By Brenda L Hopkins

Prom night is one of the most important nights in a senior's high school life. It is a night to relax and have fun before the pressure of SATs, picking a college, and graduation overwhelms them. The theme of this big night is undoubtedly the most import thing to them, it will decide what the wear, how they have their hair done, and what they arrive in.

A fairytale theme evokes Cinderella style dresses and prince Charming tuxedos with students arriving in horse drawn carriages. The decorations could include towering castle turrets and colors of blue and pink. A great favor to tie this theme together may include printed champagne glasses or customized bubbles.

Welcome to the jungle brings out the animal in everyone with plenty of leopard and zebra prints to go around. Lush jungle trees and fierce lions play on this theme. A fog machine adds to the jungle like appearance and what better then bamboo picture frames to mark this wild night.

"The City that Never Sleeps" New York City what a great way to dance the night away. Beautiful fashion trendy dresses and high heels with dapper tuxedos bring out the fashionistia in everyone. Towering sky scrapers and famous street signs decorate the venue and since everyone is a star tonight an LED star shaped key chain or star shaped compact would make the perfect favor.

Arabian Nights: Think Aladdin and the magic carpet. Beautiful Arabian inspired dresses and turbans. The hall decorated with beautiful carpets, magic lamps, and splashes of bright color everywhere. Large fountains and beautiful flowers play on this exotic theme. A candle to mimic the light given off by the magic lamp makes a great favor have it personalized with genie so everyone can make a wish come true tonight.

Casino Night is another great prom theme. A glittering casino prom theme provides a wonderful night of fun and excitement. Las Vegas prom theme decorations: cards, dice and slot machines for the wall decor. Then the cool games setup like black jack, craps and roulette tables. With all the games to play this will make your prom night a big hit.

Whatever the theme be sure to make it a night to remember with the perfect favor for them to take home. Most prom favors can be personalized with the school name, prom theme, and date. It can even be done in the school colors. Some popular favors include personalized mint tins, CD and DVD cases, cell phone covers and small items like lip balm, mints, candy bars and money clips.

By Brenda L Hopkins

Prom night is one of the most important nights in a senior's high school life. It is a night to relax and have fun before the pressure of SATs, picking a college, and graduation overwhelms them. The theme of this big night is undoubtedly the most import thing to them, it will decide what the wear, how they have their hair done, and what they arrive in.

A fairytale theme evokes Cinderella style dresses and prince Charming tuxedos with students arriving in horse drawn carriages. The decorations could include towering castle turrets and colors of blue and pink. A great favor to tie this theme together may include printed champagne glasses or customized bubbles.

Welcome to the jungle brings out the animal in everyone with plenty of leopard and zebra prints to go around. Lush jungle trees and fierce lions play on this theme. A fog machine adds to the jungle like appearance and what better then bamboo picture frames to mark this wild night.

"The City that Never Sleeps" New York City what a great way to dance the night away. Beautiful fashion trendy dresses and high heels with dapper tuxedos bring out the fashionistia in everyone. Towering sky scrapers and famous street signs decorate the venue and since everyone is a star tonight an LED star shaped key chain or star shaped compact would make the perfect favor.

Arabian Nights: Think Aladdin and the magic carpet. Beautiful Arabian inspired dresses and turbans. The hall decorated with beautiful carpets, magic lamps, and splashes of bright color everywhere. Large fountains and beautiful flowers play on this exotic theme. A candle to mimic the light given off by the magic lamp makes a great favor have it personalized with genie so everyone can make a wish come true tonight.

Casino Night is another great prom theme. A glittering casino prom theme provides a wonderful night of fun and excitement. Las Vegas prom theme decorations: cards, dice and slot machines for the wall decor. Then the cool games setup like black jack, craps and roulette tables. With all the games to play this will make your prom night a big hit.

Whatever the theme be sure to make it a night to remember with the perfect favor for them to take home. Most prom favors can be personalized with the school name, prom theme, and date. It can even be done in the school colors. Some popular favors include personalized mint tins, CD and DVD cases, cell phone covers and small items like lip balm, mints, candy bars and money clips.

By Rachel P Shaffin

As 2013 begins, we will start to see more of the generation z students, also known as internet generation and digital natives, changing how educators formulate lessons and interact with students. As technology advances, it infiltrates itself even further into education and modifies the classroom dynamic. The following are some important educational trends to watch out for in 2013:

    More Homeschooling: Historically, homeschooling was seen as a rare phenomenon; however, lately, the concept of homeschooling has become more popular. This individualized, self-directed learning environment is gaining traction which means more resources and support for parents that choose this route. Technology and the internet has assisted with the growth of home school and makes it easier for parents and students to engage with others and learn.

    Interactive Classroom: Education programs nationwide are beginning to see more acceptance of interactive tools such as the iPad. The students of today are already proficient with technology and can use it to engage and learn both at home and school. To get the digital generation better involved, teachers are incorporating interactive textbooks, educational games and collaborative projects into their lesson plans.

    Visual Learning Techniques: The z generation of students are different from their parents and grandparents in the fact that their visual ability is more developed. Thanks to web browsing and information overloading, visual forms of learning are more effective and gratifying. Curricula is adapting to these changes by focusing more on looking rather than listening.

    Online Projects and Collaboration: More and more teachers are beginning to embrace web-based programs to engage students with their classmates and children around the world. They do this through blogging, podcasting, digital media and a variety of other online collaborative projects.

    Learning through Games: Instant gratification is a huge need for students these days, which makes learning via games not only more fun, but also more effective. Educational games motivate children to step out of their comfort zone to reach higher levels of knowledge- challenge themselves even further. While these games won't substitute lesson plans, they are a great supplemental resource.

    Focus on Critical Thinking: Memorization is always inevitable, but the focus should be more on problem solving and critical thinking. The ability to recall memorized pieces of material have its place in the classroom, but critical thinking is more important for creating students that are ready to take on innovation and entrepreneurship once they get out of school.

    Occupation-based Training: Higher educational costs coupled with the fact that many young people are already technically savvy enough to start a career that doesn't require a college degree, may cause many students to join the workforce right out of high school. More students are seeking out entrepreneurial opportunities at a younger age.

    Learning in Small Bites: Teachers find that the newer generations of students are harder to teach due to their short attention span caused by the generation y's constant multitasking influence. Educators must now tailor their lesson plans into more manageable, bite-size segments.