Dancing with Athena :: Personal Narrative Teaching Essays

Dancing with Athena I shall always remember the new-kid-in-school feeling that came flooding back from childhood on my first day of student teaching. Having been in my share of new environments, I have learned deeply the power of a first impression. That first day I made it a point to look into the eyes of the young people in my classes, ignore the butterflies of trepidation fluttering in my gut, and smile bravely. Most students smiled back, some curious, others confident. Some appeared quietly guarded, while a fair number wore their seventh-grade brand of defiance and hostility on their sleeves like a badge. Over the course of my ten weeks with them, I learned to better read those faces. Students who appeared receptive or open might instead be thoroughly, benevolently disengaged. Some of those students who were quietly guarded at first needed only an invitation to open up. Others remained locked behind walls of resistance. This last disposition was the most challenging one for me to decip her into its constituent parts. Being always up for a challenge, I took it upon myself to discover my way into their bunker and understand their need for protection. I ascertained quickly that my mentor teacher took a very traditional tact in her teaching style. The division of responsibility in her seventh-grade classroom was very clear. She engaged in what Bridging English authors Joseph O. and Lucy F.M. Milner, term â€Å"total lecture† and â€Å"linear explication,† while students engaged in individual seat work (347-8). That is, the teacher went over the lessons from the book, then students were expected to complete their exercises quietly in class, pass them in, and go on to the next period. Very little attention, in my opinion, was paid to the individual or community learning needs of children in this classroom. I observed no real opportunity for students to take ownership of their learning process. Each group of students responded differently to this traditional approach. The â€Å"high achievers† class was frustrated and bored. The â€Å"inclusion† class, a group which included students with specific learning disabilities mainstreamed into a general education class, largely accepted the autocratic system and most functioned acceptably well within its expectations. The last two periods of the day were general education classes.

A persuasive essay on Illegal Immigrants

Are illegal aliens a problem of immigration? A purported view is immigration is not the problem, but rather the control and enforcement of immigration. In any country, the unchecked and illicit inflow of people can pose a challenge to that country's sovereignty.Rich countries have three major concerns when it comes to immigration. First, there is the belief that it causes wage inequality by a reduction in wages for domestic worker due to competition from immigrants. Next, there is the pressure it puts on facilities like schools and services like healthcare and welfare payments. This pressure is borne by taxpayers. Finally, especially post-911, there is the concern that there could be incidences of enemies hosted in immigrant communities.Another increasing concern is the amount of money crossing borders by way of remittances to extended family. Worker remittances from the US to Mexico came up to $16.6 billion last year. This amount is second only to petroleum in the US export revenues .The financial burden that illegal immigrants put on a country cannot be underestimated. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated a $7.7 billion spend a year in California to educate illegal immigrants and their children. The State of California also spends yearly $1.4 billion on health care and on illegal immigrants in prison.The major reason for illegal immigration is that the supply does not meet the demand. In the US, there is provision for 675,000 visas a year for permanent residence. 480,000 of these are available for the family reunification, 140,000 are based on employment. Humanitarian visas awarded to refugees were at a maximum of 70,000 in 2004. The diversity lottery gives out another 50,000 visas to citizens of countries that have sent fewer than 50,000 migrants in the previous five years.Different countries like Spain, France and the US have varying experiences of illegal aliens.Spain has its own share of trying to control the entry of illegal aliens ont o its shores. Sub-Saharan Africa sees the neighboring country as the closest refuge. 5,000 clandestine immigrants, trying to escape the consequences of a population that far outstrips it economic capability, have crossed the border with about 1,000 drowning as the board fragile fishing boats to make their way to the Canary Islands.Since France does not have the US advantage of a flexible labor market and stingy welfare state, it has ended up with a resentful immigrant underclass with time on its hands. France today has a low proportion of skilled immigrants.The French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, is working on reversing this trend. He is proposing a managed, high-skilled, demand-led immigration policy by introducing a selective immigration policy with quotas for workers, students and families and allowing entry to those who have the means to support a family.This policy would involve opening up the borders to more skilled workers while clamping down illegal aliens through a c loser watch on bogus marriages, increased deportation and scrapping the automatic right to stay after 10 years of being in France illegally.There are some 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., most of them employed. In the US, most illegal immigrants are day laborers, 50% of whom are employed by homeowners. A lot of these day workers see themselves as victims of unemployment and of a failed immigration system. It is being said that tight legal controls have driven Latinos to illegality and across the U.S., 117,000 undocumented immigrants, the majority from Mexico, gather daily, looking for work.My personal experience is that illegal immigrants go after the jobs that citizens are not likely to be interested in like agriculture, landscaping, and housekeeping and most people are not averse to hiring them.

