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Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

In the sixteenth century Charles Dickens composed the exceptional novel A Tale of Two Cities. In it he made two of the most striking anecdot...

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on A Wench In The Works

In 1963, James Brown declared, â€Å"it’s a man’s world.† Playwright and director David Mamet would suggest that maybe the world is not entirely men’s anymore, but the business world certainly is. Moreover, when women enter the male domain of business, they do not understand the basic rules of this male-dominated area of American existence. As a result, women befoul the ability of business to function correctly. Mamet implies that males and females are opposite sexes and that business is a male endeavor- therefore women are antithetical to business (Greenbaum 33). Women, ignorant of proper business procedure, use their sexuality to trap the man to exert the will of the woman. Once the woman traps the man, the man becomes emasculated- he loses whatever claim he had to continue being seen as a man working in the men’s world of business. In Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow, and Oleanna, Mamet retains a central theme: if men did not have to de al with women, business could operate unhindered. First, though, one must consider Mamet’s beginnings. David Mamet was born on November 30, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Bernard Morris Mamet, an attorney, and Lenora June Silver, a teacher. Through his life, Mamet married twice and divorced once. His first wife, Lindsay Crouse, and his second wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, are both actresses. He has three daughters: Willa, Zosia, and Clara. Mamet graduated from Goddard College, a small liberal school in rural Vermont, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Nary four years out of school Mamet founded the St. Nicholas Theatre Company in Chicago. During those four years, Mamet was an artist-in-residence in drama at Goddard. In the following years, Mamet became associate artistic director at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and taught at Yale, New York University, and Columbia. Mamet’s first play, Lakeboat, was produced in 1970. Since that point, Mamet has written and direct... Free Essays on A Wench In The Works Free Essays on A Wench In The Works In 1963, James Brown declared, â€Å"it’s a man’s world.† Playwright and director David Mamet would suggest that maybe the world is not entirely men’s anymore, but the business world certainly is. Moreover, when women enter the male domain of business, they do not understand the basic rules of this male-dominated area of American existence. As a result, women befoul the ability of business to function correctly. Mamet implies that males and females are opposite sexes and that business is a male endeavor- therefore women are antithetical to business (Greenbaum 33). Women, ignorant of proper business procedure, use their sexuality to trap the man to exert the will of the woman. Once the woman traps the man, the man becomes emasculated- he loses whatever claim he had to continue being seen as a man working in the men’s world of business. In Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow, and Oleanna, Mamet retains a central theme: if men did not have to de al with women, business could operate unhindered. First, though, one must consider Mamet’s beginnings. David Mamet was born on November 30, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Bernard Morris Mamet, an attorney, and Lenora June Silver, a teacher. Through his life, Mamet married twice and divorced once. His first wife, Lindsay Crouse, and his second wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, are both actresses. He has three daughters: Willa, Zosia, and Clara. Mamet graduated from Goddard College, a small liberal school in rural Vermont, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Nary four years out of school Mamet founded the St. Nicholas Theatre Company in Chicago. During those four years, Mamet was an artist-in-residence in drama at Goddard. In the following years, Mamet became associate artistic director at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and taught at Yale, New York University, and Columbia. Mamet’s first play, Lakeboat, was produced in 1970. Since that point, Mamet has written and direct...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Use Italian Definite Article Forms

How to Use Italian Definite Article Forms The Italian definite article (articolo determinativo) indicates something well defined, which is assumed to be already acknowledged. If, for example, someone asks: Hai visto il professore? (Have you seen the professor?) they are alluding not to any professor, but to one in particular, that both the speaker and listener know. The definite article is also used to indicate a group (luomo à ¨ dotato di ragione, that is, ogni uomo- man is endowed with reason, every man), or to express the abstract (la pazienza à ¨ una gran virtà ¹- patience is a great virtue); to indicate parts of the body (mi fa male la testa, il braccio- my head hurts, my arm), to refer to objects that belong strictly to oneself mi hanno rubato il portafogli, non trovo pià ¹ le scarpe- they stole my wallet, I cannot find my shoes), and is also used with nouns that signify something unique in nature (il sole, la luna, la terra- the sun, the moon, the earth) and the names of materials and matter (il grano, loro- wheat, gold). In certain contexts the Italian definite article functions as a demonstrative adjective (aggettivo dimostrativo): Penso di finire entro la settimana- I think Ill finish by the end of the week (or later this week); Sentitelo lipocrita!- Listen to him the hypocrite! (this hypocrite!) or a demonstrative pronoun (pronome dimostrativo): Tra i due vini scelgo il rosso- Between the two wines I choose the red, (the one thats red); Dei due attori preferisco il pià ¹ giovane- Of the two actors I prefer the younger (the one thats younger). The Italian definite article may also refer to individual members of a group: Ricevo il giovedà ¬- I receive it Thursday (every Thursday); Costa mille euro il chilo (or al chilo)- It costs a thousand euro a kilogam (per kilogram), or time: Partirà ² il mese prossimo.