• The idea behind a conventional, commercial blog is find a money-making marketing niche and then post large amounts of high-quality, original content related to that niche on a very regular basis. If you are an excellent writer who is an expert in the subject of that blog, you might be able to post new content on a daily basis. If you don’t do this, your blog will slip in the search engine rankings and no longer be a profitable venture. So, by starting a commercial blog, you have just signed up for a full-time profession as a writer and webmaster. It would seem that a single person, regardless of how much of an expert they might be, would run out of new ideas for posts at some time and then the blog would fail for lack of new content. At some point, you might want to think about adding posts from sources other than yourself, as long as the content is original. Original content that you did not write yourself is very difficult to find unless you pay other people to create it for you.

    You must also monetize your blog, meaning that you must place banner and text ads for products closely related to your blog theme. The idea there is that you will have already attracted highly targeted web traffic to your blog for the very products you are selling.

    In order to have this targeted traffic in sufficient quantities to sell enough products to make all your hard work worthwhile you must do the things needed to rank high in the search engines for the best keywords for your blog. Your blog should be optimized for the search engines and you must build as many quality backlinks as you are able in as many locations as possible, all of them pointing back to your blog.

    This may include submitting lots of articles related to your blog theme to different article marketing sites. You should optimize your articles to contain your foremost keyword or keywords in a ratio of 1 to 4 percent of the total words in the article. The “self-serving” links you will be permitted at the end of your article will be converted into powerful backlinks for you in the years to come. You might also want to think about paid advertising such as Google AdWords but I would not recommend that because of the high “cost to result ratio,” particularly when you are just beginning with no profits yet to pay for the advertising.

    You can also post positive and pertinent comments to closely-related blogs and forums. After all this additional work is done, you may want to think about adding a squeeze page to your blog, building an opt-in email marketing list and formulating email campaigns with the purpose of encouraging visitors to return to your blog and obtain your products.

    If all this sounds like a lot of work, it is and I have simply been talking, so far, about keeping and promoting a single blog related to a single theme and selling only products closely related to that theme. Under the theory that more is better and pretending that you are some sort of gifted being with endless time on your hands, why not create another blog on another popular but different theme and double your profits. How about 4 blogs, thus quadrupling your returns or 7 or 16 or 32 or even 64 blogs and becoming staggeringly wealthy in the process?

    I’m sure, by this time, you can deduce where all this is leading: How is a single person going to be ever able to achieve this? This brings me to the subject matter of auto blogging. Auto blogging software was invented to automate the process of periodic blog posting to numerous blogs. At first blush, it sounds like a miracle but it is, upon close inspection, far from a perfect solution. Auto blogging software goes out onto the web and locates articles and videos that can be legally reproduced and which match the keywords related to your niche. You input these keywords into the software during the process of setting up each blog.

    After this is complete, you then have to decide whether to let the software robotically post up to a specified number of articles or videos on an hourly or daily basis. Alternatively, you have the option of simply collecting those prospective posts in a folder where they will wait for your personal review. You can then pick which articles and videos will actually be posted on the blog and which will be erased. Using this option will improve the quality of your blogs considerably. It will also take more of your time.

    It is crucial not to have the software post automatically. If you automate the process, you will just get a lot of rubbish on your blogs, some of which does not even apply to the individual themes of your blogs. You will be creating a bunch of blogs that no one will want to read. To make matters worse, the search engines will never list your blogs high enough that they will be seen in the listings. In short, all of your blogs will probably fail and you will have wasted all your time and money.

    The good news is that there exists a middle-ground alternative to pure auto blogging and that is to post all the articles and videos by hand. It should be understood that the search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing are biased strongly in favor of blogs using purely-original, high-quality content. As we have already discussed, making such a blog is a very labor-intensive and time-consuming venture but it is frequently rewarded with listings on the first page of search engines in some of the niches that relate to your keywords. These keywords should appear frequently (up to 4%) in your posts to exhibit relevancy to your blog theme.