Kids Should Be Paid for Good Grades Essay

Money can be a motivation to encourage students to study hard. The students will feel that their effort is worthy when they are remunerated. Compensation for children’s good grades can also nurture children’s concept about money. And the last, parents can refuse their kids’ unreasonable request of purchasing and let them earn it. In general, kids should get paid for good marks. First, if kids get paid for good grades, they will be motivated to get high marks. As they grow up, their demands on variety things will increase as well. However, their parents will not always satisfy their children’s needs with everything. At this point, some children might be disappointed because they cannot get what they want even though they attain good grades. For instance, if a child wants an iPhone and the parents refuse the request because it is too expensive, the child will concentrate on the iPhone rather than study hard. Instead of saying â€Å"no† to the child, the parents can reward good grades so that the child will maintain good marks in order to buy the phone. Of course, when the child has enough savings due to good performance, the child will eventually received what he or she desired. Thus, money can be a great incentive for children to study hard. Second, children will form financial concepts about the real value of money. They hardly know the purpose of money except it could be used to exchange with the goods they want. They did not know the value, power or even the amount of money. The perception of kids about money would probably be â€Å"money comes out from mommy’s or daddy’s pocket. Therefore, paying children based on their grades allows them to know the concept of â€Å"all pays deserve gains. † Kids will soon realize that money comes from their effort and is for good reasons. Third, due to the modern society that we live in, kids are attracted by lots of fancy and luxury products and they might have unreasonable demand. Parents can refuse the unpractical demands of their children. The children will not unde rstand their parents since they are immature. In order to establish a balance between â€Å"buying what they want† and â€Å"they cannot have it†, paying for good grades is a better solution. If kids get paid, they will keep studying hard. Paying for good school work does not only benefit the children, but also the parents. Kids will be motivated by the appeal of money, while their knowledge of finance will be developed simultaneously. In addition, kids will understand that they harvest what they plant. Therefore, kids should get paid for their good marks.

