Teacher’s Certification Methods

From the Spring of 2010 Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia starts certification processes of teachers. The teachers will write the tests that are distributed in basic directions: Development and education of people; Educational and professional environment, training and estimation. The Professional Development Center of Teachers guarantees the rise of teaching status, high standards of professional knowledge and activity as well as significant improvement of learning processes and its quality for benefit of teachers and students. During the certifications the teachers have to pass two exams: Pedagogical skills and the exams in their own professions.

Development center was established in January 2007 with support of Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. According to the Center acting teachers should have to pass examinations in order to gain certificate. Those who wish to become teacher are obliged to take at least one experimental year at school and only after positive estimation of mentioned school pass the examination. In case of successful results the teacher will be awarded with certificate.

First examinations for certificate in Georgian language and literature, foreign languages, Mathematics and Pedagogical skills will take place in 2010 for the teachers of Primary/secondary schools. The state will assign the costs of Certification, so the teachers will participate in the exams without any payment. Those Teachers and seekers who won’t be able to pass first examination have an opportunity to re pass it. Repeated examinations require payment. The Ministry of Education and Science will make the decision about the amount of it. Also the teachers with teaching experience but who aren’t active for today can be able to take part in certification processes. Teachers who get certificates, must renew them once in every eight year. The age balance for the candidates isn’t limited.

According to the Center the prearrangement for the tests has begun, and the information about each of the content will be clear several weeks before the exams. While specialists are preparing the original tests the Center offers examples of tests on the Professional Development Center’s website www.tpdc.ge that informs the participants about the exams.

Lela Tsikarishvili, headmaster of Tbilisi public school N1, says that the exams will be important for teachers, it can show their knowledge and rise up qualification. “The teacher who passes this exam successfully, will be apprised by students and colleagues,” she says, adding that not only students are required to study, but also teachers, who must renew their experience all the time.

The schools which have a deficit of employers, teachers who won’t pass the exams successfully, the government will make an exception and some of them will be able to continue working in the same schools. This kind of exception especially may happen in the regions, where the amount of staff is very poor.

Soso Khutsishvili the headmaster of Public school N57 shares Tsikarishvili’s opinion and says that these exams give teachers an opportunity to learn innovations. Nowadays the methodical literature is inaccessible for teachers in Georgia and these exams help them to access this lack of knowladge. According to Khutsishvili there were experimental exams for teachers twice a month, last academic year, where participated all the schools that are located in Vake district and the exam results satisfied the requirements of the tests. The exams in pedagogical skills are new for teachers, but it isn’t so hard to fail. “I have introduced the pedagogical skills to my school teachers and I can say that 80 percent of them will pass successfully.” – says Khutsishvili.

Also according to the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia there were the trainings in computer programs in September 2009, which considered the development of human resources, that include professional knowledge and activities for teachers qualification. There were 467 participants and almost all of them collected the grades that satisfied the test demands. www.mes.gov.ge

One of the school students of Tbilisi, said that he had the teachers who learned him Georgian language with old method of teaching, and also he had the lesson with the other teacher, who participated in the certification programe and passed it successfully. “This teacher with her lesson was so different from the older one, that the whole class gained her during the lesson and it was not as boring as it was before.” – says the 55 Public School student, Gigi Kalandadze.

The goverment has established the exams for the University lecturers too. Tests and contents for higher education lecturers differ from the teacher’s exam programs. The qualification tests for lecturers have begun in 2008. For example in Javakhishvili State University on the faculty of English language and literature, lecturers have exams in Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT), a handbook for teachers from the University of Cambridge.

According to the department of Western languages, Teaching Knowledge Tests (TKT) offers candidates a step in their professional development as teachers and enables them to move higher-level teaching qualifications. TKT is suitable for teachers of English in primary, secondary or adult teaching contexts. One of the English language lecturers, Nino Sarajishvili, who works in Javakhishvili State University, had already passed the exams successfully and continues working as an English language lecture in the University. She says that according to the rules, the lecturers who pass the exams receive the certificate and continue working on the same positions, and the others who won’t be able to pass them, they will continue working only for temporary period to end up their study programs with the students and then they will leave and stay unemployed.