- Im leaving next month (in next the month). Italian Definite Article FormsIl, iThe form il precedes masculine nouns beginning with a consonant except s consonant, z, x, pn, ps, and the digraphs gn and sc: il bambino, il cane, il dente, il fiore, il gioco, il liquorethe child, the dog, the tooth, the flower, the game, the liquor The corresponding form for the plural is i: i bambini, i cani, i denti, i fiori, i giochi, i liquorithe children, the dogs, the teeth, the flowers, the games, the liqueurs Lo (l), gliThe form lo precedes masculine nouns that begin: with s followed by another consonant: lo sbaglio, lo scandalo, lo sfratto, lo sgabello, lo slittino, lo smalto, lo specchio, lo studiothe mistake, the scandal, the evicted, the stool, the sled, the enamel, the mirror, the office with z: lo zaino, lo zio, lo zoccolo, lo zuccherothe backpack, the uncle, the clog, the sugar with x: lo xilofono, lo xilografothe xylophone, the engraver with pn and ps: lo pneumatico, lo pneumotorace; lo pseudonimo, lo psichiatra, lo psicologothe tire, the collapsed lung, the pseudonym, the psychiatrist, the psychologist with the digraphs gn and sc: lo gnocco, lo gnomo, fare lo gnorri; lo sceicco, lo sceriffo, lo scialle, lo scimpanzà ©the dumpling, the gnome, to play dumb; the sheikh, the sheriff, the shawl, the chimpanzee with the semivowel i: lo iato, lo iettatore, lo ioduro, lo yogurtthe hiatus, the evil eye, the iodide, the yogurt NOTE: Nevertheless, there are variations, especially before the consonant cluster pn; for example, in contemporary spoken Italian il pneumatico tends to prevail over lo pneumatico. Also, before the semivowel i the use is not constant; in addition to lo iato there is liato, but the elided form is less common. When preceding the semivowel u, its necessary to distinguish between Italian words, which take the article lo in the elided form (luomo, luovo), and words of foreign origin, which take the form il: il week-end, il whisky, il windsurf, il walkman, il word processorthe weekend, the whiskey, the windsurfer, the Walkman, the word processor. With plural nouns the forms gli (gli uomini) and i (i walkman, i week-end) are used respectively. For words starting with h use lo (gli, uno) when preceding an aspirated h: lo Hegel, lo Heine, lo hardwarethe Hegel, the Heine, the hardware. And use l when preceding a non-aspirated h: lhabitat, lharem, lhashishthe habitat, the harem, the hashish. NOTE: In contemporary colloquial Italian there is a preference for the elided form in all cases, since even foreign words with an aspirated h (for example the aforementioned hardware, as well as hamburgers, handicap, hobbies, etc.) usually have an Italianized pronunciation in which the h is muted. However, in adverbial phrases the form lo (instead of il) is common: per lo pià ¹, per lo meno, corresponding to the use of the definite article in early Italian. The form lo also precedes masculine nouns that begin with a vowel, but in this instance it is elided to l: labito, levaso, lincendio, lospite, lusignolothe dress, the fugitive, the fire, the guest, the nightingale. As previously noted, before the semivowel i there is typically no elision. The form corresponding to lo in the plural is gli: gli sbagli, gli zaini, gli xilofoni, gli (or also i) pneumatici, gli pseudonimi, gli gnocchi, gli sceicchi, gli iati, gli abiti, gli evasi, gli incendi, gli ospiti, gli usignoli NOTE: Gli can only be elided before i: glincendi (but more frequently the entire form is used). The gli form is used instead of i before the plural of dio: gli dà ¨i (in obsolete Italian gliddei, plural of iddio). La (l), leThe form la precedes feminine nouns starting with a consonant or the semivowel i: la bestia, la casa, la donna, la fiera, la giacca, la ienathe beast, the house, the woman, the fair, the jacket, the hyena. Before a vowel la is elided to l: lanima, lelica, lisola, lombra, lunghiathe soul, the propeller, the island, the shadow, the fingernail. The form corresponding to la in the plural is lei: le bestie, le case, le donne, le fiere, le giacche, le iene, le anime, le eliche, le isole, le ombre, le unghiethe animals, the houses, the women, the fairs, the jackets, the hyenas, the souls, the propellers, the islands, the shadows, the nails. Le may be elided only before the letter e (but this happens rarely, and almost always as a stylistic device in poetry): leliche- the propellers. With nouns starting with h, unlike the masculine form, the non-elided form predominates: la hall- the hall, la holding- the holding company.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Environmental studies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental studies - Assignment Example There is no interference from the government. In the same manner, the environment has a self-control mechanism and can control itself without interference from mankind. Bio-economic modelling seeks to find solutions to environmental problems with this in light. 2. Explain why the Threshold Value Analysis might facilitate rent-seeking behaviour. (LECTURE 11) Threshold Value Analysis might facilitate rent-seeking behaviour because the decision rule for Threshold Value Analysis is that the model should be developed if the benefits exceed the decision-makers analysis of the costs. The decision-maker may be biased in analysing the costs hence leading to rent-seeking behaviour. 3. Contrast the TVA to environmental decision making with the application of a safe minimum standard approach. (LECTURE 11) The decision rule for Threshold Value Analysis is that the model should be developed if the benefits exceed the decision-makers analysis of the costs i.e. if the benefits are above the threshol d. Safe minimum approach standard is used when the benefits are below the threshold. A second threshold is developed below the initial threshold. 4. What is the difference between risk and uncertainty? How does the difference affect the way you would analyse issues of environmental management? (Lecture 12) In risk, one knows the possible outcomes and their corresponding probabilities. Such probabilities are known either from experience or carrying out experiments. In uncertainty, the likely outcomes are known, but their probabilities of occurrence are not known. In analysing issues of environmental management using decision trees, payoff tables or conditional value tables, the probabilities are needed (risk). In case of uncertainty, one has to come up with best guess probabilities. Part B (about 300 words each question) 1. Markets provide a useful source of information regarding people’s preferences. Explain how you would use market data to estimate the costs of protecting a forest from logging. Market data is very essential in estimating the cost of protecting forests. Market data like the economic uses of the forest, the value of products that are produced from the forest resources and the general value of the forest to the community and country at large should be considered. In estimating the cost of protecting a forest from logging, I would first determine all the market data that would be relevant to the particular tree. This includes the cost of using wood to make furniture and as a source of fuel, the cost of paper, the cost of pulp and any other resources that are found in forests. After determining all these costs, the benefits should also be analysed. Benefits like better weather, increased animal life and protection of endangered species should be quantified. These benefits and costs should then