I Went to College :: Personal Narrative Essays

Narrative - I Went to College "Well, wish her good luck for me." I said. "Oh. It's none of it luck. She's got the Lord's blessing, and she's all right with that. There's no luck involved." I muttered a reply and walked away. Grandmothers. You just can't say anything to shake their confidence in their grandchildren. This one was trying to get to band camp by selling her artwork. It was clearly work by a fourteen-year-old, but it showed talent and promise. At five dollars a print, it wasn't too expensive. Of course, I can get a print of Escher for five dollars. She clearly likes flowers, that's for sure. She must have painted these in art class; there is a definite progression in her skill. The lumpily-colored frog looks pretty sad, but the lighthouse painting displays detail and careful effort in the lighting. Oh. there's her picture. Nice smile. This average-looking fourteen year old girl expects to pay for band camp by selling five dollar prints of amateur artwork. Wow. They were out of prints of several paintings already. If I wanted one that wasn't in the box, I could special order one. Five dollars. She plays multiple band instruments, with names Grandma doesn't remember. Talent and promise. I know what those are. I once showed talent and promise, back when I was fourteen. I played the trumpet, but I never went to band camp. I was too busy cultivating my stage magic and juggling skills, showing first hints of competence in computer programming, and letting go of my obesity through rigorous physical exercise. I wonder what my Grandma said back then. There was a time that I said "opportunity is my currency." Although I started out at a hardware store, I picked up a few programming jobs, started an Internet publication, and began and independent consultant programming job. Talent was my middle name, and Promise was the name of the pen I signed it with. I was going to live comfortably, maybe even have enough money to help my brother out; his medical costs are very high. I joined a local community band. She wants to become a forensic scientist. There you go, folks. Kids watch a television show about forensic scientists, and suddenly everyone wants to lead the exciting life of sorting through the physical remains of dead people and writing reports about it. On the other hand, maybe she can use her future skills to figure out what ever happened to me; by the time she graduates, I might well be dead.

Atrocities in Staffords Traveling Through the Dark Essay -- Traveling

Atrocities in Stafford's Traveling Through the Dark Is a drive just a drive, or is it a metaphor that imparts appreciation for life's fragility while simultaneously lamenting man's inability to appropriately confront, or understand, death? William Stafford's "Traveling Through the Dark" illustrates the mechanisms by which seemingly mundane events become probes into the mystery and ambiguity of the human condition. The poem's situation is simple, a lone traveler driving along a desolate canyon road spots a felled deer; the traveler, desiring neither to hit the deer, nor by swerving to avoid it, hurtle his car over the canyon precipice, stops his vehicle and proceeds to push the fallen animal over the canyon face, into the river below. As the driver struggles to displace the cold, stiff deer corpse he senses warmth emanating from its abdomen, it's an unborn fawn. Realizing that life remains in the body he had assumed dead, the traveler hesitates. Finally, he pushes the deer, one dead and the other not yet alive, off the road and into the chasm. While the poem's situation is simple, its theme is not. Stafford appears to be intimating that life is precious and fragile; however, nothing so clearly discloses these attributes of life as confrontation with death. Furthermore, the very confrontations that engender appreciation of life's delicacies force action-all to frequently callous action. Hence, the poem's tone contains elements of remorse as well as impassivity. The traveler's detached description of the mother, "...a doe, a recent killing; / she had stiffened already, almost cold" (6-7), and the wistful detail with which he depicts her unborn offspring, "...her fawn lay there waiting... ...iver. Because the deer's killer was a man behind the wheel of an automobile the traveler shares some relation with him. The traveler's anguish, his "bleeding", is the realization that he is implicated in the murder of the deer through his association to the actual killer. If expanded further, this metaphor can be applied to the entire human experience. All humanity is like a traveler driving through the dark. At varying junctions in our experiences we are, inevitably, both the discoverers and perpetrators of atrocities; the confusion surrounding our responses to theses junctions is the darkness we travel through. Stafford ends the poem after the traveler pushes the deer into the canyon's depths. We don't need to be told he returns to his car and drives on, we know it intrinsically, it's what each of us would have done, what each of us must do.

Analysis and Interpretation of Crickets

Analysis and interpretation of Crickets In the short story Crickets by Robert Olen Butler, we are introduced to the main character of the short story, Ted. Ted is not his real name, but a nickname that was given to him by his coworkers at the refinery where he works. He does not particularly like his nickname, but he does not hate it either. His real name is Thieu just like the former president of the Republic of Vietnam. He wasn’t named after the president though; his mother named him after his dead uncle.Thieu grew up in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, but later fled to the U. S. He witnessed the fall of Saigon in 1975 – and that was when he decided to fight against the North. The north was communistic, and Thieu was throwing rocks at the tanks driving through the streets of Saigon. Because of the situation in Vietnam, Thieu and his wife fled to the U. S. in hope of a better life. They ended up in Louisiana just like many other refugees from Vietnam. He works at the refi nery and has been working there for more than a decade.He is considered the best chemical engineer of the refinery, even though he doesn’t always feel that his coworkers give him the right or appropriate amount of recognition, which he (in his own opinion) knows that he deserves. He likes his job at the refinery despite his coworkers giving him a American nickname and only using that. Thieu believes that it’s probably because they don’t like the fact that he is from Vietnam where American troops have just been fighting in a war against his fellow-countrymen. Thieu doesn’t believe in the values of the Northern regime, which is also his reason for fleeing to the U.S. Thieu’s wife has, while living in America, given birth to their first and only son. The name of his son is perhaps the most non-Vietnamese name that they could find, Bill. Bill is ten years old, and is: â€Å"[†¦] the product of the first night my wife and I spent in Lake Charles, in a cheap motel with the sky outside red from the refineries. † (p. 25, l. 27-28). Bill is a very typical ten year-old, American boy. Like many other young boys he does not always think that his father is the coolest person to hang out with, and when Thieu propose the idea of them doing something together he answers with : â€Å"†Sure, Pop. † He said, though there was a certain suspicion in his voice, like he didn’t trust me on the subject of fun. † (p. 26, l. 5-6). He probably reacts in this way because he would much rather sit in front of the television, watching cartoons which has superheroes, who are fighting the battle of good vs. evil instead. Thieu and Bills relationship to one another looks very ordinary from an outside perspective, but it is actually quite complex from an inside perspective. When Bill says goodbye to his father in the morning he is doing it in a very ‘Louisianic’ way: â€Å"Have a good day, y’all. (p. 25 , l. 30) – you can almost