Classroom Management Essay Example for Free

Classroom Management Essay Classroom rules and procedures shape the learning experience, allowing students to understand what is expected of them and foster a positive learning environment within the classroom. Rules are necessary within the classroom and society in general. The classroom is often times one of the first experiences that students have to teach them about life and expectations as members of society. For this topic, two in classroom activities and the behavioral expectations for these will be examined: the use of learning centers and cooperative learning groups. We will also consider two out of classroom activities and the behavioral expectations associated with these: field trips and assemblies. Finally, we will discuss evaluation methods that can be put in place to determine the level of understanding of behavioral expectations for these situations. For the first in-class activity, learning centers, we will first take into consideration the size of the group. Learning centers are most commonly small group activities consisting of three to four students. Learning centers should be areas in which students can complete simple tasks that support and reinforce material that is being taught in the classroom. Say, for example a class is learning about plant life. The teacher lectures on the topic and has a whole class activity that is to be completed by the end of the week. Learning centers can reinforce this topic across a wide variety of subjects. There could be a writing center in which students are given a topic such as the stages of plant growth. A math center which might include counting seeds or other plant related material and a science center that could outline the stages of plant growth would reinforce material covered in large group instruction. There could be a computer learning center where there might be a matching game, where students match stages of a plant’s life cycle with vocabulary words. Throughout all of these activities, rules of behavior would be of utmost importance. Small group activities such as these learning centers usually have minimal teacher supervision. Here is a situation in which behavioral expectations are crucial. Rules such as stay in your assigned area, complete the assigned task and assist peers in your station would be critical for students to understand. Cooperative learning groups are the second topic that will be covered. This is similar to learning centers in that students would need to assist their peers within the group, stay in their assigned groups and complete the task assigned. However, another important rule might be to complete your individual task assigned. In cooperative learning groups, many times a large topic or task is broken down into individual jobs and these are assigned to each student who researches a particular topic and comes back to the group to inform them of their findings. The first out of class activity we will look at is field trips. Field trips are an exciting part of the learning experience, often times bringing to life what has been taught in the classroom. This is an experience that mandates students understanding specific rules of behavior. First and foremost, is the rule to stay with your group. Students need to understand the importance of staying close to your teacher/other authorized school adult so that they return safely. Another rule would be to behave appropriately as the environment calls. For example, a student would behave very differently visiting a library vs. visiting an arcade. Discussion on the location that the field trip takes place would be crucial. How one should dress, what noise level is appropriate and other topics would need to be explained to students. The next out of class activity is assemblies. An assembly is an activity that requires multiple classrooms and hence, differing age levels of a school to come together. This can be a situation that is ripe for negative behavior. There are many purposes for assemblies including special appearances of community members or other recognized individuals, or award ceremonies or special recognitions. Since most assemblies include the whole school, they tend to include large numbers of people and are often quite noisy. Rules that students would need to know include keeping a moderate noise level, walking in an orderly and appropriate fashion and keeping an eye on the teacher to know when to enter and exit an area. During the assembly ceremony, rules that need to be outlined include being attentive to the speaker and participating, if appropriate. The question arises of how we can accurately gauge a student’s understanding of behavioral expectations. The old adage of practice makes perfect would be appropriate here. For situations such as assemblies or field trips, a teacher could utilize practice sessions, coaching students on appropriate behavior in those situations, even having a mock assembly or similar activity to gauge how well students understand their responsibilities in that environment. The teacher could provide tips and tricks for the students to attend to such as always keep your eye on the speaker, which shows respect for the person giving the presentation. A more tangible method might be a multiple choice test given to the class. Depending on the age level of students, scenarios could be written asking students to circle the appropriate behaviors and cross out inappropriate behaviors. Rules and procedures are a vitally important lesson taught in classrooms. They are usually the building blocks of kids becoming productive members of society.

