Wednesday, October 30, 2019
International Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 4
International Management - Essay Example Hence, global ethics are expected to continue to be a very crucial concern for almost all MNCs. Woods claims that roughly 60,000 MNCs are doing business all over the world at present but that most of them are operating in developing countries (Cullen & Parboteeah 126). MNCs have access to massive human, capital, and economic resources, and this access endows influence and authority that restricts the capacity of the governments of developing countries to control these multinationals. In certain instances, these governments are not eager to control because they are taking into consideration the value of foreign investment for their countries (Cullen & Parboteeah 126-7). MNCs are thus being investigated for their capacity to carry out ethical practices when confronted with this kind of power. Besides the possibility of being condemned for unethical practices and sustaining damage in reputation and loss of public support, new studies confirm that doing business in an ethical way has numerous advantages for multinationals. An evaluation of different studies by researchers reveals that responsible and ethical multinationals have greater advantages in numerous parts, including predicted future financial outcome; stock market returns; stock market value; firm market value; and overall financial performance. Ethical MNCs hence experience more favorable financial outcomes (Kaptein 982). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that is largely related to corporate/organizational ethics. CSR is defined by Trudel and Cotte (2009) as â€Å"a decision by the company’s management to consider the impact their decisions will have on their customers, employees, suppliers and communities, as well as their shareholders†(as cited in Babetti 4). Cedillo-Torres and colleagues (2012) argued that CSR involves several interrelated aspects rooted in societal, ethical, legal, and
Monday, October 28, 2019
The Outcasts of Poker Flat Review Essay Example for Free
The Outcasts of Poker Flat Review Essay The Outcasts of Poker Flat and the Metaphor of Texas Hold ‘em The story of â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat†by Bret Harte is a beautifully written narrative about a character named Mr. John Oakhurst. During the story, Oakhurst is placed through a variety of situations that eventually lead to his subtle death. The story of â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat†follows as a parallel to the game of Texas Hold ‘em in a very unique way. In the game of Texas Hold ‘em, every player is given two cards. This states the metaphor for where Mr. Oakhurst is currently at and what variables he has been given. In the beginning of the story Mr. Oakhurst is known to be a professional gambler and he has been kicked out of the town of Poker flat along with a few more Outcasts named the Duchess, Mother Shipton, and a man named Uncle Billy. Considering the fact they have been kicked out of the community, they now have to venture to the closest town, over a range of mountains, named Sandy Bar (1,2). They have a limited supply of goods to make it there, and these are the cards they have been given. The next turn of events in the game of Texas Hold ‘em is called the â€Å"flop. †In this turn, three cards are flipped over for everyone’s use in hope that the gamblers will have a better chance at winning the hand. These three cards are variables. The flop can sometimes benefit the gambler, and the other time the cards don’t help at all. In the story, the variables given to Mr. Oakhurst are three hindrances. One variable in the story is during the middle of the first night there are some added guests to the campsite for the night. These guests are named Tom Simson and Piney Woods (3). This makes the living situation for the night a little more difficult. The second variable happens in that same night. Uncle Billy goes on his own way without the rest of the outcasts. To make the situation even worse, Uncle Billy took the mules from the outcasts (3). Now, the people were without transportation. The final variable in the flop is: there is a storm brewing for the campers and they had been snowed in (4). Now in the game, it is up to the gamblers to throw in their chips and bet if they can win the hand. If the gambler doesn’t believe he can win the hand he has the option to fold and quit betting. In this case of the metaphor, this option would be to kill himself. In the instance of John Oakhurst he decides to gamble and continue on playing with the variables he has been given. The next and final turns of the game are called â€Å"the turn†and â€Å"the river. †These turns are two more cards, and in the metaphor two more variables added to the situation. For the gamblers it can be added assurance of the win, or it could be more clarification that the gambler will not win. In the case of Mr. Oakhurst, â€Å"the turn†card is another downfall. Mother Shipton had folded her cards. She no longer could survive the winter cold and lack of food and supplies (6). In Oakhurst’s frame of mind this was an added despair. People were giving up and psychologically he was feeling the same way inside. It was now time for the â€Å"River card†and it was the last stretch for Mr. Oakhurst. The added variable is that the storm continues to get worse (6). Oakhurst is realizing the severity of his situation however he doesn’t let that emotion show. He lets the other gamblers continue on and he makes his last decision in the game. He folds his cards (7). He had given up on the venture to Sandy Bar and decided that the hand he played was his last. The â€Å"Outcasts of Poker Flat†written by Bret Harte goes to show sometimes many are given a lucky hand and sometimes a gambler is â€Å"struck with a streak of bad luck†(7). Mr. Oakhurst received the latter in this story due to his gambling ways. Through this argument one has seen that this story follows as a parallel to the game of Texas Hold ‘em in a very unique way.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Essay --
Fifty Shades of Human Development Monique Richardson Georgia State University Christian Grey is one of the main characters of the novel and trilogy â€Å"Fifty Shades of Grey†by E.L. James. Christian Grey is the owner and CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. At the age of twenty-eight years old, Christian appears to be an altogether, young, successful, handsome business man but he has a dark side. Christian secretly practices BDSM with consenting women who agree to keep his secret by contract. BDSM stands for bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism. Christian was born in Detroit and adopted by the Grey family in Seattle, WA at four years old after his mother commits suicide; he was alone with her body for four days without food. Christian Grey has many stressful events throughout his life that caused him to lack from developmental stages from childhood to adulthood. At four years old, Christian Grey is neglected by his birth mother who he refers to in adulthood as the â€Å"crack whore†. He was physically abused by her pimp who also made him to be a human ashtray. When his mother commits suicide, Christian remains in the same hotel room with her body for four days with nothing to eat except frozen peas. After Christian was adopted by the Grey family, he remained throughout early to middle adulthood vulnerable to his memories of the past by having recurrent nightmares. When Christian was fifteen years old, he began his first BDSM secret affair with Mrs. Robinson, an older married woman and friend of the Grey family who believed such a relationship would help his delinquent behavior. Christian goes through child mistreatment and abuse throughout his life. He suffered from physical abuse, child neglect, ... ...osite sex. In adulthood, Christian’s perspective of his birth mother as the â€Å"crack whore†continues because of his memories of her lack of nurturing and attention to his needs to find other ways to be self-sufficient at a young age. In connection to Freud’s theory, Christian remains in the phallic stage in adulthood because sex is his outlet for his deep, unresolved issues with his mother. E.L. James portrays Christian Grey’s character development with abuse, Freud’s theory, and Erikson’s theory throughout the novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. Reference Page James, E. L. (2012). Fifty shades of Grey. New York: Vintage Books. Prior, Emily . "What is BDSM?." Examiner.com. N.p., 22 June 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. . Santrock, J. W. (2011). Life-span development (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Dressed All in Pink Essay
Literary Ballad A literary ballad is a poem written by a specific author. These ballads are not set to music. An example of a literary ballad would be Dudley Randall’s ballad â€Å"Dressed All In Pink†Dressed All In Pink by Dudley Randall It was a wet and cloudy day when the prince took his last ride. The prince rode with the gonernor, and his princess rode beside. â€Å"And would you like to ride inside for shelter from the rain? †â€Å"No I’ll ride outside, where I can wave and speak to my friends again. †They ride among the cheering crowds, he young prince and his mate. The governor says, â€Å"See how they smile and cheer you where they wait. †The prince rides with the governor, his princess rides beside, dressed all in pink as delicate as roses of a bride. Pink as a rose the princess rides, but bullets from a gun turn that pink to as deep a red as red, red blood can run, for she bends to where the prince lies still and cradles his shattered head, and there that pink so delicate is stained a deep, deep red. the princess rides beside, and her dress of pink so delicate deep, deep red is dyed. Jackie Kennedy is the princess -iambic tetrameter -rhyming scheme: abcb -the dress symbolizes the country itself falling from grace -colour imagery of pink as roses and red as blood -princess is described in colour -â€Å"dyed†at the end has a double meaning -dress is said to be as pink as roses but roses are also a deep shade of red, but the dress is not referred to a rose when it is covered in blood -Pink is the colour of innocence and it turni ng red is significant in displaying the loss of innocence
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Guy De Maupassant’s The Jewelry Essay
According to critic W.E. Garrett Fisher, â€Å"(Maupassant’s) view of human nature was an utterly distorted one. On all hands he only saw the cruelty, the bestiality, above all, the ineffable stupidity of mankind. We hardly find one man or woman in his books who illustrates the nobler side of life.†(Piana, n. pag.)            Indeed, French writer Guy De Maupassant’s works were based on ordinary incidents from everyday life, which exposed the true nature of people. (n. pag.) The Jewelry was no exception – it was built on the premise that first impressions of people are almost always wrong, as they constantly change, with unexpected results.            Set in Paris, The Jewelry centered on Monsieur Lantin, a chief clerk in the Department of the Interior, and his wife, who was unnamed throughout the story. The initial impression that the reader can derive from Madame Lantin is that she is a perfect woman. De Maupassant described her as â€Å"a perfect type of the virtuous woman in whose hands every sensible young man dreams of one day intrusting his happiness.†(n. pag.) The reader can also conclude that Madame Lantin was the ideal wife and homemaker. According to De Maupassant, â€Å"She (Madame Lantin) ruled his home with an economy so adroit that they really seemed to live in luxury†and that â€Å"It would be impossible to conceive any attentions, tendernesses, playful caresses which she (Madame Lantin) did not lavish upon her husband†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Piana, n. pag.) De Maupassant implied through the latter that Madame Lantin was a faithful spouse who will never cheat on her husband. (Piana, n. pag.)            However, The Jewels’ plot identified Madame Lantin as the antagonist by unmasking the hypocrisy of her character. After her demise, Monsieur Lantin wondered how did she manage to make ends meet with his paltry salary of 3,500 francs a year. Madame Lantin had very expensive vices – frequenting the theater and her large collection of fake jewelry. De Maupassant wrote, â€Å"His salary, which, in his wife’s hands, had amply sufficed for all household needs, now proved scarcely sufficient to supply his own few wants. And he asked in astonishment how she had managed always to furnish him with excellent wines and with delicate eating which he could not now afford at all with his scanty means.†(Piana, n. pag.)            It was also The Jewels’ plot that answered Monsieur Lantin’s question. Broke and hungry, he was forced to go to the jewelry store in an attempt to pawn Madam Lantin’s jewels – and came out of the shop with 196,000 francs. Therefore, this incident revealed that Madame Lantin’s jewels were genuine, in sharp contrast to her claim to her husband, â€Å"Now look at them – see how well the work is done. You would swear it was real jewelry!†(Piana, n. pag.) It also refuted Madame Lantin’s fidelity – she most likely had a paramour who provided her with money and jewelry. (Piana, n. pag.) After Monsieur Lantin told the jeweler that he had more jewels to sell to him (he managed to sell one of his wife’s necklaces for 18,000 francs), â€Å"one of the jewelry store’s clerks rushed out to laugh at his ease while another kept blowing his nose as hard as he could,†as if they were trying to suppress their laughter. (n. pag.) Chances are, they were mocking his ignorance about his wife’s adultery. The story ended six months later with Monsieur Lantin’s unhappy second marriage to a virtuous but ill-tempered woman. These circumstances allowed him to emerge as the protagonist – the loving husband who was cheated on by his late first wife and was trapped in a loveless second marriage.            The Jewelry was able to defend its argument that looks can really be deceiving. Madame Lantin, whom everyone praised and admired, turned out to be a greedy woman who cuckolded her husband for material wealth. Meanwhile, Monsieur Lantin became as fortune-hungry as she was by enjoying the money he got from selling her ill-gotten jewelries. Money transformed him from an upright man who refused to sell a fake piece of jewelry to a man obsessed with profiting from his late wife’s jewels, regardless of the fact that she got these using illicit means. What added credibility to The Jewelry was that De Maupassant allowed the events in the story to naturally unfold and expose the characters’ hypocrisy in the process, drawing on the saying that there is no secret that will never be revealed. He also showed that anyone can be a hypocrite, hence his very generalized description of Madame Lantin and his refusal to give her a name.            Lastly, The Jewelry leaves the reader with an open-ended question: Which is better, gaining happiness from dishonesty, or experiencing misery as a result of honesty? Works Cited â€Å"Guy De Maupassant.†The Literature Network. 9 January 2008.            . Baccellia, Autumn. â€Å"Short Story Analysis: The Jewelry, by Guy De Maupassant.†           Helium. 9 January 2008.            .  Piana, Courtney. â€Å"The Many Impressions of Mrs. Lantin.†23 July 2002. 9 January 2008.            .
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Ironclads essays
Ironclads essays In 1861 the Merrimack was captured by the Confederates. They turned it into an ironclad by placing iron on it. To counter it the Union created its own ironclad. The Monitor was born. Here are some of the ways ironclads impacted the navel warfare in the Civil War. Ironclads were ships built in a new technological way. They were platted with iron. The iron was placed in a way so that cannon balls were deflected. These new ships made wooden ships inferior. Ironclads could destroy wood ships by ramming them of by shooting them. The wooden ships couldnt harm the ironclads because of the cannon balls would bounce off them. Ironclads could also attack forts and land forces. Ironclads were not effective fighting other ironclads. The Battle of the Ironclads between the Monitor and the Merrimack lasted around four hours. When they shot each other the cannon balls just bounced off. The Merrimack tried to ram the Monitor, but failed. At times they were so close the bumped into each other. They were two matched forces, it was a draw. Nothing could match the force of an ironclad. In May 1862 the Confederates scuttled and burned the Merrimack so that the Union could not capture it. The Monitor sank in a storm as it traveled from Hampton Roads, were the battle took place. Ironclads were never used again in the Civil War after that battle. The only thing that stopped them was a storm and a side that was afraid of their ironclad being captured. The ironclads led up to the warships of today. They are like the great grandparents of todays iron warships. This is how ironclads impacted navel warfare in the Civil War. ...