    If you go the auto blogging route but thoroughly screen your posts before permitting them to appear publically, you will increase your odds of excellent search engine rankings. However, you will be still saddled with the search engines determining that your content is not original. The search engines will know that it has showed up elsewhere on the web previously to being posted on your blog. If you keep your content pertinent to your theme and of the highest quality and post systematically (preferably 7 days a week), you can still magnetize an abundance of traffic and fairly high search engine rankings. If you add in some absolutely original articles that you have written, your search engine rankings should go even a bit higher.

    Admittedly, you are making a compromise here between top-quality content and saving time and work. Modified auto blogging provides you with a means of making up for using somewhat less-than-original content: You will now have the opportunity to build multiple blogs on different themes and hence promote different types of products in larger quantities. The perception is that while no one blog will perform as well as if it were made up totally of high-quality, original material, some or most of the blogs will, in due course, bring in some amount of cash each day. As an example, if you maintained 50 blogs averaging only $10 each in sales a day, you be raking in $500 each day, on average. That would equate to annual gross sales of $182,500 a year. If your 50 blogs averaged $100 each a day, the annual amount would be $1,825,000. No lone blog is going to provide that for you.

    In actuality, you will soon discover that a number of your blogs perform very well in the long run while others bring in no income at all. Even with partial automation, posting to 50 blogs each day and promoting them all simultaneously is going to end up being more than you can manage if you hope to do the best possible job with each individual blog.

    When you initially set up your blogs, take care that each is set up to be tracked by Google Analytics so that you can periodically observe and record the progress of each blog in terms of traffic. Keep a spreadsheet of these traffic results and update it frequently. After a couple months of systematically posting to all of your blogs, you will find out that some are beginning to perform very well while others are a big disappointment. You need to give this process sufficient time for your blogs to be discovered and followed.

    At this point in time you must cull or get rid of all blogs that are performing below a certain standard while keeping the more lively ones. If you did away with twenty blogs out of your original 50 you could slash your total daily posting time considerably while giving complete support to just high-performing blogs. After a period of time, you might decide to remove even more and replace them with new blogs promoting new products and see how those perform.

    Look at it this way: Which is better, 50 blogs bringing in $10 each a day ($500) or ten blogs earning $50 each a day ($500)? The answer is obviously ten blogs each bringing in $50 a day because the labor and time required to accomplish that is just 20% of the first option. Look at the entire process of arriving at that point like planting a garden, waiting for the plants to grow, finding the strongest plants and then weeding out all the lesser plants to provide the sturdy ones the best opportunity to grow while cutting your labor to the bone. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

    Bob Gillespie

    © 2011 Robert M. Gillespie, Jr.

    About the Author:

    Bob Gillespie writes on many subjects including multi-blog marketing. He is a full-time Internet marketer and author who lives on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Learn more about multi-blog marketing online at Bob’s blog at:

    http://multi-blog-marketing.inetwyoming.com

    Another blog of possible interest:

    http://niche-affiliate-marketing.inetwyoming.com

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  • There are quite a number of team sports that many youth can enjoy. These sports will help them in coming together and having some interesting and fun times. Through these sports activities the youth also be in a position to find and develop their talents. Many parents have shown appreciation to the coaches by providing them with gifts and personalized coaches gifts for helping their children develop.

    One of the reasons why this is important is that the youth will be able to socialize. While engaging in these team sports, they will meet new people and make friends. They will also learn how to work together because the games come with various rules and regulations that should be followed in order for them to achieve the intended goal. Apart from this, they will also be able to develop their physical attributes. The activities in these sports will allow them to exercise their bodies and they will end up with healthier bodies and minds.

    Since the games will take most of their leisure time, the youth will not be exposed to the risk of taking part in other illegal and dangerous activities such as drug abuse and robbery. With this, they will be focused to achieve better things in life and they may inspire other young people.

    The youth will also learn how to relate with other people, for example, they will learn to listen to the instructions from the coaches in order to be successful in what they are doing. When they are successful or have become victors, they can show appreciation to their coaches by buying for them coaches gifts. These gifts are available in variety of designs and types and the young players can also set to purchase personalized gifts as per the personality of their coaches.

    Coaches gifts and personalized coaches gift are available in a number of stores and in variety of colors. The players can surprise their coaches with Personalized Coaches Gifts or a general Coaches Gift for them to enjoy each game.