hear the southern accent when you read it. And when Thieu says goodbye to him in Vietnamese he just giggles like it’s a joke. It is clear that Thieu wants Bill to learn Vietnamese because at the moment he only speaks English; he is an American and Thieu and his wife are Vietnamese and to Thieu this is creating some sort of ‘cleft’ between them that is making it harder for them to bond like father and son. Thieu wants to teach Bill one of the games that he used to play as a child. It involves catching crickets and then have them fight each other.But when they go ‘hunting’ for these crickets Thieu realizes that his son and himself has completely different values and that they’re obviously different from one another. For a brief while Thieu believes that he has his son interested in his game. The game involves catching crickets, either charcoal or fire crickets. When they are out in the wild to catch these cricket s his son’s Americanization shines through. He does not want to touch the crickets that he finds, like Thieu did when he was a child. So Thieu has to pick them up for him.And it only goes downhill from there. Bill worries more about getting his new Reebok sneakers dirty than having fun and playing with his father – and he only worries about if the mother can get them clean again. Thieu is obviously disappointed. He is not disappointed because of the sons lack of interest, but rather because he has not been able to give his own son some Vietnamese ballast, it seems like he has no idea where his parents are from or what they have gone through for him. It might be because he is only ten years old.The title Crickets represents the two types of crickets, charcoal and fire, which represents the two different civilization that Thieu and Bill are part of. Just like when Thieu was a child, his son and himself they keep crickets in matchboxes and kept them agitated by continuous poking and flicking. This resulted in them fighting each other to death. The charcoal crickets represent the U. S. : They’re large and strong, but can easily become confused – and he makes them appear rather unintelligent. The fire crickets on the other hand represent Vietnam, or perhaps Asia in general.They’re not particularly strong or big like the charcoal crickets, but they’re smarter and faster than them – just like Thieu is smaller than his fellow American coworkers, but he’s smarter than them. When these two different crickets aren’t agitated they can live in peace, but when they’re constantly agitated at one another they’ll end up fighting, and it will often end with someone dying. Thieu has indeed achieved The American Dream. He has moved to a better place and he has shaped/created his own future with hard work and determination.But while achieving this has he lost some of the Vietnamese values from his upbrini ng in the Mekong Delta? Perhaps. His son is one-hundred percent American in the way he dress and act; he only speaks English and this bothers Thieu to some extent. But is that alright, shouldn’t he be happy that his son does not have to go through the same that he did – one might wonder. Thieu wants to relive his Vietnamese childhood ‘through’ the son, but he does not seem to succeed, probably because the son is too American to understand or appreciate these values.

Developing, Using Organising Resources Within the lifelong Learning Sector Essay

1. Understand the purpose and use of resources 1.1 Explain the purpose of resources in teaching and learning Different types of resources are used in lifelong learning process so that the knowledge of the learners can be practiced and their learning can be progressed. The learners’ level of understanding and the areas they find difficult can be assessed and identified by providing them with the resources. Moreover, the learners with learning difficulties can be provided with differentiated tasks and additional support by providing resources. The additional explanations that are not explained by me during the class can be provided to students in detail by giving them resources. Also, a vital role is played by the resources in avoiding bias and in increasing focus in the process of learning. The main advantage of utilizing resources in the learning process is that it will make the learners actively engaged in the learning activity as the tasks provided by the resources are planned interactively. Utilising the resources in the process of learning enables learners to develop their learni ng skills and achievements. Expertise knowledge of the tutors can also be developed as preparing materials for resources provide them training as well as the understanding of effective resource materials that can be used in teaching activity. 1.2 Review the effectiveness of specific resources in meeting individual learning needs in learning and teaching contexts Strengths and individual needs of all learners have to be identified by tutors as a part of their  responsibility and the needs of the learners have to be satisfied accordingly. Learners have to be motivated and encouraged by me so that they can reach their maximum potential in their learning activity and feel inclusive in the learning environment. The weaknesses of each learner have to be identified and I have to help them strengthen their weaknesses by working together with them and support them in their learning progression. Varieties of resources are used in my learning environment in order to make sure that the needs of the learners are met and satisfied. Resources such as interactive whiteboards, PowerPoint presentations, worksheets, textbooks and hand-outs are used in my learning environment so that each learner can get the benefits out of those resources. Using interactive whiteboards and its different features make my learners stay focused and engaged in their learning activity. It draws the attention of all the learners. Certain topics can be understood by reading various textbooks that are provided to my learners. The PowerPoint presentations again draw the attention of my learners and help them understand what they are going to learn in the class every day. The worksheets given to students are a way of assessing whether learners understood the topics and the teaching methods used by me are effective. The learners and peers are always encouraged to provide feedback on my teaching methods and resources so that the effectiveness of my methods and resources can be analysed and developed. Feedback forms are often provided to my learners so that they can express how useful did they find my teaching methods and resources provided. Regularly scheduled standardised meeting are attended in order to cope up with the standards as feedbacks will be provided in these meeting on the effectiveness of the resources I use by internal verifiers and my peers. External sources such as external examiners and verifiers also who come to assess the works of my learners also provide me with their feedbacks and comments which help me to improve my skills. 2. Be able to develop and use inclusive resources 2.1 Review sources which inform resource development A teacher has to also play the role of a resource developer. A resource developer can be referred to a person who is in charge of preparing and developing resources that can satisfy the needs of learners and help them achieve their full potential in their learning activity. The duties and roles that have to be carried out by a resource developer are explained by the figure above. Individual needs of every student have to be identified and plans have to be developed in order to satisfy the learning needs of all learners. The next step is to design the resources according to the individual needs that are identified and deliver those resources to the learners. Once the task in completed by the learners the resource developer then can assess their performance which will automatically enable the resource developed to identify the effectiveness of his resources. According to the information given by Turkish online journal of education technology (2009), two student groups are surveyed where one group of students provided with the lower level of teaching resources while second group of students are provided with the higher level of teaching resources. The surveys identified that the students who are provided with higher level of teaching resources have got muc h more positive outcome comparing to the other group of students. ‘We have found that when technologies are thoughtfully integrated with a sound pedagogical vision, students’ views of teaching and approaches to learning can be positively affected.’ The LeTUS report series (2003) also shows how important it is for the teachers to understand their educational capacities and utilise and organise educational resources in their teaching environment in order to develop an organised teaching environment. It recommends that the teachers should develop and plan resources that help learners to improve their knowledge and skills in various methods rather than developing a ‘one size fits all’ types of resources. Developing resources in such a way helps the teachers to enhance their utility and professional development which will then help them to create a deeper connection with their learners to make them feel inclusive in their learning environment. The advantages of providing personalised resources either via technology or textbooks are shown and proved by many research studies and articles where all of them stress the importance of providing learners with personalised resource documents in order to help them reach their maximum potential. Downloadable resources such as PowerPoint slides, eBooks, worksheets, Podcasts and word documents that can bring many benefits in the learning environment. All these resources have their own advantages and disadvantages. Online downloadable E-journals and article are available instantly and available for free most of the times. Knowledgeable and portable information are provided by the online journals and articles. However, the information provided in these resources will not be reliable if they are not updated regularly. Another resource that can be easily used and accessed is PowerPoint which is portable as well. But, as the information given are in a point based format and brief some students might find it difficult to understand. Especially learners with learning difficulties may not find it useful. E-books are another type of resources that are portable and useful as it is has a feature of audio speaker especially when it is accessed through Kindle. However, the limitations of E-books can be its limited battery life and expensive. There is a chance that the learners might get visual issues when it is used for a long period of time. Worksheets can be downloaded online so that the time spend in preparing new worksheets can be saved and it can be easily adapted. But by easily downloading worksheets online can make the tutors very lazy and the tutors will be demotivated. The worksheets available online might not suite the requirements of learners with learning difficulties. Another problem with downloading worksheets online, it can be time consuming if the tutor has got no proper searching skills in the internet. 2.2 Explain ways in which resources can be adapted to enable an inclusive approach It is important for me as a tutor to analyse and understand the strengths and weaknesses of  each learner and identify their learning needs in order to work together with them and help them overcome their learning difficulties and weaknesses. Learners have to be constantly motivated and encouraged by me in order to make them inclusive in the learning environment and enable them reach their full potential. There were many situations where the learning resources had to be adapted according to the learning needs and requirements of each learner in my class. The resources had to be adapted and differentiated for the learners with hearing impairments, visual impairments and dyslexic students according to their personal needs. The size of the fonts has to be changed to a bigger size, the colour of font can be changed to black and relevant pictures can be used in order to meet the needs of visually impaired students so they can easily follow the slideshows. In order to make my hearing impaired students inclusive in the learning environment the Podcasts can be downloaded for them so they will be able to understand the learning outcomes and lesson plans. Local care coordinators or specially trained and qualified staffs will be carried out some assessments according to the personal circumstances of these kind of students with hearing and visual difficulties (NHS and Community Care Act 1990). Learners with weak written skills will be provided with the voice recorder so their answers can be recorded verbally. A mentor can also be arranged for them to write their work. Specially trained and qualified staff members can also be arranged in order to help them with their learning activities. Another challenge that can be faced in my teaching environment is dyslexic students. First the level of their dyslexic has to be identified and then referred to qualified specialists in order to guide them properly. The resources and their contexts also have to be personalised and modified in order to suite their learning requirements. The resources have to be simple and easy so that they will be able to understand and achieve their learning achievements. 2.3 Design resources, including resources which involve new and emerging technologies, to engage and meet the individual needs of learners in own specialist area Please refer to attached Worksheet and PowerPoint Slides. 2.4 Justify the effectiveness of own design and use of resources to engage and meet the individual needs of learners in own specialist area In order to satisfy the learning needs of my visually impaired, auditoria and kinaesthetic learners, the personalised resources are prepared and designed. Slides are prepared and provided to my learners so that they will be able to effectively follow the lesson and attain their learning targets by the end of the session. Learners who have hearing difficulties and visual impairments can be benefited by the PowerPoint presentations I provide. Lessons can be delivered to the visually impaired learners effectively by the clear and big fronts used in the slides so a clear perspective of lessons can be provided to them. Objectives of the learning sessions can be elaborated and explained effectively by presenting them in PowerPoint slides which will be beneficial to the hearing impaired and audio learners as well. In order to encourage team working skills I provide my learners with pair and group activities which will encourage them to share their knowledge and skills with each other. Group activities also motivate and encourage learners to progress in their learning targets. Personalised and different worksheets are provided to my learners with different learning needs so that I can examine their knowledge and test the effectiveness of my teaching methods. I always keep my students occupied by providing them various activities and tasks. Knowledge and level of understanding of students can be tested and examined by the adapted worksheets provided at the class which will also help them apply what they have learned. 