Impact of Globalization Essay

It has gradually evolved from the 1970s after the advent of different forms of high speed transportation and communication to the age of information technologies around the millennium, to make a single unified community where all the major sources of various social conflicts have disappeared (Scheuerman, 2010 and World Regional Geography, 2009). There are several ways of defining Globalization. As defined by Dr. Nayef R. F. Al-Rodhan (2006), â€Å"Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities. The effects of Globalization are manifold. It influences industrial sector, financial sector, labour markets and consumers of a particular country. On one hand it gives rise to more jobs and industries, however, on the other hand, countries are becoming dependant on the other country for a specific product/raw material. Additionally, because of outsourcing jobs from developed economy are being transferred to the developing economy, which has a negative effect on the developed economy and positive on the developing economy. 2. 2 Consumer Packaged Goods and Globalization Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) are sold at relatively low price and are non durable goods like grocery items, soft drinks etc. Large CPG manufacturer has an advantage of strong brands, greater geographical coverage and having major retailers. CPG industry is affected by the change in fashion, fads and consumer preferences, which in turn effects the purchasing decision of a consumer. Therefore, I believe that in the fast and ever changing world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) it is imperative to discuss the effects of globalization on this industry. Additionally, there is immense pressure and intense competition between the manufacturers globally to fulfill the demand of consumers. 2. 0 Impact of Globalization on CPG Industry 3. 3 Costs and Benefits of Globalization on CPG Industry There are diverse ways in which globalization impinge on CPG industry. Some are beneficial for the industry and some aren’t. The good side of globalization is explained as follows: a. Profits from emerging markets: Procter and Gamble in year 2006, showed a total sales of US $ 68 billion, out of which US $ 21 billion was from emerging markets. Additionally, from 1992 to 2006, globalization has boosted the American economy by US $ one trillion in Gross Domestic Product (Veiders, 9th July 2007, Supermarket news). b. Consumer’s advantage: The consumer gets the advantage of choosing from wide variety of goods, in addition to the comparative advantage. Additionally, the offshore markets are producing goods at a price which is lower than the domestic production of a particular country. Though this is an advantage to the consumer, this could hamper production and associated profits in some countries (Oline Thompson, 2006, CPG Manufacturing) c. Foreign capital access: Foreign capital access is the main driving force of globalization. This in turn increases the investment power of a particular country to produce better produce economically (13th February, 1996, WTO News (press releases). The other side of globalization illustrates some problems faced by CPG Industry: a. Cultural disparity: A product that might be a necessity in one country might not be even known or used in the other, which would have a negative effect on the CPG industry while trying to encourage its use in a particular country. To cite a salient example, Brazilians usually don’t have breakfast, because they sleep late at night and consumers in China for breakfast eat hot, soft and savoury, while the North Americans love cold, crunchy and sweet breakfast. This was the difference analyzed by Kellogg Company in 2007 (Veiders, 9th July 2007, Supermarket news). b. Global Competition: In this fast paced environment any CPG company have to constantly innovate and differentiate their product, to maintain or increase their market share. Every year large number of new products are being roduced and capture the shelve space of the existing labels and compete with them.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (C.R.N.A.)

