Why We Love Blackboard IM

Did you know that TWU has a new online communication tool? Have you tried Blackboard IM? If not, you should. Why you ask? The short answer is, it’s amazing! It is an instant collaboration system that was developed solely to advance campus learning.

Blackboard IM connects you instantly with classmates and instructors enrolled in your course. Additionally, video chat and screen sharing features allows everyone at TWU to easily communicate, share ideas, and collaborate on projects.

Students are also able to get connect with academic advisors who have a Blackboard IM account. So, say goodbye to waiting in lines or making appointments to ask just one question. Now you can just click, type, and be on your way. Both Mr. David Infante and Mr. Hobert Kilgore III typically maintain some virtual hours throughout the week for students.

How do you get a Blackboard IM account? Well, we are glad you asked. It is quite simple to get one. Just sign into your TWU Blackboard account and download the software from your portal page.

Create a Blackboard IM ID:



After you create your Blackboard IM ID, you can download and install the Blackboard IM client. You may perform this step either immediately after creating your account, or at a later time. You log in to the Blackboard IM client using the Blackboard IM ID and password that

you chose when creating your account. Whenever you launch Blackboard IM, the login window appears.

And, that’s it. Your new Blackboard IM account is setup and ready to use. Now, you can start connecting with classmates or instructors on or off campus. Moreover, this is a great way for our distance education students to feel connected to the Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses.

For more information:

Copy and paste the URL below into your browser bar for a brief tutorial  on all of the Blackboard IM features.

http://www.brainshark.com/blackboardinc/vu?pi=977377618

Have you used Blackboard IM? Tell us about your experience? Have other questions about Blackboard? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you.

Guest Post: Do It, Dump It, or Delegate It? Decide! Six Steps to Taking Back Your Schedule! by Coach Susan Bohenko

“I just don’t have the time!”  Isn’t that what everyone is saying these days?  That’s a horrible place to be, don’t you think?  Always feeling like you’re running but can never catch up, that there’s always more to do than hours to do it, that you have absolutely no time for yourself!  I like to take a different approach to time-management.   Instead of figuring how to fit more into a client’s day, we try to figure out how to fit more of what she WANTS into her day.  You see, when someone says they are time-challenged there is something missing in her life.  Ask yourself, “If I had one extra hour in my day, how would I spend it?”  That will be a good indicator of what’s missing for you.  Here are some steps you can take to start addressing your own battles with the clock:

1. Set your goals- Honestly, if you never determine what is truly important in your life, what you value and hold dear, how do you know what you SHOULD be doing?  I recommend clients spend some time thinking about what they want their lives to look like, who they want to be, how they want to live.  Write down those goals.  This is the compass by which you direct your life.
2. Examine your current schedule-Are there activities you do that do not reflect the goals in your life?  Are there committees or obligations to which you have committed that just don’t fulfill you?  How are you spending your “free” time?  If TV or internet surfing is taking over these precious hours, determine their value based on your goals.  These are the items that need to get dumped! 
3.  Can you Delegate anything? – Are you doing things that could be done better by someone else, or that you could get help on, or you could pay someone to do?  If your schedule is littered with work that either you don’t like or that you just aren’t good at, consider outsourcing.
4. Become PRO-active vs. RE- active- If you’re proactive, you create your day, if you’re reactive, your day creates you.  Now that you know what you SHOULD be doing, fill in your schedule with the actions that support those goals.  Since someone will always be requesting a piece of your day, be sure to plan and schedule those important actions first – and don’t let anyone mess with it!  Our schedules are most often sabotaged by us alone!  
5. Pick one thing you would really like to be a part of your daily or weekly schedule – obviously this is something that reflects your personal goals.    Put that action item into your planner!  
6. Today it is just as important to schedule down-time into our calendars.  Taking time to reflect, refresh and renew, whether alone or with the ones we love, keeps us centered and on course.  Take your schedule back, your time is much too precious.  

 What are some of your ideas on managing your schedule? How do you squeeze in studying, exercise, family time, and work?

Susan Bohenko is a Certified Life Coach and Professional Organizer who has been helping busy women develop strategies for bringing more order and peace into their lives for the past 8 years.  You can contact Susan at sbohenko@comcast.net or visit her blog at www.sjbcoaching.wordpress.com.

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Guest Post: Celebrating Celiac Disease Awareness Month by Casey Conway

"Gluten is the protein found in wheat,
barley, rye and often oats, due to
cross-contamination with wheat."

Gluten free diets are all the rage and restaurants are slowly adding gluten free meals to their menus; but what is celiac disease? Why is it important to raise awareness about it and just how serious is this gluten stuff? 

Contrary to popular belief, celiac disease is not an allergy to gluten or wheat. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine, therefore interfering with the absorption of nutrients from food. Gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley, rye and often oats, due to cross-contamination with wheat.

Celiac disease is hereditary and there is no cure other than following a strict gluten free diet. Although a person is born with genes for celiac disease, those genes may not be expressed until later in life. There is currently no evidence to support that celiac disease is more likely to be expressed at a certain age if the genes are present (Mann, 2010).

Celiac Disease by the Numbers

·         It is estimated that 97 percent of Americans with celiac disease are not diagnosed (“Celiac Disease Facts and Figures, 2003).

