A Quick Guide to Encourage Your Child to Read

A Quick Guide to Encourage Your Child to Read How can you encourage your child, whether a beginning reader or a reluctant reader, to read childrens books on a regular basis? Here are some ideas that may help. Simple Tips to Encourage Reading Make a habit of reading to your child every day, whether she is a one-year-old or a 10-year-old.When your child is able, have him read to you. You can take turns reading chapters in a simple chapter book, for example.Get a library card for your child. Go to the library every week and take out several books.Be aware of your childs interests and direct your child to related books.Try to find a series that she really likes and will want to continue reading.Provide a comfortable reading area, with good lighting, in your home.Discuss books with your child.If your child is a reluctant reader and not reading on grade level, buy her hi/lo books (books with a high-interest level, low vocabulary).Talk to your childs teacher and ask for suggestions.If your child responds well to incentives and enjoys using the computer, enroll in an online book group (with your supervision).If your child really enjoys a particular author, check with your librarian about other authors or books he might enjoy.Chi ldren also often enjoy the opportunity to read childrens magazines. Main Takeaways Basically, you want to stay on the side of encouraging rather than nagging if you want your child to read and love doing it. Nothing puts a child off faster than feeling forced to do something, so be careful. The importance of reading to your child daily cannot be emphasized enough so make it a priority. Also, be consistent with reading aloud together, trips to the library and other encouraging activities. Finally, if your child is in a preteen or entering middle school, the article  Middle School, Reading and Tweens: Motivate Your Preteen to Read  is a useful and informative resource.

How to Define Acceleration

How to Define Acceleration Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity as a function of time. It is a vector, meaning that it has both magnitude and direction. It is measured in meters per second squared or meters per second (the objects speed or velocity) per second. In calculus terms, acceleration is the second derivative of position concerning time or, alternately, the first derivative of the velocity concerning time. Acceleration- Change in Speed The everyday experience of acceleration is in a vehicle. You step on the accelerator, and the car speeds up as increasing force is applied to the drive train by the engine. But deceleration is also acceleration - the velocity is changing. If you take your foot off the accelerator, the force decreases and velocity is reduced over time. Acceleration, as heard in ads, follows the rule of the change of speed (miles per hour) over time, such as from zero to 60 miles per hour in seven seconds. Units of Acceleration The SI units for acceleration are m / s2(meters per second squared or  meters per second per second). The gal or galileo (Gal) is a unit of acceleration used in gravimetry but is not an SI unit. It is defined as 1 centimeter per second squared. 1 cm/s2 English units for acceleration are feet per second per second,  ft/s2 The standard acceleration due to gravity, or standard gravity  g0 is the gravitational acceleration of an object in a vacuum near the surface of the earth. It combines the effects of gravity and centrifugal acceleration from the rotation of the Earth. Converting Acceleration Units Value m/s2 1 Gal, or cm/s2 0.01 1 ft/s2 0.304800 1 g0 9.80665 Newtons Second Law- Calculating Acceleration The classical mechanics equation for acceleration comes from Newtons Second Law: The sum of the forces (F) on an object of constant mass (m) is equal to mass m multiplied by the objects acceleration (a). F am Therefore, this can be rearranged to define acceleration as: a F/m The result of this equation is that if no forces are acting on an object (F   0), it will not accelerate. Its speed will remain constant. If mass  is added to the object, the acceleration will be lower. If  mass  is removed from the object, its acceleration will be higher. Newtons Second Law is one of the three laws of motion Isaac Newton published in 1687 in  Philosophià ¦ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy).   Acceleration and Relativity While Newtons laws of motion apply at speeds we encounter in daily life, once objects are traveling near the speed of light, the rules change. Thats when Einsteins special theory of relativity is more accurate. The special theory of relativity says it takes more force to result in acceleration as an object approaches the speed of light. Eventually, acceleration becomes vanishingly small and the object never quite achieves the speed of light. Under the theory of general relativity, the principle of equivalence says that gravity and acceleration have identical effects. You dont know whether or not you are accelerating unless you can observe without any forces on you, including gravity.