Women In Business Essay

Unassuming nature (humility) M – Motivator I- Interpersonal skills S – Sense of purpose E – Empathic N – Notable – Innovative N – Novice S – Self-confidence Spokesman N – Never giving up E- Efficacious In the business world there are a lot of obstacles women have to face to climb the career ladder. Helen Keller once said, â€Å"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye. † Women should take this message and run with it. It's not the people around us but ourselves which holds us back from what we want to accomplish.Self-confidence is the master key that unlocks the door in succeeding in today's business world. Confidence in one's self assists in elevating our position. Once a woman is confident, she has pride in her work and a little hard work comes easy. Singer Marsha Evans once remarked, â€Å"You can have unbelievable intelligence, you can have connections, you can have opportunities fal l out of the sky. But in the end hard work is the true, enduring characteristic of successful people. † Women, today we need not to be afraid of hard work. Working long hours and sacrificing our spare time is what it takes to build a business.Sometimes aging on an extra task can be beneficial to building the career we actually seek. We are classified as the ‘weaker vessels', but if we endure the hard work, it only makes us stronger and climbing the career ladder would be easy. As aforementioned in the acronym, the attribute listed for ‘B' in the word BUSINESS was bravery. Being a woman in a corporate world you would be timid by the male gender. You have to constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone to move forward. This means you have to take risks and accept when things go dismay. No matter the challenge or situation be brave.You will survive and turn things around. I am a young woman striving to succeed. Ambition is embedded. I don't settle for second best . â€Å"Reach for the stars†, but in reality I want to have it in the palm of my hands. My vision, dreams and aspirations will be a reality. The words of Anita Rowdier, â€Å"To succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality', and know I have passion within. For no matter what it is once I'm involved I will be passionate and committed. I stumbled upon a poem and the words of it really depicts who am and the attributes posses.Heart of a Woman in Business by Sherry Rough is an inspirational poem for women for all walks of life. A woman in business is like no other Multi-brilliant at work, and often too, a mother. Guided by vision to make a difference in this world, Reporting for service, with her hair even curled. Ready to go, whenever the need She knows in her heart, there's a calling to feed. To do right, to speak up, determined to succeed A role model that plants the possibility seed. Knows who she is, right down to the core Her essen ce, her passion-?shine all the more! She's in charge with a handle on it all.At the office, at home, or at the mall. Even in the depth of all she may know Realizes there's still plenty room to grow. So energetic, creative and fun . Early rise, there's much to be done! She still finds time to laugh and to play Sacred time too, to kneel and to pray It comes from inside, driven by vision, Get on board-?she's on a great mission! Her daily prayer resides in God's grace Serving others from her heart sets the pace Making use of her talent, wisdom and skill From strengths and trust in Divine will. Gentle, compassionate, loving and strongIn this sisterhood Of success you want to belong Anything she puts her heart to she can do SSH?s not alone assist-?as you can too! The road to get here has been quite a ride â€Å"Call me ‘Woman'-? it's my source of pride! † Come along, she's blazing' new trail A woman in business-?whom we all hail Studying at a prestigious institution as Hull I nternational Business School will broaden my horizon and the outlook for my life. It will allow me to build on the skills and traits that I already own and develop new ones that will take me on the road to success full speed.Women rarely hold highly influential leadership positions. I believe that women are just as capable of being successful leaders as men with the same abilities. If more women are allowed and encouraged to become leaders, it would create a wavelet effect throughout society. There is an imbalance in the business world between men and women leaders. It is very critical that women hold leadership position. Within the work environment there will be new perspectives and outlook on different situations. We have accepted the mental abilities that men and women are equal. Marie C.Wilson in Closing the Leadership Gap: Add Women Change Everything said, â€Å"When look at issues face, and when I think of the need, I am as convinced as I have ever been that our future depend s on the leadership of women – not to replace men but to transform our options alongside them. † These words that came forth is truly a divine statement. Women holding leadership positions isn't undermining men in influential positions but wanting to work hand in hand with them. You receive views from each person and ideas can be formulated and bought forth. It shouldn't be about male vs.. Male but about how we can all benefit.Right now too much power is placed within the grasp of men and the masculine perspective. A survey from Right Management Consultants shows that the skill that companies most often seek in managers is the ability to motivate and engage others. These characteristics are displayed more from women. Ultimately, if women are in leadership positions with their male counterpart, the feminine qualities such as intuitive, compassionate and emotional nature will bloom. â€Å"The gateway to our intuitive wisdom and our connection to the rater landscape of hu manity is emotions,† quote Tabby Fiddle.

Maritime Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Maritime Economics - Essay Example h is to provide rapid customer response, location of services are convenient for access, and utilize up to date information technology to improving service operations (Osler 2012). The paper also intends to analyze longevity of technology based on competitive advantage and their importance and view of how to improve the competitiveness. 3 Maritime economics involves the integration of ocean transport and terminal management. The main goal is to provide an in-depth analysis of logistics services. A keen interest is on the way the logistics and maritime time related to economics which brings about the ocean transport business. It revolves around the focusing on the joint optimization of container terminals and liner shipping networks (Blecker & Kersten 2011). 4 Logistics in many contexts involves the delivery f goods and services with proper quality and quantity. Logistics depends on timely delivery and the destination of delivery. The most notable aspect of logistic is promptness of delivery because delay of any kind causes significant losses to the recipient of the consignment. Logistics traditionally depended on transportation only. Nowadays, it depends on reliable roads, and record keeping improved by higher technology, globalization, legislation, and integration. The logistics management comprises of material management, channel management, physical distribution, and it is pert of the whole supply chain management. Movement of goods is not the only logistics activities; it involves stock control in the warehousing systems and the movement of goods in the storage units (Martin 2009). Logistics forms a crucial area in supply chain and brings issues like planning, implementation, and effective management. 4 Many immerse growth activities realized in the logistics sector especially in the emerging economies. This shows a better future with third party providers. This growth realized in the area of logistics largely coming from third party providers such as

