you sell. Kudos to you!

Tweets

Tweets used to be bird songs that could be as long and intricate as the songbird wanted. Now we’re chirping to each other on our smartphones.

The web is a lively hub for neologisms and creative new applications of existing concepts. No one would have predicted that when we were talking about apples and blackberries we weren’t referring to fruit but smartphones. Nor did we ever imagine we would virtually check in to places we visit, and accept cookies instead of eating them. When you’re aware of all of the new ways words are used, you can devour the virtual world.


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3 Spelling Patterns Activities Worth Playing To Master Spelling





Repeat after me: “No more boring spelling activities!”

You can learn spelling the fun way. It doesn’t have to be a boring process of memorization and endless word lists. And to prove our point, here are 3 spelling activities to help you master those tricky spelling patterns today!

Word study

This approach to learning spelling patterns rests on the combination of vocabulary, phonics, and word recognition. Instead of learning to spell through memorization, you learn to recognize spelling patterns and to apply those to the new words you’re learning.

The activity starts with sorting the words on your list to group them by pattern. For example, you might have words such as day, rain, may, grain, paint, gray, way, say, and train on your list. First, you need to visually sort these words. In this case, you’d group them like this:

day, may, gray, way, say

rain, grain, paint, train

Next, start studying these two groups and make a generalization as to when ‘ay’ and ‘ai’ are used.

One thing you’ll notice is that the ‘ay’ letter group is generally only used at the end of a word, while the ‘ai’ pattern is almost always followed by another letter.

Exploring and actively acquiring new knowledge by studying patterns is significantly more interesting for you, and you’ll find it easier to remember.

What’s more, word study helps you develop a working knowledge of spelling rules you can apply to unknown words you come across in the future.

Spelling Board

For this pattern activity, choose a spelling pattern to study each day. For example, try a group such as the short ‘a’ sound, as in the case of words such as flag, lap, pass, glad, hat, and jack. Try to come up with other words that use the short ‘a’. Using paper, cut out and pin these onto a spelling board for weekly practice.

Create stories with word groups.

Let’s say you’ve learned the soft ‘c’ spelling pattern (as in the case of the word ‘cent’). Gather and study words with this spelling and pronunciation and write a story including words such as cell, ceiling, slice, voice, face, celebrate, juice, and romance.

Spelling doesn’t have to be a bore. Amp up it up with fun spelling activities and watch yourself learn faster!

The Magic Of Failure: How It Builds Character For Success





Success is possible only through failure. That might seem counter intuitive, but the lessons learned from failure are valuable. Unless you fail at something at least once, you’ll never gain the insights and build the character essential for long-lasting success.

Failure is magic. It gives you the clues and ideas you need on how to get better. Let me explain the ways.

Re-evaluating your approach and your plan

Failure indicates what works and what needs revising. A failure is nothing but a red flag indicating that your approach is flawed.

The result? You re-evaluate and adjust your plan and avoid bigger losses later on!

Sprucing up your strategy and your skills

Failing is often a tell-tale sign of a weakness, lack, or misunderstanding. Don’t reject or overlook mistakes. Don’t blame others for them, either.

Instead, see how you can prevent similar small defeats by taking a workshop or online course. Sharpening your skills and acquiring new knowledge will help you do things better next time around!

Failure is empowering

When you say “I’ll try again” right after you confront the fact of a failure, you’re empowering yourself. You are, at that very moment, acknowledging your accountability for the situation and immediately taking measures to reverse direction.

This necessitates tremendous amounts of courage and perseverance — attributes that successful people are notorious for.

Failure reminds you nothing is final

Our lives, our projects, our relationships are all works in progress. Many people make the mistake of seeing their decisions as make or break deals. They’re not. Decisions are valid until they’re revised according to the new circumstances you’re faced with.

A plan taking an unexpected turning is not necessarily a failure, it’s a reminder that things change constantly and you often need to adjust your course of action!

Life uses mistakes and failures to remind you that decisions are never absolute. With time, this makes you a more understanding, flexible and resourceful person. Again, these are essential qualities for becoming successful in the long term.

What would you be doing now if everything you were doing was a success from the first time you took a shot at it? You’d be unprepared for change, unable to cope with the inevitable failure of one of your projects, and unwilling to improve or change yourself to meet new situations.

Failure keeps you alert, failure makes you successful!


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A is For Accuracy: An Important Touch Typing Skill





Nowadays when we communicate in writing, it seems we pay less attention to things like spelling and punctuation. But in many types of correspondence, especially professional correspondence, proper spelling and grammar matter. That’s why the ability to touch type accurately is so important. Of course, there are times when the environment is more casual, such as in e-mails or on-line chat rooms, but even then, it’s better to avoid typos, because that will help you avoid misunderstandings too. And if you’re chatting with people you’d like to have (or keep) as friends, your good typing skills will also help you give a good impression of your competence and intelligence.

You can easily use any material to practice your typing accuracy using a basic word processing program, but if you do, make sure to turn any “auto-correct” features off before you begin. It’s also helpful to try to avoid using the [Backspace] key when you’re testing yourself on accuracy. While it’s perfectly all right to delete mistakes in typing, you’ll get a better sense of your true overall typing accuracy without it.

Just remember that to increase touch typing accuracy, you may need to decrease speed. And that’s okay. Speed will improve with practice, and so will accuracy. The computer generated activities you’ll find in Typesy’s Accuracy Building Course will help you achieve your goal of making fewer touch typing mistakes. All you need to do is follow the instructions on screen as they are presented. You can repeat the accuracy building course as many time as you like. Each time you repeat it your accuracy will improve.

Spelling Tip: Watch Out For Similar Words With Different Meanings





When you’re typing, you need to watch out for those inadvertent slips of the finger that create typos – misspelled words that you might not catch with your computer spellchecker because the misspelling actually creates a new word that’s correctly spelled, but not at all the word you meant to use. For example, if you mistype the word complaint as compliant your computer won’t flag that as a mistake, but your readers certainly will!

You need to also watch out for “audible typos” when you’re speaking, to make sure that you don’t use words with similar appearance and pronunciation incorrectly. Sometimes words that are easy to mistype or misspell don’t cause problems when you’re speaking, because the pronunciation of the words is so different. It’s not likely that you’ll say the word complaint (pronounced kuhm-PLAYNT, “a stated grievance or disapproval of a situation”) instead of the word compliant (pronounced kuhm-PLY-uhnt, “easy-going, agreeable”) because the words are not really alike in pronunciation, even though the spellings are almost identical.

On the other hand, the words credible and creditable are probably easier to misuse when speaking than when writing or typing, because there’s an extra set of letters in the second word. This also creates an extra syllable, but since it’s not emphasized, it’s easy to slur over it and confuse the two words. Credible is pronounced KREH-dih-bull and means “believable, trustworthy.” Creditable is pronounced KREH-dih-tah-bull and means “deserving of praise.”

Keep your eyes open to watch out for spelling mistakes and your ears open to avoid pronunciation mistakes, and you’ll be sure to speak and type typo-free!