How Does Internet Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How Does Internet Work - Research Paper Example There are several benefits of being internet savvy for both business as well as individuals. In modern times, internet has heavily assisted individuals in gain information and education. Due to the advent of the internet it has become possible for individuals to gain distance learning. This means that internet allows individuals to study and obtain knowledge from where ever they are at any point in time. One of the main features of internet is that it is available 24/7 and this has several benefits for both individuals as well as business (Taylor 200). From business point of view, remaining connected 24/7 means that business no longer need to follow a schedule of opening their organizations or outlets to serve their customers. Customers can be served at any point in time and this has helped businesses in gaining consumer confidence in their products and services. Similarly, individuals are even able to gain assistance from businesses regarding product issues and other problems at any point in time. On one end are the several benefits that are associated with internet and on the other end are the harmful and damaging results of being internet users. Internet users tend to share very important information that is personal in nature with various websites such as social networking websites. This information can come in handy for those who know how to use internet for their own benefit over the expanse of others. They use this information to break into bank accounts as well as mentally torture people in order to gain financial benefits. Another issue associated with sharing information over the internet is the issue of privacy (Deitel 65). Internet has even caused problems in individual’

Health care Information and resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health care Information and resources - Essay Example mothers who may be at home with their young children, may go down this route as they have the time and resources to research for this alternative advice. Therefore, a 25 year old mother will have many other resources available to her if she is not satisfied with the treatment, or the results of the treatment that her 3 year old child is currently receiving from the family GP. The best way to obtain information on childhood eczema and to find out what different treatments are available if the individual is not satisfied with the treatment their child is receiving from their GP, in the World Wide Web. Here the parent can find numbers for helplines, such as the National Eczema Society (NES) and NHS direct and their official websites and suggestions for treatment, also on the internet the parent can find alternative treatments to those offered by their GP, from qualified complementary practitioners or advice from online forum from other parents, or natural alternative treatments. Â   The first two resources are from official websites, these are the National Eczema Society and NHS direct give medical advice given by dermatologists, GP’s who specialise in eczema and dermatology nurses (NES, 2009). However, the NES (2009) do also provide a fact sheet on complementary medicine. The NES (2009) is also written by people who have personal experience of eczema themselves, and is aimed sufferers and their carers. They advocate the use of emollients and topical corticosteroids, as the most effective treatments to control eczema, with advice on possible side-effects or adverse reactions to these treatments (NES, 2009). However, while they describe different types of eczema, it is then obviously down to the parent to try and understand what type of eczema their child may have. The NHS (2009) online advice is very similar to NES (2009) describing types of eczema and likely symptoms. They also give advice to treatments parents can use at home to help their child, and p ractical

The Effect of Modern War Games on the Prejudices of Children Essay Example for Free