be compared using the Threshold Value Approach. A threshold value of benefits should be set e.g. a value of benefits that equals the total cost of be nefits. If the benefits exceed the threshold value, the forest should be protected from logging. If, however, the value of benefits is below the threshold value, another measure should be taken other than banning logging. For example, environmental managers can consider controlling logging. Other methods of economic decision making can also be used. The cost benefit analysis will include comparing the costs associated with the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Omnivores Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Omnivores Dilemma - Essay Example The term â€Å"omnivore† symbolizes human beings. Humans are omnivores in the sense that they feed on both meat and vegetable products. Hunting and gathering was an ancient approach towards food acquisition; many animals were killed for meat, while wild fruits and herbs were harvested. Presently, the same kinds of food that were adored in the past are still highly valued (Chevat, 2009). The several varieties of food present in the farms, and the market makes it difficult for individuals to make a choice (Pollan, 2006). Naturally established farm products are plenty in the market. The supermarkets and other large shops have stocked a lot of processed food products. Many people believe that all the processed food products are made of corn, which may not be the case because several ingredients are added to the main materials (Pollan, 2006). There is a distinction between the organic and industrial products in terms of their manufacturing processes and nutrient contents. Organic a nd industrial food products have several distinguishing factors. Organic products include natural processes; farm products are planted with the help of green manures. Artificial fertilizers are not incorporated in the process of plant growth and product development. Natural photosynthesis takes place where carbon dioxide is the basic ingredient together with sunlight and water.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Hyatt Curacao Management Team and Marketing Strategy Essay Example for Free

Hyatt Curacao Management Team and Marketing Strategy Essay According to Willemstad Curacao (2009), Diego Concha was been named broad manager of Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Spa as well as Marina. He oversees the entire process of the 350-room resort, provides proficient control to a team of aggravated employees and adds his noted individual touch to guest dealings. Positioned along 1,500 acres of the Santa Barbara agricultural estate, a multi-faceted luxury resort society, The Hyatt Regency Curacao is seen. With refence to Agent at home Magazine(2010), Diego is the ultimate person to open Hyatt’s latest Caribbean resort, Carlos Cabrera is the higher-ranking vice president of ground operations for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. His experiences and proficiency in the area makes him supremely fit to help fuse Hyatt’s elevated level of values with the island’s rich artistic customs and refined contributions. There are five regional directors of revenue management who maintain the revenue managers and revenue maximization system. The regional directors are associated primarily by produce type, including huge convention, resorts and trade. The panel is dedicated to making Hyatt Regency Curacao the primary choice for leisure and commerce travelers in the Caribbean. And are dedicated to genuinely capturing the atmosphere of the resort. Hyatt uses a status of the art revenue management system to offer federal direction for pricing, division strategy and staff development. Revenue management, though, is supplementary than a computer system. It is an incorporated set of business process that brings together people and expertise, with the goal of accepting the market, anticipating customer behavior and responding fast to make best use of revenue opportunities that arise. Marketing strategy of Hyatt’s is planned to secure and build product value and awareness while gathering the specific business requirements of hotel operations. Creating and differentiating the brand location of Hyatt and our sub-brands is essential to growing Hyatt’s- brand first choice and demand, rate premium and linked business imperatives. Hyatt is paying attention on targeting the distinct consumer segments that each of our brands serves and sustaining the needs of the hotels by systematic analysis and appliance of data and analytics. There is a corresponding and integrated communication approach for the Hyatt master brand and each of the sub-brands from corner to corner in every distribution channel. They intend to retain and exploit the potential revenue of our existing customers and expand the number of new guests through an advertising approach powered by data and analytics. Sophisticated, quantitative strategic analytics and predictive model identify the most profitable customers, enabling Hyatt to leverage preference in all facets of marketing. The model is at present being utilized to enhance the value of our most loyal guests, the Gold Passport members, and inside three years, it will be activated all over the enterprise. Hyatt’s coordinated marketing initiatives gain a sub-set of hotels and resorts, as well as regional programs. Cost allotment is based on the balanced share of actualized room revenue for trailing twelve months of participating hotels in the beleaguered business segment. These include Summer Weekend vacation and Hyatt’s of Florida Group Marketing. It has full-service sumptuousness hotel will feature continuous water views on three sides, white sand beaches, a four-thousand square foot Hyatt Pure spa, separate twenty-four Hyatt Stay Fit fitness center, Camp Hyatt, several outdoor pools . The Corporate Marketing faction assigns a hotel marketing manager to each hotel to help market their personal property. The hotel marketing manager then assesses the property’s business requirements, issues and revenue- objectives and assists in the progress of the brand and promotional marketing programs. Hyatt’s marketing strategy is intended to secure and build brand value and awareness while meeting the precise business needs of hotel operations. Building and differentiating the brand location of Hyatt and our sub-brands is essential to increasing Hyatt’s brand preference and claim, rate premium and associated business imperatives. Hyatt is focused on targeting the diverse customer segments that each of our brands serves and sustaining the needs of the hotels by thorough analysis and use of analystics and data. Their intention is to retain and maximize the possible revenue of existing consumers and expand the number of new guests through a marketing approach powered by data and analytics. Sophisticated, quantitative planned analytics and predictive modeling