2.5 Employ resources to engage and meet the individual needs of learners in own specialist area Please see set (SOW, Lesson plan, Self-evaluation & assessment observation) and session feedback form 3 Understand how to organise and enable access to resources 3.1 Explain ways in which resources can be classified and stored Learning resources are available in many forms in different sources and formats. There are various ways such as scanning and photocopying available  to reproduce learning resources. According to the different learning requirements of each learner resources will be amended. After amending the resources, tutors can reproduce and save those in the format of PDF or save the audio files in the format of mp3. In order to store these resources carefully a hard drive with a proper password can be used so others will not be able to access it. Ownerships of resources can be owned, reproduced and stored by an individual in different ways which is mentioned clearly in the Copyright Law 1976. Data are stored in variety of formats by different programs. Certain formats of files can only be supported by only certain programs and applications. Usually formats of file can be appeared in 3 letter format such as jpg, pdf, psd, tif, gif, ppt and doc which illustrates the different formats of files. Fi les can be stored in Adobe illustrator in different formats as follows: .ai — Adobe Illustrator, its â€Å"native† format .ait — Adobe Illustrator Template .pdf — Adobe Portable Document Format Although there are variety of file formats available to store resources, PDF can be considered as the most suitable and appropriate file format. PDF refers to Portabe Document Format which can also be called as ‘Paperless Office’. Documents can be developed and transferred without printing each files. In order to create PDF file Adobe Acrobat Reader have to be downloaded which is available for free download in the internet. Both bitmap and vector graphics formats can be represented by PDF file. Any applications can be converted into PDF formats, but unless other users have Adobe Acrobat it is impossible to edit the file. Additional it provides the option to merge files with other formats of applications and it can easily be transferred to the printing machine. Another format that is commonly used is Vector-Graphics. Files can be easily created, saved, transferred, printed and archived in the native format of the illustrator which is .ai. It has to be converted into the f ormat of EPS or TIFF file in order to transfer it to a PostScript Printer or to be able to use in a page layout program. The format that is most appropriate to save images is JPEG which has got best compression ability. Blackboard and Moodle are well-known resources that are widely used in learning environments to redevelop access and upload learning materials. Moodle platforms have got many educational aspects which stress the importance of interactive learning and inclusive learning environment. It is a useful platform for learners to access learning materials that can help in achieving their learning goals. Friendly and supportive user groups are available in the Moodle platform which can help learners to get support in their learning activities lively. Moodle platform is available to view in three different ways which are weekly view, topic view and social view. Combinations of various file formats and scheduling is available in Moodle. Different features such as chat, assignment, dialogue, choice, journals, glossary, forums, workshop, wiki and lesson are available on Moodle for the access of learners. However, it has got some disadvantages as well. The privacy of these platforms is questionable and these are very transparent. Initiative is required in terms of gathering support and it is timely. 3.2 Identify ways of sharing resources with other learning professionals Teaching resources can be considered as crucial tool in the process in teaching and learning. Formation of resources can consume more time and money when trying to connect them and present them with the use of technology. But it is not possible to carry out a teaching process without the use of teaching resources and materials. The learning needs and requirements of all learners are observed and the resources will be prepared and utilised to the maximum in order to achieve the learning targets. In order to reduce the financial burden, the financial costs of all resources can be shared among various teaching institutions. It is very common to share teaching resources between educational organisations, teaching organisations, subject fields, publishers and libraries as it provides benefits to learners and tutors. Mostly teaching resources are shared between various institutions to utilise varieties of resources available. Resources can be shared among professionals using different tech niques such as LAN (Local Area Network), VLE (Virtual Learning Environment), File Sharing and Published Journals. LAN can also be referred as Intranet which is a well-known technique of sharing resources inside the organisations. In  order to share these resources via Intranet, it is not necessary to have internet within the area and it will always have access within the organisation. Computers and systems that are connected in the LAN network will be connected with the same hard drive so that the resources can be accessed easily even without internet. File Sharing is a similar method of sharing resources thus the teachers within the institution can get access to all learning resources regardless whether it is created online or not. As different varieties of resources are available in File Sharing and LAN everyone in the organisations can be benefited by using these platforms. The individuals with learning difficulties will find it very useful as varieties of personalised resources by different resource developers and available instantly. Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) also another technique used to share resources online. It is very easy and convenient to share resources using VLE because all the learning materials and resources will be uploaded in the online portal and learners will be given the access to it which enables them to access the resources anywhere and anytime they want. But it is necessary to have an internet connection to get access to VLE. Another effective technique of sharing resources is through Published Journals. Published resources can be found in many copies whether on a newspaper, blog, textbook or magazine. For some published journal resources only a controlled access is allowed by the publishers. Valuable resources are published and shared in a large amount of numbers where the protection of the sources has not been given the importance it requires. However, this can be considered as very a valuable and useful study aid. 4 Understand legal requirements and responsibilities relating to the development and use of resources 4.1 Summarise legal requirements and responsibilities relating to the development and use of resources Development and use of educational resources need to meet several legal requirements and responsibilities. The current copyright law available in UK is Copyright Act 1998 – The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The owners of the materials will be given the rights to decide in which ways their resources can be used and controlled by other users. Areas such as  public performance, broadcast, adapting, photocopying, renting copies to public and issuing are covered by this act. The owner will be given the right to call himself as Author. When a work is created by an individual and it can be considered as original and a degree of skills will be exhibited then the person will get the rights to acquire copyrights to his work. For example, the creator of a book cannot get the rights to protect the book itself, but the content of the book will be protected by the Copyrights. Another individual will be given the rights to get some idea of some particular book to create his own work, but the content of the book cannot be directly copied or adapted. However, if an individual creates a work as a part of his job, then the copyright cannot be acquired by him, thus the company or employer who hired will have the rights to hold the copyrights of that work. An individual still can have the copyrights for his work when it is created under a commissioned or freelance work, if there is no agreement exists between the individual and the company. Regarding any infringement the proceeding can only be brought by the owner of the work or his exclusive license. Intangible assets such as literary can be obtained with certain rights using Intellectual Property Act. The areas such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, some trade secrets and