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  • Tennis is a great sport, but not without a few foibles. Tennis was a game I remember playing from a very young age. Not really sure, what prompted me to pick up the game, but my younger brother and I use to head over to the local public tennis courts quite a few times during our summer vacation. Quite a few very competitive matches ensued during those long summer days, and a number of them evolved into some very competitive and verbal matches. Ala John Mcenroe vs Jimmy Conners kinda stuff. Not the same tennis skill level of course, but some of the tennis style disagreements certainly did.

    There are a few things that are kind of annoying about the game of tennis, especially whey you play at the very beginning skill level. One has to be learning to hit a decent tennis serve. Certainly tricky, hitting the ball with just the right power to get it over the next, and still land it in that itty bitty little square of a service box. Certainly makes you look in awe at the tennis pros, as they pound the tennis balls at over 100 miles per hour just barely over the net, and paint the lines of the service box. Of course thousands of hours with a tennis racket in your hands hitting balls till there are callouses on your callouses helps develop a great tennis serve.

    Tennis Serving Wenches

    The other thing that kind of annoys me about tennis, is all the time spent chasing errant balls. All those tennis shots, that should have been great, but somehow ended up flying over the fence, orwhacking the guy two courts over, or the really sneaking ones that zipped out under the hole in the fence into the big bunch of bushes. I think every tennis court, public or otherwise, should come with a full time staff of ball boys or ball girls. I love watching those kids on the big televised matches running around fetching balls, handing out towels, at the beck and call of the players. As I’ve gotten older, and hadchildren, I’ve tried to encourage them to take up the fine and honorable of career of tennis ball girls, but to no avail. There must be something about chasing all my wild tennis shots, that just doesn’t appeal to youngsters these days.

    Tennis Graduation Days

    I don’t play a whole lot of tennis these days. Occasionally I’ll play with friends and family while on vacation, or at resorts that have tennis courts available. I’ve taken up other racket sport activities. Played racquetball for a while before moving on to the game of squash. There is something to be said for playing in a court with no net, and no chance of the ball slipping under or over the fence. Helps to save my energy for running down my opponents shots, instead of traipsing through a pack of bushes look for that pink tennis ball, that should be oh so easy to find. Although, I’d have to thank my early days on the tennis courts to develop my affinity for other racket sports. Their all fun in their own way, a great game to play with family, and quite a racket.

    For more on tennis [http://www.tennisopenonline.com] visit tennisopenonline.com or read other tennis articles at foolishmumbles.com/category/tennis

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  • Why temperature is so important

    NB. F = Degrees Fahrenheit and C = Degrees Centigrade

    Temperature is critical in determining how long to cook a turkey, for the simple fact that the bird must have reached a uniform temperature of at least 165 F throughout in order to destroy harmful bacteria. You do not want to give your guests food poisoning!

    The turkey is a weird shaped food source! – Large body covered with thick flesh around the breast area, large legs made up of dense muscle and a large internal cavity. Because of this, it is not so easy as cooking a single joint of meet for example. The breast meat tends to cook much faster that the dense muscular leg meat, so there is a risk of over-cooking the breast meat whilst waiting for the leg meat to cook thoroughly.

    Deciding how long to cook a turkey is not an easy question to answer as there are so many variable factors to consider.

    The type of oven

    With conventional gas or electric ovens (not Microwave, Convection, Rotisserie) the top of the oven is the hottest zone. The middle part of the oven is usually the coolest zone. The bottom part of the oven is usually also a cool zone in a gas oven, but in an electric oven this area can be a hot zone. As the turkey will remain in the same position throughout the cooking cycle, this will influence the length of time and how evenly the turkey cooks.

    Microwave ovens work on an entirely different principle but due to the larger size of turkey compared to chicken, may not be large enough to cook turkey.

    Convection ovens are more efficient than conventional ovens because an internal fan circulates hot air all around the food. Turkey cooked in a convection oven should be more evenly cooked with maybe a 50% saving in time.

    Rotisserie ovens are also more efficient than conventional ovens because the food is continually turned allowing heat to penetrate evenly.

    Size and weight of the turkey

    No surprises here, but the larger and heavier the turkey, the longer the time period for cooking! If the turkey is so large that it only just fits into the oven, seriously consider using a bigger oven or buying a smaller turkey. The reason for this is that to cook the turkey thoroughly, there must be a good air space all around the turkey to enable hot air to circulate. If this is not the case then it will be difficult to gauge cooking times and ensure even cooking throughout.

