It is amazing how much literature has been written about the car insurance business online. The main approach in use by the bulk of the writings is in the direction of selling car insurance, rather than offer it in the proper context of insurance product or ‘a product to protect your assets and wealth.’ That is why when searching for the phrase ‘auto insurance’ a large number of websites emerge with the ‘selling’ phrases like affordable auto insurance, or cheap auto insurance or low cost auto insurance.In the early part of 2011 and according to Google AdWords there were 8,100; 74,000; 9,900 monthly searches for the above key phrases, respectively. On the other hand, there were only 110 searches for the phrase ‘reliable auto insurance’, 170 searches for ‘quality auto insurance’, and 8,100 for ‘top auto insurance companies.’ It is rather easy to conclude that most of the searches on line are about price, not quality of insurance.A basic principle in marketing is to understand what people ‘want’ and design and package your product or service to meet what the folks want. Looking at those numbers we can tell that most people want cheap auto insurance. As a marketer, if you design any campaign without considering that analysis you may eventually flunk the marketing tests, close your website and go do something else.So what’s the difference between auto insurance polices? From a ‘financial planning viewpoint’ car insurance comparison should never be based on price only, and perhaps most people agree that cheap insurance is not necessarily the best car insurance. But what most people do not know is that an insurance policy with the best rated company may also be one of the most problematic contract. An auto insurance policy should be compared in reference with three factors:1. Price: of course the cheaper the better.2. Company Rating: Non standard companies are more flexible than their standard or preferred counterparts with regard to past violations found on the MVR activities of the drivers and the credit score of the car insurance applicants. However, non standard companies are harsher than others in customer service and paying claims. Most of complains come from non standard insurance companies. While preferred companies do not hesitate to quickly pay for smaller claims suck as seven or eight thousand dollars claim, or even little more; all companies from top to bottom will try to examine the application to see if they have to or do not have to pay a $100,000 claim.3. Liability Limits. This is the most ignored, least understood, but is the most important aspect of the policy which affect customers during time they need the insurance. It measures how much protection you have in the event you get sued. A professional financial advisor will never ever sell you an auto insurance policy at low limits if he/she has enough information that you and your spouse have enough wealth to be sued for in the event that you or a family household member cause a major auto accident and your car insurance pays the maximum on the policy which turns out not to be enough.There are many insurance policies sold with superior insurance companies at the lowest liability limits mandated by the state. In the State of Illinois these limits are 20/40/15, which means that in the event you cause an accident that is your fault and you get sued by others, then your company will pay to others on your behalf no more than $20,000 for bodily injury for one person, no more than $40,000 for bodily injury for all other people in the accident, and a maximum of $15,000 for any and all property damage you case in that accident. If you are a business owner and you cause a major accident resulting in a unbeaten lawsuit of $300,000 and your insurance company maxed the payment on the policy and paid $20,000, the difference of $280,000 will have to come from your own money!Financial Planners and Auto Insurance Marketers Are Not in HarmonyFinancial planners are not in harmony with insurance marketers about the weight that needs to be placed on limits of liability in auto insurance. Marketers like to stress the aspects of price and company rating, while financial planners like to stress the importance of liability limits first, then company rating second, and perhaps price at a later stage.Although financial planners and auto insurance marketers have the common goals of maximizing their earnings while providing their services, the scope of their operations is different. Auto insurance marketers make their money by selling as many polices as they can have. The marketer does his best to make as many sales as possible, hence making small amount of money on too many policies sold. Financial planners work differently as they try to make big money from each of the few number of customers they have. Selling an auto policy is not the primary concern of a financial planner, but for him or her auto insurance is one of the fundamental subjects of the financial planning process.Car insurance agents look at auto insurance as a way to protect the car itself in the event of theft, fire or another loss, besides the fact that it’s the law. Financial planners look at auto insurance as an integral part of their clients risk management process. To the financial planner an auto policy is not to repair the car in the event of loss, but is mainly about protecting the assets and wealth of the insured, especially against potential lawsuits.Some auto insurance marketers would even suggest to cut down on liability insurance as a way to save money. No sound financial planner will ever make such a suggestion. No way!When does height matter?How high your liability limits should be is the main issue that should prevail when you buy car insurance. You probably need only the minimum liability limits mandated by the states if /when(1) you shopped for higher limits and could not afford it, (2) your current assets or wealth is not big enough to expose you to further lawsuits in the event of at fault auto accident. (3) you are a high risk driver where no one else wants to insure you except at the minimum limits. But, if you have certain amounts of assets and wealth, or is expected to have sizable assets or wealth, then you need to worry about the height of your liability limits.What about if you are not wealthy with plenty of assets? Even for people with little or no wealth, the height of liability limits should be much of a concern to them. This is due to the fact that liability insurance contains certain coverages to pay for your bodily injuries in the event that you get hit by a vehicle that is legally uninsured, or is insured but the insurance on that vehicle was not enough to cover your bodily injuries. According to the Insurance Research Council, approximately 15% to 17% all drivers in the United States are uninsured. Coverages for Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) vary from states to states with regard to their mandatory status and limit amounts. In Illinois UM is mandatory at the limits of $20,000 for bodily injury per person and $40,000 for bodily injury per accident. Underinsured motorists coverage is not mandatory in Illinois but insurance companies must offer it to clients for policies issued with liability over the state limits. Clients can still reject to have higher uninsured/ underinsured motorists but it must be in writing. As you can see, your liability only policy provides coverage for your bodily injuries, and making sure that you have high limits on both liability, UM and UIM can have tremendous effect on your life.