The Effect of Modern War Games on the Prejudices of Children Essay The rise of video games among youth in recent decades has spurred many new studies into the psychological effects of continued video game usage on a high level. According to a study by The Pew Internet American Life Project, 97% of children and teens play video games (Lenhart, 2008). Video games and violence have also had a positive correlation, meaning they have some relation to each other in increased violence levels in adolescents. In recent years there have been a multitude of multi-platform supported games all with a plot that involves Middle Eastern cultures in a negative context. Could the effect of psychological conditioning and consistent positive reinforcement from the gameplay against radical Islamic terrorist groups develop into prejudices and generalized stigmas toward Middle Eastern cultures? These games that are being represented also share a close similarity to military simulation used to condition soldiers to combat, which I believe also proves that aggressive gameplay is indeed supportive, if not at part causal, for aggressive actions or thoughts. The groups who would be affected most by this would be children and teens, as they have the highest usage on a regular basis with teens up to fifty percent who had played a game â€Å"yesterday† (How Can Advertisers, 2009). Looking at both the pervasive and regular usage of children under the age of eighteen, it seems evident that whatever effect may be present would be experienced by a large portion of youth. Video game usage for these youth is happening at a time in their lives when they are forming and developing social ideology. In the stage of human development at this time in their lives, full reasoning skill and acknowledgement of the fact that it is only a game may not be present in all children. The game itself would be very important in the way that it would affect the player. In the same study done by The Pew Internet American Life Project, 86% of teens play games on a console such as a Xbox 360 or PS3 and 73% play games on their computer (Sood, 2008). If we look at record sales of games in the last few years we can see that the Call of Duty series has been extremely successful. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare sold more than 13 million copies since released according to figures from 2009 since the game was released in late 2007(Activision to Showcase, 2009). Its predecessor, Modern Warfare 2, set records with selling 4.7 million copies within 24 hours of its release (Molina, 2009). Another hit game series is Battlefield, especially in its versions Bad Company 2 and now Battlefield 3. In all of these blockbuster and hit games that were just mentioned there is an element of Arab hostility in which the player has to fight against a Middle Eastern militia or military faction. With video games now emerging as a significant industry affecting millions of people, we must consider what possible impact these games could be making on their customers. The psychological effect of conditioning is always in use by our brain, as it perceives stimuli and attempts to analyze it in conjunction to the situation surrounding it. This effect has been experimented on by many, but was fathered by Ivan P. Pavlov and later deeply researched by B. F. Skinner, a strong behaviorist (Staddon, 2003). This psychological paradigm states that all actions can be accounted for, both experimentally and in one’s natural development, by conditioning. Classical conditioning is based on the basic principles of a response that is generated by an unconditioned stimulus (US) which then results in an unconditioned response (UR). In cases, conditioning takes place when certain elements are present that, by themselves, initially do not produce the corresponding UR, this is called the conditioned stimulus (CS). After the conditioning process has occurred, the CS will illicit the same response as the US, before called the UR. The new response when using the CS is called the conditioned response (CR) (Staddon, 2003). In order to better understand the concept, here is an example of the above from a psychologist, John Watson, who conditioned a child, Little Albert, to fear certain stimuli. First, Watson took a rat, dog, and monkey and showed Albert each for the first time in his life. The result of the initial exposure showed that, initially, Albert had no fear of the animals. Watson then took his unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which was a gong noise, which upset Albert, the unconditioned response (UCR) (Swets, 2011). He then introduced the same rat, before not feared, to Albert in addition to the gong noise (UCS), which caused Albert to cry (UCR). After repeating this several times, the rat was then turned into the conditioned stimulus (CS). The fear transferred to the rat (CS) then exhibited the same response of crying, before the UCS and now the conditioned response (CR). Once the hairy rat was taught to be feared in this experiment, Watson then generalized Little Albert to several animals, which is the broadening of a condition to additional similar objects than the original stimuli (Swets, 2011). When a rabbit, which he hadn’t seen before and had no pre-existing condition of fear, upset Albert he associated the hairy aspect of the rabbit with the rat. A mask and dog were also feared. When Albert was shown these, he would then cry. The UCS in the case of the video games would be the enemy combatant. The UCR would be an act of aggression in the game that would defeat the opponent, normally by shooting or otherwise killing. This is obviously violent behavior, but not necessarily in the pretext of the game. The CS would be the fact that normally this enemy happens to be Arabic or Middle Eastern. Over the course of playing the game and repeating the same violent in-game actions, the CR would be thoughts of aggression or suspicion when shown Middle Eastern People. This perhaps leads to a stigma against Arabic people. The aggression documented in studies such as Anderson in 2000, and Ferguson in 2008 may not necessarily be augmented toward this prejudice, but rather it would manifest itself in a much less outwardly violent way resulting in a conscious or subconscious stigma. The connection between the UCR and the CR is that the UCR is learned aggression in gameplay, and that would be transferred into a real world application; an example would be a stigma or a prejudice. The conditioning element example for the racial prejudice is in the example above. It is unfair to credit the video game with the entire generation of such a stigma. There was a study and article just published by Erik Bleich that talks about Islamophobia and how western cultures have generally negative thoughts about Muslim people. The article continues to predict that Muslim-fearing people will become an emerging social group (Bleich, 2011) Bliech theorizes that since prominen t figures, in politics, media, or otherwise, have openly stated or engage in anti-Muslim plans that there is no stopping the movement. Soon people will start labeling themselves or actions by the possible fear of Muslims (Foner, 2011). After 9/11, there was a significant rise in suspicion and hate acts directed toward most Muslim people. With that increase, there was 18 to 26 percent of the civil rights violations that happened at the workplace. In a target group, there was an average drop of seventeen hours per week for younger Muslim Americans (Rabby, 2011). There are clear indications that there is a fear of Muslims. In fact, at the time of September 11, 2001, I was nine years old and I too had developed an irrational fear of all Muslims. The conclusion is that there is, and probably will be, a generalized fear of Muslims, due to ignorance or historical precedent, so long as terrorism has a main role in global politics. There is no general consensus that video games in themselves cause violent behavior, even though there are many studies that show a positive correlation, but it is agreed that it at least promotes aggression in people who already have aggressive tendencies. Video games were seen to provide a mode or method for enacting the violence that the individual would commit regardless of the game’s influence (Anderson, 2000). In a study done by Anderson and Dill in 2000 they also state that, â€Å"We believe that video game violence also primes aggressive thought†. Males during adolescence show considerable aggression toward other males in particular but also toward females. The evolutionary reasoning behind this is because younger males have to compete over possible mates, so a greater amount of aggression would yield a greater possibility of attaining the mate. (Hilton, 2000) Using this comparison, we could stipulate that a percentage of the gaming population is aggressive, given the natural percentage plus the increase because of the age category. Given this fact we would see that the more aggressive nature of the selected population would then be more likely to be affected by any effect the game would render to its players. Movies are also a form of visual information that most people can understand, given the wide presentation of most productions. Studies show that media presentations generate a strong effect on the consumers of the information. (Heusmann, 1994) . For example, in the twentieth century communist Russia was a strong force of fear that was widespread due to actual diplomatic relations and hostility. The movies of that time added unnecessary amounts of fear to the topic by generalizing all Russians as spies or communist invaders. The games present information and realism smoothly into the gameplay so that the user barely notices all of the interactions taking place while playing the game. Anderson and Dill also point out the correlation between general media and video games when they said, â€Å"Entertainment media affects our lives. What behaviors children and adults consider appropriate comes, in part, from the lessons we learn from television and the movies. There are good theoretical reasons to expect that violent video games will have similar, and possibly larger, effects on aggression.†(Anderson, Dill 2000) This could be reasoned because the level of involvement into the game correlates with the level of brain usage, because of the attention levels needed to operate in an immersive gameplay. The brain could be more likely to accept these facts and bits of information as truth presented to it. This truth could then be used to advance a possible, already present, stigma of terrorist to a more generalized stigma against Arabic people as a whole. The overall emergence of video games as a massively used media for youth has presented many areas of study for psychologists. The age of the individual, factoring psychological development phases and increased male aggressiveness, in conjunction with the prevalence of violent video games portraying Middle Eastern combatants sets up a possible prejudice effect on its users. This effect could be explained using simple conditioning and generalization, the natural aggressiveness of the subject, and a preexisting fear toward Muslim people all of which will result in a stigma or increased prejudice toward Middle Eastern people among select gamers. I would like to see a formal study on possible prejudice because its significance could be widespread amongst subjects and could be conveyed as racism. Works Cited Activision to Showcase Some of the Most Anticipated Games of the Year at E3 IGN. IGN Video Game Reviews, News Previews. 27 May 2009. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. Anderson, Craig A., and Karen E. Dill. Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78.4 (2000): 772-90. Print. Bleich, Erik. What Is Islamophobia and How Much Is There? Theorizing and Measuring an Emerging Comparative Concept. American Behavioral Scientist 55.12 (2011): 1535-540. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Ferguson, Christopher J. Violent Video Games and Aggression. Criminal Justice and Behavior 35.3 (2008): 311. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. Foner, Nancy, and Christophe Bertossi. Immigration, Incorporation, and Diversity in Western Europe and the United States: Comparative Perspectives. American Behavioral Scientist 55.12 (2011): 1535-540. Sage Journals Online: American Behavioral Scientist. Sage Publications, Dec. 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. Hilton, N. Zoe, Grant T. Harris, and Marnie E. Rice. The Functions of Aggression by Male Teenagers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79.6 (2000): 988-94. Print. How Can Advertisers Get Through to Teens? EMarketer. Market Research Statistics: Internet Marketing, Advertising Demographics EMarketer. 30 June 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. Huesmann, L. Rowell. Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. New York: Plenum, 1994. Print. Lenhart, Amanda, Joseph Kahne, Ellen Middaugh, Alexandra Macgill, Chris Evans, and Jessica Vitak. Teens, Video Games and Civics. Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project. 16 Sept. 2008. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. Molina, Brett. Acti vision: Modern Warfare 2 Sells 4.7M Copies on First Day. News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. World USATODAY.com. 12 Nov. 2009. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. Rabby, Faisal, and William M. Rogers III. Post 9-11 U.S. Muslim Labor Market Outcomes. Atlantic Economic Journal 39.3 (2011): 273. SpringerLink. 26 July 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. Sood, Medha. Pew Study Shows 53% of US Adults Play Computer Games. TopNews United States. 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. Staddon, J. E. R., and D. T. Cerutti. Operant Conditioning. Annual Review of Psychology 54.1 (2003): 115-44. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. Swets, Dr. Benjamin. Learning. PSY 101. GVSU, Allendale. 3 Oct. 2011. Lecture.