    Fresh or frozen turkey?

    Many people prefer to cook a fresh turkey as the taste is said to be superior to frozen. Fresh turkey should be purchased 1 to 2 days prior to cooking and stored in a refrigerator. When ready to cook take out of the refrigerator and allow to come up towards room temperature.

    Frozen turkey is more convenient for many people however and provided the correct thawing out procedure is followed, should be safe and tasty. Care must taken to follow the suppliers thawing out instructions correctly, including that applying to stuffing. A general guide to thawing frozen turkey stored in a refrigerator is to allow 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds weight (e.g. a 14 pounds turkey would take 3 to 4 days to thaw out).

    Deciding how long to cook your turkey

    Professional chefs cook their turkey at an oven temperature range 325 F to 350 F (170 C to 180 C).

    As a guide, if you are cooking a 12 pounds weight fresh or thawed frozen turkey without stuffing using a conventional oven operating at a temperature of 325 F, the likely cooking time would be 3 Hours. When stuffing is placed within the turkey it will take a little longer to cook through so the cooking time must be increased. Refer to a good turkey cook book for full instructions.

    Testing temperature when cooking your turkey

    The old school method for testing when your turkey is cooked is to use a clean metal skewer. When the approximate cooking time is up, you take the turkey out of the oven and carefully pierce the thickest part of the leg with the skewer. Remove the skewer and press against the leg to see if the juices run out clear without any trace of pink – if the juices are clear then the turkey should be cooked.

    There are more accurate methods available using modern technology, more suited to the amateur or newbie chef:

    • Use a temperature probe food thermometer designed to be inserted directly into the turkey during the cooking process, as directed by manufacturers instructions. This continuously monitors the internal cooking temperature so you can be certain that the correct minimum temperature is achieved.
    • Use a thermometer (designed for the specific purpose) to register the internal temperature of your oven so as to check the accuracy of your ovens temperature controls.
    • When the turkey has cooked and has been removed from the oven, use an “instant read” probe food thermometer to check the internal temperature of various parts of the turkey e.g. legs, inner thigh, breast, internal cavity stuffing. The turkey should be allowed to rest for approximately 30 minutes after cooking and the internal temperature must be at least 165 F to ensure that the meat is cooked sufficiently well and safe to eat.

    Turkey cooking tips

    1. Some professional chefs suggest pre heating your oven to a much hotter initial temperature of 425 F ( 220 C ). Place your turkey in the oven and leave for approximately 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature down to the correct range selected e.g. 325 F for the remaining time. The idea here is to give the turkey a good blast of heat which penetrates right into the meat and any stuffing.
    2. Consider cooking stuffing outside the turkey in a casserole.
    3. To protect the turkey breast from over-cooking and drying out, consider placing stuffing under the breast skin. You should carefully peel back the skin and work your fingers and then your hand under the skin to free it from the meat. Spoon the stuffing into the cavity and then replace the skin and secure down to avoid anything leaking out.

    Enjoy your turkey dinner celebration!

    The author is an enthusiastic home cook loving traditional recipes. For a complete guide to cooking turkey made easy visit http://howto-cookaturkey.com

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  • There are many different Coleman camping gear essentials that you can take on your camping trip to make your camping experience one that you will enjoy.

    However, you need to think about what type of camping you are doing and what Coleman camping gear you will be able to take on your camping trip. With some types of camping you will not be able to take all of the camping gear that you might want to take.

    Really, when you think about it there are a couple different types of camping.

    1. Hiking & Backpacking Camping:

    With this type of camping you will need to rough it a bit, similar to if you were in the army and only allowed to take what you can fit in a backpack and carry on your back. This kind of camping is usually only done when you are going on a hike. You really need to think about what items you really need when you are hiking to your camping spot because you can’t carry a great deal with you. If you can only get to your camping spot by hiking there, you can only take the absolute essentials.