identify the most profitable customers, enabling Hyatt to leverage partiality in all facets of marketing. The model is currently being utilized to improve the value of our most loyal guests, Gold Passport members, and in three years, it will be activated all over the enterprise. Coordinated Hyatt’s marketing initiatives benefit a sub-set of hotels with resorts, and also regional programs. In conclusion the business has been established in a manner that only good management can make it be what it is today. It consists of highly qualified personnel; this is from the manager to the staff. Hyatt Curaccao has a well market strategy with brand, analytic, field market, proper revenue management and management team. The Cost allocation is based on the balanced share of actualized room revenue for sprawling twelve months of participating hotels in the targeted business section this runs for a period of twelve months in order to stabilize the business. The Corporate Marketing group selects and assigns a hotel marketing manager to every hotel to help market their personal property. The marketing manager of the hotel assesses the business property, issues and revenue objectives and assists in the improvement of the brand and promotional marketing programs. This is all done in a professional manner.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Nurse to Patient Ratio is Important Essay -- Nursing Essays

An English Nurse who laid the foundation for professional nursing, Florence Nightingale stated, â€Å"It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm.† Acute care facilities try to maintain low costs and employ quality nurses, making the nurse-to-patient ratio become more of an issue with patient care. Nearly every person’s health care experience involves the contribution of a registered nurse, and the effects of not having an appropriate nurse to patient minimum ratio affects not only the patient and nurse physically, medically, but also the hospital financially. Determining nurse-to-patient ratios is a difficult task with no single or definite solution and many variables exist to develop guidelines to cover every possible situation in an acute care facility. There are two boards of the state of Ohio that help with patient safety and keeping a safe workplace for the healthcare professional such a nurse. The first board is the Ohio board of Nursing, and the following is their description of what they are responsible for: The Board exists solely to enforce the law and rules regulating practice. The Board has authority to establish requirements individuals must meet to obtain a license or certificate to practice nursing or provide dialysis care in Ohio. The Board approves pre-licensure nursing education programs and dialysis training programs, oversees the licensure examination of nurses, and takes disciplinary action when a licensee or certificate holder violates the law. These activities help to assure that only qualified individuals provide care to the public. The Board does not exist to advance the interests of the nursing profession or dialysis t... ...s, C., & Hess, R. (2009). Registered Nurses' Perceptions of Nurse Staffing Ratios and New Hospital Payment Regulations. Nursing Economic$, 27(6), 372-376. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Costello, M. (2002). JCAHO workforce report says staff levels affect quality, safety. AHA News, 38(31), 1. Retrieved from Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition database. Garretson, S. (2004). Nurse to patient ratios in American health care. Nursing Standard, 19(14-16), 33-37. Griffiths, P. (2009). Staffing levels and patient outcomes. Nursing Management - UK, 16(6), 22-23. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Building for brands Essay

Today, companies take extreme care when formu ¬lating and executing advertising campaigns. A special attention is given to the message of an ad and its impact on potential consumers. The main ingredients that contribute to a great advertising campaign are a unique slogan (message) and image of an ad. Marketers communicate through a set of meanings and definitions sending particular messages to consumers and controlling the circulation of ideas about a product (Wells et al 2005). The particular slogan, and the way it is presented, depends on the advertiser’s objective, such as Allstate Insurance Company’s ad: â€Å"You`re in good hands†. Slogan is important element of communication because it sticks to consumer’s mind for a long time even if they do not remember the exact image, they remember the slogan. For instance, Nike creates the following slogan for it advertisement: `Just do it! ’ It appeals to potential consumers through emotional response: a common set of meanings derives not only from the language, but refers more broadly to the pattern of beliefs, codes, and feelings on the basis of which people learn to live with their environment. Visual image supports the slogan and appeals to consumers through a visual analyzer. Humor and relevance help to create a unique advertising message and attracts attention. Such ads have greater emotional impact on potential consumers and their decision to purchase. For instance, a slogan ‘Don`t leave home without it` used by American Express, appeals to emotions and feelings of consumers; this slogan is easy to remembers and repeat. Because products are frequently at different stages in their life cycle in various national markets, and because of cultural, social, and economic dif-ferences that exist in those markets, the most effective appeal or selling proposition for a product may vary from market to market. The choice of media is important because it allows a company to influence and apple to different target groups. Media controls the circulation of ideas about a particular product. For instance, radio advertising is inexpensive; the message cannot be passed or reread. TV media is more effective because people and products have a realism. A television advertisement can be timed to the hour, day, week or program. For instance, Raid’s ad: Kills bugs dead` combine both visual and auditory appeal. The ad `You can do it. We can help` used by Home Depot appeals to me in an emotional level. It appeals to the heart of the intended audience. This message of the ad has a significant impact on tastes and priorities creating fashion. It provides potential consumers with human-centered behavior, inconsiderate of any outside consequences, short-term or long-term. The objective of the ad was to attract attention to their brand name and proposed a support in daily problems. In this case, the big idea of advertisement can be compared with a flash of insight that synthesizes the purpose of the strategy, joins the product benefit with consumer desire in a fresh, involving way, brings the subject to life, and makes the reader or audience stop, look, and listen. It is possible to say that consumers â€Å"read† the message hearing or looking at the advertisement. Home Depot did not try to ‘sell’ its products to a potential consumer but proposed a help and support, problem solving and prove their expert knowledge. The target audiences of Home Deport are individual customers and construction companies involved in building repair and reconstruction services. In sum, following John O’Toole (cited Wells et al 2005, p.67) the big idea of an ad can be described as a flash of insight that synthesizes the purpose of the strategy, joins the product benefit with consumer desire in a fresh, involving way, brings the subject to life, and makes the reader or audience stop, look, and listen. Advertising has a great influence on the society as it is often designed to add psychological value to a product or brand, it plays a more important communications role in marketing consumer products than in marketing products. References 1. Wells, W. P. , Mariarty, S. , Burnett, J. (2005). Advertising: Principles and Practice. Prentice Hall; 7 edn.