Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Sentimental Essay

Sentimental Essay Sentimental Essay Celia Morales Ruiz Mr. Jeffrey L. Olson, Jr. AP English Language & Composition March 7, 2014 Being different is ok My dad has never understood that being different is never a bad thing. My older brother Hector, confessed to me last year before he left to travel the world with his new job as a flight attendant for American Airlines, that he liked men. Meaning he’s homosexual. Do I care? No because its his decision and not anyone elses. But here is how it all slowly began to build up. To begin with, my dad and brother have never had that all american father ­ son relationship as you see in movies nowadays. Hector ever since he was a child and lived in Mexico, has been the outcast of the family. You’d think that because he was a boy, the dad would love him to death. Not in this case, my dad would get grossed out when my brother would get home and want to eat because he did not eat at school all day due to financial issues. He would hate if he would go to the fridge more than twice a day, like everything he did bothered him. Nothing made my dad happy. If he was quiet he’d get yelled out for not talking, if he was loud he’d want to spank him. He would even get disrespected at the store in front of hundreds of people.When they arrived in the United States, Hector was in elementry school still and when he would ask my dad for help on his homework he’d yell at him for not understanding what was being asked, and would call him in spanish â€Å"estupido o un Idiota†. When he began high school at Agua Fria, he gained a lot of weight due to stress, anxiety, and everything else that my dad caused him. As he began his freshman year, he was doing better things for himself. He got his first job at McDonald’s. and lasted a couple months before he realized that one job was not giving him enough money for all his own expenses. He was working for himself since my dad could care less about him. So he got another job at Burger King, he still went to school, got good grades and all but it was never good enough for my dad†¦. ever. And I’ve always wondered why my brother has always had so much hatred towards life and the people, he’s forced to call family. But in all honesty its all my dads fault. My Mom reminds us constantly that we’re so lucky to have not have had Dad be like he was with Hector. He would shake in fear of not knowing what Dad was capable of doing.He never was allowed to go to college due to the fact of financial aid and Dad’s lack of being involved in our studies (still to this day). I do not mean to throw him under the bus at all. By the time senior year came, he did not have the money to pay for his cap and gown, prom tickets,or his tux for the night. Mom with her motherly instincts took money out of my dad's bank account and gave it to Hector so he could at least enjoy part of his senior year. When he turned 17, he moved out of the house and stayed in approximately 7 different condos/ apartments until about the age of 22 he bought a house in Tolleson about four or five years ago, and yes all on his own with no ones help. He later got a high paying Job in the medicare department and

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Christmas Tongue Twisters Alliteration Lesson Plan

Christmas Tongue Twisters Alliteration Lesson Plan Everyone knows the popular tongue twister She sells seashells on the sea shore. This Christmas, teach your students about alliteration and let them try and create a few fun holiday tongue twisters of their own. Heres how. Explaining Alliteration Start your lesson by saying the popular tongue twister mentioned above. Then, ask students if they have ever heard of this saying before. Discuss that this play on words is called alliteration, which is a literary element. Ask them if they can guess from your example what alliteration might mean. Try and get students to work towards a definition like this: Alliteration is defined as the repetition of consonants at the beginning of words in any piece of writing. Make sure that students understand that alliterative words do not have to start with same letter or letters but it can be like ( i.e. chilly and silly). You can give students the example below. The pots and pans were Peters prized possessions. Next, have students try and brainstorm some words. Write the letter H on the front board and ask students to try and think of names, place, animals, or food that begins with the same sound of that letter. Let them try and come up with at least five words for each category. Then, as a class try and come up with a tongue twister using the words from the categories. Tongue Twisters Once they have gotten the hang of what alliteration is and how it works, then you can let them loose to try and create festive tongue twisters on their own. Extend the lesson by asking your students to illustrate a tongue twister or two. Let them use a dictionary and/or thesaurus to kick their twisters up to the next level of complexity. Here are a few Christmas tongue twisters to get you started: Crazy kids clamor for candy canes and Christmas cookies.Toy trains travel and toot along the track.Hal had happy holiday holly.Prancer presents pumpkin pies and presents.Chilly children cheer and chant on chilly nights.Santa sings silly songs about sleighs slipping supper fast in the sun.Tiny Tim trims the tallest tree with tons of terrific tinsel.Red-nosed Rudolph romps readily round ruby wreaths.Blitzer bobbles a billion brilliant bells.Santas super sleigh slips so swiftly through the snow.Shiny stars sparkle on silver sleighs.Ten tiny toy soldiers tinker with twenty toy trains.Santas stuffed sack sags and slumps. Edited by: Janelle Cox