industrial design rights are included in the Intellectual Property Rights which can be used by individuals and companies in order to protect their work. Majority of the countries put this law in commonplace in the late 20th century although the principles of Intellectual Property Act have been in existence over hundreds of years. Rights of processing the data on public will be determined by the Data Protection Act 1998 which is created by the UK Act of Parliament who makes most of the law in the country. Although the term privacy is not mentioned in the Act, it determines the privacy every individual has to be given with respect to processing the personal data. In simple words, an individual can have the rights to decide to which extent his personal data can be used and processed. Thus, individuals and companies have to comply with this law and keep the personal information confidential when required. Disabled people are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 against discrimination against them related to employment, provision and disposal of good and services and management of premises. This act will decide provision about disables people’s employment and it will also help to  form a National Disability Council. All the above regulations have to be followed when creating and publishing the resources for educational purposes. Regardless of the learning difficulties faced by learners, the resources have to be created in a fair manner. 4.2 Review the implications of intellectual property rights and copyright for the development and use of resources It is both teachers’ and learners’ responsibility to enforce Copyrights Act 1998 and Intellectual Property Rights in the learning and teaching environment. The original authors of each resource have to be mentioned and cited in my work when using information from research materials, books, e-books, articles and journals in order to support my thoughts. The source of the information has to be mentioned briefly in my work and my learners’ work so other users will be able to refer that information when needed. The companies and organisations also have to comply with these laws. Some educational institutions will have the copyrights on their materials and work where their employees created the work and they must comply with existing law. If someone else’s work is claimed as an individual’s own work that will be called as Plagiarism and this is totally not accepted. Various books, journals, e-books and articles are used when creating resources for my tea ching. I always make sure that I have mentioned proper in-text and full referencing for the resources I used in my work. I always stress my learners on the importance of mentioning originality of the resource by citing proper referencing. My own work will be indicated with my name and my organisation’s name when needed in order to show that this resource is created by me or on behalf of my company. The original source of the information must be mentioned even though there are some adaptions made in relation to the learning needs of my students. Furthermore, it is not accepted to share the work with others when it is prohibited. When reading through materials and article to use them in my work it is important to make sure that it is acceptable to use them in my work as some books and resources do not give the permission to use them in others’ work. The permission from the owner of the work has to be obtained before using their resources. 5 Understand how to evaluate own practice in relation to  development and use of resources 5.1 Review the effectiveness of own practice in relation to development and use of resources In my teaching and learning environment resources are considered as valuable tool. Learners can be kept engaged in various class tasks and activities and they can have a clear progression in their learning with the use of appropriate resources. The resources such as worksheets, PowerPoint slides and Interactive whiteboards and used in my teaching environment. I use PowerPoint slide to give my students a view of the lesson objectives and what is going to be taught in class. The slides will be in simple and brief format. Font sizes of my slides are usually kept between 14 to 16. My learners and I find this resource very effective as it is pretty straight forward and convenient. It can be considered as an effective technique of guiding the lesson and explaining the lesson objectives. The knowledge and understanding of my learners can be examined and tested using the worksheets provided at the end of the session. The effectiveness of my teaching methods and techniques also can be assesse d using the worksheets and changes can be made to the way I teach if needed. Most of the students complete the worksheets I provide which indicates that they understand what they are being taught in my class and achieve their learning goals. 5.2 Identify own strengths and areas for improvement in relation to development and use of resources 5.3 Plan opportunities to improve own skills in development and use of resources Action Plan: development of resources (5.2 and 5.3) Strengths Areas to improve: Resources Objectives Methods used to improve By when My learners are always kept engaged by giving them varieties of challenging  activities and tasks Worksheets: For the different level of students in my class room two variety of worksheets have to be prepared for both higher ability learners and lower ability learners Develop the ability to create two varieties of worksheets for higher level of ability students and lower level of ability students. More worksheets can be obtained online and permission can be obtained from owners to adapt those materials in my class which will enable me to differentiate tasks depends on the learners’ needs 10st April 2014 At least one learner task will be included in my teaching session using the interactive white board resource Interactive whiteboard: Group activities have to be planned that can be practiced using the interactive whiteboards rather than providing activities based on whiteboards. To provide the opportunity to work with team so they can interact to share ideas for their own presentations and assignments. Online research can be done on effective ways of using interactive whiteboards to engage my learners in the learning activity and training can also be attended. 30th April 2014 My learners will be always guided properly with the learning outcomes, objectives and summary of the lesson PowerPoint: Lesson objectives have to be broken down to the different tasks that are going to be provided in the class Develop the ability to create tasks effectively for both individual and group activities so they will be aware of what they are learning More time can be spent in creating more slides in my PowerPoint presentations to make sure that all the learning outcomes and objectives are explained to my students 30 March 2014 BIBLIOGRAPHY Reece, I. and S. Walker (2007). Teaching , Training and Learning: A practical guide, Business Education Publishers, Limited Gravells A (2012) Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector London Learning Matters Gravells A & Simpson S (2012) Equality and Diversity in the Lifelong Learning Sector London Learning Matters A Contextual Guide to Support Success in LLN Provision: Embedded Learning. DfES (QIA 2008) Websites http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/introduction http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ875780.pdf http://www.inquirium.net/people/matt/teaching_as_design-Final.pdf http://laeremiddel.dk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Quality_principles

Medieval and Renaissance

