Find People Bingo ideas galore in the Continuing Ed. forum: People Bingo Characteristics. Besides great ideas, we'll entertain you a bit. Join the fun!

Go figure. I guess there's enough conflict in the world that somebody will always be looking for a little help ironing out the kinks in a relationship, in the classroom, in the world.

I'm not saying I've got the final answer, but I do have 10 steps that might help: 10 Steps to Conflict Resolution.

I was just surprised to see it on my Most Popular list today. Good luck out there. Kiss and make up, and then get on with your studies.

Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich., appreciates its 200+ non-traditional students so much it threw a week-long event to celebrate them, including a Motown dance in the school's ballroom. Cool.

Lauren Carlson wrote about the week for the college's website in Aquinas Celebrates Non-Traditional Student Recognition Week: "Not all students live in the residence halls, eat in Wege Cafeteria, or even carry backpacks. Some earn their degree on nights and weekends or stolen afternoons, all while maintaining a career and raising a family."

Being a non-trad can be tough. We've got some help for you:

• 6 Tips for Improving Your Writing
• 3 Ways to Improve Your Memory
• Improve Your Speaking Skills

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Do you dig taking classes from your living room, or are there kids hanging on your legs? Do you need a firm schedule, or can you motivate yourself to sit at the computer every spare hour? Are you into synchronous or asynchronous learning? E-learning may or may not be for you.

Lena Gott teaches business at the online-only Axia College, part of Phoenix University. The majority of her students are non-traditional, older than 25. She's got some good advice for them about the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning.

Melanie Zoltan interviewed Gott for About Continuing Ed. Read her full interview.

More on e-learning:

• What Is Synchronous Learning?
• What Is Asynchronous Learning?
• Online Teaching Degrees
• Online Degree Completion Programs

Melanie Shearer not only teaches non-traditional students, she's a non-traditional student herself. At 37, she's a full-time professor of medical courses at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio, AND is in the process of pursuing a master's degree. That's a full plate.

Contributing Writer Melanie Zoltan interviewed Shearer to get her insights on being non-traditional: Faculty Member Melanie Shearer Gives Insight for Non-Traditional Students.

How do you balance work, life, and school? Share your experience with us.

I come from the era of the TV commercial that touted, "Kix are for kids." It was the first thing I thought of when I found an article at the Wall Street Journal from Jaime Levy Pessin about using 529 college-savings plans for yourself, not just your kids.

Pessin says that these "tax-advantaged investment vehicles" (That made me smile, too. Read tax-free savings.), while still rare, are entirely acceptable, and smart. You can use the money at any postsecondary institution that accepts federal financial aid.

"So if Dad wants to perfect his coq au vin at the French Cuisine Boot Camp offered by the Culinary Institute of America--an institution that meets the criteria--it may be worth consulting with a tax adviser to see if the $2,095 tuition could be pulled out of a 529 fund," Pessin writes.

Thinking about going back to school, get your 529 on.

(It just sounded kind of cool.)

Related:

• Should You Go Back to School?
• 10 Facts About Financial Aid
• Education Helps Prevent Alzheimer's

I like the name WaterWorld. It sounds like a theme park, doesn't it? It's not.

WaterWorld is a blog that covers the water industry from "adsorption processes to zebra mussel control." James Laughlin is the editor. He wrote yesterday about new online continuing ed. courses for people in the water industry. The initial goal was to offer 12 courses. They have 50.

Our current model is to provide a mix of technical papers and pre-recorded presentations on drinking water and wastewater topics, both inside the treatment plant and out in the distribution/collection systems. Most of our courses take about an hour to complete and are good for one "contact hour" of credit. Users can work at their own pace and there is no time limit for completing a course.

The online course program has its own website: WaterWorldCE.com. It offers courses required in each state. If you're a water professional, check it out. Be informed. We appreciate that you keep our water clean and healthy.

Life Time Fitness, the company that calls itself "The Healthy Way of Life Company," announced yesterday that it is launching a Life Time Academy in partnership with the National Academy of Sports Medicine:

"Aimed at providing a blended learning environment for personal training continuing education, Life Time Academy will consist of 500-plus hours of online learning and live experience, and over 210 hours of hands-on work, which includes instructor-led labs, in addition to hands-on practicum. The result is innovative programming that leverages advanced methods of instruction to give both established and new personal trainers access to the latest information and proactive application in fitness, sports performance, corrective exercise, nutrition and leadership."

The academy website is new and it isn't entirely clear where the training occurs. The site mentions the Life Time Target Center. As a former Minnesotan (Life Time is a Minnesota company), I'm guessing the academy is located at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. It's a beautiful city, especially in the summer. I wouldn't be surprised if some of your training includes running around the gorgeous city lakes.

If you sign up, come back and tell us about it.

I was just 6 years old when my mom signed me up for the Dr. Seuss Book Club. One of my favorite childhood memories is the excitement I felt opening that box when it arrived in the mail and plopping down to read my new book. I didn't realize at the time that this was an extraordinary gesture on my mother's part. I was one of five children. We lived on a strict budget and shared everything, but these books were mine.

Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Barbara Bush Foundation, a new family literacy center in Bath, Maine is helping parents read better so they can help their children read better. This development has the power to change so many lives. It makes me smile.

Seth Koenig wrote about the center for Bath's Times Record:

"[Adult Education Director Pamela] Moody said that while the benefits of teaching children to read are well-known, many people don't realize how many adults need help reading as well. She said that in Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, 12 percent of adults older than 25 years old read at less than a high school level. Of those adults, she said, 10 percent read at below a ninth grade level.

"The Family Literacy Center programs, she said, target both age groups, often together."

If you need help with reading, contact your local literacy center or council. There's one in almost every city, even smaller cities.

Read a book. Change your life.

• 5 Ways to Improve Adult Literacy
• Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

If you live in a community with a Lifelong Learning Center, or a facility with a similar name and mission, lucky you!

This morning I found the Lifelong Learning Center in Missoula, Montana. It offers a long list of very cool-sounding classes. Check these out:

• Stories You Love to Tell
• Listening to Be Heard
• Compost Happens
• Chicken Coop Fundamentals
• Squeaky Clean Windows (!)
• Marmalade
• Sprinkler System Tune-Up (seriously!)

You've gotta love a learning center that offers a range like that. They also have camera and music classes. Computer classes, of course.

What's your favorite community ed. class? Talk to me.