In the Introduction of TKT is described the content of the tests. The lecturers are required to write three modules that includes the test book:

Module One – language and background to language learning and teaching.

Module Two – lesson planning and use of resources for language teaching.

Module Three – Managing the teaching and learning process.

The accident in the restaurant 'Gori'

Today there was an explosion in the restaurant 'Gori' in the Gori town. The gas exudation caused the explosion. Three people have been injured during the accident, the others managed to leave the building safely. According to the cooperator of the restaurant, one of the injured men have felt the smell of the gas and went down in the celler to check the place. At that time the ground floor of the building burst into flames.

During the accident three people was injured. Two of them were moved in to the Thermal Damage Center, and the third one is in the Gudushauri National Medical Center.

According to the Guga Kashibadze, the assistant of a head of the Thermal Damage and Plastic Surgery Scientific Practical Center, the patients Zura Beriashvili and Jumber Tsabadze are in stable but at the same time in the heavy condition. Beriashvili has 25 percent burnt part of his body, and Tsabadze 75 percent. Tsabadze has injured the blowholes. " The patients condition is bad, and his chance to survive is few" said Kashibadze.

This two patients were moved in the Thermal Damage Center at midnight, about 1:40. At that moment the doctors managed to give them the first aid.

The third damager, who is in the Gudushauri Medical Hospital, as the doctors say, is in extremly bad condition. He has a trauma and he hurt his lungs. The doctors doubt wether the accident has damaged the other inner organs too. "He may die", said the main doctor.

The patient's wife allowed the doctors to spread all the information to the media representatives, except his name and surname, so his personality is unknown.

Mental Diseases Hospital in Tbilisi

       The Hospital for Mental Diseases in Tbilisi, holds the biggest area in Saburtalo district. The small detached buildings are scattered around the area, and all of them performs the psychiatric hospital. 

       The ordinate doctor – Mrs. Khatuna Kobakhidze talks about hospital’s patients in the interview. According to her, the statistics of patients, with mental disorder was increased during the last years. She names the social problems as reasons, such as war, poverty. The persecuted people from Gori arrived in the hospital two or three months after the war ended. “They have experienced such a terrible moments that they needed to calm down and avoid the stress,” says the doctor.  The hospital doesn’t keep them for a long time, they give them a prescription of special medicines and let them go. But also there are the patients, who are in a worse condition, and the medicine is not only way to cure. For example, there are people who have hallucinations. Looking after them is hard, they scream, roar, and are terrified with the voices they hear. The psychiatrist keeps them in the hospitals, where they undergo the medical treatment.

       The longest-term treatment includes 3 or 4 months. But there are the patients who have chronic diseases and looking after them in house conditions are impossible. For example schizophrenic people, they stay longer.

       Mrs. Kobakhidze cures the 18 patients nowadays. There are the patients who adapt the accommodation while staying in the asylum, the patients who have passed the full course treatment, usually have  no desire to leave the area, but the most reasons of why the patients don’t want to go back home, is the nonexistence of dwelling place, relatives, friends,  also the fear of unemployment in the future. Sometimes when the patient stays more than a month, they don’t want to get in touch with the people outside and prefer staying isolated in the building, which becomes their shelter. But doctors try to get into contact with them all the time to avoid alienation of patients towards atmosphere outside and sane people.

     The patients are financed by government with 22 laris a day for each of them. According to ordinate doctor this sum of money is not enough for that place. For example, the patients, mentioned above, having mental diseases, often have the dark periods, during this periods they can’t abstain themselves from bed behavior such as braking the windows, tearing the clothes, blankets, sheets and throwing them outside. To renovate all this, much money is required. The accommodation in the rooms is normal, provided with bathrooms and central heating. The patients eat three times a day. But of course it is not enough to give our patients such international level conditions that are abroad in many hospitals.   