Lewis, after having been granted Chair of the Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University in 1954, presents his first lecture to shed light on this new responsibility by drawing on a latent misnomer that could perhaps be created by the title of his present position, particularly by placing the terms â€Å"Medieval† and â€Å"Renaissance† side by side to connote a concurrence in meaning, which according to him, â€Å"†¦by this formula the University was giving official sanction to a change which has been coming over historical opinion within my own lifetime.Referring to the remarkable yet discreet elimination of the traditional divides between these terms as human’s understanding of these epochs broadens. Such usage of the terms likewise indicates how the perceived invisible divides marking out the disparities between these terms have been overstated (par 3). To this Lewis provides an alternative view saying that, â€Å"The actual temporal p rocess†¦has no divisions, except perhaps those â€Å"blessed barriers between day and day†, our sleeps.Change is never complete, and change never ceases† (Ibid). Nonetheless, placing everything that happens in a lifetime cannot be put in a single continuum otherwise it will create a chasm filled with categorically definable events yet in such circumstance may not be totally identifiable. Hence creating recognizable divisions such as periods for events is inevitable. He then moved on to consider the different periods that have marked the transitions from the Medieval to the Renaissance, namely: 1) between Antiquity and the Dark Ages or the fall of the Empire (par. 5); 2) between the Dark and the Middle Ages (par. 10); 3) towards the end of the seventeenth century (par. 11).For each perceivable period, he identified significant events such that between the Age of Antiquity and the Dark Ages, particularly in the literary genre, he recounts, the inevitable effect of â €Å"the barbarian invasions, the christening of Europe† (par 5), while referring to the observations of Gibbon, most probably that of Edward Gibbon, an â€Å"English historian and scholar, the supreme historian of the Enlightenment, who is best-known as the author of the monumental THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE,† (Liukkonen, 2008) who believes that â€Å"the material decay of Rome was the effect and symbol of moral decadence† (Ibid). Lewis then suggests that such episodes where imperative that people in earlier days who were able to adapt to the circumstances where no different than the people now and the changes that have happened them would have the same effect to us—â€Å"Nothing new had come into the world† (par. 7).Likewise everything that happens then occurs for a reason and each event is irreversible as it is if it would happen now. As to the episodes between the Dark and the Middle Ages, which Lewis regards as â€Å"a period of retrogression: worse houses, worse drains, fewer baths, worse roads, less security† (par. 10), nonetheless, it is during this period that the world reached â€Å"a period of widespread and brilliant improvement† (Ibid) (i. e. recovery of Aristotle’s text and its consequent integration by Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas; discovery of alternative solutions to technical problems in Architecture; introduction of rhymed and syllabic verse in place of the old alliterative and assonantal metres which has characterized European poetry for centuries [Ibid]).Finally, concerning the third boundary within the epochs towards the end of the 17th century, Lewis, as in his explanations on the exigencies in the previous epochs, maintains that such events or changes are prerequisites to impending developments. Thus he concludes: When Watt makes his engine, when Darwin starts monkeying with the ancestry of Man, and Freud with his soul, and the economists with all that is his, th en indeed the lion will have got out of its cage. Its liberated presence in our midst will become one of the most important factors in everyone's daily life (par. 11). One should then perceive circumstances as a priori to succeeding events. Lewis did not stop with this structure though.He moved on to create a structure that will eventually define the organization of the succeeding epochs, after the Renaissance. To this division, however, Lewis clarifies: â€Å"The dating of such things must of course be rather hazy and indefinite. No one could point to a year or a decade in which the change indisputably began, and it has probably not yet reached its peak† (par 12). He then starts drawing the lines between these periods starting off from Scott (par. 13), most probably Sir Walter Scott, â€Å"a Scottish writer and poet and considered one of the greatest historical novelists, who lived between 1771 and1832† (â€Å"Sir Walter Scott,† n. d. ). Lewis then presents his view on these timelines taking a stance in relation to the political order circumstances.Thus, â€Å"For of a ruler one asks justice, incorruption, diligence, perhaps clemency; of a leader, dash, initiative, and (I suppose) what people call â€Å"magnetism† or â€Å"personality† (par. 13). Next, he considers the arts as a factor affecting the timelines. At this point he presents his argument concerning the arts, saying: â€Å"I do not think that any previous age produced work which was, in its own time, as shatteringly and bewilderingly new as that of the Cubists, the Dadaists, the Surrealists, and Picasso has been in ours† (par. 15), implying the intrinsic worth he attributes to the arts then and now. Thus, â€Å"To say that all new poetry was once as difficult as ours is false; to say that any was is an equivocation† (Ibid).He then proceeds to consider the developments in the timelines placing circumstances in line with the religious aspects of develo pments where, according to Lewis, there was a time when there was a traditional pre-conceived notion that individuals have the tendency to â€Å"relaps[e] into Paganism† (par. 16) or â€Å"that the historical process allows mere reversal (Ibid), to which he maintains the idea that circumstances as a priori to succeeding events as irreversible. This he clarifies: It is not what happens. A post-Christian man is not a Pagan; you might as well think that a married woman recovers her virginity by divorce. The post-Christian is cut off from the Christian past and therefore doubly from the Pagan past (par. 16).In paragraph 17, Lewis finally transitions his structuring of the timelines with the creation of the machines, which he considers â€Å"parallel to the great changes by which we divide epochs of pre-history† and where â€Å"the latest in advertisements always means best. † It is during this period that man regards â€Å"milestones in life as technological advan ces†: everything that happens is either directly or indirectly affected by technology. Such factor, according to Lewis, starkly differentiates us from the people in the other timelines and concludes â€Å"that it really is the greatest change in the history of Western Man† (par. 18). In the end, he points back to his earlier claim that there really is a great divide between â€Å"Medieval† and â€Å"Renaissance.† Nonetheless, somewhere in that divide lies some defining distinctiveness that unify these terms which are â€Å"certainly important and perhaps more important than its interior diversities† (par. 19). To end the arguments created or most likely to be created in the presentation of the boundaries or frontier, as Lewis labels them to be, he clarified that he will be using â€Å"Old† (Ibid) culture instead. He concludes with an emphasis on the significance of having a deeper understanding of the past for with it one is released from its shackles (par. 21) and a claim that even though there is a great distance that separates men from different epochs or timeless, they can still have a common ground. Thus, Lewis, being a native of the time, is in authority when he said:It is my settled conviction that in order to read Old Western literature aright you must suspend most of the responses and unlearn most of the habits you have acquired in reading modem literature (par. 22). References: Lewis, C. S. â€Å"De Descriptione Temporum† Inaugural Lecture from The Chair of Mediaeval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, 1954. Retrieved April 28, 2009 from http://www. eng. uc. edu/~dwschae/temporum. html Liukkonen, Petri. (2008). â€Å"Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). † Retrieved April 30, 2009 from http://www. kirjasto. sci. fi/egibbon. htm â€Å"Sir Walter Scott. † (n. d. ). Retrieved April 30, 2009 from http://www. online- literature. com/walter_scott/