Thursday, November 21, 2019

IOM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

IOM - Essay Example her, this report will highlight some ways Redgate can attain best results by improving the culture of organization and methods of motivation of employees. Redgate Software has been selected for this analysis report because it is a highly advanced and state of the art technology company in the world it was founded in 1999 in England by Neil Davidson and Simon Galbraith. It is based (headquarters) in Cambridge, England and its motto is â€Å"ingeniously simple tools†. At the end of 2012, the number of employees of Red Gate Software was 290. Red Gate Software was named after Via Porta Rossa (Red Gate Street) situated in Florence (Italy). The name of this place was selected because Neil Davidson was used to live in that street. In 2010, Redgate Software acquired HyperBac from Quest Software. Simple Talk is a famous online technical journal of Redgate and it provides support to MS .NET and MS SQL Server developers. There are a lot of products of Redgate Software. The main objectives of this report are to shed light on the importance of motivation skills and culture of organization to get best results. Moreover, another objective of this report is to study the motivation style and culture of Redgate in detail. Then in the end of the report we would like to relate the theory with practice by combining the important of motivation skills and culture of an organization with the motivation skills and culture of Redgate. It is important to discuss the importance of motivation and culture for an organization before we discuss the problems related to motivation and culture in Redgate. In analysis part we will discuss motivation and culture in general and then we will discuss the motivation and culture related problems at Redgate. Motivation is a very important tool for a manager or supervisor. Motivation is necessary to get best results from employees. Motivation is a important to make sure the right way to address an issue is adopted. Motivation can be defined as a

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Midterm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Midterm - Assignment Example Some of the code’s provisions do not sound fair, for example, a code number 2. It states that an employee of Ashland University, who has responsibilities with respect to education loans, or any agent, shall not accept any gift from a lender, guarantor, or servicer of education loans. This is quite unfair owing to the fact that, at times, an employee can be awarded just for services well rendered and refusal to accept it might be taken as rudeness by the giver (Holloway, 2011). A loan can also be given to an employee on the basis of need and not on any favor’s basis; hence, it turns out to be inconsiderate on the side of the employees (Holloway, 2011). Code number 6 forbids the institution from borrowing loans from various parties. This happens to be quite unfair basing on the fact that once in a while the bank may happen to be down financially and the loan might be of great help. There is no crime in asking for the loan as long as the payment is guaranteed. Is any part of the code routinely violated? The rule on accepting gifts from lenders is often violated. Why do you think these violations occur? The human part of a person finds it hard to resist a gift just because of professionalism. At times, one gets into a problem and is in a real need of a loan and the only option is the forbidden party, hence goes ahead and breaks the code. What are the usual consequences of such violations? The consequences of such violations can be tough. The most common is being sacked.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Fast food restaurant Essay Example for Free