Imagine having a career that truly has a positive impact on others even from the beginning of your duties. A specialized nurse called a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist or C.R.N.A. knows this feeling well. This type of nurse is able to administer anesthesia to patients having surgical, dental or medical procedures to prevent the patient from having any pain during the procedure. To become a nurse anesthetist a registered nurse must complete more extensive training and testing. Patients typically are happy to see anesthetist knowing they will keep them from experiencing any pain www.uta.edu/nursing/BaylorAweb/anesth.htm). The nurse anesthetist has many responsibilities while on duty. One of the most important aspects of the anesthetist is balancing the depth of sedation. If a patient receives too much anesthesia medicine they can have trouble breathing and may need to be put on a ventilator. If the patient does not receive enough medicine they may end up feeling the pain of their surgery. Another important role of the nurse anesthetist is to teach the patient and their family things they need to know regarding their condition. During a procedure the nurse anesthetist must closely watch the patient for any signs or symptoms of impending danger and respond quickly to keep the patient stable. The nurse must always monitor and record the condition of the patient as well as the vital signs before, during and after the surgery. At the end of the surgery the anesthetist needs to monitor the patient until the effects of the anesthesia wear off. Sometimes the anesthetist will give the patient a medication that will reverse the effects of the anesthesia (www.uta.edu). Nurse Anesthetist 2 The nurse anesthetist can have a great impact on how the patient feels about the care they receive. The obvious impact that a nurse anesthetist has on a patient is freedom from the fear of pain. This is a great relief for the patient which will in turn encourage the patient to cooperate in their care. Having a nurse anesthetist is cost effective when compared to an anesthesiologist which is a medical doctor who also has had training in anesthesia. To apply the concept of Neuman’s System Model a nurse anesthetist needs to be able to communicate clearly with the patient. If the patient understands details of his or her treatment they are more likely to cooperate. This model explains that mental health is not stuck in one spot but is on a pole which can move toward or away from wellness. To keep stress as low as possible, three levels of prevention are used. Primary prevention is used before symptoms happen. Secondary prevention is when symptoms are present. This helps build a defense by bringing the surface resources that usually were not required. Tertiary prevention looks at the return of the patient’s wellness. This is done by building on the client’s strengths. All three levels are meant to cause reduced stress and increase wellness (www.geocities.com). Nurses happened to be the first group of professionals to administer anesthesia in the United States. The AANA is an association that represents nurse anesthetists across the world. The association was formed in 1931 and currently represents about 28,000 CRNA’s (www.aana.com). Nurse Anesthetist 3 Many nurses are attracted to this profession for many reasons. One large difference from a registered nurse and a nurse anesthetist is the pay. On average a nurse anesthetist can usually earn double the income of the registered nurse. More money is needed however for education because there is at least two more years of schooling to take to become a nurse anesthetist but the payoff will be well worth it. Many nurses are intrigued by the never ending learning. Anesthesia is still somewhat a mystery to scientists and there are new discoveries being made every day. Many people in the medical profession enjoy lifelong learning and this happens to be one of the professions that can provide never ending questions. Many nurses still get great satisfaction from having a good relationship with their patients. It can feel very rewarding to ease a patients worries regarding surgery. A confident nurse anesthetist can reassure a worried patient that she will be watched and taken care of closely. The amount of responsibility also is one of the reasons that being a nurse anesthetist is such a fulfilling career. There are many other people in the room during surgery but the anesthetist has the responsibility to monitor the patient’s consciousness and to adjust as needed. The patient may be on a ventilator temporarily so the airway needs close attention. Due to the fact that anesthesia can have an effect on vital signs the nurse anesthetist much watch for changes closely. All in all the responsibilities of this career are many and demanding but having the chance to make such a direct impact on someone’s life is a privilege. The gratitude you may receive will become the icing on the cake. Nurse Anesthetist Running Head: Nurse Anesthetist The Role and Responsibilities of the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist I. Introduction a. define CRNA b. training requirements II. Role and Responsibilities III. Impact of the Profession IV. Neuman’s System Model V. Desirability of the Profession Work Cited 1. (www.aana.com), Qualifications and Capabilities of the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, retrieved 05/20/2007. 2. (www.geocities.com), Neuman’s System Model, retrieved 05/20/2007. 3. (www.uta.edu/nursing/BaylorAweb/anesth.htm), Nurse Anesthetist, retrieved 05/20/2007.