Putting Global Warming on Ice Essay

What makes the earth’s temperature rise and fall? Do greenhouse gases block solar heat from leaving the earth, or is it only a product of solar activity? Many people have theorized on what causes temperatures to change. A catch phrase named Global Warming came to popularity. Environmentalists from all walks of life joined the ‘global warming’ fight. According to Thomas O’Connell the global warming debate wasn’t accepted in the 60’s and 70’s when he studied it. It only became popular recently in the 90’s. Everyone believed that humans were causing a catastrophe by punching a whole into an ‘ozone layer’ in the sky, letting harmful rays of sun in. People fought to shutdown plants in order to stop the emissions of carbon dioxide and other ‘greenhouse gases’. Everyone believed the global warming claims coming from senators and environmentalists. Today in the 21st century, science has stepped up to disprove the common myths of global warming. Many of the theories and claims of global warming are easily disproved with science. Science is the only tool that can be used to tell whether theories are fact or fiction. The first issue of global warming is the recent Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to cut greenhouse emissions from successful countries. The international Kyoto protocol has been in debate for many years. The Kyoto protocol is an international treaty to reduce developed country’s greenhouse emissions, specifically carbon dioxide, to 7% below their 1990 levels. As President Bush came to office he refused the U.S.’s involvement in the treaty. President Bush wasn’t even the man that killed the idea for the U.S. (National Center 2). A bill, stating that the U.S. wouldn’t ratify any climate treaty that would harm the United States economically and would have no consequences for developing or â€Å"3rd World† countries, was passed with a unanimous 95-0 vote by the senate before President Bush was elected (National Center 2). The treaty isn’t about global warming. It was designed in order to transfer success from developed nations like the U.S. to developing or struggling countries (Tuccille 2). Research declares that China, India, and Brazil who are not affected by the Kyoto Protocol will increase their CO2 emissions by 16% more than the United States even without  the Protocol in effect (National Center 3). Proponents of the protocol confessed that the treaty â€Å"would not have the beneficial environmental impacts advertised† and that â€Å"the costs of implementation would be much higher than the public had been told† (National Center 1). U.S. economy would suffer if we agreed to partake in the Kyoto scheme. Gasoline prices would increase by as much as 66 cents per gallon, electrical costs would also increase up to 80%, energy intensive products such as chemicals, steel, paper, and cars would rise in price by as much as 15%. (National Center 2). â€Å"The economy of the USA would be devastated,† states Thomas O’Connell. The minority income would be lowered by about 10%, 864,000 African Americans as well as 511,000 Hispanics would be unemplo yed (National Center 2). Oil and fuel used for farming would be taxed or restricted causing in a higher cost of producing and lower profits of products including corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, hogs, and milk (Heartland Institute 2 and 3). Businesses taxed by the government for their emissions would result in raising costs for their consumers (Heartland Institute 3). New regulations would be implemented for automobiles making carpooling mandatory and would penalize owners of trucks and sports cars. The average household income would even drop by about $2,700 (Heartland Institute 2). Even the unbiased and credible Time magazine quoted, â€Å"the campaign against global warming seemed to be over before it even started† referring to the Kyoto Protocol (Tuccille 1). Are we prepared to â€Å"disappear from the map† in order to prevent 1 degree Celsius of warming for the next Century? One of the hot issues on global warming is that humankind has had something to do with the temperature. Man-made emissions such as carbon dioxide have been claimed to cause global temperatures to increase over the years. Ever since the industrial revolution in the 1940’s man has continued to emit gases such as CO2 into the air. Many people claim that CO2 is what blocks heat from escaping the atmosphere. They also claim that mankind has poked a hole in something called the â€Å"ozone layer†, a protective layer above the atmosphere that keeps harmful UV radiation out, which lets more solar rays in. How convenient. The fact is that 98% of these â€Å"greenhouse gases† are natural to the earth. Man has not emitted them and they are not pollutants. They are mostly water vapors and clouds (Zipperer 2). Does that sound dangerous to you? The earth  has even cut down on the rate of carbon dioxide emissions from the years 1973-1990 (Lindzen 1 and 2). Even if we did have a lot of CO2 in the air evidently the effects wouldn’t be catastrophic. In the past the atmosphere has had much more amounts of CO2 in it before without significant increases in temperature (Lindzen 4). Richard Lindzen, a professor of meteorology at MIT, claims that a doubling of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere would only result in a 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperature (National Center 3). Another greenhouse gas is methane. Methane is more harmful than CO2 but will not increase significantly for another 100 years if it continues at its current rate (Michaels 1). Many credible experts in the field of science have agreed that man is not responsible. Over 17,000 scientists from all over the world have signed a petition declaring that â€Å"there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the earth’s climate† (Heartland Institute 5). Even if there were significant cases of warming global temperatures the effects wouldn’t be as tragic as everyone thinks. There are many benefits to the warming of the earth, as there are consequences. Warming on a global scale would have dramatic effects on life and climates. Some effects may be harmful but many of them are beneficial. Some ideas about global warming consequences are myths that are unlikely. Many people say that global warming is linked with the uprising in tropical storms. Storms such as hurricanes coming from the southeast into Florida coasts have been getting stronger for many years, but in 1991 there was a drought of storms that ranged to 1995. The amount and intensity fell way below the average, which suggests that these storms were not affected by the warming of the earth (Bible Believers 3 and 4). Others claim that sea levels have risen all over the world because the polar ice caps are slowly melting due to the warming. Tests have proven that temperatures at the poles are actually getting colder and that sea levels have been rising for centuries before we had any affect on the c limate (Bible Believers 3). Former Vice President Al Gore spoke of diseases migrating due to climate warming. He spoke of diseases like the Black Plague and Cholera, which he believed were  spread because of weather patterns. Rats, who spread the Black Plague, lived in both warm and cold climates so they had no reason to migrate. His second example Cholera has been a problem in both warm and cold climates and can be easily treated by purifying the water we drink (Heartland Institute 9). Many people have never heard possible benefits of global warming before. Having a warmer climate is very beneficial. Historically, very warm periods in time resulted in flourishing life such as plants, animals, and fish (Bible Believers 4). Even large amounts of CO2 can be beneficial. More CO2 in the atmosphere fuels