The Late Middle Ages Essay -- History, The Dark Ages

The Middle Ages, often referred to as the Dark Ages, was regarded to be a time of despair, disease, and death. Just as the name the â€Å"Dark Ages† suggests, this period of European history seemed to be surrounded by darkness and hopelessness. Unfortunately, the majority of people only see this side of the Middle Ages when, in fact, the Middle Ages was a much more important era. Especially during the late Middle Ages, one can find a change in orthodox social structure, political instability mostly concerned with succession to the throne, and economic changes and how those changes went hand in hand with the change in society. After certain demographical changes and turning points such as the Hundred Years’ War, Europe began to transform drastically thus threatening traditional Europe. Therefore, unlike popular belief, the late Middle Ages was a time when absolute monarchy began to die and when social structure seemed to be flipping upside down due to drastic changes in economic practices. Politics in the late Middle Ages is best described as instable due to competition for succession and power. The most significant event during this time period was the Hundred Years’ War, basically a territorial conflict and competition for succession between the king of England and the king of France after the Capetian monarchy crumbled. (Spielvogel 281) After the Hundred Years’ War, Europe was put under a period of adversity in terms of their political stability. In England, â€Å"Parliament increased in prominence† and even the king came to â€Å"rely on Parliament to levy new taxes.† (Spielvogel 285) The English monarch no longer had absolute power; he had a â€Å"commitment to levy no direct tax without Parliament’s consent.† (Spielvogel 285) In France, absolu... ...came ever so popular during the Renaissance period. Although many people regard the Middle Ages only as a period in history when time seemed to stop and all advancements seemed to be put on hold, it proves to be a vital piece of European history. Results from the Hundred Years’ War and other territorial or succession disputes crumbled centralized monarchy and gave birth to political administrations that can be seen present day, such as the Parliament. Additionally, the Black Death brought shortage of population and labor thus allowing peasants to grow in value and lords to fall in importance. Economical patterns began to change direction and encouraged the peasants to continue climbing up the social ladder as lords no longer had the power to do whatever they pleased. Accordingly so, the late Middle Ages proved itself to be a turning point towards modern Europe.

Finance and Banking Essay

â€Å"Identify an experience in which you failed to communicate a message.† As mentioned in the communication process, communication has only succeeded when the information given by the sender has been received and understood by the recipient. If the recipient has not understood the information, then this may not necessarily be the recipient’s fault. Typically, ineffective communications can be attributed to one of three things: 1. A poor message;  * The message was too short; * The message was too long; * The message was ambiguous 2. Poor transmission; * That the message is being delivered in a wrong format that the recipient both does not expect and understands; * That the message is being delivered when the recipient does not need it, and where the recipient will not expect to find it. 3. Poor reception;  * A lack of awareness; * Obstructionism; * A lack of understanding; A striking example where I failed to communicate a message was my first day as an ‘A’-Level biology teacher at a certain private college. I was lost and found myself tutoring a form 4 class instead of a form 6 class. Some of the teaching staff read, â€Å"Human monocytes were cultured for 24 h in serum-free AIM-V medium, followed by 24-h maturation by polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (polyI:C). Short term cultured, polyI:C-maturated DC, far more than immature DC, showed typical mature DC markers and high allogeneic stimulatory capacity and had high autologous stimulatory capacity in an influenza model system using peptide-pulsed DC. Electroporation of mRNA as an Ag-loading strategy in these cells was optimized using mRNA encoding the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Monocytes electroporated with EGFP mRNA, followed by short term, serum-free differentiation to mature DC, had a phenotype of DC, and all showed positive EGFP fluorescence. Influenza matrix protein mRNA-electroporated monocytes cultured serum-free and maturated with polyI:C showed high stimulatory capacity in autologous T cell activation experiments†. The text content was technically correct, but it was presented to the wrong audience, there was every chance that the students would not understand it. Such an example is a clear cut illustration of failure to communicate a message. â€Å"Investigate and discuss the possible forms of noise that can interfere with the communication process†. Communication noise refers to obstructions on effective communication that influence the interpretation of conveyed messages. While often looked over, communication noise can have a profound impact both on our perception of interactions with others and our analysis of our own communication proficiency. Forms of communication noise include psychological noise, physical noise, physiological and semantic noise. As postulated by (F. Teague, 2010), Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood hence all these forms of noise subtly, yet greatly influence our communication with others and are vitally important to anyone’s skills as a competent communicator. Psychological noise Psychological noise refers to qualities in us that affect how we communicate and interpret others. For instance, if you are preoccupied with a problem, you may be inattentive at a team meeting. Likewise, prejudice and defensive feelings can interfere with communication. Psychological noise results from preconceived notions we bring to conversations, such as racial stereotypes, reputations, biases, and assumptions. When we come into a conversation with ideas about what the other person is going to say and why, we can easily become blinded to their original message. Most of the time psychological noise is impossible to free ourselves from, and we must simply strive to recognize that it exists and take those distractions into account when we converse with others. Physical noise Physical noise is any external or environmental stimulus that distracts us from receiving the intended message sent by a communicator (Rothwell, 2011). Examples of physical noise include: others talking in the background, background music, overly dim or bright lights, spam and pop-up adverts, extreme temperatures, crowded conditions, a startling noise and acknowledging someone outside of the conversation. Semantic noise This is noise caused by the sender, that is, the encoder. This type of noise occurs when grammar or technical language is used that the receiver (the decoder) cannot understand, or cannot understand clearly. Semantic noise exists when words themselves are not mutually understood. Authors sometimes create semantic noise by using jargon or unnecessarily technical language. Physiological noise Physiological noise is distraction caused by hunger, fatigue, headaches, medication, and other factors that affect how we feel and think.