Fast food restaurant Essay There are a few issues in the United States that many of us are talking about daily. One of those main issues that are being talked about is food in our society. But even more specific than that, many are talking about how the fast food industry has affected and impacted our society. There is a lot of history of how fast food has started. There were a lot of entrepreneurs many years ago that realized that going into the fast food chain would bring them great profit (Levenstein 229). Some not only went after the food people liked to eat, but also where exactly they started their business. The author Harvey Levensteing tells us that one of the most successful entrepreneurs, Ray Kroc from McDonalds, went after the areas where there were more families with children, and just that helped him become more successful than others (229). So other than a couple of smart guys knowing what industry to get in and being extremely successful, there are many ways that these people have made the fast food industry impact our society in a couple of ways. We all live in this country and since we are all humans we have to make time to eat, whether it is at home or somewhere outside of home, we still have to eat. In that case, we all have seen or been around the fast food industry. Fast food is a growing industry that has had a huge impact in our society today, with its speedy service, the convenience of drive through, and its cheaper way of mass production, it has made us Americans see food in a different way. America now in days is known to want and have everything as fast as we can have it. We Americans, have gotten into this set of mind that if things go faster then everything will be better. Like I have said previously, many entrepreneurs saw that and took advantage of it quickly. It has been researched that people are relying more on food that isn’t prepared at home for meals when you’re not home and even when you are home (Sharkey et al. 1). One of the main reasons for that is that it is time consuming to even go home and cook a meal for a whole family. It saves time to just go right around the corner, usually, and buy a whole meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is an easy way out for those with a fast-paced life which now is almost every American. In many cases when you are tired from working long hours and are starving, a meal from one of the many fast food restaurants just seems holy since you know you will receive it in a matter of just minutes. The fast food chains have adapted with the fast-pace lives which also lead us to other types life styles such as amusement and entertainment (Thomas). With its advantage of saving time and getting as much food as you would otherwise, there is also a disadvantage with fast food being so speedy and gotten us used to it. Since it is a way of getting your food so fast and eating it right away, it takes away from other valuable things there was to eating. We are so wrapped up in just getting eating out of our way that we lose the value to family quality time spent when there is a more home-made traditional meal (â€Å"Advantages and Disadvantages†). Clearly, fast food has helped with getting our meal faster, but also made us lose some of our valuable moments. One huge advantage that fast food owners saw was drive-through, also known as drive-ins. This was something that happened at exactly the perfect time it had to. These entrepreneurs saw how the car industry was growing in our society and immediately took advantage of that fact. That is when drive through started because they saw how much American’s loved the car. So they made a food lifestyle revolve around the automobile, which to this day has stuck to our society. Eric Schlosser has a quote of one of the first founders of drive-ins, Jesse G. Kirby, which he states, â€Å"People with cars are so lazy, they dont want to get out of them to eat! † (Schlosser) This shows how America had changed and revolved around what these guys were doing. Clearly they were successful meaning there had to be those of us loving to just go to a place, order and get our food brought right to us. The bad part of this, was that like Kirby said people were being really lazy to get something we couldn’t go without, which is food. This has come to a full circle with how it has impacted our society. Being able to get in your car and drive through a window and get a meal in a matter of minutes is great, but when we are doing this constantly and through laziness, that’s when we go wrong. The fact that there is an easier way to get our food has helped the fact that America is known for an obese country. We can’t completely blame it, but it has had the drive-in impact, which like it has been said, people are that lazy they don’t want to get out of their cars to even eat. To sum it up, drive-in have been an addition to our society that has had several effects. Another big way the fast food industry has impacted our society is the economics of mass production (Levenstein 228). A perfect example of this is what the McDonald brothers did when they were tired of having to deal with things that lead to them spending much more and consisting of more time. So they started something that would stay with us for a long time. What the McDonald brothers did was: [They] fired all their car hops in 1948, closed their restaurant, installed a larger grill and reopened three months later with a radically new method of preparing food. They eliminated almost two-thirds of the items on the menu. They got rid of every item that had to be eaten with a knife, spoon or fork. The only sandwiches now sold were hamburgers and cheeseburgers. The brothers got rid of their dishes and glassware, replacing them with paper cups, bags and plates. They divided the food preparation into separate tasks performed by different workers. The guiding principles of the factory assembly line were applied to the workings of a commercial kitchen. The new division of labor meant that a worker had to be taught how to perform only one task. Skilled and expensive short-order cooks were no longer necessary. All of the burgers were sold with the same condiments: ketchup, onions, mustard and two pickles. No substitutions were allowed. (Schlosser) This is where it all started. Schlosser clearly tells us that they even added the principle of the assembly line. The McDonald brothers saw that making things in more amounts was going to be way cheaper and save time as well. How they changed things impacted society greatly. After the other fast food entrepreneurs saw that this was a genius idea, they all started following the same path. What Schlosser says that the brothers did is still what we see today in almost any fast food restaurant we go out to eat at. How much they produce in a day is mainly by how much us as Americans demand for. This all seems great and beneficial to all, but how beneficial is it to our society as a whole. The fact that the fast food industry has seen that it is cheaper to hire people to a job that is literary a dead end, make the food we eat just as a simple assembly line to satisfy our need to have everything faster, and making everything in huge amounts has been good in a way, but bad in others. This had led to other problems as to how and where they get there food fast enough to have as much as they need for the demand. Much of the process of how they get there food isn’t the greatest which in another way has a bad impact to this country. Clearly us as Americans loved the economics of the mass production, but we should realize everything behind it. In conclusion, we clearly see the impacts fast food has had in our country and society. It has come to change the way we live because food is such an important part of our lives. Us as Americans have had a habit to want things very quickly, we love our cars therefore the drive throughs were a huge success, and the fact that producing things in large amounts and being able to pay less for the work seemed like a genius idea. This has lead to many benefits with the fact that we are living in a fast-paced society. On the other hand, some of it has affected us like being one of the obese countries. This issue is something that will be talked about for years to come. Hopefully someone will find that happy medium where the benefits of fast food stays, but the bad side of it goes away. When that day come will we have a better way of seeing fast food and how much of an impact it has and will have in our society, and we will be able to focus more on those other issues that are being talked about. Works Cited â€Å"Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Food. † Buzzle. com. N. p. , 2011. Web. 13 June 2011. Levenstein, Harvey. â€Å"Fast Food and Quick Bucks. † Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. 227-236. Phoenix College Library. Web. 7 June 2011. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. N. pag. Print. -. â€Å"Fast-Food Nation. † Rolling Stone 3 Sept. 1998: Part 1-2. MC Spotlight. Web. 7 June 2011. Sharkey, Joseph, et al. â€Å"Focusing on fast food restaurants alone underestimates the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and exposure to fast food in a large rural area. † Nutrition Journal 10. 1 (2011): 1-2. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 June 2011. Thomas, Emma, ed. â€Å"How to Cognate The Good Side of Fast Food Culture. † Sooper Articles. ISolution, 2011. Web. 14 June 2011.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Xenophanes Concept of God :: Philosophical Philosophy Religion essays