    As well as all your personal needs, a first aid kit, water and food you will also need the following items for backpack camping:

    • A lightweight sleeping bag that can be stuffed into a compression sack so it’s small. There are many Coleman sleeping bag styles to choose from.
    • A blow up pillow or pillowcase which you can stuff clothes or a jacket into to make a comfortable pillow. Coleman make a back country pillowcase which is just perfect for a hiking camping trip.
    • A sleeping pad if you can fit it, such as the Coleman rest easy pad.
    • A small lightweight backpacking tent, something that is not too heavy and will weigh you down. There are lots of different Coleman camping tent styles which are suitable for backpacking and are available in 1, 2 or even 4 person tents.
    • A small one burner stove that is lightweight. There are many different Coleman camp stove styles that are suitable for hiking and backpacking. A small one burner stove is all you need and is great because they are very lightweight and easy to fit in a backpack.
    • A lightweight torch so you see what you are doing at night if you cannot light a fire where you will be camping.

    2. National Park or Camp Grounds Camping:

    With this type of camping, you can usually get to it by car. When you have a car to bring all your camping needs then you don’t have to worry about only bringing what you can fit in a backpack. If you’re camping in a national park or a camping ground where there is car access, then this type of camping allows you to bring a lot of other items.

    There are many different types of Coleman camping gear items that will make your next camping trip to the national park an enjoyable one and they are:

    • A Coleman camping tent is essential for shelter when camping in the outdoors and they make many different styles of tents and come in all different shapes and sizes depending on how many people you need to accommodate. They also have tents that have many rooms so you can have more space inside for different uses.
    • Coleman sleeping bags are another essential item that is needed when you go camping. They have many types to choose from in their line up and it will depend on the type of weather you are camping in as to what sleeping bag is needed, because they make various grades of warmth.
    • A Coleman camp stove will also be needed to cook you meals if there are no cooking facilities or BBQs where you are camping and these are available in different styles, types and sizes depending on your needs.
    • Coleman Coolers or an esky will help to keep your perishable food items cold.
    • Coleman camping furniture such as folding tables, chairs and even stretcher beds are among the furniture items you may like to take on your next trip to make it more comfortable.
    • Coleman lanterns or some sort of lighting system will also help you to see at night when you are cooking if you don’t have a camp fire.
    • Coleman heaters may also come in handy to keep warm on a cold night especially if you don’t have a camp fire.

    3. Camping in a camper trailer, caravan or motor home:

    Having a camper trailer, caravan or motor home is the type of camping which a little more luxury. There’s no need for a camping tent, however there are still other Coleman camping gear items which are needed even if you have a camper trailer, caravan or motor home.

    Coleman offer many camping items for the luxury camper; things such as portable refrigerators, the Coleman BBQ, camping showers and even a portable toilet are among some of the items that you may like to take on this type of camping adventure.

    So when you plan your next camping trip think about what style of camping you will be doing and match is with the different types of Coleman camping gear that is available to make your camping trip one that you will enjoy in comfort.

    For more information or advice on camping or Coleman camping gear [http://coleman-camping-gear.net/category/coleman-camping-gear] you can visit [http://coleman-camping-gear.net].

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  • PHP application development is quite in demand these days by virtue of its proven success record of generating dynamic web pages for infusing the required dose of interactivity. PHP also enables applications to run smoothly thereby giving the end users a delightful web experience.

    A PHP developer has a crucial role in custom PHP programming. Hence, a lot of focus must be placed on writing code. A good PHP code is one that is well structured, robust, safe and consistent. A voluminous code can be conveniently broken into a number of functions, and a simple code thus generated can accomplish different sub-tasks. Also, a clear-cut distinction must be made between the front-end JavaScript/HTML code and the server side logic.

    A good PHP code must be safe, which is absolutely in the control of a developer. A developer must have a thorough knowledge of XSS, CSRF and other potential security holes. Also, consistency matters a lot. A good PHP code ought to be consistent i.e., the names of variables and functions must be decided according to a specific set of rules, resorting to typical approach for solving complexities and error handling. You must also ensure that your code must be framed consistently so that it becomes easy to read.

    In PHP programming, the code must be portable. A weak code can be easily fragmented when certain features of PHP are switched on/off. A good PHP code adepts to the environment accordingly. It’s also important that you comment your PHP code with a standard approach as it makes the code more readable, which motivates PHP developers to consider the aspects, which might otherwise get ignored. Also, this permits document generators to generate easily comprehensible documentation. In addition, it facilitates interpretation of variables and offers enhanced debugging and code finishing.