     There are two types of patients in the hospital: 

     Voluntary patients – when the one guesses that he/she needs some treatment and visit the hospital. Compulsory patients – when the condition of the his/her is sharp, dangerous for people, the emergency cars bring this kind of sick people in the hospital. Then the hospital gives their case in the court. The judge discusses it and after that, decides whether the patient needs the treatment or not.

Accident in Gldani District

There was an accident in Gldani district, which ended with a youngser's death. Today about 7 to 8 o'clock in the morning three people had an attempt on one of the markets in Gldani. According to the damagers, the attakers were about 18-19 year-old youngsters, without any masks, From the Sanzona district.

They threatened with robery the owners of the market Ramaz and Nazi Khutsishvili with the weapons. They needed money. "Two attackers entered the market, one of them aimed a weapon on my forehead, another one approached the cashier,"- says Mrs. Khutsishvili.

Mr. Khutsishvili, in case of defending himself managed a shooting from his kind of a weapon TT. One of the attackers was wounded in the left leg, he was alive for a while, but later he was found dead in the same district, in the building number 9, the main entrance number 4.

The second department of police of district Gldani-Nadzaladevi gave the case to main department. Investigation continues.

Parking areas reduced

It's very difficult to drive a car nowadays. Not because of the road rules, but because of the the city hall who reduced the parking areas. There are too many cars in our city and too narow streets and small places for them, which causes sometimes a disagreement between the city dwellers, when they can't find the empty place for their cars.
According to the new rule, the drivers who stop their cars in the place, where there is no sign of 'P' the evacuator can take it in the special place, and when the owner call upon his or her car, must pay a fine, at least 20laris.

Doomsday Prophecy

Just as some people today believe a Maya calendar pinpoints 2012 as the end of the world as we know it, some ancient Romans saw the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius as a sign of coming apcalypse.

That's because Roman philosopher Seneca, who died in A.D. 65, had predicted the Earth would go up in smoke: 'All we see and admire today will burn in the universal fire that ushers in a new, just, happy world,' he said, according to the 1999 book Apocalypses.

The end never came, but that hasn't stopped people - over centuries and across culture - from forecasting our collective doom.

news.nationalgeographic.com

photo by hotabis.com

A Missing Baby was Found

A 7-month - old baby was locked in a cedar and hidden underneath her aunt's bed 12 hours before police found her Wednesday night, a Florida sheriff said Thursday. The incident happened in Florida, near the Alabama State.
Police think that baby's mother gave the child to the aunt hours before the mother reported her missing, Washington county Sheriff Bobby Haddock said. Both women have been charged in connection with the incident.
The baby is in good condition. She had been missing for days when she was found on Wednesday.

New Year Preparation

Tbilisi is in expectation of the new year. The City Hall ordered the instruction to decorate the main streets of the city. There are some cranes hanging the different colors of lamps on the facades of the houses that are located in the centre of Tbilisi, also beautify the bridges and fir-trees with bells and artifical snowmen, known as 'Tovlis Babu' in Georgia.
The Christmas trees have not brought to market yet, but they will appear in about 3 or 4 weeks later in the streets.
The Georgian New year tree, called 'Chichilaki', is famous with its appearance in our country. Instead of colorful balls and bows, it has flowers and fruit on it's top - grapes, apple, dried fruit.
There is a tradition every year that an enormous New Year tree is constructed on the Freedom Square. It is artifical, and every year has a different appearance.

The new certificates

According to the law that the goverment established, the teachers and lecturers have to pass so called exams to be able to continue working.

There are different kinds of trainings that will hold in I. Javaxishvili State University in March. The state school and university exams are different from private ones. There are special preparation text-books for the exams.