Xenophanes' Concept of God Xenophanes of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC should be credited, in opposition to his critics and misinterpreters, with an advanced contribution to the Western philosophy of religion, namely that there is one God. First, he exposes the weaknesses of the Greek pantheon. Then he satirically demonstrates the narcissistic limitations of human conceptions of the nature of the divine. Third, he logically structures a coherent concept of the nature of the only God. Then finally he reveals how his concept explains certain observable natural phenomena in an account of physical reality. 1. Xenophanes said "there is one god, among gods and men the greatest... "[1] but why would that idea be unusual for his culture, in its history? He explains that everyone in his culture had been taught by the famous poets and writers, including Homer, that a pantheon of multiple deities existed and affected the lives of humans in various ways. The nature of these gods, however, defies the whole notion of deity. Anaximander had earlier conceived of the underlying "stuff" of the universe as apeiron, an unexplainable something. But Xenophanes carries the notion much farther by attacking the mythology of his time and giving definition to the ineffable source of life. The famous writers "attributed to the gods all things that are shameful and a reproach among mankind: theft, adultery, and mutual deception" [2]. Illogically also, humans thought that gods were born and had clothing, voices, and bodies as well [3]. Surely, gods had to be more than glorified albeit often more immoral than hu mans, by the definition of "god." Probably Xenophanes viewed God from two perspectives. First, the Homeric gods demonstrated behavior that simply resembled the behavior of humans. God, by definition, had to be someone greater, better than humans in some way(s). He said that the One God is "greatest among the gods, not like mortals in form or thought." Thus worship of this God implies that an all-encompassing greatness is a factor of worship, which means primarily submission to and reverence for a being greater than oneself. As well, morality seems to be recognized by all cultures in some form or another, but reveals a certain weakness or propensity in humans to behave badly at times, as opposed to behaving well at times. There is an inherent recognition that there are good and bad actions and God is "not like mortals in form or thought.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Air France essay