    While making use of control structures in code writing, you must think about alternative syntax since characters like closing brackets make the code confusing to read. PHP short tags must be avoided since these tags are sometimes switched off on some host servers. In case, you decide to switch your website, there exists possibility of your PHP opening tags getting replaced. Also avoiding PHP short tags gets you away from the confusion that you may have with the XML declaration. Further, the forthcoming PHP versions are not likely to support these PHP short tags.

    Get started with writing a good PHP code today!

    Adam George is a well known writer. He has written many articles on various topics including outsourcing, Presently writing on Software services, Offshore Software Development, PHP Development, PHP Application Development and other Software testing services.

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  • A wealth of information exists that explains the relationships between school subjects and careers. Across the nation, children, teens, teachers, and counselors use Career Interests Areas or Clusters to explore careers and to make school study plans. There are sixteen (16) Interests Areas or Clusters:

    1. Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
    2. Architecture & Construction
    3. Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
    4. Business, Management & Administration
    5. Education & Training
    6. Finance
    7. Government & Public Administration
    8. Health Science
    9. Hospitality & Tourism
    10. Human Services
    11. Information Technology
    12. Law, Public Safety & Security
    13. Manufacturing
    14. Marketing, Sales & Service
    15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
    16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

    States and federal agencies across the nation have created career cluster web sites and resources. We have reviewed three (3) of the best state or federal agency web sites.

    Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA)

    One of the most unique comprehensive career cluster resources is the Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), an Internet program. LISA lets you explore career clusters, careers, abilities, training requirements, and more. Using the Lisa, you can do the following tasks:

    • Assessment: Explore career options using the Work Importance Locator.
    • I Enjoy: Find careers based upon the things that you enjoy.
    • Cluster: Find careers from Career Cluster Groups.
    • Search: Search for jobs based on knowledge, skills, and abilities.
    • Best Match: Use your current job to find knowledge, skills, and abilities to identify a new career.
    • Compare: Compare current job to potential new job.
    • Profile: Use this feature to create a profile from a selected career.

    There are 3 steps in the LISA program. In Step 1, when you choose a career cluster, you will read the description of the cluster. When you select a career cluster in Step 2, you can select a career group. In each career group, you will see a lot of different careers. Finally, in Step 3, you see additional occupational information, such as:

    • Job descriptions
    • Educational and training requirements
    • Crosswalks, for example ONET, DOT, GOE, and other codes
    • Abilities
    • Knowledge
    • Skills
    • Tasks
    • Work Values
    • Labor Market Information

    There is detailed information in each job profile:

    • Description
    • Crosswalk
    • Abilities
    • Knowledge
    • Skills
    • Tasks
    • Work Values
    • Occupational Characteristics Narrative

    The Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA) is an excellent tool for students to do career cluster exploration.

    NCE Career Clusters and State Career Clusters Initiative Resources

    The NCE Career Clusters has adapted information from the State Career Clusters Initiative to create a career education toolkit for teachers and counselors. In your NCE Career Clusters toolkit, you can find a Career Cluster Model, poster, resource booklets, At-a-Glance PDF Slices, and Plans of Study. Each resource is designed to facilitate the exploration of Career Clusters.

    Career Cluster Resource Booklet

    To prepare for a Career Clusters discussion, teachers and counselors use the State Career Clusters Initiative Career Cluster Resource Booklet. The brochures discuss the differences between career clusters and career pathways. The booklet outlines that career clusters are career groups from the same industry that have the same skills and educational requirements. Career pathways are specific careers that are within the each career cluster. The Resource Booklet discusses the following topics:

    • Historical background information
    • Cluster Knowledge and Skills
    • Pathway Knowledge and Skills
    • O*NET Crosswalk Report
    • Validation Studies
    • Assessment Protocol
    • Certification Protocol

    The booklet is a “must-read” resource that provides in depth information on each career cluster. Each booklet has detailed graphs, charts, and tables.