Monday, October 21, 2019
How to Get a Literary Agent For Your Book
How to Get a Literary Agent For Your Book How to Get a Literary Agent for Your Book Many first-time authors want to find a literary agent as soon as they put the finishing touches on their debut masterpiece. And if you’re in a similar situation, it’s only natural to feel that way as well! But before we snap off a fresh roll of quarters and start dialing the numbers of some New York agencies (so to speak), let’s answer a few basic questions about what agents do and whether you actually need one. Then, once you’re ready, we’ll reveal a professionally endorsed process for finding and evaluating agents who could be perfect for you.Should I get a literary agent?Fiction writers who want to be traditionally published generally do need a literary agent, while only some non-fiction will need to pursue literary representation. Writers Artists editor Alyson Owen explains: "Nearly all fiction authors do require representation of a literary agent if their book is to be produced by a traditional publishing house, and that is also true with some forms of general non-fiction too - such as histories, memoirs, and biographies."For tips on how to write an effective book proposal, check out this article and its companion piece on submission best practices.Who doesn't need a literary agent?It’s important to note that not all literary forms typically require the representation of an agent. Poetry is a good example of this. Also, academic, professional, and the vast majority of educational books are usually commissioned direct from the publisher. If you’re writing in any of these fields, it is possible - provided you have the right credentials as an author, a well-argued proposal, and quality script - to get your non-fiction book accepted by a publisher without being represented by an agent.If you do fall into one of the categories above and you wish to pitch directly to publishers, it’s essential that your book has an easily identifiable market or niche so publishers know what they’re dealing with r ight away. You also need to know who actually publishes the type of book you’re offering and which of those publishers accept unsolicited proposals. Firing off emails to every publisher under the sun will not only waste your time but potentially earn you a reputation as someone who doesn’t understand the publishing game.And of course, if you’re choosing to self-publish, then you definitely don’t need a literary agent to get your book out into the world.What do literary agents do?A literary agent represents your book to acquiring editors who might want to buy it. In other words, they get an author's foot into the door of a publishing house.In addition to having regular contact with editors within the publishing houses and championing you and your writing to the hilt, agents will understand an editor's tastes and the types of books they are looking to add to their list - a crucial component in getting a publishing house to invest in your work.â€Å"Quite simply, being represented by a literary agent may be the only realistic route to getting a foot on the first rung of the publishing ladder,†says Owens. â€Å"Most publishers of fiction do not accept unsolicited manuscript submissions from debut writers.†In addition to getting your foot in the door, here's what a literary agent does:They are expert negotiators, combining financial acumen with a nose for the value of good, sellable writing;They act as useful buffers between you and your publisher (when you don’t want to taint your working relationship with an editor by talking brass tacks);They manage the financial and marketing side of things while you concentrate on the writing;They also tend to have strong editorial skills, working with you to help refine your manuscript before it’s even submitted to a publisher.All of this can only work to your advantage as an author, helping you secure a more lucrative deal with the most appropriate publisher - much m ore than you may have been able to acquire yourself, without any contacts or knowledge of the industry. Ideally, their negotiations alone should offset their commission (ideally).How to get a literary agent in 6 stepsWhen we say ‘finding a literary agent,’ we really mean finding the ideal representative for your book - someone who is perfectly primed to help you develop your writing career. You’re basically on the hunt for a long-term business partner and creative soulmate. Ready to start looking?1. Locate a pool of literary agents who work in your nicheMost agents are always on the lookout for new authors to represent. They’re dying for their dream client to reach out to them. To help make their dreams come true, it’s your job to find out a) who these agents are and b) how best to get through to them. So start putting together your shortlist.You can begin your search by going to agent databases such as Agent Query or Query Tracker and filtering by genre. You can also look through the acknowledgments pages of books similar to yours: you can bet that the authors thank their agents in there. Or, this being the 21st century, you can just Google †agent†and see what comes up.Reading recommendations: Writers’ Artists’ Yearbook (for the UK) and its US equivalent Writer’s Market are invaluable tools that you should consider putting on your Christmas list. Tip for finding an agent: use Agent Query and Query Track to start your search 2. Thoroughly research and evaluate each agentHere are the four main questions you want to answer in your research about individual literary agents:Do they represent books in my genre?Are they currently open to queries?Would I work well with them?Are they a scam artist?How do you go about answering these questions? Well, checking out the submission guidelines of the agent's website should answer #1 and #2 fairly easily. In regards to #3 and 4, Caitlin Jans, the founding editor of Authors Publish, has a few tips:â€Å"I always research the agent outside of their website first. I find that one of the best ways to tackle this is to head again over to the Absolute Write Water Cooler Forum. I use it to vet agents and publishers. The forums are active and get a lot of use: if an author has a good or bad experience with an agent, they’ll share it.I can’t emphasize this enough: one of the most important steps is to make sure the agency isn't on Writer Beware’s Thumbs Down Agencies List. At this point, I almost have the list memorized. Writer Beware (a volunteer organization that works on behalf of writers) also has a terrific section on dishonest agents, so be sure to check that out.†No matter what, as an ironclad rule: avoid agents who ask for an upfront fee. It doesn’t matter whether they call it ‘professional development’ or say it’s to cover the costs of editing your manuscript: an agent who asks for preemptive payment is not legitimate.After due research, if you find an agent who seems to tick all the right boxes, then add them to your final shortlist and proceed to step three. Tip for finding an agent: avoid agents who ask for an upfront fee 3. Send a personalized query letterA good portion of every agent’s week is spent on ‘slush’ - what they call the never-ending pile of letters they get from hopeful authors seeking representation. On one hand, you might think, Geez! How do I stand a chance of being seen in a pile that big? But you should really look at it from the attitude of, Wow! These agents are really keen to find their next client!With that in mind, your query letter (your first point of contact with an agent) must be perfect. We have a detailed guide to writing query letters (that comes with a super-sweet template), but if you don’t want to head down the rabbit hole right this second, here are three top-line tips:Always read an agent’s submission guidelines. Some might ask for a sample chapter, others might not. One might want you to double-space, another might require single. Apart from ensuring that they get what they need to make an assessment, the submission guidelines also serve as a rudimentary idiot test: If this author doesn’t follow our standards, it either means that they haven’t read them (and is lazy) or they haven’t been able to comprehend simple instructions (which is not exactly what you want in a business partner).Make sure to personalize each query letter. You’ll want to contact as many agents as possible, and it’s tempting to create a standard query letter that starts with Dear Sirs and features no specific language whatsoever. But remember, agents have read countless boilerplate query letters and can sniff them out from a mile away. That’s why the research you do in step 2 will serve you so well: it’ll show each agent that you actually care. (For more detailed tips on personalizing your query letter, check out this transcripted replay of our webinar with former agent Rachel Stout.)Start with the hook. Ultimately, it’s the book that agents want to know about. While you might think i t’s best to introduce your book by first talking about your own background, the quicker you get to the exciting pitch for your book, the better. Tip for finding an agent: always personalize your query letters 4. Always follow up if you don’t hear anythingWe’ve all had that experience of looking at an email and thinking, â€Å"I’ll get to that later,†only to forget about it until someone reminds you. Well, the same thing happens to agents as well! If you don’t hear back from the after several weeks, it’s not impolite to follow up and ask whether your query may have been lost in the shuffle. Often, the agent will be grateful that you reminded them.Again, read the agent’s submission guidelines. In many cases, they’ll even tell you how many weeks to wait before you follow up. But if they don’t, then four to six weeks is a good rule of thumb (erring closer to six, perhaps). Tip for finding an agent: wait 4-6 weeks before following up 5. Don’t just say yes to the first agentAssuming agents dig your query letter, get intrigued by your sample, and adore your full manuscript after they request and read it†¦ what happens next? In broad strokes, the two of you will discuss how the agent might help develop your book and career, and then they’ll offer you representation.Very exciting, right? But before you frantically search for a pen to sign on all those dotted lines, make sure that they are the right agent for you. It’s not considered impolite to query multiple agents at the same time, so you don’t need to lie about it or cover it up. An agent will not be insulted that you’re daring to consider other options. After all, if they like your book enough to want to represent it, it stands to reason that others might as well.Of course, you can always choose to leave an agent at any time if things aren’t working out. But keep in mind that if you’re at the start of your car eer, you don’t want a reputation as someone who switches agents every book. It’ll make editors, agents, and other publishing gatekeepers assume that you’re hard to work with.So be polite, stay candid, and don’t rush into any decisions.Now that you have a rough idea of how to find a literary agent, we want to leave you with some resources that will help you in your search.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Annual and Anniversary
Annual and Anniversary Annual and Anniversary Annual and Anniversary By Maeve Maddox A non-native English speaker wonders about this use of the word anniversary in a business communication: The prices and products below are based on a 36-month contract, free unit and free installation. Tracker experiences an across-the-board anniversary increase (inflation based) every October. The reader comments, I cannot remember ever seeing â€Å"anniversary†used in this context. I would have expected a word such as â€Å"annual.†The usage sounds odd to a native speaker as well. Both words, annual and anniversary, derive from the Latin annus, â€Å"returning yearly.†Anniversary entered the language as a noun in the early 13th century with the meaning â€Å"day of a person’s death.†In church use, anniversary came to be used attributively in the phrase â€Å"anniversary days,†dates on which saints or martyrs were celebrated. Annual came along as an adjective about 150 years later in the context of paying an â€Å"annual wage.†Although both words can function as either noun or adjective, in modern usage, anniversary is used primarily as a noun and annual as an adjective: The Queen to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE Day at a Westminster Abbey service with veterans Penguin Celebrates 80th Anniversary Annual price increases are common in B2B [business-to-business] subscriptions. The Annual Picnic is usually a purely social event, and everyone is encouraged to attend. Although both words refer to a yearly event, anniversary carries connotations of celebration and remembrance, whereas annual is a workaday word meaning â€Å"occurring once a year.†In observing an anniversary, one might speak of â€Å"an anniversary celebration†or â€Å"an anniversary dinner,†but in a business context, it’s more idiomatic to speak of â€Å"annual meetings†and â€Å"annual price increases.†Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Types of Narrative ConflictCapitalization Rules for the Names of GamesHow to Punctuate Introductory Phrases
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Politics - Research Paper Example Elements of democracy It is the most common form of government in the world of today. Democracy comes from two words, demos means â€Å"people†and cracy means â€Å"rule of†, so the word democracy means the rule of people. The authority to take decisions rests with the people of such a government. Democracy is considered as the best way to show equality and liberty among people in a society2. Modern democracies have a number of characteristics. They have elections and voting which gives equal rights to political power. They encourage equality by not discriminating one group over another. Democracies allow people to control political actions. It emphasizes on citizen participation3. Democracy can exist on a variety of levels such as local and international. Forms of democracy There are two basic forms of democracy; one being direct and the other representative4. Direct Democracy It is that form of democracy in which all of the citizens of a political organization jointl y make the decisions for that group. When a matter needs to be solved and a decision has to be taken, all the members sit together and vote in favour or against the matter. Example of a direct democracy is ancient Athens. They used to come together, debate on the issue and jointly decide amongst each other5. One of the main advantages of a direct democracy is that the citizens feel important and included in the matter. All decisions have high degree of authenticity. On the other hand, it also has its own setbacks. It is not a realistic approach for large countries. It is impossible for people of a populous country like India to sit together and discuss on an issue. Another limit is its need for people to effectively participate. This requires that the citizens are well informed of the issue to be discussed. This needs the time of the citizens which today most of them do not have. Third, decisions are taken on majority’s opinions. In direct democracy, there can be a tyranny of majority. Majorities can unfairly suppress minorities’ rights. This is the reason direct democracy is only at regional and local levels6. Representative Democracy In this form of democracy, people choose officials to represent their group and to make decisions on their behalf. An official is selected through regular elections. In this form, the citizens still participate and have the authority to decide, but the chosen representative implements the policies on their behalf. Government which are based on the principles of representative democracy are titled as republics. Majority of today’s governments are republics, for instance, United States, Mexico, and European countries7. Representative democracy has several advantages over direct democracy. First, elected representatives can focus more on politics and become specialists on issues that average people do not have time. Second, the whole process of debating and then coming to one conclusion is quicker and less comp licated than direct democracy. Third, countries can save time and money on elections since they are held after every few years; where as in direct democracy there are campaigns for most of the issues. Fourth, chosen officials provide continuity in government and prevent major changes in policy. Lastly, the elected officials can make complex decisions which the public might hesitate to take8.
