Creative 360 Degree

Just about everyone loves pets, but if you cannot have your own then why not create your own virtual pet? There are so many ways to create or adopt your own virtual pet on the internet, and they can be great fun for people of all ages. You get to play games with it, train it and watch it grow!

The simplest way to get hold of your new pet is to use a website offering the service. Most of these websites are completely free, and all you'll need to do is enter your registration details and email address. Once you have you can get started in creating the pet you want - whether this is a big cuddly dog or even something like a dragon! Name it and set it up and you'll be ready to go.

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Once you've got your pet ready you're going to need to take care of it. This means keeping it safe and warm in its home, as well as feeding it so that it never gets too hungry. You might need to perform certain tasks in order to earn virtual money to buy the items your pet needs. The better job you do at taking care of your pet, the healthier it will grow up to be. It isn't hard to create your own virtual pet - all you need to do is find an online service and you'll be ready to go! Just see how many pets thee are to choose from and you'll spend hours of fun taking care of it.

You can create a virtual pet at the author's website: http://makeyourownvirtualpets.com.

A strategic position statement is kind of like a statement

for your company. You want to explain this statement how

you view your company and how you view it within the rest

of your marketplace.

Circuit City is a good example. It's an electronic

department store that is making excellent profit margins

while their competition is going out of business. They've

taken a unique strategic position, being number one in

service and taken that all the way down to their USP which

is "Service Above Beyond All That Is Expected."

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It's almost impossible to be the best in all and that's why

you need to figure out what makes your unique and what your

strategic positioning is going to be. What's your number

one calling card or claim to fame going to be?

There have been tons written about the subject positioning.

Positioning has been the marketing philosophy for most

successful companies over the last ten years. But what is

it? And how can you use it? What place do you hold in the

public's mind? If the answer is none, then again, you have

a problem.

If you hold no place or a negative one in your public or

Marketplace's minds, then they're not going to do business

with you.

For example Sony has been first at innovation. They to be

first in whatever's next in technology. K-Mart the cheapest

price store that won't be undersold. Price and full lines

are their battlefields for your mind.

What's the best battlefield (Strategic Position) for you to

take?

You've got to understand that any decision to buy or use

someone takes place in the mind. So, if you're not in mind

then they probably won't buy from you or use you. You

basically, "aren't there" without a position.

Some of the most common examples of positioning are

service, speed of delivery of service, latest technologies,

Guarantees, and lowest price.

Your company probably has already carved out a niche for

itself of some kind. The problem here is that too many of

you owners out there don't even realize what the identity

of that niche is. Often times the salespeople know what it

is better than the owners do.

The customers really know best. What you need to do is find

out from your best customers why they are doing business

with you instead of someone else. This tells you what your

real niche or core competency is within your company right

now.

If you think you do one thing and your customers think you

do another, then you need to make a decision. causes this

difference in perception? Did your marketing do too good of

a job advertising your weakness or what you do least

instead of best? Have you changed the way you do things and

haven't let your market know yet?

If from your results you think you're marketing the wrong

USP and losing business because your market has the wrong

perception of you, then change it.

These are not minor decisions. They are also not minor

decisions for your company. These can be make or break

decisions. The good thing is you can survey your market.

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Teaching a Bible verse is perhaps one of the most important things a Sunday School teacher can do. After all, the Bible tells us

"..And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15 KJV)

Invent

Whatever methods you choose to use, always leave enough time for your class to repeat the verse 3 to 6 times. Say it in groups. Say it as individuals. Learn it. Explain it. And yes, memorize it. You can make this part more interesting with several strategies listed below. Some are very simple and require no preparation. Others are slightly more involved.

1. Grouping

Simply by getting different 'groups' within the class to repeat the verse with other people in their group, you will be able to do rote repetition more effectively. Group the class by boys, girls, those with blue eyes, brown eyes, older sisters, younger brothers, colored socks, etc. etc. Of course, don't forget to ask for individual volunteers who have already memorized it.

2. Speed or Volume

Some children are actually better at remembering a verse if you get them to repeat it as fast as they can. Give it a try, if only for the sake of variety! Try to repeat the verse in a whisper or in loud voices.

3. Write it

As simple as it sounds, simply have your students write the verse on their own paper. After practicing together a few times, ask the students to write as much as they can from memory without looking at the original. Then reveal the white board to the class again to correct their mistakes. Writing a word uses a new thinking process other than the verbal exercises. Also consider asking one of your students before class to write the verse on the board for you.