Comparison Between The Sons Vito and Kiss Miss Carol Essay example --

Comparison Between The Son's Vito and Kiss Miss Carol The differences in both stories are style and language, settings and culture against the social class. The similarities in both stories are feeling that you don't belong to a certain place or area, feeling isolated and trapped, and being unable to do anything because of someone who has more power and are controlling you. Other similarities are the love for their birthplace, education, making important decisions, possible sad endings and conflicts between the parent and child. In 'Kiss Miss Carol' we feel sorry for Jolil and possibly Mr.Miah, and in 'The Son's Veto' with Sophy and possibly Sam. In 'The Son's Veto' the problem between Sophy (the mother) and Randolph (the son) is a class issue because Sophy worked for Randolph's father who was an upper class than Sophy. When Mr.Twycott. Sophy's husband had sent Randolph to a creditable private school and then to Oxford University, Randolph had a beneficial and extensive education, unlike his mother's terms of class. Sophy desired to marry Sam whose background was similar to Sophy's; Randolph completely disapproved of this, even though Sophy kept asking for numerous years. Randolph responds very selfishly. The problem in 'Kiss Miss Carol' is the difference between Jolil and Mr.Miah. Jolil wants to play a part and join in the school play. Mr.Miah Jolil's father is entirely against his son taking part in the play. He believes you should go to school to study and not to play. Mr.Miah states, "Play's all the time, no good" In 'The Son's Veto' the author requires us to sense compassion for Sophy for the reason that she was ... ...as 'The Son's Veto' for the reason that it consisted of a cataclysmic finale and the language was commendable, remarkable and diverse. The style was finally accustomed to the story due to the commiseration and grief that the author projects towards Sophy. The extensive portrayal provides a clichÃÆ'Â © and comprehensible acquaintance and representation of the dilemmas in the story. It also has an immense consequence on the reader, because it primarily makes the reader recognize the condition and the obstacles in the story. In this present generation people would have selected Sam over their son if they were in Sophy's situation. Sophy was trapped between Sam and her son and she chose her son, which displays how things were in the past. People remained solidly to their priorities rather than being indulged in anything.