Describe how you would assess how a row (keyword-engine pair) is performing and how to manage it To figure out how a row (keyword-engine pair) is performing, we need to do cost-benefit analysis first. In other words, since company’s goal is to sell tickets and create value, it would be useful to assess by measuring dollar amount earned from a dollar of cost (= Amount/Total cost). However, the row is already in ascending order of dollar amount relative to total cost. Also, there are only 368 data out of more than 4,000 data overall. Therefore, looking at the sales figure only is not the best way to assess keyword-engine pair performance.I took out all the numbers that have no conversion rate. That means, it did not generate any sales and these will not be helpful in assessing the performance. Then, among those numbers with conversion rates, I only looked at the numbers of which the amount is bigger than the cost. Otherwise, company is losing money whenever it pays advertising. Then, I multiplied average position with click through rate and conversion rate so that to calculate how people relatively choose to pick up Air France and buy tickets via website. This will tell how its keyword performs with search engine to generate sales over cost.However, to manage well, we also have to consider Ad rank. QS is determined by click thru rate and bid strategy is actually average CPC. If we multiply together, we can get Ad rank. To perform well, we need have higher click thru rate rather than higher CPC. Therefore, we also need to look at relative CPC assuming same position. That’s why I looked at other numbers without conversions rate too. Apply your performance metrics to each of the keyword-engine pairs (i. e to each of the rows) and identify the â€Å"top 10† keyword-engine pairs to pursue   Below are the top 10 results based on performance metrics that I mentioned above.However, we can see that most keywords already contain france . I believe pe ople who typed france will look at Air France site automatically, so the company should not focus highly on the word. I confirmed this logic by looking at numbers without conversion rate. See below. And also, the first one should be an outlier, since only one click generated 900% of sales. So, I calculated again filtering these two words out. Below is the result. As we can see from above, both â€Å"cheap†and â€Å"paris† are a good match with â€Å"Google†.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Truck Driving: How to Do It

How many of us can drive a truck? Most people wouldn’t know where to start. All they see is a huge chunk of metal with wheels and can’t fathom driving it. Using this guide will give a crash course (no pun intended) in truck driving and what it’s like on the road with these monsters. It also may help one understand the world of the truck driver and give them a new found respect for them. One of the first steps every truck driver must do before setting out on a trip is the pre-trip inspection. On some tractor-trailers there are as much as one hundred items that need to be checked or replaced. Some of these items include wheels and tires, brakes, lights, and fuel containers. All of which can be a major hazard to other drivers if they are not fixed or properly secured. Another equally important step for a truck driver is making sure the cargo is properly stowed or locked down. Depending on the trailer type there are various ways to properly secure the cargo, such as straps, chains, and wedge blocks. If the cargo isn’t properly secured it can shift and cause the truck to be overweight in a certain area. Being overweight on a certain side or on a certain axel can have a devastating effect on the road or on the truck itself. Federal dictates the no tractor-trailer can exceed 80,000 lbs without proper paperwork. Another area that needs to be checked thoroughly is the inside of the cab and the dash instruments. Most trucks have three times as many gauges as a pedestrian vehicle. Some that you would not find in a car is the air (psi), exhaust temp. , turbo pressure, and oil temperature. It is very important that we keep a check on all the various fluids the truck needs as well. Most trucks will not crank if a fluid level is to low such as the water. Once out on the road a truck driver has to be extremely cautious and aware of what is happening on the road. One of the most overlooked and easiest things to do is watching the mirrors very often. The mirrors are there to help you drive safely and efficiently. It is a very important step to master for the safety of ourselves and the other drivers. There are many more steps and regulations to go along with truck driving. Each state has its own rules and regulations as well as certain cities. Most of which can be viewed on the state DMV website. I hope this essay helps anyone looking to become a truck driver, and remember, keep an eye on those mirrors.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The State of Texas Academic Readiness