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Principal Intern Essay

As I embarked into this higher education path I wanted nothing more than to be an administrator of an Elementary or Middle School in Texas. I was able to even envision myself in the school district I currently work in working in school administration at one of the schools I have taught at. I was fortunate on my internship year to have the position of being the instructional technology facilitator and was able to help more in depth with the administrators of my campus and learn the in and outs of the administration side of the school. Looking at all of this and having experienced it I am now thinking I am leaning towards more working towards becoming a department head or maybe the head of a academic department for the district. I am hoping the first step to this will be to become the department head for fifth grade on my campus and then moving towards becoming the English Language Arts and Reading department head. Eventually over time I hope to move into a more Reading Specialist position for a campus or even possibly a district. My ultimate goal is to move into the administration building and become a curriculum director for a district. As a leader I hope to accomplish many things to my employee’s and staff like being stronger leaders in the classrooms, stronger teachers, and being able to empower students for long term success. I have always wanted since I entered education to see the end result of my students to be a positive one and love to see the academic growth my students show over the course of a school year. I think that being able to show teachers and staff how to be and become strong leaders in the classrooms will help to majorly accomplish this goal. For me a leader is someone who listens and empowers its learners to learn in a way that fits their own personal needs and not necessarily the needs of the teacher themselves. I also think that using these techniques it will help teachers to become stronger educators in life and in the long run. Helping teachers, just like students, create a solid foundation is a great way to start them in the right direction and therefore it will be easier for them to lead themselves one day. And finally I would love to see in teachers, like I do with my students, long term success over the course of a year, two years and even ten years as they grow academically with the students. In Texas we are constantly changing the way things are being tested and handled. Being able to be a leader that is open to those changes will help me to accomplish my goals to the best of my ability while creating successful teachers and students. Reflective Practice In the beginning of these courses reflective writing did not seem to be an influential part of my learning process as a student myself. In my own classroom I did not use much reflective writing for my students because I saw it as time that I could be using on something else related to the content. Throughout the courses related to my master’s degree through Lamar University I have had to reflect in every course on what I learned throughout the class. At first I was skeptical about the reflective writing but as the course progressed I realized that by writing reflectively I was able to take the course material and transpose it into my own words. This helped me to have a clear understanding of what I learned and make it my own. One of the meaningful things that I feel I should have walked away from these courses is that the best way to become a leader is to create ownership for the staff, and I relate that to reflective writing. In my reflective writing I am walking away with a sense of ownership from my courses, and this helps to realize the main facts of what the course was about. Reflective writing now has a new meaning to me; it is now more of me creating my own ownership to the material presented in the course. I have even now find myself using reflective writing more and more in my own classroom and finding it a useful tool to assess what the students are walking away from my lessons with. To me reflective writing is a great tool to check students understanding of what was taught and what was learned. Reflective writing has had a significant influence on my practice currently in my classroom. Instead of using traditional quizzes and test I find myself using more reflective writings in my own classroom. It is a great form of writing to use to allow the students to use their own words to explain what they have learned in the classroom. In my future I plan on using reflective writing more and more in a leadership role for my staff to obtain information on how well the school is operating and working as a team. I feel that if my current principal used more reflective writing in our faculty meetings then he would have a better understanding of what is going on inside the campus. When I am a principal with my own campus I plan on using reflective writing responses in order to check if my staff walked away from staff developments with what was intended for them to learn and to also make sure that the training was effective or not to use on our campus. I would also like to implement a feedback process that involves reflective writing, which will allow staff to respond to any procedures implemented on campus that might need to be adjusted. By using this reflective writing process in the future I can make sure that my staff walks away with the knowledge they need in staff developments and in-services. This will prove to be an effective form of feedback for me and reflection on what skills they acquired. In Examining what we do to Improve our Schools Tool 8.1 the CARE Model: Planning Tool uses four steps to address change for the future the final step Evaluate allows the staff to reflective on the prior steps they have created (Harris). In this process the staff or administrator is to take steps into identifying and solving problems they are facing on campus. The first three steps are steps on how to implement and strategize the problem at hand. The fourth step in the CARE Model is to ‘identify the best ways to evaluate the implemented recommendations’ which is a way for the person(s) making the decisions can reflect on what they have created. In the same book Tool 8.2 (Harris) provides a list of reflective type questions to be answered to examine school improvement. These are great questions to guide someone’s reflection or at the very least jump start their reflection process so they have a starting point. An example of one of the questions asked in Tool 8.2 is ‘What am I doing to sustain improvement?’ These types of questions allow me as a future administrator to use for myself and others to reflect upon what we are doing as a team to create positive school improvement. Competency Development DOMAIN I School Community Leadership Competency 001- The principal knows how to shape campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. In this competency I learned many things on how to create a vision for my campus and how to make it happen. I found it is not only important to make your school have a vision or just a common goal but the process of getting to that vision is equally important. Competency 001 is the foundation for that solid house you want to build, without the foundation a house will eventually fall and break, just like a school would without a solid foundation. As a leader of my campus it is my duty to look into creating a climate that promotes higher level thinking and teaching. When I do obtain my own campus I will be using this competency to ensure that higher expectations are required. It is not just enough to create higher standards and expect people to follow them it is equally important to create them in such a way that they can become obtained. In order to make these goals and visions obtainable and reachable it is important not to just let one person make these decisions, but to allow all stakeholders to have a say in the creation and implementation of them. I found throughout all of my courses that the most important factoring in leading your staff and students in any direction is the ownership that they have in the school. It is important that all stakeholders have a clear understanding that each party involved was and is clearly represented. I know that I feel better implementing a plan that I took part in planning or know someone in the plan that had my best interests and the student’s best interests at heart. I found myself spending 23 hours on this competency with my principal and assistant principal. The majority of the time was spent prior to school helping the committees to set up the vision and goals. We then revisited the vision in the middle of the school year to adjust to the changes our campus faces. It was also important that my principal have me sit in on grade level meetings to see if each grade level had a clear understanding of what the vision meant for them and what it looked like in their classrooms and for their students. I would say in this section of the domains I believe that I am walking away with the most mastery because of all of the actual hands on time I got to spend working with my campus vision and missions. Competency 002 The principal knows how to communicate and collaborate with all members of the school community, responds to diverse interests and needs, and mobilizes resources to promote student success. In this section I learned the importance of correctly communicating with all staff, students, and community stakeholders for my campus. Although it was difficult at times to get parents to communicate and participate at school functions I was able to learn a lot about the process of correctly communicating with them. I was able to assist in almost every letter we sent home with students explaining our events. We not only had to have a copy in English but we also had to translate all letters in Spanish as well. Over the course of the year, logging over seven hours, as paper became more and more precious I was able to focus more on call outs over the phone system and also to work on maintaining accurate information on the schools website. I had a bit of the upper hand in comparison to others in these course because I was able to find ways through our website to communicate effectively with the community. In our many multicultural events we held on campus (Hispanic Heritage Art Contest, Black History Writing Contest, Math Night, and Science Night) I was able to have exposure to the positive effect it has on students through multicultural awareness. On this competency I spent around seven hours of internship time (I believe more logged hours were possible). Another wonderful thing I learned during this lesson was how to correctly manage school wide communication that took place on campus. I was very fortunate to have a very supportive principal who was willing to take me under her wing and allow playing a huge role in all activities on the campus. My principal always told me anything you would not say out loud make sure you do not put it in writing. She taught me through example and doing how to effectively write and create e-mails to be sent to the staff. I know now the importance of tone in my writing to ensure the way the e-mail is received it is received correctly. Competency 003 The principal knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical and legal manner. One of the most memorable things I will walk away from this course is the question to always ask myself â€Å"Is the decision to the question in the best interest of the child(ren)?† My mentors (principal, assistant principal, counselor, veteran teachers) taught me this valuable lesson that any decision, no matter the size, has to have the student’s best interest at heart. This is a great way to keep you in check to make sure you are being ethical and act with integrity in everyday decisions as a campus administrator. The legal portion of this competency comes with the knowledge of making sure to follow all state guidelines set for by the Texas Education Agency. One of the best ways I found to make sure you are following the rules legally is to ask questions. My internship supervisor, Sherry Gore through my eighteen internship hours, taught me to never be afraid to ask questions or research the answer before making a decision. The way she taught me this was not in a direct manner but more indirectly. By demonstrating to me on topics that she was unfamiliar with how she asked other principals or administrators to solve her problems I learned his valuable lesson. With the ever changing ways of education in the State of Texas, and the Country for that matter, it is important for an administrator to make sure they are up to date with all their knowledge about the laws concerning the education of the children in their school. It is also the