Allegories of Life Essay

In The Allegory of the Cave, Plato uses a vast spectrum of imagery to explain ones descent from the cave to the light. While Plato uses this Allegory to explain his point through Socrates to Glaucon. This allegory has many different meanings. The Allegory can be used in many different ways, from religion to politics to ones own intellectual enlightenment, or it can be interpreted as the blinded person in a colt like reality. Are we all prisoners in a world that is forced on us through the media? How do we really know that we are not just pawns in some one’s chess game. What meaning was Plato trying to introduce to Glaucon? This cave can represent many aspects in the world. And the prisoners can be any one. The puppeteers can be a symbol for people or for the things in life that hold us back from seeing and thinking clearly. As we look further into Plato’s work we will explore many different meanings for this allegory and attempt to give our life some meaning. I would li ke to start off with a summary of the allegory of the cave as I have understood it. In the the cave there are a group of prisoners bond form their neck to their feet facing a stone wall. They have been their since childhood. All they know of is what the puppeteers have shown them through the fire images. They hear sounds made by the puppeteers. And the shadow of images cast from the fire. They think that this is reality because it is all they have ever known. One prisoner is lead away from his shackles and is lead out of the cave. He his blinded by the sun at first. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light he see’s a tree a real green tree that is alive. Not the shadow of a tree shown by the puppeteers. The prisoner also see’s his reflection in the water. He see’s the world in its entirety. He has been enlighten. Just as the prisoner was getting a grasp of the real world he is lead back into the cave. The other prisoners are mocking him for what they thought of as a loss of sight. He try’s to explain to them what he has seen. But there pet ty little minds can’t grasp what he has seen nor do they believe what he says they have not seen it for them self. To understand what Plato’s passages meant is to try and understand yourself. Individual enlightenment is one way to analyze Plato’s Allegory of the cave. As children we are like those prisoners In the cave. Our parents shield us from the ugly cruel world. Until one day we are introduced to what the world is all about. As a child I feel I was shield from a lot of things death, divorce, heartache and pain. My grandfather died when I was seven, until then I didn’t think that life could be so unfair. But life is unfair at times and its is more than fair at others. We all have a cave in life and when we think outside the cave walls we will break free from the individual cave we make for our self. Life is all about pushing your self to the limits, finding out just what you can and what you can’t do. The stereo types or labeling we place on others can be a form of a cave. The cave is just a symbol for limitations we have. Until we have been enlighten we will never escape from the cave of life. At times we all need to be our own Plato and lead our self out of the cave. Like Plato Socrates and Aristotle the great philosophers of the past we all need to challenge society’s way of thinking. If you never learn to think for your self then what’s the point of going off to college and finding yourself. Live your life the way you see fit, love who you want to love. Stand out and dance in the rain if it means being who you are. Escape from your individual cave and see the light. Let the puppeteers know you know what reality is and you can think for yourself. Secondly there can be a religious allegory of the cave. The figures that were shown to the prisoner in the cave could be viewed as idols praised by the prisoners and puppeteers. Religion can be viewed by some as a cave. Being kept in the dark of there religion and forced never to see the light. Some religions brain wash there followers to see things only there way. If you don’t see, act or think how there religion views you should be. they may kill you. The Amish religion can be view like the prisoners in the cave. They are taught from a small age that God is all you need and the everyday life most Americans live is a blasphemy of God. They live a simple life most have no electrical devices and choose to dress modestly and in plain colored clothing. Some Amish travel to towns for supplies but most tend to grow everything there self. Children are shielded from the outside world until there teenage years when they participate in rumspringa. This event is where teenagers are given the choice to stay within the Amish culture or they ch oose to be an outsider. In summary the Amish are similar to the prisoners in the cave being told what to do and how to act there whole life until the day they can see the world and make their own choices. One important note most Amish teenagers choose to stay within the Amish community. Cults are similar to the Allegory of the cave. Members are kept in the dark, from what the real motivates behind the puppeteers actions are. Once one is lead away from the cult and one see’s for them self that there is more to life than what cult has shown them. They are enlightened and can see and choose for them self what they choose to be real or imaginary. There is also a political cave, and we Americans at times get blind by what we want to see. Then we never really see the truth behind the facade. As well know the truth is harder to see and recognize. We see what we want to see as the truth. The politicians are the puppeteers and we the citizens are the prisoners. We see and hear what they want us to know. And as we all know when we step outside from what they want us to know the consequences can be death. The government tells us what we can and can’t do by the way of the justice system, not saying that its wrong. But it seems the more money you have the more you can get away with . The political cave has many different levels and different puppeteers, we as common citizens will always be the prisoners to a higher power that can clinch its fist at any time and change how we live our life. One of the most common caves we put our self’s in is the intellectual cave. You can be placed in to the cave because of where you live or how you perceive yourself. The intellectual cave of life. So many face this cave and don’t have the courage or resources to step into the light. What some Americans take for granted is a quality education. There are so many prisoners of the intellectual cave, some are put there by their own doing. It seem better to work a minimum wage 9 to 5 everyday than to spend that time getting a higher education. The very extremes of this type of intellectual cave is being a drug dealer these persons feel they can make more money selling drugs and book smarts wont get them anywhere. But what these select individuals don’t understand that is that getting a better education is the key to getting what they want out of life and making a better future for their family then what was hand to them. The ones addicted to the drugs they sell are in a cave all of there own. Most say when they do reach that point of sobriety its like coming out of the darkness, like they have been lead out of the cave of addiction. After having read Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, I fell I have been enlighten even more. This isn’t the first passage of Plato I have read, it does have a lot of information in very few lines. The Allegory can be used in many different ways, from religion to politics to ones own intellectual enlightenment, or it can be interpreted as the blinded person in a colt like reality. I have discussed in the previous chapters the many different types of caves this allegory can portray. We may never know what plato’s literal intentions were. What the cave and prisoners were really an analogy for. But I believe that was plato’s point in writing this allegory in such a way that it could have all different types of meanings. This passage was written thousands of years ago but all of his words still fit this day and time, and will reach far into the future. We as young adults need to help those left behind in the cave and open there eyes to the light of enlightenment. Weather it be leading them out of a gang or off of drugs. A brighter more prosperous future shouldn’t only be for those more fortunate than the many. For those left in the religious cave of life one day the vale shall be lifted and there freedom will come to them as well. They will one day be able to make their own religious choices for their self. Plato’s allegory of the cave will be past down from generation to generation.