Identity Theft Computer Forensics to the Rescue Research Paper - 2
Identity Theft Computer Forensics to the Rescue - Research Paper Example Then, social, ethical and moral issues regarding identity theft have been discussed. The report is summarized in a concluding paragraph. APA referencing has been used properly. Identity theft is the crime that involves stealing of a person’s private information â€Å"in order to impersonate that person in a legal sense†, according to Vacca (137). When a person’s identity is stolen, he is at great risk of facing a terrifying number of monetary and individual dealings done in his name by the thief. Technology, along with its pros, has introduced exceedingly technical and chic means of acquiring someone’s basic identifying information. Whatever means the thief uses, identity theft brings great damage to the victim’s name and reputation as the victim is solely left responsible for whatever financial or personal loss he faces. One often has to reveal bits of his personal information while doing online transactions, such as his name, address, telephone number, bank information, credit card information, and etcetera. The thief, after stealing this information, can misuse it by, for instance, applying for loans in the victimâ€⠄¢s name, changing his billing address, obtaining driving license, applying for jobs, applying for insurance or new banking accounts, getting authorization for electronic transfers by using the victim’s electronic signature, or any other fraud. On the internet, identity theft is being accomplished using techniques like sending Trojan horses, which are destructive programs, into the computer system, and important passwords and useful information like social security number is transferred to the thief. Another way to steal an identity is email phishing. The victim is sent emails telling the victim that they are from so-and-so enterprise and scamming him by directing him to a fake website which asks for his personal information.
Friday, October 18, 2019
The Vietnam War that made 1968 a Unique Year Essay
The Vietnam War that made 1968 a Unique Year - Essay Example Relevant information about the war is also recorded by Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich, in the book, The International. This essay borrows most of the information from the two authors plus others and shows what they had in common. This will clearly bring out the full information regarding this horrific war in the rest of this essay. Vietnam War contributed to 1968 being a unique year in world history. It was on January 31, 1968, when the Tet Offensive was launched by the North Vietnamese together with Viet Cong forces which caused mass destruction and heavy losses to the U.S. and the South Vietnamese (Ehrenreich & John, 121). This was the lunar New Year holiday which was called Tet when attacks were made in the South Vietnam, out of which more than 100 towns were fiercely attacked. North Vietnam which is actually a communist society was in fight with their allies South Vietnam, a communist society and which obtained a back-up from the US army troops to fight the North Vietnamese (Kurlansky, 106). It was General Vo Nguyen Giap who came up with the plan of carrying out offensive attacks to South Vietnamese. The fight was so fierce and despite the fact that the U.S and the South Vietnamese were able to hold off the attacks made by the communists, they lost the battle to the North Vietnam (Ehrenreich & John, 122). However, North Vietnam suffered many casualties but victoriously pushe d out America from the region and this was regarded as the first phase of the battle which became to be the most famous. Thus, Vietnam War contributed to 1968 being a unique year in world history.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words
Goods and Services Tax (GST) - Essay Example The present research has identified that goods and services tax (GST) is said to be indirect and broad-based because it is charged depending on the supply or activities of good and services instead of being charged directly on income. Also, these charges are applied generally to all taxpayers with a few limitations. Taxation under GST is applied to the goods and services that are used by consumers, meaning that, this system is a consumption taxation system. A step process is used in the collection of taxes under GST, to make sure that tax is levied at every stage of the production chain, and also to allow suppliers of goods and services who are registered to claim the credit on tax paid to their inputs. Although the tax is charged at every stage, the tax is paid finally by the consumer at the end spot. For a firm to be able to take credit on GST, they must be registered. Thus, if they do not apply to be registered under GST, they are treated as the end consumers and can only enjoy th e GST credit they incur. GST is classified into three types of supplies namely; taxable supplies, input tax supplies, and GST free supplies. GST liability is created out of supply, but it is not created by the GST registered entity. The rules of GST do not apply if the supplies of either goods or services came to force before 1st July 2000, and in accordance to set special rules, gifts, when supply is made by entities not registered, or which are not required to register and when the transactions involved are not connected to Australia. In order to register Tiles Pty Ltd under GST system, the management needs to ensure that the firm satisfies the following requirements as stipulated under chapter 2, part 2-5 division 23 of the act. The main importance of registration is due to the following: - GST is only payable on any supplies for registered entities only Credits for input tax cannot be claimed unless the entity is registered GST returns are only lodged for registered entities Und er the goods and services act, an entity structure may include an individual, a sole corporate, a corporation body, a political body, a partnership, a trust and an unincorporated association or body of persons. Tiles Galore Pty Ltd is a small sized corporation, meaning that, it falls under an entity structure required to be registered. Thus, the firm can apply to be registered by ATO for GST. Registration requirements are in sec 23-5; it states that an entity is registered It is an enterprise Annual turnover meets the threshold for registration turnover The term entity is broad in definition and includes various legal persons as described here below; The trustee is that entity that should register for GST and ABN The partnerships are those entities that should register for GST but not for individual partners It thus entails that under section 23-10, an entity cannot be registered if it does not carry or intend to carry on with an enterprise. It is optional for that entity to registe r if it carries on an enterprise but does not meet the threshold for registration. Supplies fall under various sections namely; taxable supplies, GST free supplies, and input taxed supplies. Other kinds are importations and those that fall outside the scope of the GST. Taxable supplies are determinant factors in ruling whether a certain transaction is worth falling under GST.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
The Role of Women in Australian Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1
The Role of Women in Australian Society - Essay Example Finally, she has seen a period where she has entered the labor force, therefore has money of her own, and this, in turn, has made her less beholden to the man she married. This is where the current state of woman is, and it has resulted in a high failure rate for marriages. This paper will examine how the roles of women have changed in Australian society, both in and outside of marriage, and how these roles have affected marriage and divorces in the last century. The largest change for women, in the realm of marriage, is the fact that patriarchy has shifted. For instance, one may view the movie The Piano for an example of how things used to be for women in Australia and New Zealand. In The Piano, the woman in the marriage was in the marriage because it was arranged, and, although it was evident that the main character, Ada, had a husband who wanted a â€Å"real†marriage, this never manifested. It was quite simply obvious that Alistair, the husband in this scenario, saw Ada as a way to bolster his social standing and really nothing more (The Piano). The Piano reflects a time in Australian history, indeed, in the history of the world, where women were regarded as property, and, because of this, fathers were able to force their daughters into loveless marriages. This reflects the standing of women in general during the 1850s. While The Piano reflects a time during the 19th Century, this paper will deal with the changing status of women during the 20th Century, but it is a helpful touchstone nonetheless.
Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1
Human Rights - Essay Example licies, restrictions on its rent and sale that protected the source of income of rural corn and coffee raising by the indigenous people of Chiapas in order to comply with the requirement of the said agreement. By imposing these policies, the indigenous community started questioning their human rights because they found it unjust which led to an armed combat with the Mexican army in 1994. Exploiting the growing conflict between the government and interests of the indigenous people, entered the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) a revolutionary group who sided with the indigenous people and who fought war with the Mexican army in 1994 as their means of showing resistance to the state law in Chiapas. After the ceasefire and negotiation for two years, the Mexican State and the EZLN signed the San Andres accord for indigenous rights and culture that allowed some freedom in their governance and construction of legality for the indigenous people of Chiapas. But this accord didnâ⠂¬â„¢t stop the conflict between the Mexican government and the EZLN because the Mexican government failed to fully complete its provisions. Instead, the Mexican government and the local mestizo economic and landowner elites known as the â€Å"Coletos†counteracted the human rights claimed by the indigenous people and EZLN, claiming that the collective rights of the indigenous people and ELZN interfered with their personal liberties and rights as property owners. These rights that were claimed by the Mexican government and the Coletos prevented the indigenous people and the ELZN to establish their political autonomy and agricultural landholding collectives. This is a form of cultural imperialism because the Mexican government used their authority over the indigenous people on changing the states law and policies still for the benefit of the regime and elites. The regime and the elites will profit so much on the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992 because the policies that was amended
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
The Role of Women in Australian Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1
The Role of Women in Australian Society - Essay Example Finally, she has seen a period where she has entered the labor force, therefore has money of her own, and this, in turn, has made her less beholden to the man she married. This is where the current state of woman is, and it has resulted in a high failure rate for marriages. This paper will examine how the roles of women have changed in Australian society, both in and outside of marriage, and how these roles have affected marriage and divorces in the last century. The largest change for women, in the realm of marriage, is the fact that patriarchy has shifted. For instance, one may view the movie The Piano for an example of how things used to be for women in Australia and New Zealand. In The Piano, the woman in the marriage was in the marriage because it was arranged, and, although it was evident that the main character, Ada, had a husband who wanted a â€Å"real†marriage, this never manifested. It was quite simply obvious that Alistair, the husband in this scenario, saw Ada as a way to bolster his social standing and really nothing more (The Piano). The Piano reflects a time in Australian history, indeed, in the history of the world, where women were regarded as property, and, because of this, fathers were able to force their daughters into loveless marriages. This reflects the standing of women in general during the 1850s. While The Piano reflects a time during the 19th Century, this paper will deal with the changing status of women during the 20th Century, but it is a helpful touchstone nonetheless.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
The Role of IMF(International Monetary Fund) and its impact on Poblic PowerPoint Presentation
The Role of IMF(International Monetary Fund) and its impact on Poblic Policy in China and South Korea - PowerPoint Presentation Example This necessitates the need to establish the role played by the IMF in promoting these countries development. IMF is an international organization that was established in the post world war II period. The aim of its establishment was to enhance the stability of foreign exchange. It was also meant to create a channel through which international payment systems would be reconstructed. This followed the disruption of the payment systems during the World War II. Initially, it had a membership of 44 countries. However, its membership stands at 188 in present day. The member countries contribute towards a common pool, from where countries with deficits can borrow. The roles of the IMF have also changed, to include financial and technical assistance to affected member countries. The effects of IMF in East Asia are innumerable. However, the most significant is the assistance of these countries during the financial crisis of East Asia in 1997. Nevertheless, the critics of this role argue that the IMF did not save the situation. They argue that that the higher interest rates charged, the tight monetary policies issued and the forced cut in government budget worsened the situation. However, it is apparent that the financial bailouts given to these countries by the IMF helped them to recover from the crisis. The IMF has influenced China’s public policy in various ways. It maintains and engages in policy dialogue with the Chinese authorities. It helps the Chinese government refine its economic and structural refer issues. The IMF identifies and monitors economic development in China. It helps the Chinese government and authorities undertake developmental and policy implementations. It achieves this through exchanging views regarding these issues. The economic situation of China has changed since it joined IMF. China has grown immensely both economically and socially since joining the IMF. It has