Ancient Athens-Democracy Essay

Our idea of democracy was derived from ancient Athens. Ancient Athens was very important in history because it was the first government to run as a democracy. Without their ideas, many other countries would not have a democracy. In Athens, women did not have a lot of freedom and spent most of their days in the house as a housewife. They were considered only one class above slaves and were practically an object that their husband owned. The role of women has improved a lot from Ancient Athens to modern American society. Women in Athens did not have many legal rights unlike the modern American society now where men and women are equal. They were not allowed to be taught to read or write nor were they allowed to get any type of education besides preparing to become a housewife. Women were not allowed to vote and were discouraged to leave the house for any reason. If they needed something from outside they got their slave to do it for them. As a child all women were raised this way and know no other way of living. Their own mothers were raised this way too and as a housewife, they taught their own daughters how to become one too. Now in modern America, women have just as equal rights as men like getting an education, having a job, voting, holding elective office and a lot more. With the women’s rights movement and the 19th amendment, women have gone far to earn their rights. Another reason how the role of women improved is because back then in an Athenian marriage, the husband was always the more dominant one and the wife just agreed to everything to what her husband said or at least pretended to agree. Even before the marriage, the women did not have any say in anything. Her father and groom arranged the marriage completely. During the wedding, they even had rituals to show that the woman was now the â€Å"preparer of food†. Nowadays it is not like this at all. They are equal in the relationship; no one is more dominant then the other. Also women do not just agree with her husband in their marriage, they get say. Although most women were housewives, there was one other thing that females can be besides a normal citizen which was to be a Hetaerae. Hetaera was basically just a prostitute but surprisingly unlike the modern world, they ere considered a slightly higher class then normal women citizens. They were given an education and were allowed into sacred places that normal women citizens were not allowed into. Even this type of role for women has improved in this world because now women don’t have to do that to get more respect. Women are already respected and actually, becoming a prostitute is looked down on and is considered a lower class. Without the ancient Athens’ idea of a democracy, we would have never had a democracy. The role of women has really changed and improved from ancient Athens to the modern American present day. Bibliography http://www.greeceindex.com/greece-attica/Athens_democracy.html