A Lesson Plan Practically Incorporating Instructional Technology for Reading Skills
If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.
-John DeweyLesson plan is believed to be a scheme that sets limits to the extent of teaching in a particular time and place with varying formats depending on any educational institutions’ discretion. This presented lesson plan does not claim to switch any other formats of lesson plans but rather tries to basically introduce how a lesson can be integrated with simple forms of technologies while students engage with activities to efficiently refurbish their macro skills and language awareness for effective interaction. Modern language learning does not only entail macro skills and linguistic skills but achieving the essentials how technologies are used in the classroom among learners is a must in a continuously expanding digital learning environment. This semi-detailed procedural lesson plan that adheres to the fundamental and essential components of a learning blueprint seeks to encourage the creativeness of teachers to incorporate instructional technologies in any method it is possible.Lesson Plan for Level B1′s Reading SkillI. Behavioral ObjectivesAt the end of the reading lessons, the B1 students will be able to:1. scan and predict the content of the passage
2. obtain main ideas of the passage
3. gather details found in the passage
4. create inferences from the text
5. use Microsoft word processing fundamentals
6. immerse and utilize technology-related learning tools
7. Appreciate the use of technology in language learningII. Subject Matter
Reference:
Reading 1: Customs around the world
Unit 2: Customs and Tradition
From Pages 36 & 37
Unlock 3 Reading and Writing Textbook for B1 level
By Carolyn Westbrook
Cambridge Press, Fourth Printing 2016Target Student level: B1 from Common European Frame of Reference (CEFR)
Time Frame: 60 minutesIII. Materials:Soft copies of activities for screen display and downloads
Hard copies and soft copies of activity sheets
Projector for passage displays
Internet to surf pictures and to propel the Blackboard
Students’ Blackboard account to download files
Teacher’s Blackboard account to upload files
Desktop computer for class activitiesIV. Procedurea. PreparationSet all the materials as tools in the teaching and learning process. Create classroom as an atmosphere for conducive learning. It is suggested that the behavioral objectives or intended outcomes may be underscored for students’ prior awareness.b. Motivation• The teacher uses this portion as a springboard that links students’ attention to be engaged with the lesson.
• The teacher presents a globe’s picture from the internet in the absence of a globe. The teacher may further substitute it with a Google map.
• The teacher displays pictures of people around the world with varied customary gestures onscreen in a PowerPoint presentation
• The teacher elicits responses from the students on what do these gestures mean. The teacher indiscriminately collates all possible responses and be able encourage students to write accepted answers through a spider gram and relate their accepted responses to the main word in the graphic organizer.
• The spider gram should have a soft copy enlarged by a projector for the students to complete on the spot. All responses should be transparent for the students’ inquiries.
• Students are requested to fill-in the blanks using the classroom computer.
• The teacher may further ask some customary gestures which they are familiar with and may additionally relate the pictures to that of the globe presented in class.c. Presentation of the lesson• Overview some reading essentials through a PowerPoint presentation
• Provision of a background knowledge regarding passage comprehension
• Delivery of some techniques in answering comprehension questions. These ideas are displayed onscreen.d. Lesson ProperDiscussions are followed by activities displayed onscreen. Answers in every activity will be highlighted, circled, underscored, italicized and painted, respectively by the students. Errors of one students’ may be the errors of others so it is beneficial to display answers done by students individually. This involves teacher roles and students’ roles. The teacher strives to adhere on the principles of facilitation rather than lecturing depending on the students” performance exhibited in the process.• The teacher explains scanning and predicting.
Students will response to activity numbers 1 & 2
• The teacher introduces the meaning of main ideas
Students will perform reading activity number 1.
• The teacher discusses what details are with concrete examples.
The students are going to deal with activity number 4.
• The teacher elucidates inference as a part of reading
The teacher explicates by elaborating what ” reading between the lines” means by providing specific examples and guiding the students on the task related.