responsibility of the principal to make sure their staff knows about any changes in laws and procedures. Making sure the staff knows of these changes it will make the transition to the new ones a smoother one for their campus and thus make the impact less stressful on the children. DOMAIN II Instructional Leadership Competency 004 The principal knows how to facilitate the design and implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and assessments; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance. One of the major witnessing to competency 004 was that of how our campus was having year after year to adjust to its ever growing numbers of bilingual and ESL students on our campus. Each year we a faced with the challenge of how to adjust to the growing numbers not only with resources but also with the staffing of these new positions needed. In all campus purchases, technology or academic workbooks, we find ourselves looking as administrators on the campus at what kind of Spanish and ESL supplements were available and how well they will work for our students needs. I found it very interesting in choosing our new reading textbooks in how different the Spanish supplements are for the different adoptions. As a person on the committee, logging over twenty-three internship hours, for our school to help us choose our next adoption it was made very clear to us at the beginning of the process that we needed to make sure we are considering not only the English portion of the textbook but the ESL materials are equally important. I knew going into it that the ESL supplements were important but it never crossed my mind how important it is to our campus. With my campus being one of two bilingual campuses it was important to my principal that our vote was heard at the district level when choosing the newest adoptions. The next step in this was implementing a new reading textbook while adjusting to the new district wide curriculum CSCOPE. It was my principal’s job to make sure that all of her staff was well aware of how to use the materials mandated by the district for our new instructional focus always keeping the students best interests at heart when training the teachers to prepare for our school year of academic success. Competency 005 The principal knows how to advocate, nurture, and sustain an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. All too often there is going to be a change in policy or educational law, and with these changes there is always going to be changes in educational practices that have proven to be effective. The older methods of teaching are not necessarily the best methods to be used to reach the students of 2011. This competency ensures that the principal keep up with the best practices and methods out in the world to use for the success of our students and staff. This includes making sure that the staff is up to date on the latest practices in teaching in new and exciting ways to reach children. I spent close to twenty-one hours working with my principal and instructional facilitators to ensure that our campus had what we needed to implement new teaching practices in our classrooms. This section requires a lot of research into the newest needs of the students and then the needs of the staff to meet those needs. One example of a staff development that I was part of implementing with the principal and instructional facilitators was when we had to move into a new online lesson planning system. This system was completely online and making paper lesson plans not necessary. It was my responsible to make sure the staff was trained in how to use this new system to its full potential. I had to attend training provided by the company ht owned the software as well as district training to show me how to show the staff how to use this new system. It was essential that the staff knew how to implement this program because it was soon to become a mandate by the district to improve district lesson plan sharing throughout the entire district. The essential great thing for the teachers was that of making teachers resources more readily available to district employees across the di strict. Competency 006 The principal knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system to improve the performance of all staff members, select and implement appropriate models for supervision and staff development, and apply the legal requirements for personnel management. With this area I feel I need a little more practice, and that is my fault in the internship hours and plan. I do however plan on using my current principal to help me to understand the evaluation process of a staff member. With only putting in eight hours into this area of focus I feel that I need to focus more on the PDAS system. I know the system as a teacher but I feel I need to works towards better understanding of the administrator side of the evaluations. I did focus my attention on part of this aspect as determining the needs of the staff and creating a staff development for the staff to grow from. With the help of the assessment specialist on my campus I found that we as a staff needed more focus on how to properly prepare the kids to take tests for a long period of time. We gathered information and tips for the staff to use while preparing the students for their long awaited TAKS tests. We then used a simple evaluation survey at the end of the training to evaluate the effectiveness of the training to meet the needs of the teachers and students. We produced a lot of reflective time for teachers to share their own experiences in the classroom that allowed students to work to their best potential. With the knowledge of the results of the survey we used the knowledge we gained to conduct follow mini-trainings to assess the needs of the staff after they implemented the practices. The reason we conducted the mini-follow ups was because of the survey evaluation at the end of the training said they enjoy the trainings we have but they need further help after we implement the training in our classrooms. Competency 007 The principal knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem solving skills to ensure an effective learning environment. Spending close to eighteen hours working on this competency it clear to see that this competency is an important one in relationship to the effectiveness of a campus. One major thing I learned from my principal was that you need to be organized enough to make sure you put together a quality interview to ensure that you put together a quality staff. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in the interview process of one of our future teachers. The before part of the process was the preparation in getting ready for the interview, my principal using the Gallup interview process so she must be organized and ready. During the interview quality questions prove to be the most effective in choosing future staff members. Following the interview there is a debriefing with the hiring committee to ensure that the newest staff member would be a good fit for our campus and our students. We then moved onto working with the staff and interviewing them on what needs to be improved on campus. The next step in this process for my principal and I was to look towards the staff and see how well they internalized or resisted change in our continuous improvements implemented at the campus. We had to look at what changes were the best for the students as a whole and the needs of our at risk students.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