·         It takes six to ten years on average for an individual to be correctly diagnosed (“Celiac disease facts and figures,” n.d.).

·         Celiac disease has more than 300 known symptoms (“Celiac disease symptoms can be elusive,” n.d.).

Common Misconceptions

·         People with celiac disease are skinny, or a gluten free diet leads to weight loss

Due to poor nutrient absorption, inflammation and the increased risk of other autoimmune diseases, it’s not uncommon for someone with celiac disease to be overweight. Additionally, gluten free product replacements often contain more sugar and carbohydrates and offer little nutritional value.

·         A little gluten won’t hurt someone with celiac disease

The smallest amount of gluten which has been shown by biopsy to cause damage to an individual with celiac disease is 0.1 gram per day. Try to cut one slice of bread into 48 parts for a visual. One of those parts will do it.

Testing

Gene tests are popular because they will confirm whether or not the genes for the disease are even present. If they are, a person can request further blood tests from their primary care physician. In addition to blood tests, a biopsy can be performed to confirm damage to the villi.

Why is Awareness Important? The Autoimmune Snowball

Because celiac disease is an autoimmune disease, it often causes other autoimmune diseases to occur. The most common autoimmune diseases associated with celiac disease are type 1 diabetes and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Experts recommend that anyone with either of these conditions be tested for celiac disease. Learning that you have celiac disease first and following a strict gluten free diet may help prevent a snowball of other problems.

Support

There are several organizations that provide support for individuals with both celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Below is a list of helpful resources.

• Gluten Intolerance Group (www.gluten.net)
• Celiac Sprue Association (www.csaceliacs.info)

Remember, knowledge is power!

Casey Conway received a “suggestive” celiac disease diagnosis in 2011 after years of dealing with unexplained illness. She is the owner of Purely Thriving Health & Wellness, where she uses a holistic approach to coach individuals seeking healthy and sustainable lifestyle changes. Find her on the web at www.purelythriving.com, or contact her at casey@purelythriving.com to learn more.

Sources

Celiac disease facts and figures. (n.d.). National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Retrieved from http://www.celiaccentral.org/celiac-disease/facts-and-figures/

Celiac Disease Facts and Figures. (2003). Retrieved from  http://www.uchospitals.edu/pdf/uch_007937.pdf

Celiac disease symptoms can be elusive. (n.d.). National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Retrieved from http://www.celiaccentral.org/celiac-disease-symptoms/

Mann, D. (2010, Sept 27). Celiac Disease Can Develop at Any Age. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/news/20100927/celiac-disease-can-develop-at-any-age.

Guest Post: Personal Check-up by Coach Iris Slay

Keeping our physical bodies healthy is a value that many people esteem. Many people work out, eat healthy, and visit the doctor regularly. Specifically, most people visit the doctor when sick. It is easy for individuals to take care of their bodies since the body either looks or feels badly when a lack of attention is provided to a physical body.

Many individuals lack taking care of their emotional bodies, though. Are you one of these individuals? Would you consider yourself emotionally well or sick? When was the last time that you conducted a personal check-up?

When conducting a personal check-up it’s important to ask yourself several questions. These questions might be similar to what a doctor would ask when you entered his office for a regular check-up.

1. Am I being the person that I desire to be in my life?
2. Am I meeting my personal goals?
3. Am I treating people like I want to be treated?
4. Has my personality changed? If so, what specifically has changed? Has it changed for the better or the worse?
5. Am I staying as organized and driven as I want to be in my personal or business life?

If you find yourself saying ‘no’ to any of these diagnosing questions, you may be emotionally sick or getting emotionally sick. Just as a doctor would do, you must prescribe medicine for yourself. Here are several prescriptions to give yourself:

1. More sleep/regular sleeping habits
2. A new job
3. New friends/influences, or a new circle or community
4. Vacation
5. Lower stress (which can happen in a myriad of ways)
6. An adventure
7. A new hobby, or reviving one that you have neglected
8. An outlet—physical location, activity, friend, or even a room in your house
9. Better eating habits
10. Exercise
11. A consistent schedule and/or to-do list
12. More consistent boundaries
13. Time to think or pray

Find out what is missing in your life! Remember your passions and loves, whether work or personal or both. Whatever you need, but don’t have, incorporate it into your life if you have control to do so. If you do not have this control, you may need to close the door or grieve and let the person or situation go. Work on “healing” so that you can maintain your emotional health. Consistent progress to an emotionally healthy place in life will allow you to find that when you conduct your next personal check-up, you are emotionally healthy.

If you find yourself in a good place today, congratulations! Try to maintain your emotional health. What can you do to continue your healthy pattern so that when you have your next personal check-up, you are just as healthy?


Iris Slay has a passion and track record for helping overwhelmed women lacking balance who want guiltless freedom to say no and want to sit in the driver’s seat of their life once and for all. As the “Dating YOURSELF coach,” she guides women to establish what is most important in their lives, discover the lives they desire by restoring the deep connection with themselves, and the courage to turn intention into reality. During our growth sessions, she helps clients uncover their unique personality and core strengths. This process empowers clients to finally become the person they desire!  

Working together, we achieve growth for today! 

Contact her today for your free discovery growth session!  Or, visit her at http://www.growthfortoday.com/give-me-access.html.


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