Mandatory Influenza Vaccinations for Health Care Workers Research Paper

Mandatory Influenza Vaccinations for Health Care Workers - Research Paper Example Finally, the paper has discussed national benefits of having Health Care workers immunized. The American Hospital Association (2011) points out that influenza is a dangerous contagious disease that spreads quickly from one person to another even before the appearance of its signs. The diseases cause annual deaths of an estimated population of 24,000 people and more than 150,000 hospital admissions. Hospitalized patients are more vulnerable to influenza because their system of immunity has already been weekend by the disease they are suffering from which has caused their admission. Health Care Workers vaccination is important for it prevents deaths and illnesses among patients as well as reducing their absenteeism when they infect each other with the disease. Since 1981, annual health care workers’ vaccination has been recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). However, only half of the total number of Health Care Workers in the United States has adher ed to the rule. Protection of the well-being and health of patients and health workers is a worldwide matter of concern. Research in America has for the first few years shown that because of the health workers failure to undergo vaccination, health care workers unintentionally expose patients to seasonal influenza. American Hospital Associations Board of Trustees has imposed policies that require health care workers to undergo mandatory vaccination or put on masks while handling patients during seasons of influenza. The aim of this is to care and protect lives of patients (American Hospital Association, 2011). Data collected annually by Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. shows that more than two hundred thousand influenza patients are admitted in hospitals every year. Collected data also shows that a population of above 36,000 people dies of influenza annually. The other disease that puts people at risk of death in the U.S. is breast cancer. Even though the vaccin ation is about 70 to 90% effective in preventing influenza, it does not work with people aged above the age of 65 years and people with chronic health conditions preventing them from the vaccine (Rakita et al., 2010). Nowadays, many health care organizations and hospitals have embraced the policy of getting their employees, students, hospital contract workers, volunteers and affiliated medical staff vaccinated seasonally for the safety of the patients. Every employee is supposed to be immunized unless they have a religious or medical reason preventing them from the immunization. The rate of vaccination has gone above 90% due to application of the policies. Examples of organizations in which influenza vaccination in health care centers is a mandatory practice and a condition of employment include American Academy of Pediatrics, National Patient Safety Foundation and Association of Professionals in Infection Control (American Hospital Association). Prevention of the spread of influenz a between patients and health care personnel minimizes economic effects in the institution as well as reducing the cost of living in the society. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (2007) outlines an example of outbreak of influence that occurred in an internal medicine ward in which 23% of the members of staff became infected. The result of this was a fourteen days sick leave for each of the members. Eight admissions that had been

Read the requirment carefully and finish on time Essay

Read the requirment carefully and finish on time - Essay Example 59). According to the company’s handbook (1935, p 10), the company began its business by erecting numerous roadside dangers and other warning signs. The company was in charge of road signs until early 1930s when the local authorities took control of the signs. The achievements gained by the company were destroyed when most of their road signs were destroyed during the Second World War. By then, the company had erected approximately 6,500 direction signs and 15,000 village signs (The Automobile Association Handbook). The company published an AA Member’s Special Handbook in 1908. By using the handbook, the company’s clients could find the location of AA agents across the country and mechanics. The clients also received free legal services for one year (Passmore 2003, p. 62). The company has grown from a small company to become on the leading companies in the world. The motor insurance service has grown to become one of the largest in London and the United Kingdom a t large. The insurance industry is experiencing growth that is generated by new entrants with new products and way of doing things. It is due to these factors that the company needs to explore means of ensuring that it remains among the best service providers in this industry. SWOT Analysis Strengths The Automobile Association has various strengths that it can exploit to gain a competitive edge in the market. The first strength the company has built over the years is its reputation of being reliable in providing services. The company’s clients need not worry when they are in some form of discomfort since they trust in the company to deliver. The company is also renowned for having qualified and competent staff. This includes qualified mechanics for the garage sections and the staff in other areas. Weaknesses Despite having the above notable strengths, the company also has some weaknesses that can be exploited by the competitors. The competitors in the British market arise fro m firms such as RAC and Green Flag and Direct Line and a host of many other small players (Harison & John, 2008). The second placed RAC is becoming a serious threat to the existence of the company. The company offers all the services that the Automobile Association offers in addition to security services. This therefore means that the company has a more complete package than the Automobile Association even though they are still young in client size. The second weakness of the company is the high employee turnover. On one hand, the rivals lure some of the employees away from the company with huge salaries. Since the Automobile Association is renowned for having top class employees, the competitors target these employees instead of struggling to breed their own. On the other hand, some of the employees such as mechanics use the money from their savings to open their own businesses using the reputation of having worked for the Automobile Association. Opportunities The current economic condition is tough on some people. This people however require motor insurance and other related services. These types of people will therefore look for cheaper options that also provide quality and reliable services. The company can gain from such people by introducing products for all classes of people. The other option that could be more profitable is for the company to merge with one of the competitors such as RAC. This would