plants, which makes more food for all walks of life. Vikings were once able to farm what is now a cold and icy Greenland (Zipperer 3). A warming of the earth would result in longer growing seasons and would deplete world hunger and crop failure (Robinson 3). Global warming wouldn’t be all that bad, but we do not have a way to tell if there is or will be any warming because of the difficulty to predict the weather. In order to make predictions about weather, people have designed computer models that estimate changes in weather patterns. The models are designed from past weather data and possible factors effecting the weather. What modelers do not know is that global weather is very hard to predict, maybe even impossible without the right understanding and tools for the job (Robinson 2). Factors such as clouds, precipitation, oceans, and the sun are misunderstood and often underestimated (Zipperer 2). Modelers also leave out possible advances in the future such as nuclear energy and the positive effect it would have on the environment (Lindzen 2). Our current technology isn’t even close to being advanced enough. Errors in the data are equivalent to 50% (Lindzen 3). These computer models could not even predict weather from the past. While global temperatures have raised by .3 to .6 C over the past 100 years models have over predicted the increase to be from .7 to 1.4 C by the year 1990 (Heartland Institute 7). Climate modelers have even inputted their own bias into the data, shifting variables to what they want them to be. â€Å"Climate modelers have been cheating for so long it’s almost become respectable,† says Richard A. Kerr, a writer for Science magazine. Further research on the topic is necessary in order to accurately determine whether we have a problem or not. Many people of profession have studied global warming and what may affect the outcome of their results. When measuring from the surface global temperatures have increased by about .6 degrees Celsius with a .2-degree error, but parts of the United States including the southeast have cooled slightly since the late 19th century (NOAA 2). For those 100 years of slight warming, 70% of it occurred before the industrial revolution in 1940 in which man began to emit gases into the air (Zipperer 2). The surface on and around the equator has remained plus or minus 1 degree Celsius of its current temperature for billions of years (Lindzen 4). Research has also been done to determine the affect on rising and falling temperatures. Scientists have found very close relations with solar activity from the sun and the current temperature patterns, which suggests that fluctuations in temperatures are out of our hands (NOAA 5). Satellites are the best way to determine global temperatures. They are unbiased and have only a 0.001-degree Celsius of error (Heartland Institute 6). These satellites have confirmed that there is no evidence of global warming. If anything there is a slight cooling in the atmosphere (National Center 3). Very reliable agencies have done their own research on global warming. Many scientists have tested the greenhouse theory carefully and have found that greenhouse warming isn’t even occurring and that rising temperatures are do to different stages of solar activity (Robinson 1). In 1995 the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, did not prove that humans were affecting global temperatures (Heartland Institute 8). Their report, Climate Change, includes a statement, â€Å"The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on the global climate† (Heartland Institute 8). Dr. Roy Spencer, a meteorologist and team leader of the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, quotes, â€Å"The temperatures we measure from space a re actually on a very slight downward trend since 1979†¦ the trend is about 0.05C per decade cooling† (Heartland Institute 7). In a recent poll only 17% of the meteorological society and the American Geophysical Society believe that global warming is a product of man (Bible Believers 2). Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency are threatening to withdraw their support from a global warming study done by the government. They have said that the report has an â€Å"extreme/alarmist tone† and that it does not â€Å"appear to fairly reflect the scientific literature and the historical record†Ã‚  (Torres 1). The representatives claimed that the report also had â€Å"scientifically inaccurate statements about the potential implications of climate change for air pollution and human† (Torres 1 and 2). Usually, in scientific law, if a hypothesis fails through experimentation it should be discarded, but the theory of global warming and greenhouse gases as a result of man is still considered substantial hypothesis even though it has been proven to be unlikely (Robinson 2). The debate of global warming may continue on for many years to come. Mankind may never see any rising in global temperatures, but nevertheless it will be speculated. Thomas O’Connell At this moment in time there has not been any reliable and convincing evidence that the globe is dangerously warming. Global temperature is a product of natural variables that affect the earth. Man has little if any influence on this temperature. Many of the greenhouse claims have been poorly researched and have yet to be proven credible. Hopefully in the future science will prevail and provide the real answer. Until then, people interested in global warming should do research of their own in order to formulate their own opinion. Life on earth has adapted or evolved to the environment. The earth will never adapt or change due to a single species; the earth is far too powerful. As this paper comes to a close a quote sums up the main idea. Thomas O’Connell once said, â€Å"As the rhetoric of the proponents gives way to real problem or is this phenomena more closely related to political agendas. I’ll wait for the science.†

Food is culture, culture is food Essay

A majority of people really do care about their health when they choose foods to eat. They always think: The food they eat must gives their bodies the â€Å"information† and materials they need to function properly. If they don’t get the right information, their metabolic processes suffer and their health declines. http://www. takingcharge. csh. umn. edu/explore-healing-practices/food-medicine/how-does-food-impact-health Espcially in Vietnam, most of people always use five fundamental taste elements when they’re cooking. For Vietnamese people, salt is used as the connection between the worlds of the living and the dead. Cooking and eating play an extremely important role in Vietnamese culture. The word an (eat) is included in a great number of proverbs and has a large range of semantic extensions. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Vietnamese_cuisine#Cultural_importance Vietnamese cuisine is reflective of the Vietnamese lifestyle from the preparation to how the food is served. Going through long phases of war and political conflicts, as well as cultural shifts, the vast majority of the Vietnamese people have been living in poverty. Therefore, the ingredients for Vietnamese food are often very inexpensive but nonetheless, the way they are cooked together to create a yin – yang balance make the food simple in look but rich in flavor. Due to economic condition, maximizing the use of ingredients to save money has become a tradition in Vietnamese cooking. http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_cuisine#Food_in_relation_to_lifestyle. WHAT DOES FOOD IS CULTURE, CULTURE IS FOOD MEAN TO YOU? In every country, there’s always have their icons or foods which is symbolize for their country image. Espcially food, in my opinion, food is one of the thing which can be introduced to foreigners about the country’s culture much easier than the other things such as clothes, souvernirs†¦ And a lot of countries have shown their culture through the way they cook food, through the way they eat and through the way they use ingredient for their cooking.