7 Pep Talk Points About Writing

7 Pep Talk Points About Writing 7 Pep Talk Points About Writing 7 Pep Talk Points About Writing By Mark Nichol Fiction? Nonfiction? It doesn’t matter. It’s all about getting started, but you’ll need a few supplies, and some directions, for your journey: 1. The Elevator Pitch Imagine you’re in an elevator, and a literary agent, a theatrical producer, or a movie star steps in. After a quick greeting (we’re fantasizing here), you mention that you’re writing a story and they ask you what it’s about (fantasizing roll with it). You have 15 seconds before they step off the elevator and (unless you take my advice) out of your life forever. What do you say? That’s an elevator pitch. Without a pitch, you have no story. (Sometimes it’s the first sentence.) Nonfiction? Same. 2. The First Word Sit down and write the first word that comes into your head. The page isn’t blank anymore, and you now have permission to continue. 3. Procrastination Work it into your writing schedule. When you’re getting started each day, allow 5, 10, or 15 minutes to do something else an administrative task, a spot of research, scanning your notes or what you wrote yesterday (but don’t dive in to revise it). Then, when your time is up, get to work. 4. Exposition You’ve heard it before, but you can’t be reminded often enough: Show, don’t tell. Don’t describe how someone feels; illustrate attitude or emotion with actions, not observations. This rule applies to nonfiction as well as fiction. 5. Purpose â€Å"What’s my motivation?† is the cliched actor’s query, but it’s a good question. Your characters are actors, too (but let’s not get distracted about film rights just yet). What do they want? What are they willing to do to get it? When you answer the first question, it’s easier to produce the answer to the second one also known as a story. 6. Challenges A story without obstacles is like well, like a dull story. Readers identify with characters who get knocked down, dust themselves off, and get knocked down again. Rinse and repeat. Whether, on the last page, they end up on their feet or on a slab is up to you, but a story without significant challenges to the protagonist(s) is called a manuscript, not a book. 7. Rejection Did you give up on dating after you were turned down the first time? If you want your manuscript to â€Å"go out with† an editor or an agent, you must persevere. Each â€Å"No† brings you one step closer to â€Å"Yes.† And there will be a â€Å"Yes.† Unless you quit before you hear it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Use â€Å"That,† â€Å"Which,† and â€Å"Who†Using the Active Voice to Strengthen Your WritingCapitalizing Titles of People and Groups

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Social Reporting in Businesses Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Reporting in Businesses - Coursework Example This essay declares that businesses pursue goals, objectives, and strategies that are highly likely to foster business continuity. This further takes the competitor factor into account. Where competitors are ignoring the dynamics of social reporting, a business can employ social reporting as an operational strategy that raises its short term and long term prospects. This is essentially seen in the energy sector. Firms in this sector have been shifting from energy sources that are environmentally harmful to green energy sources that best suit social and environmental concerns in today’s societies. As a result, players in this sector are now competing on green basis. The fashion industry, for example, is highly volatile. Its diversity and dynamism would require shifts in corporate social responsibility programs every time shift in fashion occurs. However, doing so is not only expensive, but also time wasting. This paper makes a conclusion that perceptions and expectations of the society shape social reporting in a very unique manner. Businesses develop values and cultures that allow them to effectively and efficiently serve the society. In order to fully communicate these values and cultures, businesses have to communicate them to the society. Moreover, the society cannot associate with business values and cultures that it is not aware of. For this reason, businesses have factored in their values and cultures in social reporting. This unique practice strengthens business-society ties in the corporate social responsibility context.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Research Paper Example According to the JCAHO, the tracer methodology is a process of evaluating the patient status, whereby surveyors select patients and use their records in order to assess the organizations compliance to the set standards (Joint Commission retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/about/JointCommissionFaqs.aspx). The surveyors are able to trace the kind of the care process that the patient received by interviewing the staff in areas whereby the patient was attended. The surveyor then follows up the treatment process and determines whether the health institution has complied with the Joint commission standards. The major intent of the follow-up is to ensure that all health organizations are delivering high quality and safe healthcare. The process serves the purpose of monitoring the patient attendance and assessing the services of the health care organization Apart from gauging the health care center, the surveyors also identify points of potential weaknesses in terms of the organizations performance. After identifying the areas of weakness, the surveyors may educate the staff in the organization and share with them the strategies used by similar healthcare organization who have achieved better standards. Tracer activities help in identifying compliance issues that are crucial in determining the organizations compliance to the joint commission. On average, a three-day hospital survey is expected to complete 11 tracers using three surveyors (Joint Commission retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/about/JointCommissionFaqs.aspx). The system requires that the patients selected as tracers are those who have undergone multiple and complex services so that most aspects of the healthcare are evaluated. It is mandatory that the surveyor request the permission of the patient before starting the process. Upon completion