The State of Texas Academic Readiness Introduction The state of Texas has had a statewide program for academic assessment since 1979 (Keating 562). The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) was enacted in 2007, and the implementation started in 2011. The main aim of the STAAR is to appraise the knowledge of students and skills.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The State of Texas Academic Readiness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The scope of the STAAR is to test students in grades three through to eight in reading, math, science, and social studies (Guisbond, Neil and Schaeffer 35). In addition, it includes assessments carried at the end of the course and taken between grades 9 and 12. The STAAR has experience mixed reactions in Texas. Proponents argue that it provides the best alternative to measure knowledge and skills of students. On the other hand, there are counter arguments that the program causes mental and emotional str ain on the key stakeholders i.e. the students, parents and teachers (Dutro and Selland 342). This paper analyzes the issues facing the program based on the counter argument. Measuring Knowledge using STAAR The STAAR is designed to ensure that a student passes a minimum of 11 end-of-course exams (EOC) in order to graduate. The students must achieve a minimum cumulative score on all the given exams. According to Dutro and Selland students are supposed to pass all EOC assessments in order to graduate from the high school (347). The EOC accounts for 15% of the students’ grade. Thus, a failure in an EOC may bar a student graduating from high school. According to Featherston, the STAAR places a lot of emphasis on testing, this negates the teaching to acquire basic skills and knowledge (3). Teachers have resulted in teaching towards the tests. In addition, the students are more anxious about the tests due to the time pressures and formalities that relate to STAAR that end up placing strain on them to perform well. Thus, the students may fail due to the pressure or pass with flying colors due to the fear of the consequences. This is due to the fact that the current standardized testing is based on ‘test and punish policies’ (Weiss par. 3). While substantiating the claims, Warren and Grodsky stated that STAAR does not measure the knowledge of students (647). For example, a study conducted by Dutro and Selland, established that majority of tests contain information that is hard to understand and thus, the tests do not properly assess skills and knowledge (357). In the study by Dutro and Selland, a student exclaimed that â€Å"I was finally happy when I could read chapter books, but I know I’m not good at it. I do badly on those tests. When we take them, I just know it will be another low point, so the books I like, I know they are too low for those tests† (359).This is a pointer that the STAAR has not been able to evaluate the studentsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ knowledge.Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Warren and Grodsky added that the tests under STAAR are too many and thus causes the students to lose interest in the learning process (648). Cramming of the content being taught has replaced the basic learning process, which builds the students critical thinking skills. This is contrary to basic the teaching process in which testing is supposed to link the learning materials and the student in order to promote critical thinking and understanding the concept of issues being taught. However the advocates of the STAAR state the standardized testing is the only viable option to assess students’ knowledge and skills. This is because some teachers and parents trust that STAAR determines the academic situation of students in relation to writing and reading. Featherston added that the STAAR develops and administers tests that assess students’ knowledge against the set standards for learning (4). As a result, this ensures that all students have the required proficiencies in knowledge and skills and that as they progress to the next grade they are not falsely promoted. Preparedness of Teachers to Give Students what they need for STAAR The state of Texas has developed new curriculum for subjects such as World Geography and Biology. The standards for the new curriculum have been adopted by the State Board of Education (Guisbond, Neil and Schaeffer 36). However, the state of Texas has not provided materials required to boost the program. The teachers lack textbooks that promote the new curriculum standards. Dutro and Selland stated that the STARR has shifted the focus of teachers from guiding students to gain critical thinking skills that students require for their college and future careers to ‘teaching to the test’ (360). Furthermore, the EOC evaluation tests are normally writ ten in a complex language, three Lexile levels. This implies that the student may be aware of the subject matter but may not understand the tests because they are written in language that is higher than their normal grade. In the support that teachers are not giving the students what they need to prepare for STAAR, a university professor, Walter Stroup posited that STAAR is about how well the students are at doing the standardized tests (Weiss par. 1). Thus, teachers do not teach the right content. However, proponents argue that STAAR has led to teachers proving the students with the content they require in order to prepare them for college and future careers. For instance, it has led to a shift from grade-based to course-based assessments. In addition, the standardized tests have revolutionized the teaching process because teachers can link performance standards to external evidence of postsecondary readiness. Thus, there is the need to device other measures to evaluate the educato rs and students in order to improve academic performance and equity.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The State of Texas Academic Readiness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion Based on the arguments, it can be generalized that STAAR has increased the test workload for teachers, students, and the parents. The emphasis on the standardized testing has led to teachers aligning the teaching strategies to ‘teaching to the test’. This has negated the principle that education is about learning and understanding. However, it is worth noting that STAAR is not entirely terrible. The lack of proper standardized tests, teachers and parents will not know the academic progress and preparedness of students to move to the next level of education. Thus, there is the need for test standards that uphold holistic learning of students and that motivate teachers rather than pressurizing them. The tests should be designed in relation to understanding the implications of standardized testing and their effects on students’ mental and emotional wellbeing. The tests should be designed in a manner that incorporates the empowerment ability in which teachers are provided with learning materials to prepare students to achieve the set standards. Dutro, Elizabeth, and Makenzie Selland. â€Å"I Like to Read, but I Know I’m Not Good at It†: Children’s Perspectives on High†Stakes Testing in a High†Poverty School. Curriculum Inquiry 42.3 (2012): 340-367. Print. Featherston, Mark. High-stakes testing policy in Texas: Describing the attitudes of young college graduates, Texas: Texas State University, 2011. Print. Guisbond, Lisa, Monty Neill, and Bob Schaeffer. Resistance to high-stakes testing to spreads. District Administration 48.8 (2012): 34-42. Print. Keating, Daniel. â€Å"Formative evaluation of the Early Development Instrument: Progress and prospects.† Early Education and Development 18.3 (2007): 561-570. Print.Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Warren, John, and Eric Grodsky. Exit exams harm students who fail them and dont benefit students who pass them. Phi Delta Kappan 90.9 (2009): 645-649. Print. Weiss, Jeffrey. Texas’ standardized tests a poor measure of what students learned, UT- Austin professor says. 11 Aug. 2012. Web.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Scales of Atmospheric Motion