Health and Family Life Education School Nutrition Plan Essay

The goal of the â€Å"Healthy Eating, Active Living Project† at The People’s Cathedral Primary School is to assist children and families in making healthy food choices by supporting nutrition policies, expanding opportunities for nutrition education and focusing on physical improvements in the canteen. In order to bridge school activities with nutrition habits in the home, families will be engaged through school sponsored Family Nights, cooking demonstrations, and nutrition related homework assignments. At the project’s conclusion, the school’s overall nutrition environment will improve substantially, such that healthy eating habits are the norm- rather than the exception. Children will be afforded the opportunity to consume enough energy and nutrients to fuel optimum learning and physical development. Targeted Environments and Population The â€Å"Healthy Eating, Active Living† project will focus on the entire student population The People’s Cathedral Primary School along with their families. The school is located within the St. Michael district, serving 350 students ages 3-12 years in preschool to class four. The school population will primarily be reached through school based intervention. Primary Healthy Eating Challenges to Address Achieving nutrition integrity within a school, means taking a comprehensive approach to program planning, management, operations and integration of nutrition into the total education program of the school. With this in mind, I anticipate working with the following three challenges to create and sustain a healthy eating climate at The People’s Cathedral Primary School. These challenges are: †¢ School policies to support healthy eating habits and choices †¢ Nutrition education as an integral part of the school’s curriculum †¢ Equipment to serve fresh fruits and vegetables in the canteen The People’s Cathedral Primary School is particularly concerned about the nutritional health of their students, who are among the highest-risk groups for childhood obesity and diabetes. The staff of The People’s Cathedral Primary School is highly motivated by the goals and opportunity of the â€Å"Healthy Eating, Ac tive Living† project to pursue more aggressive nutrition policies for their students. Education is an integral component in guiding healthy food choices. As part of the nutrition education integration component of this project I will work diligently with school staff to develop and integrate nutrition education into core subjects. Through this cross-curricular approach, teachers will be able to address multiple learning requirements in a time effective manner. The third challenge of the project is the physical availability of healthful options. It is my belief that the school and community have a shared responsibility to provide all students with access to high-quality foods as an integral part of the total education program. The People’s Cathedral Primary School has demonstrated the receptivity to nutritional interventions through a morning snack program. However, while fruit and vegetable consumption is up, The People’s Cathedral Primary School is without a plan to continue incorporation of fresh fruits and vegetables into the student’s diets in a sustainable manner. Through this project proposal, the school would purchase a salad bar that would deliver fruits and vegetables on an ongoing and sustainable basis. Proposed methods of increasing access to healthy food and healthy eating choices The overall goal of the â€Å"Healthy Eating, Active Living† is to help children make healthy food and activity choices by supporting policies, nutrition education and physical improvements at The People’s Cathedral Primary School. Improvements in all three areas will result in a school norm that supports healthy food habits and choices. Goal 1: Develop and maintain an Effective Partnership to promote healthy eating. Goal 1’s main tactics are to form a workgroup within the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), complete assessments, develop an action plan for the school, and pursue additional financial support. This workgroup will provide oversight and technical assistance to the project. Assessments will be completed to review food consumption patterns, school nutrition policy, and need for physical improvements to the kitchen and canteen. Parents and teachers who are culinary experts with experience in improving kitchen and canteen environments will assist. Additional funding will be pursued, specifically to support a full kitchen and cafeteria renovation. Goal 2: Increase community awareness of the health and other benefits of healthy eating The main tactics of Goal 2 are to develop a health promotion campaign, encourage healthy foods from diverse cultures, and develop a video highlighting project activity. The project will work with local culinary experts such as Chef Peter Edey and Chef John Hazzard as well as students, staff and families to develop fun, engaging, and culturally relevant health promotion materials to be posted throughout the school and to be sent home. As an example, a Healthy Eating Map that highlights inexpensive places to purchase healthy foods, will be developed and distributed to the school community. Project staff will coordinate quarterly Family Nights to promote healthy foods from diverse cultures through cooking demonstrations and celebrations. The school will introduce an ethnic food menu. The local media will be enlisted to promote events at the school. Lastly, Class 3 and 4 students will create a video o f project activities and impacts to share with surrounding schools. Goal 3: Increase access to and availability of diverse healthy eating programs The primary tactics of Goal 3 are to introduce nutrition education, promotions and programs into the school. Nutrition education will be enhanced through a variety of projects. First, the school will introduce a salad bar into the school meal program. Second, the school will work with community agencies to offer cooking demonstrations for all classroom and families. Third, this project will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and school staff to bridge the connection between the canteen and the classroom, better integrate nutrition education into core subject areas, and provide nutrition field trips to local farms. Finally, the school will work with The Ministry of Agriculture during the summer to increase nutrition opportunities for the students they work with. The increased collaboration of school staff on promoting nutrition will allow positive nutritional messages to be reinforced in a variet y of settings throughout the school. Staff will also benefit as they increase their knowledge level about healthy nutrition. Goal 4: Enhance policy and organizational supports for healthy eating . In order to address Goal 4, I will work with a core group of staff to complete an assessment of the school’s nutrition environment and policies using Ministry of Agriculture assessment tool. The school will be asked to focus on a small number of policies. Partnering agencies will support the school in implementing current and new nutrition policies through training, technical support and incentives. The group will also work with local culinary experts to assess the existing canteen environment to see how the school can include a salad bar into their existing space and streamline how food is served so that children are standing in line less. The adoption of these policies will help create a school norm supportive of a healthy nutrition environment. Goal 5: Improve built environments, facilities, equipment, and other supports for healthy eating Goal 5 deals with the physical changes needed at the school to support healthier eating. The school canteen is currently without a salad bar and bulletin boards for promoting good nutrition. The project would allow the school to purchase a salad bar, bulletin boards, and other equipment needed to prepare and promote fresh fruits and vegetables. The project will also allow for physical improvements needed in the school garden to supplement nutrition education activities.