The students will perform activity number 5.V. EvaluationThe teacher frames or customizes an example of a passage if there is no available authentic passage as a springboard to test the students’ abilities on scanning and predicting the content, obtaining main ideas, assembling and creating inferences from the customized text.
Answers are deliberated by the teacher for common understandingVI. GeneralizationThe teacher accentuates on the importance of reading and how effective reading comprehension is achieved through learners’ abilities in scanning, predicting, determining main ideas, assembling and creating inferences.VII. HomeworkRead the passage, A British Wedding found on page 40. After reading, open your Blackboard account and download two (2) files related to this text.• The first file contains activity sheets that tasks you to fill-in the gaps regarding the passage.
• The second file entails you to complete the tree diagram for text comprehension.
• You are required to bring these sheets for further discussions about Reading Number 2, tomorrow.Incorporating instructional technology in language teaching doesn’t need to be complex or sophisticated. Through the basic technological materials, the lessons become worth-engaging and worth -exploring. Excerpted film clips, film soundtracks, film opening and closing credits, an excerpted dialogue, digital script, film posters, music video, songs, film biography, film trailers, book reviews from the cyberspace internet graphics, music or sounds, reading passages from the internet, popular speeches, pictures, tables, Blogs, Facebook posts and comments, YouTube clips, live or print varied advertisements, recorded recitals, newscast among others, are materials that trigger practical technology -related instructions. As noticed, these authentic materials are media forms and productions that necessitate the employment of multimedia and technological tools. These phenomena further stress that integration of technology in instructions is always interconnected with the interplay of print and audio-visual media and are absolutely operated by multimedia highlighting the fact that the multiple and prolific growth of multimedia are propelled by rising technology to produce media forms which are now advocated by innovative educators in an authentic learning environment in the design of curricula and instructions. Access to these materials yield the occurrence of students’ technological involvement guided by well-designed lesson plans characterized to be specific, measurable, aligned, realistic or relevant, and time-bound (SMART) just as how their behavioral objectives are keenly observed as students ‘performance indicators. Furthermore, the success of technology integration in lessons is measured through the manipulation of technical tools by both teachers and students to attain a two-way pedagogical process.Finally, the educational world of learners in the contemporary times is digital. It is crucial that students must be brought into authentic learning environment for the creation of a real- world to be explored by by productive learners. “Social tools leave a digital audit trail, documenting our learning journey-often an unfolding story-and leaving a path for others to follow,” as Marcia Conner articulates. Every educator embraces the fact that learners and educators in the contemporary times are called maneuvers of a digital age for a more globally digital world through the academe as the hub of a continuing instructive progression.
Women’s Clothing – The New Trends
Since ancient times, each and every human being living on earth had craved for some of the most essential things for survival. These things include food, clothes and house. Food is widely abundant in the nature and one could easily procure and eat it for a living.Clothes are a part of human imagination and its vastness as they include a good brain to be developed from the raw materials assigned to them and so are the houses. Making a house from the pieces of wood, mud and leaves is definitely a task to behold. But we have been greatly successful in achieving all the basic amenities in a very easy and fruitful way.But as we all know, with changing times comes a definite change in trends. So, as expected the field of clothing was very well hit by this wave of change. Firstly, people thought of it as a way of protecting their body from the environment and hiding it.But as the times changed, so did the mentality. People started to design clothes with various changes for each and every occasion. Now, clothes are also being made to be able to distinguish between a man and a woman, a boy or a girl.Women’s Clothing Trends-Starting humans tend to use leaves and tree barks as clothes to wrap around themselves for their protection. But now clothing for both men and women is a trend apart. Women’s clothing has shown its diversity with the times.Be it a top, jeans, skirts, shorts, sarees, gowns and many more, there stands a vast list of clothing items to be used by them. Today, they have a full right to be wearing any of the above mentioned clothes on any particular day without any restrictions.Today, if we take a deep look at the clothing companies, they surely have a great profit from the women outfits due to the tendency of women’s to be having more and more well suited clothes in their wardrobe.Different Clothes For Women-In all the parts of the world, there stands to be occasions where women’s still have to adorn the traditional outfits as marked by the religion. Each country has its own rules and set of barriers, but despite this in some of the countries, each and every individual has full right to dress according to his/her wish.Clothing for women has also been changed with the changing occasions. Be it festivals, mourning, marriage, birthday celebration and many more, each of them mark a change in women’s clothing. Also, women’s clothes tend to change with their reputation.Business women’s tend to be more of formally dressed rather than being in a casual attire. This difference in the clothing at different times and occasions is a continuous effort worth admiring for the women’s and society. The clothing for women are easily available on internet with many sites selling every kind of dresses, jumpsuits, tops, bottoms, outerwear and latest fashion pieces from designers.