The Scales of Atmospheric Motion The atmosphere is always in motion. Each of its swirls and circulations is known to us by name- a gust of wind, a thunderstorm, or a hurricane- but those names tell us nothing about its size. For that, we have weather scales. Weather scales group weather phenomena according to their size (the horizontal distance they span) and how long of a lifespan they have. In order from largest to smallest, these scales include the planetary, synoptic, and mesoscale. Planetary Scale Weather Planetary or global scale weather features are the largest and longest-lived. As their name suggests, they generally span tens of thousands of kilometers in size, extending from one end of the globe to another. They last weeks or longer. Examples of planetary-scale phenomena include: Semi-permanent pressure centers (the Aleutian Low, Bermuda High, Polar Vortex)The westerlies and trade winds Synoptic or Large Scale Weather Spanning somewhat smaller, yet large distances of a few hundred to several thousand kilometers, are synoptic scale weather systems. Synoptic scale weather features include those having lifetimes of a few days to a week or more, such as: Air massesHigh pressure systemsLow pressure systemsMid-latitude and extratropical cyclones (cyclones that occur outside of the tropics)Tropical cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons. Derived from the Greek word which means seen together, synoptic can also mean an overall view. Synoptic meteorology, then, deals with viewing a variety of large scale weather variables over a wide area at a common time. Doing this gives you a comprehensive and nearly instantaneous picture of the state of the atmosphere. If youre thinking this sounds an awful lot like a weather map, youre right! Weather maps are synoptic. Synoptic meteorology uses weather maps to analyze and predict large-scale weather patterns. So each time you watch your local weather forecast, you are seeing synoptic scale meteorology! Synoptic times displayed on weather maps are known as Z time or UTC. Mesoscale Meteorology Weather phenomena that are small in size- too small to be shown on a weather map- are referred to as mesoscale. Mesoscale events range from a few kilometers to several hundred kilometers in size. They last a day or less, and impact areas on a regional and local scale and include events such as: ThunderstormsTornadoesWeather frontsSea and land breezes Mesoscale meteorology deals with the study of these things and how the topography of a region modifies weather conditions to create mesoscale weather features. Mesoscale meteorology can be further divided into microscale events. Even smaller than mesoscale weather events are microscale events, which are smaller than 1 kilometer in size and very short-lived, lasting minutes only. Microscale events, which include things like turbulence and dust devils, dont do much to our daily weather.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Biomes and Diversity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Biomes and Diversity - Assignment Example This big shift with the invention of farm implements and tools enabled Man to vastly increase his food supplies, stabilize food sources, made food production a secure and predictable undertaking and this incidentally also allowed the arable land to support a much higher population density. Increased food availability made the entire human population grow exponentially. It has also put pressure on the other species of plants and animals, as there is a growing competition for the available food, space, and other requirements for life. Ever since Man burst unto the scene, so to speak, a good number of species had become extinct due mainly to Mans prolific activities. It is a dangerous development, as biodiversity is necessary for ensuring survival of the remaining species. There are strong ancestor-descendant links between various species and their biomes, so the main concerns should be both conservation (wise use) and preservation (leaving untouched). The past century saw the extinction of about 100 species of birds, mammals, and amphibians (Hassan & Scholes, 2005, p. 105) but this background (natural) extinction rate is expected to be 10,000 higher in the next two centuries if based on ancient fossil records, current trends, and computer modeling of extinction rates (M iller & Spoolman, 2011, p. 191). The loss in genetic diversity becomes a serious threat to Mankinds survival as well, because of the links that was mentioned earlier. There are still many undocumented species, in addition to those already well known, which can provide ecological, economic, and medicinal benefits to Man. People can help to slow down the extinction rate by avoiding environmental degradation, reducing their carbon footprint, minimize pollution, mitigate climate change, refrain from introducing invasive or harmful species to a biome, prevent over-exploitation of open common