Personal Statement,The purpose of the study Statement

,The purpose of the study - Personal Statement Example My doctoral degree in educational technology would equip with huge knowledge and skills and help me contribute to expanding educational programs through new medium of digital technology. Communication technology promotes highly innovative approach to education and my interest in online educational programs would get a great boost through my doctoral program. In recent times, online education has increasingly become popular across the globe. It offers new hope to people who were hitherto not able to pursue education or higher education due to personal constraints. Online education or distance education provides people with vast options to acquire new skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of time and compete successfully. I would like to contribute to the online education through highly creative methodology of web design and introduce design educational animations. I strongly believe that multimedia in education hugely facilitates learning abilities of students and helps meet their individual needs for optimal achievement. My PhD would help gain expertise in the chosen field so that it could be used to achieve my long term and short term goals in life. I am also highly driven individual with ambitious goals in the area of online educational programs. I would like to attain the highest level of professional excellence, in terms of gaining knowledge and experience so as to reach the position of Professor in a renowned university. The evolving instructional technology is hugely challenging and offers huge scope for personal and professional development. Most importantly, in the area of distance education, online courses utilize technology judiciously to deliver the wider goals of education and make it accessible to people from different demographic segment across the globe. Moreover, the online courses also help evolve new curricula and approach that not only

History of Russia and Its Economy Research Paper

History of Russia and Its Economy - Research Paper Example This paper will thus talk about the country Russia by focusing on the relationship between the country and its economy since 1910 to today in a bid to identify some of the risks associated with opening an ICT related business in the country (Yergin and Stanislaw, 2002). Imperial Russia (1910-1922). During this time, Russia was regarded as the largest country by land mass and population in Europe and an additional prestige of the biggest army in the world. Being the largest source of agricultural products most of which it exported, in addition, to the overwhelming mineral resources, its trade was more of a give and take. Literary it stood to gain a lot from these exports thus making it a prime beneficiary of foreign investment (Yergin and Stanislaw, 2002). This was emphasized by the fact that markets were free in the making. It is during this time that Russia emerged as a capitalist economy. This resulted from the capability it had of feeding its population without any assistance from outside. However, this economic progress was only tied to the peasant agricultural production rather than the commercial sector. ... This was to be the beginning of inflation that would later be fuelled by the attempt of the government to print more money. The occurrence of the First World War and domestic revolutions came as a major setback in Russia’s economy that left a story people have lived to tell. The free markets that once existed were no longer available, for it saw a monopoly on prices that were subjugated by the government. USSR (1922-1952). It is at this stage that the future of the soviet economy is established. The government’s involvement in implementing strategies that could raise them above this crisis led to an immediate and theatrical step up in the economy. The government decided to introduce incentives to farmers to enable them farmland, in addition, to the opening up lands for privatisation. This functioned to limit small trade and increase industrial production. It is noticeable that the world was hit by the great depression during this time. However, due to these strategies, as the rest of the world dragged, the soviet was on the move trying to wipe of the dust and forge ahead (Yergin and Stanislaw, 2002). However, due to the collective nature of the Soviet agriculture, the economy did not improve as much. This followed stiffer regulations on production that saw the government prioritise industrial growth with steel, coal, power chemicals, and the military topping the list. It is at this time that the government resorts to acknowledge quantity over quality with efforts to maintain a high productivity. This indeed sailed the country through making it the largest employer in Europe by the fall of 1940. Even as, the Second World War started, the Soviet had established

ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL & CONSUMER LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL & CONSUMER LAW - Essay Example In relation to the concept of Ayres & Braithwaite, the notion of responsive regulation comprises two major interpretations — the ‘tit-for-tat responsive regulation’ and the ‘restorative justice (RJ) responsive regulation’. With this regard, the concepts have been recognised to fetch a major debating subject for the organisations while remaining keen to implement responsive regulations2. Applying a critical point of view, in order to assess the way of effective persuasion of the model, the paper evaluates the key effectiveness of responsive regulation that can enable an organisation to maintain a strong reputation within a particular market or industry. Correspondingly, to assess the efficacy of the model, the report also describes its effectiveness in response to regulatory powers and responses available under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. With reference to an in-depth understanding, the concept of responsive regulation is designed by Ayres and Braithwaite, with the aim of addressing issues associated with the restricted resources. In addition to the observation, the regulation is also developed in order to effectively deal with limitations relating to modest compliance or deterrence execution strategies and efficiently respond towards numerous pluralistic motivations that are likely to be driven by the compliance behaviour of the individuals3. The key aspects of responsive regulatory concept that highly apprehend the imaginary attributes of the practitioners are often considered as an idea of the responsive regulatory pyramid. It is owing to the fact that interpretation of responsive regulation to the respective practitioners by any individual generally ends by asking them for selecting a regulatory challenge and is likely to bring major conflicts among the practitioners. The scenario is often observed to invite the practitioners to focus on preliminary designing of

Research paper on drugstore retail management Essay

Research paper on drugstore retail management - Essay Example Rational for Investigating: As the drugstores increase in numbers across the country, its important to ensure that even those that are yet to come will have a scheme for success that will have been established earlier on. Teamwork in any organization is very important and it can see the company improve drastically as in the case of Walgreens, CVs and Albertsons. The increased number of drug stores is very much intriguing, which from previous research imply that the use of teamwork is very efficient in achieving greater sales. The Procedure: The research will be conducted via the library sources from which the mushrooming of drug stores and there strategic management will be explored by getting the answers to the following questions; - what determines the growth of drugstores; is teamwork a critical factor in growth of drugstores; how is the drugstore handling ethical issues. Some of the managers from successful drugstores will also be interviewed. In An interview, the then manager and founder of Walgreen, Charles R Walgreen Himself in 1925 claimed that then success of any organization was wholly dependent on the manager’s character. The same sentiments are again echoed almost 100 years down the line. Daniel L Jorndt 75 years after later reiterates that the success of the company was due to a very long history of work, positive interaction among workers, and work ethics. The success of any organization depends entirely on the management. From such words, it becomes clear that the success of this company is due to basically the efforts of the management and the workers combined. Working as a team towards common goal is very critical. The drugstore business in the US is lead by big stores that use teamwork as a stepping stone to success; Walgreen, Albertsons and CVS. Some people oppose that management is not fundamental claiming that Its very difficult to attribute the