Horned Gopher (Ceratogaulus) - Facts and Figures

Horned Gopher (Ceratogaulus) - Facts and Figures Name: Horned Gopher; also known as Ceratogaulus (Greek for horned marten); pronounced seh-RAT-oh-GALL-us Habitat: Woodlands of North America Historical Epoch: Late Miocene (10-5 million years ago) Size and Weight: About one foot long and a few pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Large head with small, beady eyes; paired horns on snout About the Horned Gopher (Ceratogaulus) One of the most improbable megafauna mammals of Miocene North America, the Horned Gopher (genus name Ceratogaulus) certainly lived up to its name: this foot-long, otherwise inoffensive gopher-like creature sported a pair of sharp horns on its snout, the only rodent ever known to have evolved such an elaborate head display. To judge by its small eyes and mole-like, long-clawed front hands, Ceratogaulus evaded the predators of its North American habitat and avoided the noonday heat by burrowing into the grounda trait shared by the prehistoric armadillo Peltephilus, the only other known horned, burrowing mammal in the fossil record. (The Horned Gopher also bears an uncanny resemblance to the mythical Jackalope, which, however, seems to have been made up out of whole cloth sometime in the 1930s.) The big question, of course, is: why did the Horned Gopher evolve horns? An amazing amount of paperwork has been expended on this mystery, the most likely answer coming to us via the process of elimination. Since both male and female Horned Gophers possessed horns of roughly the same size, these horns clearly couldnt have been a sexually selected characteristicthat is, males didnt impress females during mating season with their long hornsand the structures were oriented in such a way that they would have been of practically no use in digging. The only logical conclusion is that these horns were intended to intimidate predators; a hungry Amphicyon, for instance, might have thought twice about lunching on the bite-sized Ceratogaulus (and getting a mouthful of painful horn in the process) if a more easily swallowed creature happened to be cowering nearby.

4 Icebreaker Activities for Use Year Round

4 Icebreaker Activities for Use Year Round A positive school climate improves outcomes for students, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. A positive school climate also contributes to academic achievement. Creating a positive school climate that offers such benefits can start in the classroom, and one way to start is by using icebreakers. Although icebreakers do not outwardly appear academic, they are a first step to building a positive classroom climate. According to researchers  Sophie Maxwell et al. in their report The Impact of School Climate and School Identification on Academic Achievement in Frontier Psychology (12/2017), the more positively students perceived school climate, the better their achievement scores were in the numeracy and writing domains. Included in these perceptions were  connections to a class and  the strength of relationships with school staff.   Fostering feelings of trust and acceptance in relationships is difficult when students do not know how to talk to each other. Developing empathy and making connections come from interactions in an informal environment. An emotional connection to  a classroom or school will  improve a students motivation to attend. Teachers might use the following four activities at the beginning of school. They each can be adapted to refresh classroom collaboration and cooperation at various times of the year. Crossword Connection This activity includes visual symbols of connection and self-introductions. The teacher prints her name on the board, leaving some space between each letter. She then tells the class something about herself. Next, she picks a student to come to the board, tell something about themselves  and print their name crossing the teachers name as in a crossword puzzle. Students take turns by saying something about themselves and adding their names. Volunteers copy the completed puzzle as a poster.  The puzzle could be written on paper taped to the board and left up in the first-draft form to save time. This activity can be extended by asking each student to write their name and a statement about themselves on a sheet of paper. The teacher can then use the statements as clues for class names made with crossword puzzle software. TP Surprise Students will know you are full of fun with this one. The teacher welcomes students at the door at the start of class while holding a roll of toilet paper. He or she instructs students to take as many sheets as they need but refusing to explain the purpose. Once the class begins, the teacher asks students to write one interesting thing about themselves on each sheet. When students are finished, they can introduce themselves by reading each sheet of toilet paper. Variation: Students write one thing they hope or expect to learn in the course this year on each sheet. Take a Stand The purpose of this activity is for students to survey their peers positions quickly on various matters. This survey also combines physical movement with topics that range from the serious to the ridiculous. The teacher puts one long line of tape down the center of the room, pushing desks out of the way so that students can stand on either side of the tape. The teacher reads a  statement with either-or answers such as, I prefer night or day, Democrats or Republicans, lizards or snakes. The statements can range from silly trivia to serious content. After hearing each statement, students agreeing with the first response move to one side of the tape and those agreeing with the second, to the other side  of the tape. Undecided or middle-of-the-roaders are allowed to straddle the line of tape. Jigsaw Search Students especially enjoy the search aspect of this activity. The teacher prepares jigsaw puzzle shapes. The shape may be symbolic of a topic or in different colors. These are cut like a jigsaw puzzle with the number of pieces matching the desired group size from two to four. The teacher allows students to select one puzzle piece from a container as they walk into the room. At the designated time, students search the classroom for peers who have puzzle pieces that fit theirs and then team up with those students to perform a task. Some  tasks might be to introduce a partner, to make a poster defining a concept, or to decorate the puzzle pieces and make a mobile. The teacher may have students print their names on both sides of their puzzle piece in order to facilitate name learning during the search activity. The names could be erased or crossed out so the puzzle pieces can be reused. Later, the puzzle pieces can be used as a way to review subject content, for example, by joining an author and his novel, or an element and its properties. Note: If the number of puzzle pieces does not match the number of students in the room, some students will not have a complete group. Leftover puzzle pieces can be placed on a table for students to check to see if their group will be short members.