Monday, October 14, 2019
Back to school icebreakers Essay Example for Free
Back to school icebreakers Essay 1. OPENING-DAY LETTER. WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR STUDENTS. IN THAT LETTER, INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO STUDENTS. TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR HOPES FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR AND SOME OF THE FUN THINGS YOULL BE DOING IN CLASS. IN ADDITION, TELL STUDENTS A FEW PERSONAL THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF; FOR EXAMPLE, YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES, WHAT YOU DID OVER THE SUMMER, AND YOUR HOBBIES. ASK QUESTIONS THROUGHOUT THE LETTER. YOU MIGHT ASK WHAT THEY LIKE MOST ABOUT SCHOOL, WHAT THEY DID DURING THE SUMMER, WHAT THEIR GOALS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR ARE, OR WHAT THEY ARE REALLY GOOD AT. (IN YOUR LETTER, BE SURE TO MODEL THE CORRECT PARTS OF A FRIENDLY LETTER! ) ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, DISPLAY YOUR LETTER ON AN OVERHEAD PROJECTOR. THEN PASS EACH STUDENT A SHEET OF NICE STATIONERY. HAVE THE STUDENTS WRITE A RETURN LETTER TO YOU. IN THIS LETTER, THEY WILL NEED TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND TELL YOU ABOUT THEMSELVES. THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER IN A PERSONAL WAY! VARIATION: MAIL THE LETTER TO STUDENTS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS, AND ENCLOSE A SHEET OF STATIONERY FOR KIDS TO WRITE YOU BACK. 2. STRINGING TOGETHER CONVERSATION. CUT STRING OR YARN INTO PIECES OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS. (EACH PIECE SHOULD HAVE A MATCHING PIECE OF THE SAME LENGTH. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH PIECES SO THAT EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE ONE. ) THEN GIVE EACH STUDENT ONE PIECE OF STRING, AND CHALLENGE EACH STUDENT TO FIND THE OTHER STUDENT WHO HAS A STRING OF THE EXACT SAME LENGTH. AFTER STUDENTS HAVE FOUND THEIR MATCHES, THEY CAN TAKE TURNS INTRODUCING THEMSELVES TO EACH OTHER. YOU CAN PROVIDE A LIST OF QUESTIONS TO HELP STUDENTS BREAK THE ICE, OR STUDENTS CAN COME UP WITH THEIR OWN. YOU MIGHT EXTEND THE ACTIVITY BY HAVING EACH STUDENT INTRODUCE HIS OR HER PARTNER TO THE CLASS. 3. ANIMAL GROUPS. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, GATHER ALL THE STUDENTS FROM A GRADE LEVEL IN A LARGE COMMON AREA. GIVE EACH STUDENT A SLIP OF PAPER WITH THE NAME OF AN ANIMAL ON IT. THEN GIVE STUDENTS INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ACTIVITY: THEY MUST LOCATE THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THEIR ANIMAL GROUP BY IMITATING THAT ANIMALS SOUND ONLY. NO TALKING IS ALLOWED. THE STUDENTS MIGHT HESITATE INITIALLY, BUT THAT HESITATION SOON GIVES WAY TO A CACOPHONY OF SOUND AS THE KIDS MOO, SNORT, AND GIGGLE THEIR WAY INTO GROUPS. THE END RESULT IS THAT STUDENTS HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY INTO THEIR HOMEROOMS OR ADVISORY GROUPS FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR, AND THE INITIAL BARRIERS TO GOOD TEAMWORK HAVE ALREADY BEEN BROKEN. 4. A TANGLED WEB. GATHER STUDENTS IN A CIRCLE SITTING AROUND YOU ON THE FLOOR. HOLD A LARGE BALL OF YARN. START BY TELLING THE STUDENTS SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF. THEN ROLL THE BALL OF YARN TO A STUDENT WITHOUT LETTING GO OF THE END OF THE YARN. THE STUDENT WHO GETS THE BALL OF YARN TELLS HIS OR HER NAME AND SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT HIMSELF OR HERSELF. THEN THE STUDENT ROLLS THE YARN TO SOMEBODY ELSE, HOLDING ON TO THE STRAND OF YARN. SOON STUDENTS HAVE CREATED A GIANT WEB. AFTER EVERYONE HAS SPOKEN, YOU AND ALL THE STUDENTS STAND UP, CONTINUING TO HOLD THE YARN. START A DISCUSSION OF HOW THIS ACTIVITY RELATES TO THE IDEA OF TEAMWORK (FOR EXAMPLE, THE STUDENTS NEED TO WORK TOGETHER AND NOT LET OTHERS DOWN). TO DRIVE HOME YOUR POINT ABOUT TEAMWORK, HAVE ONE STUDENT DROP HIS OR HER STRAND OF YARN; THAT WILL DEMONSTRATE TO STUDENTS HOW THE WEB WEAKENS IF THE CLASS ISNT WORKING TOGETHER. 5. STUDENT DICTIONARY. WRITE FIVE QUESTIONS ON THE BOARD. QUESTIONS MIGHT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: WHAT IS YOUR NAME? WHERE WERE YOU BORN? HOW MANY BROTHERS OR SISTERS DO YOU HAVE? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? TELL STUDENTS TO WRITE THOSE QUESTIONS ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND TO ADD TO THAT PAPER FIVE MORE QUESTIONS THEY COULD ASK SOMEONE THEY DONT KNOW. PAIR STUDENTS, AND HAVE EACH STUDENT INTERVIEW HIS OR HER PARTNER AND RECORD THE RESPONSES. THEN HAVE EACH STUDENT USE THE INTERVIEW RESPONSES TO WRITE A DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF HIS OR HER PARTNER TO INCLUDE IN A STUDENT DICTIONARY. YOU MIGHT MODEL THIS ACTIVITY BY CREATING A SAMPLE DICTIONARY DEFINITION ABOUT YOURSELF. FOR EXAMPLE: REYNOLDS, KIM. PROPER NOUN. 1. BORN IN RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA. 2. NO BROTHERS OR SISTERS. HAVE STUDENTS BRING IN SMALL PICTURES OF THEMSELVES TO PASTE NEXT TO THEIR ENTRIES IN THE STUDENT DICTIONARY. BIND THE DEFINITIONS INTO A BOOK, AND DISPLAY IT AT BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT. 6. CLASSMATE SCAVENGER HUNT. PROVIDE EACH STUDENT WITH TWO INDEX CARDS. ASK EACH STUDENT TO WRITE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HIS OR HER PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ON ONE INDEX CARD AND HIS OR HER NAME ON THE OTHER. (PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS USUALLY DO NOT INCLUDE CLOTHING, BUT IF YOU TEACH THE PRIMARY GRADES, YOU MIGHT ALLOW STUDENTS TO INCLUDE CLOTHING IN THEIR DESCRIPTIONS. ) PUT ALL THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC INDEX CARDS IN A SHOE BOX, MIX THEM UP, AND DISTRIBUTE ONE CARD TO EACH STUDENT (MAKING SURE THAT NO STUDENT GETS HIS OR HER OWN CARD). GIVE STUDENTS TEN MINUTES TO SEARCH FOR THE PERSON WHO FITS THE DESCRIPTION ON THE CARD THEY HOLD. (THERE IS NO TALKING DURING THIS ACTIVITY, BUT STUDENTS CAN WALK AROUND THE ROOM. ) AT THE END OF THE ACTIVITY, TELL STUDENTS TO WRITE ON THE CARD THE NAME OF THE STUDENT WHO BEST MATCHES THE DESCRIPTION. THEN HAVE STUDENTS SHARE THEIR RESULTS. HOW MANY STUDENTS GUESSED CORRECTLY? http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english 7. COOPERATIVE MUSICAL CHAIRS. THIS ACTIVITY IS A TAKEOFF ON THE FAMILIAR MUSICAL CHAIRS GAME. SET A CIRCLE OF CHAIRS WITH ONE LESS CHAIR THAN THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE CLASS. PLAY MUSIC AS THE STUDENTS CIRCLE AROUND THE CHAIRS. WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS, THE STUDENTS MUST SIT IN A SEAT. UNLIKE THE TRADITIONAL GAME, THE PERSON WITHOUT A SEAT IS NOT OUT. INSTEAD, SOMEONE MUST MAKE ROOM FOR THAT PERSON. THEN REMOVE ANOTHER SEAT AND START THE MUSIC AGAIN. THE KIDS END UP ON ONE ANOTHERS LAPS AND SHARING CHAIRS! YOU CAN PLAY THIS GAME OUTSIDE, AND YOU CAN END IT WHENEVER YOU WISH. AFTERWARD, STRESS THE TEAMWORK AND COOPERATION THE GAME TOOK, AND HOW STUDENTS NEEDED TO ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER TO BE SUCCESSFUL. REINFORCE THAT IDEA BY REPEATING THIS GAME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 8. HANDS-ON ACTIVITY. HAVE STUDENTS BEGIN THIS ACTIVITY BY LISTING AT LEAST 25 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE THEM AND THE THINGS THEY LIKE. (NO SENTENCES ALLOWED, JUST WORDS! ) THEN ASK EACH STUDENT TO USE A DARK PEN TO TRACE THE PATTERN OF HIS OR HER HAND WITH THE FINGERS SPREAD APART. PROVIDE ANOTHER SHEET OF PAPER THAT THE STUDENT CAN PLACE ON TOP OF THE TRACING. (SINCE THE TRACING WAS DONE WITH A DARK PEN, THE OUTLINE SHOULD BE VISIBLE ON THE SHEET BELOW. ) DIRECT STUDENTS TO USE THE OUTLINES AS GUIDES AND TO WRITE THEIR WORDS AROUND IT. PROVIDE STUDENTS A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT COLORED PENCILS OR MARKERS TO USE AS THEY WRITE. THEN INVITE STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR WORK WITH THE CLASS. THEY MIGHT CUT OUT THE HAND OUTLINES AND MOUNT THEM ON CONSTRUCTION PAPER SO YOU CAN DISPLAY THE HANDS FOR OPEN HOUSE. CHALLENGE EACH PARENT TO IDENTIFY HIS OR HER CHILDS HAND. 9. CHAIN GANG. BEGIN BY ASKING STUDENTS, WHO CAN DO SOMETHING REALLY WELL? AFTER A BRIEF DISCUSSION ABOUT SOME OF THE STUDENTS TALENTS, PASS OUT PAPER AND ASK STUDENTS TO WRITE DOWN FIVE THINGS THEY DO WELL. THEN PROVIDE EACH STUDENT WITH FIVE DIFFERENT COLORED PAPER STRIPS. HAVE EACH STUDENT WRITE A DIFFERENT TALENT ON SEPARATE PAPER STRIPS, THEN CREATE A MINI PAPER CHAIN WITH THE STRIPS BY LINKING THE FIVE TALENTS TOGETHER. AS STUDENTS COMPLETE THEIR MINI CHAINS, USE EXTRA STRIPS OF PAPER TO LINK THE MINI CHAINS TOGETHER TO CREATE ONE LONG CLASS CHAIN. HAVE STUDENTS STAND AND HOLD THE GROWING CHAIN AS YOU LINK THE PIECES TOGETHER. ONCE THE ENTIRE CHAIN IS CONSTRUCTED AND LINKED, LEAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT THE CHAIN DEMONSTRATES (FOR EXAMPLE, ALL THE STUDENTS HAVE TALENTS; ALL THE STUDENTS HAVE THINGS THEY DO WELL; TOGETHER, THE STUDENTS HAVE MANY TALENTS; IF THEY WORK TOGETHER, CLASSMATES CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING; AND THE CLASS IS STRONGER WHEN STUDENTS WORK TOGETHER THAN WHEN INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS WORK ON THEIR OWN). HANG THE CHAIN IN THE ROOM AS A CONSTANT REMINDER TO STUDENTS OF THE TALENTS THEY POSSESS AND THE BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK. 10. SILHOUETTE COLLAGE. STOCK UP ON OLD MAGAZINES. (YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARIAN MIGHT HAVE A DISCARD PILE YOU CAN DRAW FROM. ) INVITE STUDENTS TO SEARCH THROUGH THE MAGAZINES FOR PICTURES, WORDS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT MIGHT BE USED TO DESCRIBE THEM. THEN USE AN OVERHEAD PROJECTOR OR ANOTHER SOURCE OF BRIGHT LIGHT TO CREATE A SILHOUETTE OF EACH STUDENTS PROFILE; HAVE EACH STUDENT SIT IN FRONT OF THE LIGHT SOURCE AS YOU OR ANOTHER STUDENT TRACES THE OUTLINE OF THE SILHOUETTE ON A SHEET OF 11- BY 17-INCH PAPER TAPED TO THE WALL. HAVE STUDENTS CUT OUT THEIR SILHOUETTES, THEN FILL THEM WITH A COLLAGE OF PICTURES AND WORDS THAT EXPRESS THEIR IDENTITY. THEN GIVE EACH STUDENT AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE HIS OR HER SILHOUETTE WITH THE GROUP AND TALK ABOUT WHY HE OR SHE CHOSE SOME OF THE ELEMENTS IN THE COLLAGE. POST THE SILHOUETTES TO CREATE A SENSE OF OUR HOMEROOM. 11. HEADLINES. AS PART OF THE NORMAL FIRST-DAY ROUTINE, MANY TEACHERS HAVE EACH STUDENT FILL OUT A CARD WITH SUCH INFORMATION AS NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, PARENTS NAMES AND WORK NUMBERS, AND SO ON. YOU CAN USE SUCH CARDS TO GATHER OTHER INFORMATION TOO, SUCH AS SCHOOL SCHEDULE, WHY THE STUDENT SIGNED UP FOR THE CLASS, WHETHER THE STUDENT HAS A PART-TIME JOB, AND WHETHER HE OR SHE HAS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AT HOME. AS A FINAL BIT OF INFORMATION, ASK THE STUDENT TO WRITE A HEADLINE THAT BEST DESCRIBES HIM OR HER! THIS HEADLINE MIGHT BE A QUOTE, A FAMILIAR EXPRESSION, OR ANYTHING ELSE. WHEN STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED FILLING OUT THE CARDS, GIVE A LITTLE QUIZ. ASK STUDENTS TO NUMBER A SHEET OF PAPER FROM 1 TO __, DEPENDING ON HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE IN THE CLASS. THEN READ ALOUD THE HEADLINES ONE AT A TIME. ASK STUDENTS TO WRITE THE NAME OF THE PERSON THEY THINK EACH HEADLINE BEST DESCRIBES. WHO GOT THE HIGHEST SCORE? (BONUS! IT SEEMS AS IF PARENTS ARE CONTACTED ONLY IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH STUDENTS. AT THE END OF EACH GRADING PERIOD, USE THE HOME ADDRESS INFORMATION TO SEND A POSTCARD TO A HANDFUL OF PARENTS TO INFORM THEM ABOUT HOW WELL THEIR CHILD IS DOING. THIS MIGHT TAKE A LITTLE TIME, BUT IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! ) 12. POP QUIZ. AHEAD OF TIME, WRITE A SERIES OF GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU QUESTIONS ON SLIPS OF PAPER ONE QUESTION TO A SLIP. (YOU CAN REPEAT SOME OF THE QUESTIONS. ) THEN FOLD UP THE SLIPS, AND TUCK EACH SLIP INSIDE A DIFFERENT BALLOON. BLOW UP THE BALLOONS. GIVE EACH STUDENT A BALLOON, AND LET STUDENTS TAKE TURNS POPPING THEIR BALLOONS AND ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS INSIDE. 13. FACT OR FIB? THIS IS A GOOD ACTIVITY FOR DETERMINING YOUR STUDENTS NOTE-TAKING ABILITIES. TELL STUDENTS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SHARE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF. THEYLL LEARN ABOUT SOME OF YOUR BACKGROUND, HOBBIES, AND INTERESTS FROM THE 60-SECOND ORAL BIOGRAPHY THAT YOU WILL PRESENT. SUGGEST THAT STUDENTS TAKE NOTES; AS YOU SPEAK, THEY SHOULD RECORD WHAT THEY THINK ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS YOU SHARE. WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR PRESENTATION, TELL STUDENTS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL FIVE THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF. FOUR OF YOUR STATEMENTS SHOULD TELL THINGS THAT ARE TRUE AND THAT WERE PART OF YOUR PRESENTATION; ONE OF THE FIVE STATEMENTS IS A TOTAL FIB. (THIS ACTIVITY IS MOST FUN IF SOME OF THE TRUE FACTS ARE SOME OF THE MOST SURPRISING THINGS ABOUT YOU AND IF THE FIB SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT COULD VERY WELL BE TRUE. ) TELL STUDENTS THEY MAY REFER TO THEIR NOTES TO TELL WHICH STATEMENT IS THE FIB. NEXT, INVITE EACH STUDENT TO CREATE A BIOGRAPHY AND A LIST OF FIVE STATEMENTS FOUR FACTS AND ONE FIB ABOUT HIMSELF OR HERSELF. THEN PROVIDE EACH STUDENT A CHANCE TO PRESENT THE 60-SECOND ORAL BIOGRAPHY AND TO TEST THE OTHERS NOTE-TAKING ABILITIES BY PRESENTING HIS OR HER OWN FACT OR FIB QUIZ. YOU CAN HAVE STUDENTS DO THIS PART OF THE ACTIVITY IN SMALL GROUPS. 