The rainy weather have caused damage of houses in Tbilisi

During these rainy days, many inhabitants in Tbilisi have had a loss. Besides the cold that is outside, the rain and wind have destructed the houses in old Tbilisi, some of the inhabitants stayed without any shelter, because their houses and flats broke down.
Also the cars that were by chance in that streets at that time, they were crashed when the roof and the bricks fell on them, fortunately no passers-by hurt.
Poor people who have suddenly stayed homeless, ask for aid. They need shelter.

Chicken may be not very healthy for us

Food safety officials are cheking wether frozen chiken breasts on sale in the UK could be mixed with beef protein, thus posing a potential BSE risk. (The fatal disease of cattle that effects the central nervous system)

The Food Standards Agency said it was carrying out 'more sensitive tests' to check for beef proteins in certain brands of chiken fillets from the Netherlands and other countries, including the UK.

But it stressed no evidence of bovine material had so far been found in any chicken in the UK.

Proteins are sometimes added to chicken to make the meat absorb water. The process, known as 'tumbling', has been common in the Netherlands for several years but also happens in other countries.

The Dutch Food Safety Authority said the companies involved would be given an official warning for improperly labelling their export products but would not be fined, as no real health problems had been caused, says BBC News world edition.

Photo by ehow.com

Description Of a Place

On the Khetagurov street, on the left bank of the river Mtkvari, there is located the churh of Saint Nicholas. (1857-1863) The temple is surrounded with a yard full of flowers. It is built with the red bricks, the entrance facade of the church is carved with ornaments. The ground outside is cobbled with stone leading to the entrance of the church. People touching and kissing the saint walls, 'I will light a candle now and calm down.' says an old woman, dressed in black.
Inside the building flooor is made of white marble. Two red carpets spread on it make the shape of a cross. One of the frescos streched on the wall, represents the birth of Our Savior. The blue dome is covered with drawings of angles and saints. On Altar's upper part is depicted the famous fresco of Secret Vespers. There is a still voice of a priest, standing on a carpet in front of the altar, reading the Saturday morning prayer.

The oldest houses in Old Tbilisi is going to be rebuilt

There are many houses in Tbilisi's old parts, like Sololaki and Avlabari, that are in such bad state, that thay need to be reconstructed or even rebuilt. Tbilisi City Hall made a decision to demolish the old buildings and rebuilt them.
Construction workings already began in Sololaki, in Kojori Street, where the block of flats is going to build. The city dwellers think that destruction of old houses may change the original exterior of the old district, which is famous with its carvings and ornaments. But without the reconstruction the houses can wreck down. So chaging the old city is unavoidable.

Painting features 'oldest watch'

Art experts think they may have found the world's oldest painting to feature an image of a watch. The Science Museum is investigating the 450-year-old portrait, thought to be of Cosimo I de Medici, Duke of Florence, holding a golden timepiece. Curators have sent their findings to renaissance experts at the Uffizi gallery in Florence, and are awaiting their comments. the painting is being shown as part of the museum's Measuring Time gallery. The first watches appeared shortly after 1500 in Germany and horologists believe the picture, painted by renaissance master Maso da San Friano around 1560.

Science Museum curator Rob Skitmore said the watch was thought to be from southern Germany. The painting has been in the museum's collection for 33 years after being acquired from a private donor. As it was being taken out of storage for the gallery, curators decided to research the painting - which was when they made their discovery. The Measuring Time gallery traces the history of timekeeping and contains one of the biggest collections of clocks in Britain - declares the BBC News.

Story Idea

One week ago The City Hall began construction of bridges in several streets of Tbilisi. At first the aim of building enormous constructions was not very clear for city dwellers. In fact this bridges are built for the inhabitants to pass the streets more carefully, without fear and accidents, caused mostly by traffic. One can simply use the special ladder for crossing the bridges. They are intended for the places where are cross-roads and no underground passages for people. Furthermore the bridges remain advanteges for drivers too: If the inhabitants use them in the future, there will be no more light-signals for drivers to stop and make way for passers-by, it mean that the traffic jams will decrease noticebly. Constructions will end by the end of November 2009. There are similar crossing bridges in different countries of the around the world, which makes progress in everyday life.