Choose at least two cases of international M&As of varying degrees of Essay

Choose at least two cases of international M&As of varying degrees of success and analyse how HR might have made a difference - Essay Example In case of a merger, the two companies that get merged enter into a mutual agreement of forming a mixed company that exists as the sole entity. The activity of merger is a form of strategic alliance which results in the formation of a single entity. There are no other entities created as a result of the merger. There is a light difference between the mergers and the acquisitions. In cases of an acquisition, the buying company takes over another company and gains control over the entire assets and the liabilities of the company that it has taken over. The acquirer controls the operations and administration of the newly formed entity as a result of acquisition. However, the target entity or the entity that has been acquired exists as a separate entity whose stakes are controlled by the acquirer (Gregoriou and  Renneboog, 2007, p.68). The cases of international merger and acquisition are on the rise. ... the return on investments due to the share of expertise of the two entities in exploring the international market opportunities (Gaughan, 2007, p.35). Rationale for entering into M&A There are valid reasons for which the companies enter into international mergers and acquisitions. The rationale for the companies to enter into international merger and acquisitions are explained as follows. The companies operate in the domestic as well as foreign markets with a profit motive (Angwin, 2007, p.50). The various aspects of operation, marketing and sales, allocation of resources, planning and implementation are driven by the profit motives of the companies. Due to the saturation of the local markets and the need for expansion of the business for future growth leads to envisaging spreads of operations of the international markets. The impacts of globalization and the incentives offered for investments by the international companies lead to the plan of entering into international mergers and acquisitions (Sudi, 2003, p.36). The major reasons of opting for international mergers and acquisitions are mainly due to the consideration of returns against the possible risks in international mergers and acquisitions. The companies targeting international markets due to the potential demand of their products and services may not be conversant with the market characteristics and the local people. The political conditions of the international markets, fluctuation of economic conditions and the legal intricacies are the possible risk exposure of the companies. For this reason, the entities look for counter parts which have expertise in their probable areas of risk. On the other hand, the company offers its area of expertise in the field of product innovation, technology transfers, customer

Social Psychology of the Learning Environment Essay

Social Psychology of the Learning Environment - Essay Example It is evident from the study that when social psychology is being linked with the learning environment, student-teacher relationship is often given high regard. Social psychology as defined by Mashek and Hammer is the study of how individuals are influenced by other people and the situations they find themselves into. Conversely, according to Fiske et al., the science of social psychology is predicated on the simple fact that human thought, emotion and behaviour are immensely affected by the real, implied and imagined presence of people. Moreover, there are times that individuals’ thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced when they simply think about other persons, speculate about their objectives, visualize their reactions, or even fantasize about them, and a great deal of attention has been paid to how people respond when they think about other individuals. However, social psychology is concerned mainly with how individuals are influenced and affected by those people who m they relate with as stressed by Fiske et al. Social psychology is said to concentrate at three varied levels of analysis. According to Mashek and Hammer, the three stages of analysis are individual processes, interpersonal processes and group processes. Individual processes are employed when regarding phenomena such as impression formation, attitudes and persuasion. Subsequently, interpersonal processes form the groundwork for romantic relationships, friendships and helping behaviours (Mashek & Hammer, 2011). Lastly, group processes are taken into consideration when studying conformity, group decision making and jury behaviour (Mashek & Hammer, 2011). The aforementioned levels of analysis provide the foundation of social psychology as well as the diverse kinds of influence that social methods can take (Mashek & Hammer, 2011). In the classroom setting, the previously cited levels of analysis can be utilized to understand erudition and instruction. For instance, interpersonal proces sed are apparent in the teacher-pupil relationship which may have an impact on learning. Furthermore, the learning environment also employs the use of group processes which aids in facilitating learning. Learning Learning mechanisms provide means through which information about chronic developmental environments are acquired (Fiske et al., 2010). Moreover, it provides strategies through which organisms obtain information about temporary contexts, hence giving them the means to resourcefully modify behavioural responses (Fiske et al., 2010). Affiliation Affiliation as defined by Fiske et al. (2010) is the act of associating or interacting with one or a variety of individuals. The concept of affiliation bears no indication of the quality, affective tone, or length of the social encounter or the nature of the relationship between the people (Fiske et al., 2010). As Fiske et al. (2010) describes it, when people want to affiliate, they only wish to be in the company of and to relate with others. Hence, many theorists supposed that relating with and being in the company of other persons is an essential social behaviour (Fiske et al., 2010). Having an affiliation is crucial in learning because such relationships may greatly contribute to the learning process of a specific individual for the reason that their experience of interacting with other individuals may teach them a variety of new things and to help them explore a wide array of concepts that may be unique to them. Tutor-learner Relationship The tutor-learner relationship can be effective if it imbibes a positive and caring development of the space or time, interpersonal and