14. CIRCULAR FACT OR FIB? HERES A VARIATION ON THE PREVIOUS ACTIVITY: DIVIDE THE CLASS INTO TWO GROUPS OF EQUAL SIZE. ONE GROUP FORMS A http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english CIRCLE EQUALLY SPACED AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE CLASSROOM. (THERE WILL BE QUITE A BIT OF SPACE BETWEEN STUDENTS. ) THE OTHER GROUP OF STUDENTS FORMS A CIRCLE INSIDE THE FIRST CIRCLE; EACH STUDENT FACES ONE OF THE STUDENTS IN THE FIRST GROUP. GIVE THE FACING PAIRS OF STUDENTS TWO MINUTES TO SHARE THEIR 60-SECOND ORAL BIOGRAPHIES. WHILE EACH STUDENT IS TALKING, THE PARTNER TAKES NOTES. AFTER EACH PAIR COMPLETES THE ACTIVITY, THE STUDENTS ON THE INSIDE CIRCLE MOVE CLOCKWISE TO FACE THE NEXT STUDENT IN THE OUTER CIRCLE. (STUDENTS IN THE OUTER CIRCLE REMAIN STATIONARY THROUGHOUT THE ACTIVITY. ) WHEN ALL STUDENTS HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THEIR BIOGRAPHIES WITH ONE ANOTHER, ASK STUDENTS TO TAKE TURNS EACH SHARING HIS OR HER FACTS AND FIB WITH THE CLASS. THE OTHER STUDENTS REFER TO THEIR NOTES OR TRY TO RECALL WHICH FACT IS REALLY A FIB. 15. PEOPLE POEMS. HAVE EACH CHILD USE THE LETTERS IN HIS OR HER NAME TO CREATE AN ACROSTIC POEM. FOR EXAMPLE, BILL COULD TAKE HIS NAME AND WRITE BIG INTELLIGENT LAUGHING LOVING. TELL STUDENTS THEY MUST INCLUDE WORDS THAT TELL SOMETHING ABOUT THEMSELVES FOR EXAMPLE, SOMETHING THEY LIKE TO DO OR A PERSONALITY OR PHYSICAL TRAIT. INVITE STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR POEMS WITH THE CLASS. THIS ACTIVITY IS A FUN ONE THAT ENABLES YOU TO LEARN HOW YOUR STUDENTS VIEW THEMSELVES. ALLOW OLDER STUDENTS TO USE A DICTIONARY OR THESAURUS. YOU MIGHT ALSO VARY THE NUMBER OF WORDS FOR EACH LETTER, ACCORDING TO THE STUDENTS GRADE LEVELS. 16. ANOTHER POETIC INTRODUCTION. ASK STUDENTS TO USE THE FORM BELOW TO CREATE POEMS THAT DESCRIBE THEM. NAME ______________________ TITLE (OF POEM)_______________ I WILL NEVER _______________; I WILL NEVER ________________; AND I WILL NEVER ______________. BUT I WILL ALWAYS ______________. THIS ACTIVITY IS ANOTHER THAT LENDS ITSELF TO BEING DONE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR AND AGAIN AT THE END OF THE YEAR. YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS WILL HAVE FUN COMPARING THEIR RESPONSES AND SEEING HOW THE STUDENTS AND THE RESPONSES HAVE CHANGED. 17. FOOD FOR THOUGHT. TO GET TO KNOW STUDENTS AND TO HELP THEM GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER, HAVE EACH STUDENT STATE HIS OR HER NAME AND A FAVORITE FOOD THAT BEGINS WITH THE SAME FIRST LETTER AS THE NAME. FOR EXAMPLE: HI, MY NAME IS LATRECE, AND I LIKE LIVER. AS EACH STUDENT INTRODUCES HIMSELF OR HERSELF, HE OR SHE MUST REPEAT THE NAMES AND FAVORITE FOODS OF THE STUDENTS WHO CAME BEFORE. WATCH OUT; IT GETS TRICKY FOR THE LAST PERSON WHO HAS TO RECITE ALL THE NAMES AND FOODS! 18. I AM NOT! HERES A CHALLENGING ACTIVITY THAT MIGHT HELP HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS LEARN ABOUT STUDENTS ABILITIES TO THINK CRITICALLY. SEND STUDENTS INTO THE SCHOOL HALLWAYS OR SCHOOLYARD, AND ASK EACH TO FIND SOMETHING THAT IS COMPLETELY THE OPPOSITE OF YOURSELF. (OPTION: TO WIDEN THE AREA TO BE EXPLORED, PROVIDE THIS ACTIVITY AS HOMEWORK ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF SCHOOL. ) WHEN STUDENTS BRING THEIR ITEMS BACK TO CLASS, ASK EACH TO DESCRIBE WHY THE ITEM IS NOT LIKE HE OR SHE. YOULL GET A LOT OF FLOWERS, OF COURSE, AND STUDENTS WILL DESCRIBE HOW THOSE FLOWERS ARE FRAGRANT OR SOFT (OR OTHERWISE UNLIKE THEMSELVES). BUT YOU MIGHT ALSO GET SOME CLEVER RESPONSES SUCH AS THE ONE FROM A YOUNG MAN WHO BROUGHT IN THE FLIP-TOP FROM A DISCARDED CAN; HE TALKED ABOUT ITS DECAYING OUTWARD APPEARANCE AND ITS INABILITY TO SERVE A PURPOSE WITHOUT BEING MANIPULATED BY SOME OTHER FORCE (AND HOW HE WAS ABLE TO SERVE A PURPOSE ON HIS OWN). 19. PERSONAL BOXES. IN THIS ACTIVITY, EACH STUDENT SELECTS A CONTAINER OF A REASONABLE SIZE THAT REPRESENTS SOME ASPECT OF HIS OR HER PERSONALITY OR PERSONAL INTERESTS (SUCH AS A FOOTBALL HELMET OR A SAUCEPAN). ASK STUDENTS TO FILL THAT OBJECT WITH OTHER ITEMS THAT REPRESENT THEMSELVES FOR EXAMPLE, FAMILY PHOTOS, CDS, DIRTY SOCKS (BECAUSE THEIR ROOM AT HOME IS ALWAYS A MESS), OR A BALLET SHOE AND BRING THEIR CONTAINERS BACK TO SCHOOL. STUDENTS CAN USE THE OBJECTS IN THE CONTAINERS AS PROPS AS THEY GIVE A THREE-MINUTE PRESENTATION ABOUT THEMSELVES. (THE TEACHER WHO PROVIDED THIS IDEA SUGGESTS THAT YOU MODEL THE ACTIVITY AND ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY BY GOING FIRST ITS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO SEE YOU AS HUMAN TOO! SHE INCLUDED IN HER CONTAINER A WOODEN SPOON BECAUSE SHE LOVES TO COOK, A JAR OF DIRT BECAUSE SHE LOVES TO GARDEN, HER SONS FIRST COWBOY BOOT, A POEM SHE WROTE, A ROCK FROM ITALY BECAUSE SHE LOVES TO TRAVEL, AND SO ON. ) YOULL LEARN MUCH ABOUT EACH STUDENT WITH THIS ACTIVITY, AND IT WILL CREATE A BOND AMONG STUDENTS. AS EACH STUDENT GIVES THE PRESENTATION, YOU MIGHT WRITE A BRIEF THANK-YOU NOTE THAT MENTIONS SOMETHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THE PRESENTATION SO THAT EACH http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english STUDENT CAN TAKE HOME A SPECIAL NOTE TO SHARE WITH PARENTS. IT MIGHT TAKE A FEW DAYS TO GIVE EVERY STUDENT THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE. 20. FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS. HOW WELL DO YOUR STUDENTS FOLLOW DIRECTIONS? PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOLDING A DRINKING CUP FROM A PIECE OF PAPER, AND SEE HOW MANY STUDENTS CAN MAKE A CUP. YOU CAN USE THE PRINTABLE TEMPLATE AND INSTRUCTIONS AT THE ORIGAMI JAPANESE PAPER FOLDING WEB PAGE. FILL EACH COMPLETE CUP WITH APPLE JUICE TO SEE HOW MANY STUDENTS CORRECTLY FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS! (YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONDUCT THIS PARTICULAR ASSESSMENT ON THE PLAYGROUND, HOWEVER! ) 21. LEARNING STYLES SURVEY. HOW DO THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS LEARN BEST? DO THEY LEARN BY SEEING, HEARING, OR DOING? INVITE STUDENTS TO DISCOVER THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL LEARNING STRATEGIES BY TAKING THE MODALITY QUESTIONNAIRE PROVIDED BY THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING AT OHIOS MUSKINGUM COLLEGE. 22. A WORLD OF CHANGE. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH AN 11-INCH BY 17-INCH PIECE OF DRAWING PAPER. CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO DRAW A MAP OF THE WORLD AND LABEL AS MANY COUNTRIES AND BODIES OF WATER AS THEY CAN. COLLECT THE MAPS AND PUT THEM AWAY. AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, REPEAT THE ACTIVITY. HAS A YEAR OF LESSONS FOCUSED ON WORLD GEOGRAPHY AND CURRENT EVENTS INCREASED YOUR STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD? (IF THIS ACTIVITY ISNT APPROPRIATE FOR YOU, WHY NOT SHARE IT WITH A SOCIAL STUDIES OR HISTORY TEACHER IN YOUR SCHOOL? ) 23. TIME CAPSULE. TURN EMPTY PRINGLES CANS OR PAPER TOWEL TUBES INTO MINIATURE TIME CAPSULES. ASK EACH CHILD TO CREATE A TIME CAPSULE THAT INCLUDES SUCH ITEMS AS A HANDWRITING SAMPLE, A HAND TRACING, A SELF PORTRAIT, AND SO ON. AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, COMPARE SAMPLES FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WITH NEW SAMPLES. 24. A VIDEO KEEPSAKE. AT THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, OR BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS, IF POSSIBLE, PROVIDE PARENTS WITH A LIST OF SUPPLIES TO SEND TO SCHOOL WITH THEIR CHILDREN. INCLUDE ON THE LIST A BLANK VIDEOTAPE FOR EACH STUDENT. AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH, INVITE A PARENT VOLUNTEER TO COME IN AND VIDEOTAPE EACH STUDENT READING ALOUD FROM A FAVORITE BOOK. SEND THE VIDEOTAPES HOME AT THE END OF THE YEAR AS A MEMENTO AND AS A REMINDER OF THE READING GROWTH THAT HAPPENED DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. 25. STICKS AND STONES THIS SIMPLE ACTIVITY HAS BEEN MAKING THE ROUNDS OF MAILING LISTS RECENTLY: PROVIDE EACH STUDENT WITH A SMALL PAPER CUTOUT IN THE SHAPE OF A HUMAN, OR HAVE STUDENTS CUT OUT THEIR OWN PAPER FIGURES. ASK EACH STUDENT TO WRITE HIS OR HER NAME ON THE CUTOUT. HAVE STUDENTS FORM A CIRCLE. THEN TELL STUDENTS TO PASS THE CUTOUTS TO THE PERSON ON THEIR RIGHT. AS THE CUTOUTS ARE PASSED AROUND THE CIRCLE, HAVE EACH PERSON MAKE A SMALL CRUMPLE OR TEAR IN THE CUTOUT OR ADD A PENCIL MARK. WHEN THE CUTOUTS HAVE MADE THEIR WAY AROUND THE ENTIRE CIRCLE, HAVE STUDENTS TRY TO REPAIR THEIR OWN CUTOUTS BY FLATTENING, ERASING, OR TAPING. AFTER THE CUTOUTS ARE REPAIRED, DISCUSS THE ACTIVITY. TALK ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF UNKIND WORDS AND HURT FEELINGS. YOU MIGHT DISPLAY THE CUTOUTS ON A CLASSROOM BULLETIN BOARD AS A CONSTANT REMINDER OF THE EFFECTS OF HURTFUL ACTIONS. 26. ILLUSTRATED STUDENT REFLECTIONS. STUDENTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND ABOVE CAN REFLECT ON THEIR DREAMS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH THIS FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ACTIVITY PROVIDED BY AN INDIANA TEACHER. A SIMPLE ILLUSTRATION PROVIDES A BACKDROP STUDENTS CAN USE TO SHARE THEIR DREAMS, THEIR INTERESTS, AND THE HIGH AND LOW POINTS IN THEIR LIVES. THE ACTIVITY CAN PROVIDE TEACHERS WITH IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT STUDENTS INTERESTS, CONCERNS, AND GOALS; TEACHERS CAN USE THE INFORMATION TO DETERMINE HOW BEST TO DIRECT STUDENTS AND PROVIDE FOR THEIR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. I Wish I Were a Butterfly. Students across the grades will enjoy this book, written by James Howe and illustrated by Ed Young. A CRICKET LONGS TO BE A PRETTY BUTTERFLY UNTIL A SPIDER TEACHES HER THAT ALL FRIENDS ARE BEAUTIFUL. READ THE BOOK ALOUD, AND THEN DISCUSS THE STORYS MESSAGE. 27. SURVEYS AND GRAPHS. START THE YEAR WITH A SURVEY ACTIVITY IN WHICH STUDENTS GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER AS THEY CREATE SIMPLE BAR OR PICTURE GRAPHS. STUDENTS WORK IN PAIRS OR SMALL GROUPS TO COLLECT RESPONSES TO A CLASS SURVEY, AND THEN THEY GRAPH THE RESULTS. OLDER STUDENTS CAN DEVELOP THEIR OWN SURVEY QUESTIONS; YOUNGER STUDENTS MIGHT COLLECT DATA IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS PROVIDED BY THE TEACHER. QUESTIONS MIGHT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: †¢ WHEN YOU BRING LUNCH TO SCHOOL, HOW DO YOU CARRY IT? †¢ IF YOU WERE TO CARRY A THERMOS BOTTLE TO SCHOOL, WHAT WOULD BE IN IT? †¢ WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SANDWICH? †¢ HOW DO YOU GET TO SCHOOL MOST DAYS? †¢ WHAT IS YOUR BEST SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? †¢ HOW MANY MILES DO YOU LIVE FROM SCHOOL? †¢ WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SNACK? http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english †¢ WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER MOVIE? AFTER STUDENTS COLLECT THE DATA, THEY CREATE A SIMPLE GRAPH TO DISPLAY THE RESULTS OF THEIR SURVEY. ONE STUDENT IN EACH PAIR OR GROUP CAN THEN REPORT THE FINDINGS WHILE ANOTHER EXPLAINS THE GRAPH. DISPLAY THE GRAPHS ON A BULLETIN BOARD FOR ALL TO SEE! 28. AN AVERAGE DAY. CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO COMPUTE CLASS AVERAGES. HAVE STUDENTS WORK IN PAIRS OR SMALL GROUPS TO COLLECT, CALCULATE, AND REPORT ON THE AVERAGE AGE, SHOE SIZE, HEIGHT, FAMILY SIZE (AND SO ON! ) OF THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS. 29. PERSONALIZED CLASSROOM CALENDAR. EVERY CLASSROOM HAS A CALENDAR. WHY NOT PERSONALIZE YOUR CLASSROOM CALENDAR WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUR STUDENTS? FIRST, MAKE A CALENDAR POCKET CHART WITH SEVEN COLUMNS (ONE FOR EACH DAY OF THE WEEK) AND FIVE ROWS (SO THE CHART CAN HANDLE MONTHS WITH FIVE WEEKS). THEN HAVE STUDENTS MAKE SIGNS WITH THE NUMBERS 1 TO 31 ON THEM. THE NUMBERS SHOULD BE LARGE ENOUGH TO BE CLEARLY SEEN FROM A DISTANCE. USE A DISPOSABLE CAMERA TO TAKE A PICTURE OF EACH STUDENT HOLDING ONE OF THE NUMBERED SIGNS. SLIP THE PHOTOGRAPHS INTO THE POCKETS ON THE CALENDAR. CHANGE THE CALENDAR EACH MONTH! BACK-TO-SCHOOL ABC BOOK. THIS IS AN ACTIVITY THAT CAN BE DONE ACROSS THE GRADES! SHARE WITH STUDENTS SOME ABC BOOKS FROM THE SCHOOL OR TOWN LIBRARY AND TELL THEM THAT THEY WILL BE WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A BACK-TO-SCHOOL ABC BOOK. ASSIGN A LETTER OF THE ALPHABET TO EACH STUDENT. BRAINSTORM WITH STUDENTS POSSIBLE WORDS FOR EACH LETTER OR ALLOW EACH STUDENT TO CHOOSE HIS OR HER OWN WORD. EXPLAIN THAT THE WORDS MUST BE RELATED TO ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH SCHOOL. OF COURSE, THE DIFFICULTY OF THE WORDS WILL VARY, DEPENDING ON THE GRADE LEVEL OF THE STUDENTS. FOR EXAMPLE, A MIGHT BE REPRESENTED BY THE WORDS ART, ABACUS, ATTENDANCE, ALGEBRA, ADDITION, ADVISOR, ATHLETICS, AUDITORIUM, ALPHABET, ANSWER KEY, APPLE, ARITHMETIC, ANNOUNCEMENT, AWARD, A-V, AIDE, OR ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL. FINALLY, HAVE EACH STUDENT ILLUSTRATE HIS OR HER WORD. COMBINE THE PICTURES TO CREATE A BOOK. DISPLAY THE BOOK IN THE CLASSROOM OR SCHOOL LIBRARY. AS AN EXTRA CHALLENGE, YOU MIGHT LIMIT OLDER STUDENTS TO CHOOSING ADJECTIVES; NO NOUNS ALLOWED! BACK-TO-SCHOOL WORD SEARCH. PRINT A BACK-TO-SCHOOL WORD SEARCH AND CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO FIND THE SCHOOL-RELATED WORDS HIDDEN IN THE PUZZLE. OR CREATE YOUR OWN WORD SEARCH PUZZLE CONTAINING THE FIRST NAMES OF ALL THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS. GO TO PUZZLEMAKER. COMS WORD SEARCH PUZZLEMAKER TO CREATE YOUR PUZZLE. 30. Making An Important Book ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL I READ THE IMPORTANT BOOK BY MARGARET WISE BROWN. I REVIEW PARAGRAPH WRITING AND INSTRUCT THEM TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH FOLLOWING THE SAME FORMAT AS THE BOOK ABOUT THEMSELVES. I ALSO DO THE SAME. AFTER THE ROUGH DRAFTS ARE WRITTEN THEY ARE TO DO A FINAL DRAFT AND ATTACH IT TO A WHITE PIECE OF PAPER, WHERE THEY ADD AN ILLUSTRATION. ALL THE PAGES ARE LAMINATED AND BOUND INTO A BOOK. STUDENTS REREAD THIS BOOK THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. IT EASILY BECOMES A FAVORITE. STUDENTS ALSO ENJOY READING THE BOOK FROM THE PREVIOUS YEARS CLASSES. 