Obama Term - Barack Obamas Last Day as President

President Barack Obamas last day as president was January 20, 2017, and he spent it doing what most American presidents did on their last few hours in the White House. He greeted the incoming president, Republican Donald Trump, and Trumps family. He wrote a note to his successor that read, in part:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We’ve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune.† And then Obama attended Trumps swearing-in ceremony. Obama, like every other president serving his final term, became a lame duck president the day he was sworn into office for a second time following his Election Day rout  of Mitt Romney in 2012. Trump was chosen  in the 2016 election and sworn into office at noon on Jan. 20, 2017. Trumps first term ends on Jan. 20, 2021, when the next president is sworn into office. That day is called Inauguration Day. Obama Keeps a Low Profile After Term Ends Obama spoke very little in the first months after he left the White House. He held a conversation on community organizing and civic engagement in Chicago as he approached his 100th day out of office. Obamas first substantial criticism of his successor came in early September of 2017, nearly eight months after Trump took office; the former president, a Democrat, was critical of Trumps plan to kill the  Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The program allows children of immigrants living in the United States illegally to stay in the country without fear of immediate prosecution. Said Obama in response to Trumps plan: â€Å"To target these young people is wrong ― because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating ― because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people ― and who we want to be.† When Obamas Term Ended The date of the presidential swearing-in and conclusion of a presidents term is set by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Under the terms of the 20th Amendment, a presidents term  ends at noon on Jan. 20.   The 20th Amendment reads, in part: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin. Awaiting Obamas Last Day Its become a sort of modern-day political tradition for a presidents staunchest critics to begin counting down his last days in office. Obama endured such treatment from conservative Republicans. There were even commercial endeavors to celebrate Obamas last day in office: bumper stickers, buttons, and T-shirts announcing Jan. 20, 2017, as the End of an error and Americans happiest day. Obamas predecessor, Republican President George W. Bush, was the target of similar campaigns, including an  Out of Office Countdown Wall Calendar that included some of the most well known Bushisms.   The Republican National Committee celebrated Obamas last day as president by posting the date on its website even before he was elected to a second term in 2012. The GOP designed the ad to raise money from conservatives worried about him being re-elected. The party said: The RNC is clearly not giving President Obama a free pass in 2012 - quite the opposite actually, we are aggressively showing voters what our country would look like after another four years of President Obama and his tax and spend policies that have done nothing to create jobs and leave us vulnerable to governments like China. When Obama Was Sworn In to His Final Term Alex Wong / Getty Images Obama was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 2013, after easily defeating Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. Why Presidents Can Serve Only Two Terms Obama, like all U.S. presidents, cannot serve a third term in the White House because of the Constitutions 22nd Amendment, even though many conspiracy theorists believe Obama would try to remain president beyond his eight years in office.