4. Sticky Note Scramble

Write each word of the verse an a 3M PostIt note and paste them to the white board in their correct order.

a. Pull the words off the board and have a student re-assemble the words in their correct order.

b. Alternatively, you could randomly hand out the sticky notes, each paper to a random student. Ask "Will the person with the next word in the verse please come to the board and place the word on the board?" Or say "Everyone please place your sticky note on your shirt, come to the front of the class and form a line with the words in correct order."

c. Start (or resume) with the full verse on the board. Eliminate the words, one or two at a time, and recite the verse each time until all the words are gone. Let a student decide which word(s) to eliminate by eliminating a word that contains the first letter of the student's name. e.g. Jenny would eliminate all words that contain the letter "J".

5. "Eye Exam" the verse

Write the memory verse about 6 or 7 times on poster board or large pieces of paper. However, each time you write, gradually make the words smaller. The words on your last card should be as small as you can possibly write them. You can use a computer word processor to write fonts very small - smaller than 8 point font - if you type the number into the font size choice instead of simply select it with the mouse.

Show your first card (Biggest words) to your group, and have them say the verse. Then simply work your way through to the last card - children repeating the words each time. As you get to the smaller words, start to compliment the group on their eyesight. Act amazed when they manage to "read" your last card. Then say "I think you are trying to fool me. I don't believe you can really read this last card. I think you have memorized the verse. I think you can repeat the verse without any card at all" - And they will!

6. Invisible Writing

Write the verse with a white crayon on white cardboard or paper. Get volunteers to gradually paint over the cardboard with red food coloring. The words will then 'magically' appear as the food coloring adheres to the crayon. This is a good way to teach verses concerning the blood of Jesus

7. Wheel of Fortune - Guess the letter.

This is another popular method, but it does take a little longer than most other ways. Write out your verse by putting "blanks" for letters e.g.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Luke 19.10.

The idea is for the children to guess the correct letters that make up this verse. As they do so, fill in the blanks.

There are two ways of using this method.

Competing teams (e.g. boys v. girls). One person from each team guesses a letter in turn. If team 1, for example, guesses 'n', and there are three n's, they get three points. If team 2 guesses 'e', and there are six e's, they get six points etc. The team with the most points when the verse is complete is the winner.

The class competes against 'teacher'. Explain that if they guess a letter and it is not in the verse, you get a tick. If you get four ticks before the verse is completed, you win.

8. Mirror image

Write the verse backwards, so that you could only read it properly by looking at it through a mirror. (Ensure that the individual letters are written 'the wrong way round'). Get the children to try and read the verse. In my experience, most children do not have any trouble doing this.

9. Decipher Codes

Perhaps appropriate more with a small group of students at table instead of a large audience only in chairs, decipher codes can be used for students to "solve" the verse and write it correctly.

a. Extra letters. Write the verse on the whiteboard adding two extra letters between the words. Leave no gaps. Here is an example:

ThegxsonkbofswmanqkcamerptoooseekzjandfrtouwsavexrthegglostaaLukejy19.hh10.

b. Jumbled letters. Jumble up the letters of each word. Example:-

"het sno fo mna acme ot eeks dna ot aves het tlos." Lkeu 19.10.

c. Substitutions - Write the verse with a number of deliberate mistakes. See if the children can spot them all.

e.g. The brother of God arrived to find and shave the poor. Matthew Chapter ninety verse eleven. (Luke 19.10. - Mistakes included).

d. Use Spoonerisms- to add humour to the presentation. (for eg- "the speed of light becomes - the leed of spite" or "go and shake a tower"...go and take a shower.

"The mon of san is some to ceek and to save that lich was whast." Luke 19:10

10. "Drop Out" Game

Arrange the students in a circle or around a table. Randomly choose a student to start the game by saying only the first word of the verse. The student to the left says the second word. The next student says the third word and so on. No hesitating is allowed. If a child cannot say the next word, they "drop out". Once the verse is complete, get them to do it again, only faster! Alternatively, you could make the make the game a team effort by saying the verse perfectly as a group two or three times in order to receive a reward or earn "best time" status (using a stopwatch).

And finally, a bonus method, number eleven.

11. Sing It

Invent a tune to carry the words in the student's mind. Choose a sing-songy tune such as "wheels on the bus" or "Peter peter, pumpkin eater" or better yet invent your own. Remember, the goal is not to become the next Mozart, but to teach the words of the verse. Putting words to a tune is an extremely powerful memorizing technique for children.

Shad Sluiter is a missionary who has lived in Mexico and now resides in the United States. He has produced hundreds of free Sunday school worksheets, classroom activities, games and Power Point projects which are available for download at http://www.gospelhall.org/sundayschool Additionally, you may visit his Online Bible Verse Finder at http://www.gospelhall.org/bible