31. Names Word Search IN ORDER FOR MY STUDENTS TO GET TO KNOW THEIR CLASSMATES, I CREATE A WORD SEARCH WITH THE NAMES OF MY STUDENTS. AFTER ALL THE NAMES ARE FOUND THE REMAINING LETTERS REVEAL THE HIDDEN MESSAGE WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL. THIS WEBSITE IS GREAT FOR CREATING VARIOUS TYPES OF PUZZLES HTTP://WWW. PUZZLEMAKER. COM 32. Me Puppets ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (UNLIKE THE REMAINING DAYS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR), THE CHILDREN ARE USUALLY RELUCTANT TO TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES. WE MAKE ME PUPPETS USING PAPER PLATES FOR THE HEAD, YARN FOR THE HAIR, AND CONSTRUCTION PAPER FACIAL FEATURES, WITH A POPSCICLE STICK FOR A HANDLE. UPON COMPLETION, WE STAGE A PUPPET SHOW. THE CHILDREN HIDE THEIR FACES WITH THE PUPPETS AND TELL THEIR CLASSMATES ALL ABOUT THEIR FAMILIES, HOBBIES, PETS, ETC. 33. First Day Name Puzzle ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, I LIKE TO MAKE A NAME PUZZLE WITH MY STUDENTS. I TAKE A LARGE PIECE OF POSTER BOARD, AND MARK OUT LINES THAT CAN BE CUT INTO PIECES. MAKE SURE THAT THE PUZZLE WILL HAVE ENOUGH PIECES FOR EACH STUDENT TO HAVE ONE. WE ALL GATHER ON THE FLOOR TO WRITE OUR NAME ON THE BLANK SIDE OF THE POSTER BOARD. I WRITE MY NAME IN THE MIDDLE, AND THE STUDENTS WRITE THEIR NAME IN ALL DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. WHEN I HAVE FREE TIME, I CUT THE BOARD INTO PUZZLE PIECES. AS A CLASS WE EACH FIND THE SPOT WHERE OUR PUZZLE PIECE BELONGS. TAPE THE PUZZLE TOGETHER AFTER SCHOOL, AND POST IT ON THE WALL IN THE CLASSROOM. WHEN THE STUDENTS RETURN THE NEXT DAY, THE WILL BE EXCITED TO SEE THE PUZZLE, AND TO SHOW OFF THEIR NAME. MY KIDS HAVE FUN TALKING AND, WORKING TO PUT THE PUZZLE TOGETHER. 34. First day (or week) of schoolFamily Wreath I COLLECTED FAMILY PICTURES OF EACH OF MY STUDENTS DURING OUR INTRODUCTION DAY. I TOLD THE FAMILY I WOULD PROBABLY NOT RETURN THESE PICTURES. I THEN TOOK THE PICTURES AND MADE A FAMILY WREATH, FOR THE LONELY DAYS OR WHEN THE STUDENTS JUST MISSED HOME. THIS WAS A HUGE HIT WITH ALL THE FAMILIES AND THE CHILDREN. I PLACED THE WREATH IN THE HOME LIVING AREA, AND WAS AMAZED TO SEE THE STUDENTS, ALL YEAR http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english LONG, GO OVER TO THE WREATH AND TAKE TIME TO ADMIRE IT AND THEIR FAMILY. (SOME FAMILIES INCLUDED PET PICTURES TO PUT ON THE WREATH). ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL I AUCTIONED IT OFF TO A FAMILY AND BOUGHT SUPPLIES FOR THE CLASS ROOM. ALL MY PARENTS WANTED THIS KEEPSAKE. 35. Getting Acquainted.. I LIKE TO HAVE SOME GET ACQUAINTED PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS. ONE THING I DO IS WHEN I SEND MY PARENTS A WELCOMING LETTER, I ASK THAT THE CHILDREN BRING IN A SMALL BAG OF PICTURES AND OTHER SMALL OBJECTS THAT COULD BE PART OF A ME COLLAGE. THESE COLLAGES ARE A GOOD SPRINGBOARD FOR THE CHILDREN TO DISCUSS THEIR UNIQUE QUALITIES, AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR, THEY ENJOY SEEING HOW THEY HAVE CHANGED. WE ALSO MAKE SCHOOLHOUSE PICTURE FRAMES FOR THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PHOTOS. I CUT SCHOOLHOUSES OUT OF OAKTAG, AND THE CHILDREN GLUE PASTA ON THE FRAMES. I SPRAY PAINT THE PASTA FRAMES GOLD. THE PARENTS LOVE HAVING THIS MEMENTO OF THEIR CHILDS FIRST DAY WHEN I GIVE IT TO THEM ON BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT. 36. Getting to Know Each Other .. ON THE FIRAT DAY OF SCHOOL DO AN ACTIVITY TO BRING THE CLASS TOGETHER SUCH AS A CLASSROOM SURVEY. THE STUDENTS WALK AROUND AND TALK TO THE OTHER STUDENTS AND FILL OUT A QUESTIONAIRRE. AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER. 37. Fun First Day Activity .. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL I HAVE PLENTY OF PRE-CUT LETTERS IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS ON A TABLE. AS THE CHILDREN COME IN THEY FIND THE LETTERS TO SPELL THEIR NAMES AND GLUE THEM TOGETHER. I HANG THESE FROM THE CEILING! THEY REALLY BRIGHTEN UP THE ROOM AND LOOK GREAT FOR OPEN HOUSE! USUALLY THIS IS THE FIRST THING THEY POINT OUT TO THEIR PARENTS. 38. What are your expectations? ASK FOR THEIR EXPECTATIONS. TELL THEM YOURE INTERESTED IN THEIR OPINIONS AND YOURE ASKING THEM THESE QUESTIONS AS A WAY OF FINDING OUT ABOUT THEIR LEARNING STYLES AND PREFERENCES. ASK THEM TO WRITE, USING AS MUCH DETAIL AS POSSIBLE, THEIR RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS, SUCH AS †¢ NOW THAT IVE TOLD YOU MY EXPECTATIONS OF A GOOD STUDENT, WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF A GOOD TEACHER? †¢ TELL ME ABOUT THE BEST TEACHER YOUVE EVER HAD. WHAT MADE THAT PERSON SUCH A GOOD TEACHER? †¢ NOW THAT IVE TOLD YOU SOME OF MY IDEAS ABOUT HOW WE WILL GO ABOUT LEARNING THIS YEARS MATERIAL, TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU LEARN BEST. GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF A PROJECT OR UNIT WHERE YOU LEARNED A LOT. DESCRIBE THE PROJECT IN DETAIL. 39. TIME CAPSULES: A TIME-PROVEN YEAR OPENER I GIVE EACH STUDENT A SHEET WITH QUESTIONS SUCH AS WHATS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? WHATS YOUR FAVORITE SONG? AND WHATS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK? ON IT. THERES A SPACE FOR STUDENTS TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR AND ANOTHER SPACE FOR THEM TO ANSWER THE SAME QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE YEAR. AFTER STUDENTS PUT THEIR ANSWERS IN THE FIRST BLANK, I TIE ALL THE SHEETS TOGETHER AND PUT THEM IN MY FILE CABINET, BRIGHT TOLD EDUCATION WORLD. ITS ALWAYS FUNNY AT THE END OF THE YEAR TO HEAR THEM LAUGHING AND SCREECHING OVER THEIR ANSWERS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. THEY ALWAYS CHANGE THEIR MINDS BY THE END OF THE YEAR! BEGINNING-OF-THE-YEAR TIME CAPSULES CAN INCLUDE MANY OTHER ITEMS TOO. IN ADDITION TO STUDENTS QUESTION SHEETS, THEIR INDIVIDUAL TIME CAPSULES MIGHT ALSO INCLUDE A. TRACING OF THEIR HAND, A PIECE OF YARN CUT TO MEASURE THEIR HEIGHT, AND A WRITING SAMPLE. SEALED THE ITEMS IN ENVELOPES, AND OPEN THEM AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. STUDENTS WILL SURELY BE AMAZED AT THEIR GROWTH PHYSICALLY AND ACADEMICALLY! FOR THAT TIME CAPSULE WRITING SAMPLE, YOU MIGHT USE ANOTHER OF BRIGHTS FAVORITE BEGINNING-OF-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES. I HAVE STUDENTS INTERVIEW EACH OTHER LIKE NEWSPAPER REPORTERS SOMETIME DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL, BRIGHT EXPLAINED. THEY HAVE TO ASK A PARTNER FIVE QUESTIONS AND USE THOSE ANSWERS TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH ABOUT THEIR PARTNER. THEN THEY INTRODUCE THEIR PARTNER TO THE CLASS BY READING THE INTERVIEWS. 40. THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS INVITING STUDENTS TO SHARE A FEW OF THEIR FAVORITE THINGS IS A GREAT WAY TO BREAK THE ICE! INTRODUCE AN OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCY ON WHICH YOU HAVE ALL KINDS OF PICTURES THAT DESCRIBE YOURSELF. THERES A PLANE, LOTS OF BOOKS, A HILL, AND MORE. INVITE YOUR STUDENTS TO GUESS FROM THE DRAWINGS WHAT YOUR FAVORITE OUTSIDE INTERESTS MIGHT BE. (DID YOU GUESS TRAVELING, READING, AND HIKING? ). GIVE EACH STUDENT A SHEET OF DRAWING PAPER AND ASK THEM TO TELL ME ABOUT THEMSELVES USING ONLY PICTURES. BREAK INTO SMALL COOPERATIVE GROUPS, AND EACH GROUP TRIES TO TELL ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THEIR GROUP. OF COURSE, WALK AROUND AND INTERACT WITH EACH GROUP TO KNOW THEM TOO. 41. MAKE A LARGE CHART TITLED GETTING TO KNOW YOU. LAMINATE THE CHART AND HANG IT ON A WALL IN YOUR CLASSROOM. THE CHART HAS SECTIONS FOR EACH STUDENTS NAME AND INTERESTING FACTS, SUCH AS HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN THEIR FAMILY, HOW MANY PETS THEY HAVE, THEIR FAVORITE http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German:
Sunday, October 13, 2019
How Ego Threat Can Effect Self-Regulation Essay -- Psychology
The concept of self-regulation, by the average individual may be thought of more in the terms of impulse control. Every individual faces the daily challenge of controlling one’s impulses in response to a multitude of different social situations, such as at work, in the classroom, or in the privacy of one’s own home. Self-regulation is a process that many individuals may not be aware that they employ the use of in everyday social situations. However, self-regulation is not only used to regulate one’s response to situations, but also may influence whether or not one enters into various situations (Baumeister, Heatherton & Tice, 1993). A common situation where the use of self-regulation may be employed would be in the presence of an ego-threatening situation. The term ego threat is defined as any event or communication having unfavorable implications about the self (Baumeister, Heatherton & Tice, 1993). In other words, an event, which could be interpreted as a poss ible ego threat would be any event from which the individual may experience an end result of unfavorable tangible, emotional, or psychological consequences. A study conducted in 1993 by Roy F. Baumeister, Todd F. Heatherton, and Dianne M. Tice focused on events in which ego threats lead to self-regulation failure and examined the negative consequences for individuals with high self-esteem. For the purpose of this paper, I am not concerned specifically with the self-regulation failure consequences for individuals with high self-esteem per se, but more focused on how the findings can be related to how ego threat can affect self-regulation as an entity. The results of Experiment 1 in this study concluded that high self-esteem individuals experience self-regulation failure w... ...1993, the self-regulation failure is evident through the loss of focus on other assignments. Based on the evidence for self-regulation depletion in the 1998 study, the self-regulation depletion is evident through the decrease of the ability to successfully manage one’s emotions. The results of the two studies combined provide supporting evidence for self-regulation failure and self-regulation depletion as well as a better understanding of the Self. Works Cited Baumeister, R. F., Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. (1993). When ego threats lead to self- regulation failure: negative consequences of high self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(1), 141-156. Muraven M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Self-control as a limited resource: regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 774-789.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
The Reform of the Electoral College Essay example -- Political Reform
The United States, well known for its democracy, holds elections every four years to elect its President. Every American citizen over the age of 18 has a right to cast a vote in the presidential election. The voting process, although it seems easy and straightforward, can be very complicated. In the 2000 election, Al Gore captured the majority of votes, but George Bush won. The reason for this strange outcome and why Al Gore lost was because of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is voting system where different states are given a certain amount of votes in the election, and which ever candidate wins a state, is given that state’s votes. The Electoral College is out of date, and should be replaced by the Popular Vote system, which declares a president purely on who collects the most votes from the American people. The Popular Vote system is better than the electoral college, because it gives the American people a true say in the presidential election, and doesn ’t filter their votes out in so called â€Å"mini state elections†. The electoral college is too flawed to continue to run the presedential elections of the united states, it gives an unfair advantage to smaller states in the United States, it promotes the two party system, it restricts campainging process because of the way certain canidates are forced to strategically focuse on certain states, and finally it elects minority presidents into office. Why should america keep the flawed electoral college, and continue to see all the problems occur over and over agan, if there is a better way. Some people still feel that the electoral college is the best voting system to elect the president. They claim that if the electoral college was removed and replaced with th... .... New Haven: Yale UP, 1999. United States of America. The U.S. Constitution. 17 Sept. 1787. 15 Feb. 2004 . Keyssar, Alex. "It Pays to Win the Smaller States." The New York Times 20 Nov. 2000, Late ed., sec. A: 27. Plissner, Martin. "Bush by 537; Gore by 537,179." The New York Times 16 Nov. 2001, sec. A: 25. Knipp, Katie , and Stephanie Lazzaro. Electoral College -- Outdated or Valuable Asset to Election Process? 9 Dec. 2003. Digital Partners Network. 1 Feb. 2004 Dunham, Richard S. "Will History Repeat Itself in 2004?" Business Week 22 Dec. 2003: 51. Rothwell, Jenn T. "Prospects for the Electoral College after Election 2000." Social Education 65 (2001) Abbott, David W., and James P. Levine. Wrong Winner. New York: Praeger, 1991
Friday, October 11, 2019
Business Report Essay