'This Is It'

Los Angeles - Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' comes too late in the year to be considered for 2009 documentary Oscar, but the film is about the late King of Pop's preparations for a series of comeback concerts could qualify for other Hollywood honors this year, including Academy Award for the best picture.

The film, which opened around the globe Tuesday and Wednesday has already earned rousing praise from fans and critics, who say it restores Jackson's reputation as a world-class entertainer. It already tops the box office with $20.1 million worldwide after just one full day in theatres.

Sony, which paid $60 million for global film rights, plans to keep 'This Is It' in theaters for just over two weeks. The studio has not said wether it plans to submit the film in any of the Oscar categories - says The Yahoo News portal.

Photo by usafricaonline.co

Artifical Heart

The French scientist Allen Carpenter and Airbus engineer invented an artifical heart, similar to the natural one. Georgian medical internet site www.medportal.ge says that if the experiment ends successfuly, the man-made heart can be placed in human body by the year of 2013.

According to CNN.com/technology the device could save millions of lives and beats almost exactly like the real thing electroning sensors to regulate heart rate and blood flow. It would initially be for patients who had suffered a massive heart attack or who had heart failure.

The artifical heart is expected to cost about 15. 000 Euros.

The Photo by CNN.com

Local library is closed

A local library building was closed near the park of Roses on Agmashenebeli Ave. In the beginning local dwellers hoped that the building would open after restoration. Five days ago when one of the customers who wanted to take a book, found out that the stuff was putting books in boxes for transporation, they said that it will close in the near future. Someone has bought the building and is going to open a fast food restaurant.

There are many bistros and fast food places on this territory, according to that, closing an educational source is not desirable, it can be avoidable.

Unfortunately it is like illnes in Georgia, that everyone wants to open own food place, because it's the most profitable business to earn money.

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 - August 24, 1995) was a German American photographer and photojpurnalist. Eisenstaedt was successful enough to become a full - time photographer in 1929. He photographed a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy.

Eisenstaedt's most famous photograph is of an American sailor kissing a young woman on August 14, 1945 in Times Square.Eisenstaedt's last photographs were of President Bill Clinton with wife and daughter on August 1993.

He died in his bed at midnight in his beloved Menemsha Inn cottage known as the 'Pilot house'

Google Earth

კომპანია Google-ის პროექტი, რომლის მეშვეობით ინტერნეტში მოთავსდა დედამიწის მთელი ზედაპირის სატელიტური ფოტოსურათები. ზოგიერთი რეგიონის სურათები საკმაოდ მაგალი სიმკვეთრისაა. ეს პროგრამა თავდაპირველად კომპანია Keyhole-მა გამოუშვა, რომელიც მოგვიანებით Google-მა იყიდა და საყოველთაოდ ხელმისაწვდომი გახადა.

პირველი პერსონალური კომპიუტერი

პირველი პერსონალური კომპიუტერი (PC), პრველად სხვადასხვა ბიზნესის მართვის მიზნით 1970 წელს შეიქმნა. სტივ ჯობსსა და სტივ ვოზნიაკს, რომლებმაც Apple კომპიუტერი დაარსეს, (1976) ასევე პირველი პერსონალური კომპიუტერის შექმნასაც მიაწერენ. კომპიუტერის პროტოტიპის შექმნისთვის მათ ექვს თვეზე მეტი დასჭირდათ. 1970 წელს ბაზარზე პირველად გამოვიდა სახლის პირობებში გამოსაყენებელი კომპიუტერი. იმ დროისათვის პერსონალური კომპიუტერი მხოლოდ 1000 $ ღირდა.