    Career Cluster Model

    To provide an overview of Career Clusters, teachers and counselors use the Career Cluster Model. The Career Cluster Model simplifies sixteen (16) Career Clusters model. The center of the NCE Career Clusters model focuses on six (6) major groups. The career clusters are color-coded so that you can easily present six (6) major groups in classroom activities. The six (6) major groups are:

    1. Environmental and Agricultural Systems
    2. Business, Marketing, and Management
    3. Communication and Information Systems
    4. Industrial, Manufacturing, Engineering Systems
    5. Health Sciences
    6. Human Services and Resources

    Here is summary of the relationship between the sixteen (16) Career Clusters and the 6 Super Clusters.

    1. Environmental and Agricultural Systems – Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources (1)
    2. Business, Marketing, and Management combines:

    • Business, Management & Administration (4)
    • Finance (6)
    • Hospitality & Tourism (9)
    • Marketing, Sales & Service (14)

  • Communication and Information Systems involve:
    • Arts, A/V Technology & Communication (3)
    • Information Technology (11)

  • Industrial, Manufacturing, Engineering Systems include:
    • Transportation, Distribution & Logistics (16)
    • Architecture & Construction (2)
    • Manufacturing (13)
    • Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (15)

  • Health Sciences – Health Science (8)
  • Human Services and Resources merges -
    • Education & Training (5)
    • Government & Public Administration (7)
    • Human Services (10)
    • Law, Public Safety & Security (12)

    The sixteen (16) Career Clusters systematically fit within the six (6) major groups.

    Career Cluster Brochure

    Another excellent career cluster student aid is the Career Cluster Brochure. The brochure is filled with photographs that show people performing the different jobs. With this easy-to-read booklet, students get an overview of the different careers, career clusters, and career pathways. Students read about:

    • What is a career cluster?
    • What is a career pathway?
    • What school subjects are important for a career in the … career cluster?
    • What is the educational or training requirement for a career in the … career cluster?
    • What are the necessary credentials for a career in the … career cluster?
    • What is the employment outlook for a career in the … career cluster?
    • What are some sample occupations?

    Career Cluster Slices

    Besides the Career Cluster Model and the Brochure, a third student Career Cluster aid is the NCE Career Cluster Slices. The NCE Career Cluster Slice identifies specific career opportunities found within each Career Pathways. Each Cluster Slice is illustrated and designed to explore areas, such as:

      Cluster Description

    • Pathway Description
    • Cluster Knowledge & Skills
    • Career Field
    • Preparation for a Career in …
    • Examples of Education and Training Postsecondary Programs of Study

    Students discover that each pathways leads to post-secondary options including:

    • Apprenticeships
    • Certificates
    • Licenses
    • Associate’s Degree Programs
    • Bachelor’s Degree Programs
    • Master’s Degree Programs
    • Doctoral Degree Programs
    • Professional Degree Programs

    Career Clusters Plan of Study

    At the beginning of the students’ middle school years, the students use assessments identify career cluster interest areas. With the Career Clusters model, brochure, Slices, and LISA resources, the students have explored the different careers and post-secondary training options. Students, teachers, counselors, and parents then use the Career Clusters Plan of Study to strategically plan the students’ high school course work. The Career Clusters Plan of Study provides examples of English, Math, Science, Social Studies, electives, and extra-curricular activities for the following grade levels:

    • 7th – 8th grade
    • 9th – 10th grade
    • 11th – 12th grade
    • Advanced coursework for postsecondary credit

    The NCE Career Clusters web page is the gateway to the student career cluster resources.

    State Career Clusters Initiative, NCE, and Lisa materials are just examples of career cluster resources. Career clusters resources have established a connection between school subjects and careers.

    Resources:

    Explore Career Clusters, Texas Workforce Commission/Career Development Resources (TWC/CDR), US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, and Louisiana Department of Labor

    Nebraska Career Education, States’ Career Clusters Initiative, 2005, and NCTEF/NASDCTEc (National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium) States’ Career Clusters Initiative, & National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium

    State Career Clusters Initiative Washington, DC: National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, 2002

Dr Mary Askew specializes in career tests, websites, and books for students. Students need eye appealing, easy to use, yet comprehensive career resources. Find out how students can reach their career potentials at http://www.hollandcodes.com Contact Dr. Askew at learning4life@qwest.net

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