Business opportunities in NSW are impacted by internal and external factors. Internal and external factors influence the business opportunities as they determine the success and failure of opportunities in the business environment. External influences are factors which mainly influence the environment outside the business and therefore they determine what the management staff inside the business must do to adjust with the changes in the external environment. External influences include factors such as; economic, financial, geographic, social, legal, political, institutional, technological, competitive situation and markets. Internal influences are factors affecting the business from within i. e. internally. Internal influences include factors such as; product, location, management, resource management and business culture. The following business report is commissioned to examine the influence of external and internal factors of business opportunities in NSW. The economic influence includes factors which relate to changes in the wider economy i. e. booms and recessions in the economy. The benefit of a growing economy allows opportunities for a business to increase profit, so businesses are able to experience rising living standards. ‘Booms’ and ‘upswings’ benefit business opportunities as they are periods where the economy is going through a positive phase where businesses have the opportunity to increase their positive total revenue. Consequently, this will lead to a rise in employment, consumer spending and wages. On the other hand, â€Å"Busts’ and ‘downswings’ are periods where businesses are impacted negatively. An example of a business which suffered from the negative factors of the economic cycle was Harvey Norman. Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported Harvey Norman experienced a ‘downswing’ period as profits decreased from $128. 95 million to $81. 9 million and total sales had a decline of 7. 3% due to lack of consumer spending. Financial influences involve ‘deregulation’ which is the removal of government regulations from the industry in hope of improving competition. The improvement of competition allows businesses the opportunity to improve efficiency and productivity of their employers and aim to achieve their required goal. Woolworths and Coles have recently removed regulations relating to supplier payments in order to lower costs and open up opportunities to expand their business and increase profit. Geographical influences such as location will determine the growth and development of a specific business. Geographical influences impact business opportunities as it provides challenges to increase profits, sales and expansion of business. An example of expansion of business is IKEA who have expanded their business to Melbourne, Australia because of economic growth in the Australian economy. Due to dramatic increase in consumer spending, IKEA’s profit increased rapidly and therefore they were able to purchase an 80, 000 metre square warehouse. Geographical influence impacts on business opportunities as it increases employment, sales and expansion of business as seen by the actions of IKEA. Social influences provide opportunities for businesses to change or develop to meet consumer demands. Social influences such as changes in consumer tastes and preferences significantly impacts on business productivity and opportunities. Failure for a business to satisfy consumer’s wants can be detrimental to a business and therefore can lead to a decrease in profits and sales or even cessation if they fail to meet consumer demands. An example of social influence on a business is the impact of the style of clothing of AussieBum. AussieBum manufactures and sells their products via the internet and are successful as their material and style of the underwear and beach clothing is famous among society. The business is successful as the material they produce is unique. Additionally, the location of the manufacturing is based in Australia further satisfying the taste and preferences on Australian consumers. Social influences for this business includes its consumers demanding Australian manufacturers to maintain uniqueness and reflect the Australian image; and consumers demanding products to be purchased over the internet. In this case, AussieBum successfully responds to social influences by having the correct production process of manufacturing their commodities and satisfying consumer demand and preferences. Legal influences impacts on business opportunities as it sets out regulations and laws that impacts business operations. Legal influences sets out guidelines that prevents businesses from discriminating or financial rorting. Additionally, legal influences such as laws and contracts can impact businesses as they are forced to buy from specific and this affects their total revenue. An example of legal influence on a business is the investigation of Coles. A recent article published by Sydney Morning Herald states that Coles is undergoing an investigation on discrimination between suppliers based on their private label brands. This breaches statutes which include anti – discrimination laws. Legal investigation is costly and affects consumer buying and spending at this business. Hence, it is crucial for businesses to abide by legislations to take advantage of the opportunities and maintain consumer satisfaction. Political influences impact businesses as government policies can lead to business uncertainty or business confidence. Political influences impact businesses as they implement policies which can change the structure of businesses. An example of political influences on a business is the impact the carbon tax has on BHP Billiton, a company in the mining industry. The carbon tax affects the company as BHP Billiton is now in charge of paying taxes which affect the company’s total revenue as there is an increase in costs. The carbon tax affects business opportunities in BHP Billiton as they are unable to hire new efficient and productive employees due to increase in their costs. Business opportunities in NSW can also be affected by taxation that can increase business costs and therefore restrict the businesses ability to expand or increase their profit or sales. Additionally, the exchange rate can affect the volume of import and exports from global markets hence impact of the price of products. Institutional influences refer to three bodies (Federal, State, and Local) which all have factors which impact business opportunities in NSW. The regulations of institutional influences are the safety and protection of employers in the business, the compulsory minimum wage, payment of taxes, approving new development and simple business codes of conduct and abiding by the legal business laws. These factors impact business opportunities as businesses must abide by these regulations in order to continue running and the breaching of the regulations can result in penalties which may affect the business financially. A recent investigation involving Coles breaching these regulations as they demanded additional payments from their suppliers led to a decrease in profits and loss of other suppliers. These factors affected Coles as their supply of specific products is decreasing yet they have such high demand but in result aren’t able to satisfy consumers wants. Business opportunities are impacted by the institutional influences as businesses are forced to run in a certain way as it can affect their financial status as well as their reputation if they fail to do so. Technology is improving at a rapid pace and allowing businesses to produce more efficiently. Technological influences impact vehicle manufacturing businesses such as Holden. Holden’s vehicles are produced rapidly because of innovative technology. The new Holden Barina features Apple’s Siri voice command providing more features and improving the product. Additionally, technological influence can impact businesses negatively. For example, technological advancements often replace employees and this decreases the opportunity of hiring new employment contributing to unemployment. Nonetheless, technological influences provide opportunities for businesses to produce products more efficiently and in turn increase their total revenue. Competition is advantageous to both consumers and businesses as it provides opportunities for improvement and demand for consumer satisfaction. A competitive situation often influences businesses to lower prices of its products to gain consumer satisfaction. For example, Woolworths and Coles promote lower prices to compete with one another. This provides consumers with wider range of choice and preferences. More so, they promote consumer points for purchasing goods and services at their store to remain competitive. Also, Jetstar has a policy which states they will provide a 10% discount on their service if their competitive airlines (i. e. Virgin Australia and Tiger Airways) offer a cheaper price for their service.In recent times financial/capital, labour and consumers have significantly changed. Financial/capital markets have seen international financial/capital flows become more flexible and easily accessible due to globalisation. Therefore, markets are more integrated. ASX is an example of these changes as the business has now made it more easily accessible for consumers to purchase and sell shares globally over the internet. Financial/capital markets influence business opportunities as businesses in NSW are linked globally are able to communicate and operate more efficiently. However, negative economic influence can impact on domestic markets in NSW which can impede on business operations.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Instant Car-Pooling on the Android Platform
CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 CS 8803 – AIAD Project Report. Instant Car-Pooling on the Android Platform Vinaya Shenoy Parikshit Sudumbrekar Madhura Tipnis 1 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Table of Contents: Introduction Objectives Motivation Technology Overview Related Work Architecture Project Screen-Shots Evaluation Future Work Project Experience Conclusion References 3 3 3 4 5 5 6 14 14 15 16 17Table of Figures Figure 1: Android Technological Overview Figure 2: Carpool Application – Starting Window Figure 3: Carpool Application – Create a new Event Figure 4: Carpool Application – Contact List Figure 5: Carpool Application – Events Created history Figure 6: Carpool Application – SMS for carpool invitation received Figure 7: Carpool Application – Car pool Invitation Details Figure 8: Carpool Application – Details for the event creator Figure 9: Carpool Application – Map showing pick-up points 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 2 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORTTEAM#2 Introduction: With increasing convergence between different technologies like the cellular world, internet (IP) world, different applications have become popular and many more are under development. One of the prominent services popular amongst the users is the â€Å"Location Based Services†and â€Å"presence†. The current location-based services out there in the market use the policy of ‘broadcasting locations' while enabling any activity between the various users. This may lead to unintended recipients being the beneficiary of certain events.With this in mind, we aim to develop an application/service that would enable selective delivery of events/messages to the intended recipients based on their location. This would help in avoiding thousands of messages being sent to unintended recipients. Thus, not only the location of the intended recipient is taken into consideration; but the context of the location i s also taken into consideration. In this project, we define the context of the recipient as its distance from the initiator of the event. Objectives: The objectives of the „Instant Car Pooling Application? can be stated as follows: 1.Enable users to create events that would specify the following information? The total vacancy in the car. ? The time at which the event is going to take place. ? The Final destination. 2. Development of the logic that would enable? Poll in the location information of all the intended recipients. ? Take decision based on the context on the location. ? Send „sms? to all the selected recipients and handle the accepted or rejected messages received from the recipients. 3. Generate a Google Map that shows the initiator the map between his location, all the recipients that agreed to his car pooling event and the final destination.We aim to demonstrate all these scenarios on the „Android Emulator?. Motivation: The application under considerat ion, the „Instant Car Pooling? application, is a novel idea which has never been implemented before. This became our source of motivation for going ahead with this project. All the current car pooling methods are 1. Time consuming. 2. Require a lot of before-hand planning. 3. Require several rounds of communications in the form of series of e-mails or a series of telephonic conversations. 3 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Also, there seems to be an absence of a „Car Pooling? pplication on the mobile phones. This motivated us to develop our application on the „Android Platform? , one of the upcoming and latest mobile platforms launched by Google. A different source of motivation behind the development of this application is that of the „Georgia Tech India Club?. All the members of this club complained about receiving thousands of mails which either requested for a Car Pool or which offered a Car Pool. Thus, uninterested students used to receive such ma ils. We thought; why not develop a „mobile-based instant Car Pooling application? s our gift to the student community of Georgia Tech? This really gave us the passion to go after the completion of this project. The initiator of the event could select intended recipients from the contact list. The application then checks for the relative context of the location of all the selected recipients and forwards the event to only those recipients that satisfy the context. Technology Overview: Figure 1: Android Technological Overview Android is a new operating system for the G1 phone that has been released by Google in 2008.The main difference that sets the Google G1 phone apart from other operating systems is that the Android is based on an open source platform. This implies that anyone can view and even modify the source code. This results in constant evolution of the software. In case a developer senses that there is a certain feature that is currently not included then he or she can incorporate it in the phone and the software would develop. Since it is a fairly new platform, it is not as 4 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 developed as other mobile operating systems.But considering the open source nature and other features, it can go a long way beyond other mobile operating systems. The hardware associated with the phone is provided by various companies. As and when the hardware becomes more advanced, the Android OS will be able to support more features functions. Related Work: 1. Location tracking is the most essential thing and a definite pre requisite for any mobility related application. This can be done in different ways. 2. A social tool has been developed which helps the user connect with people around him. This tool has been developed on the Symbian Operating System.The location of the user is detected in the cell phone by getting information from the cell tower. This application doesn? t need GPS. Each user can keep up with what is happening wi th people in the friend? s list. Broadcasting of messages is the approach followed in this tool. It also provides other features like connecting people with similar interests. It helps the user explore various places in and around the location detected. 3. There is a mobile social networking service called Loopt which broadcasts the location of the user even when the phone is closed.It also allows sending of messages or sharing of photos between contacts. This Loopt is currently limited to the Sprint network. Architecture: The users that have this application installed on their cell phones can use this application as either initiators of car pooling event or as invitees for a car pooling event. When the user launches this application, the user is given three options to choose from. The user can create a new car pool event, view the events that he has created earlier or view invitations for car pool event from other users.When the user chooses to create a new event, he is given a for m which has fields such as subject of the car pool, time of the car pool, vacancies in the car, destination address of the car pool, and a button to choose from the list of his contacts. The user enters the values in the fields and then clicks on the contact list. The contact list is displayed from which the user selects the contacts he wants to send the invitation of the car pool to. All the invitees will be sent an SMS with the details of the carpool event.When the invitee accepts an invitation, the carpool application on his phone will respond back to the initiator with the current GPS location of the invitee. When the initiator gets back the positive reply from an invitee, he will retrieve the location co-ordinates from the sms and using reverse geocoding functionality of the Geocoder utility will calculate the street address of the contact. Now when the initiator views the event generated, he can see all those who all have responded to the event. A Google map is created with th e locations of all those who have responded to the event.It gives the order of pick up as per the order in which the invitees have responded. We have used the Google Map API here for 5 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 generation of the route map based on the location as detected by the geo coder. Once the vacancies are full, the other invitees who try to accept the invite later are displayed a message which says that the car is full. Project Screenshots: Figure 2: Carpool Application – Starting Window This is the first screen that appears on the cell phone display when the user starts the application. There are three options that are provided.They are ? ? ? Create an event – This allows the user to start a new car pool. View created events – This allows the user to go back and view the car pool events that have been created earlier by him. View Invitations – This option lets the user view invitations for other car pooling events from his friends. 6 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Figure 3: Carpool Application – Create a new Event This screen appears on the cell phone display when the user chooses to create a new car pooling event. In the subject box, the user can type out a short description of the purpose of the car pool.Since it is an instant car pooling application, the day is set to the current day as recorded in the cell phone. The user is given a list of times to select from when he clicks on the â€Å"pick a time†option. Also the user is allowed to specify the number of vacancies in his car to go to a particular destination. The user enters his destination address in the destination 7 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 box. Then the user can select contacts from his contact list to whom all the event will be sent to. Figure 4: Carpool Application – Contact List This screen is the contact list.The user can select the contacts he wishes to send the car pool event invite to, with the hel p of check boxes provided next to the names of the contacts. When the user clicks on â€Å"add to event†, the invitation is sent to the selected contacts from the contact list. This event is sent in the form of a „sms?. 8 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Figure 5: Carpool Application – Events Created history This screen is displayed on the cell phone display when the user chooses to view the car pool events created by him. The user can click on the individual events to view the details of each event.This list contains all the past events as well as the pending events. 9 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Figure 6: Carpool Application – SMS for carpool invitation received When the message is sent to the contacts, the message as shown above appears on the display of the contacts to which the message is sent. The name of the car pool event generator also appears in the message pop up. 10 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Figure 7: Carpool Ap plication – Car Pool invitation details When the user clicks on â€Å"view invitation†option on the main page, the user is displayed the screen above.The invitation gives details of the car pool which includes the subject of the car pool, the name of the initiator of the event, the time at which the car pool is scheduled to take place, the destination of the car pool and the status of the reply. The user is given to options to respond to the message of either attending or not attending. The user can click on either one depending on his choice. Once the user responds to a message he won? t be given an option to change his decision. 11 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Figure 8: Carpool Application – Details for the event creatorThis page will be displayed to the user who created the events. It will give him a summary of the event with details such as the subject, the time of the event, vacancies in the car, destination of the car pool, invitees to the even t, and the order of pickup of the invitees who responded. The order of pickup is decided on first come first serve basis currently. Also the user is given an option to check the map of the route now by clicking on â€Å"show route map†. 12 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Figure 9: Carpool Application – Map showing pick-up pointsThe route map is displayed to the creator of the car pool event when he clicks on the â€Å"show route map†option. Along the route, the pick-ups in the order of first come first serve are plotted. The interesting thing about this application is that in the beginning when no recipient has accepted the invitation, the initiator of the event can view a map of source (his location) and the final destination. As and when recipients accept the car pooling invitation, the map is updated and it shows all the intermediate pick-up points (the locations of the recipients who have accepted the car pooling invitation).Thus, the initiator of t he event now has the entire map, wherein he has all the information about the route to follow. 13 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Evaluation/Testing: We tested our application by running four instances of the emulator on the same machine. In each emulator we stored three contacts with their numbers being the port numbers on which the other three emulators were running. We then tested the following scenario: 1. When a user creates a new event, the event is created properly ensuring that all the parameters are valid. For eg, the user can? put a time in the future or put a negative vacancy, give no invitees. Also, we verify the destination address provided by the user to ensure that the address is correct and exists on the map. 2. Once the event is created, we verified that all the invitees got an sms message with the proper details and the invitation is displayed in their invitation list. 3. When an invitee accepts an invitation a reply sms with his GPS coordinates is sent bac k to the initiator. 4. When the initiator gets a accept response, the event is updated and the initiator can see the pickup location of the invitee on the map. . When the carpool for an invite becomes full, all invitees who respond after that get a carpool full response sms. Future Work: This project provides a proof of concept of the „Car Pooling? application. It is a stripped down version of our dream „Car Pool? application. There are a lot of improvements that can be incorporated into this project that makes it more complete and feature rich. The future work with regards to this project can be summarized as follows: 1. Currently, the initiator sends car pooling invitation to his friends from his contact list.Their location is forwarded back to him when they accept the invitation. This helps in the creation of the Google Map for the event initiator. In the future, we could have a web service that handles all this location information. This would also solve some privacy related issues like the publishing of recipient location etc. 2. At the moment, the routes are decided on the „First Come First Serve? basis. This means, the route is decided on the order in which the recipients accept the car pooling invitation. But the path obtained from this may not always be the shortest path.Thus we could have algorithms like the „Dijkstra? s? algorithm or Algorithmic concepts like „Dynamic Programming? to calculate the shortest path between source, destination and all the recipients. Thus, optimization on this front can be obtained. 3. The web service can be programmed to handle the context of the location. The context of the location can be determined by its proximity to the location of the event creator. Thus, the web service can determine a radius and determine the recipients which fall within the 14 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 adius as the ones who would receive the car pooling event message; while those which lie outside the radius would be ignored. Thus, broadcasting of the event can be avoided. 4. Other features can include displaying only the events that are pending when the user clicks on the „View Created Events? button. All the past and completed events could be stored in a separate „history log?. 5. Currently, the final destination needs the complete address of the location. In the future, the final destination address could be populated by extracting information from the „subject? of the event and using Google Maps functionalities.For example, if the user types in „Trip to Wal-Mart? as the subject, then the final destination address could be filled automatically by the closest Wal-Mart store located near him. Project Experience: Working on the project was a learning process with a lot of interesting discoveries. The Android platform being comparatively new was a challenge to work on, since very less documentation was available as well as little support was available thro ugh the online communities. During the initial phase of the project, all the various APIs that were supported were studied to determine their use and feasibility towards the project.During this initial feasibility study, we realized that certain API support have been removed from the latest version of Android. This included the crucial one of Google Maps, which our project was dependent on. Thus, began another study to determine the use of actual Google Map APIs through the Android code. Also the basic idea of the project made us realize that how convenient car pooling can be made with this application. The project exposed us to the latest technology in the area of mobile platform development. In class the various issues in mobile computing were covered.Also there was an extensive explanation of mobile computing in general. This discussion helped us a lot in the project. We realized that issues such as less power on the device, etc. can be a problem if there are huge amounts of comp utations to be done. Thus, we made a point to keep the client as this as possible and with this aim in mind, we also aim to develop a web service in the future that would completely take care of all the computation and make the clients really „thin?. Location based services were extensively covered in the class. This motivated us to incorporate them into our project.We have extensively used locations in our project, in fact we have the plotted the Google Map by making use of them. Due to such background developed in class, we thought of experimenting on the Android platform. It gave us a boost to explore the yet not totally discovered areas in Android API usage. 15 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 Initially we wanted to test the project by executing instances of the Android emulator on different machines. These emulators would then communicate between each-other through means of messages. But, we were not able to demonstrate in this fashion due to certain technological challenges.In the end, we demonstrated the application by executing different instances of the Android emulator on the same machine. We further aim to test the performance of our application by adding a number of recipients and measuring the time taken for the Google Map to build. This would help us in determining whether the time remains for large number of recipients, finding the bottle-necks if any and moving towards a cut-off for the number of recipients for which the application shows normal execution time. Conclusion: Thus, this project successfully demonstrated a mobile based „Car Pooling? application.This application would help in the process of creation of „instant car pool? events. Thus, we successfully reduced the long conversations needed for normal car pool events. In future, more functionality can be added to make this application more robust and more feature rich. With the advent of smart phones, this application, when developed to its fullest, would be ab le for all to use and make their journeys much more enjoyable and comfortable. 16 CS 8803 AIAD TERM PROJECT REPORT TEAM#2 References: 1. Android API documentation. (n. d. ). Retrieved from Android Developers: http://developer. ndroid. com/reference/packages. html 2. Android Development Community Forum (n. d). Retrieved April 2009 from http://www. anddev. org/index. php 3. Google Maps API documentation. (n. d. ). Retrieved from Google maps: http://code. google. com/apis/maps/documentation/ 4. Strickland, J. (n. d. ). How the Google Phone Works. Retrieved April 2009, from How Stuff Works: http://electronics. howstuffworks. com/google-phone5. htm 5. What is Android. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 2009, from developer. android. com: http://developer. android. com/guide/basics/what-is-android. html 17
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