Paolo Freire's as a Great Educator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Paolo Freire's as a Great Educator - Essay Example Paolo Freire was born in the Northeastern port of Recife, September 19, 1921. His parents were not rich and their family can be related more to a middle-class family. It should be mentioned that the life of middle class was greatly influenced by historical events that took place in Brazil that time. The Great Depression has made a great impact on their way of living in Brazil. Family’s financial status was also shaken after death of Paolo’s father. Paolo was prevented from his proper education at school and when family has sustained after the crisis, he managed to finish his school education and entered the University of Pernambuco to study law and philosophy. In 1944 Freire got married. He married an elementary school teacher Elza Maia Costa Oliveira and they gave birth to five children. Parenthood of Freire contributed much to his further development: â€Å"As a parent, Paulo’s interests in theories of education began to grow, leading him to do more extensive reading in education, philosophy, and the sociology of education than in law. In fact after passing the bar he quickly abandoned law as a means of earning a living in order to go work as a welfare official...† (Faundez, p. 22). ... There was a great percent of illiterate people at that time and it reached 75%. Freire began his career in a challenging cultural environment and his role as a great educator and a philosopher cannot be denied. Freire and his Ideas Poor people of Recife were Freire’s audience. He worked in the slums of Recife. He thought that authoritarian relationship between teacher and pupil was inefficient. Freire underlined that the process making an individual literate was the first step on the way of dealing with poverty. Freire tried to improve his experience while working as a teacher of poor people. He expanded his work and the results were successful: "The results of this experiment were impressive. Three hundred workers learned to read and write in forty-five days† (Elias, p. 4). An urban teacher has turned into a national expert in the issue of adult literacy. In spite of the phenomenal success of his programs there were some challenges. He was a great educator and he made p oor people believe in themselves and after that he provided them with information and knowledge. He inspired those people who seemed to be never restored to reinstate their minds and self-esteem again. He tried to prove that the first step in dealing with poverty was the economic justice, reform and opposition to repression. It is known that â€Å"Freirean-based literacy programs involve an examination of society’s hidden economies of power and privilege and how these help to inform students’ subjectivities" (McLaren & Leonard, p. 53). The underclass has been often challenged in terms of political and economic oppression. Freire tried to expand his ideas across the nation. He thought about a nation-wide implementation of educational programs. â€Å"This national

Plot the overcoat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Plot the overcoat - Essay Example (Graffy, 2000) The story entails an exposition that defines the initial premise of the story and Akakiy’s character, a passive civil servant, who is highly skilled in what he does but due to his appearance and aloof nature is often mocked by his superiors and inferiors alike. The focus of the story is then shifted towards Akakiy’s overcoat that has immense significance in the story to the protagonist because the coat was symbolic of social acceptance and a new life for him. However, the overcoat also serves as the main source of conflict and complication in the story, as all the other characters of the story do not understand the significance of the coat to Akakiy. Other characters deem it as an ordinary object, which on the other hand was symbolic of social acceptance for Akakiy as mentioned earlier. Akakiy’s old overcoat is ragged and does not really help to protect Akakiy from the icy cold weather of St. Petersburg.

The Cornell University Essay Example for Free

The Cornell University Essay Is a research that was conducted by the Cornell University and it did set a good example and helped in the development of the undeveloped nations. The research covered areas of Lake Titicaca Lima, Peru and Chibote. The main objective of this project was to make the natives of these areas in to the new world full of technology and improve their economy. Is was tasking job to put into practice because they still were to implement in other places like Bang Chan, Thailand, India, they did put records of all the works they did and even today is available in the libraries. During the course of their mission they were having problems due to communication barrier between the researchers and people who lived there, but as they continued with their research they learned these languages and some of them finally managed to speak the Quechua Language. Mario Vazquez was hired as the acting director of the Vicos Project, other seven Peruvians. The whole project to complete took the team fourteen years to complete and compile all their findings. They evaluated places like the Vicos Hacienda which had an area of estimated 44000 acres of land and of which less that 10% of it was cultivated. The fertile lands were controlled by the rich, but later the Hacienda was announced a public property something that many termed as ironical. The Cornell Project in conjunction with the government enacted good health plans and supply of essential dugs to the residents of the area, as mast of them were affected by infectious diseases which they helped and treated. Vegetations were adversely affected due to pest which had invaded the area and thus totally reducing the production. In the Hacienda there were workers who protected the horses in the farm and they were being overworked by their bosses.The project was a major success for those who managed it and they achieved their objectives as they had planned. References JSTOR: Directed Cultural Change in Peru: A Guide to the Vicos retrieved on 21st Dec 2008, available at links. jstor. org/sici? sici=0002-7294 (197703)2%3A79%3A1%3C144%3ADCCIPA%3E2. 0. C – Women and Gender Equity in Development Theory and Practice: Google Books Result retrieved on 21st Dec 2008, available at books. google. com/books? isbn=0822336987

Teaching Diverse Learners In Any School Environment Education Essay

Teaching Diverse Learners In Any School Environment Education Essay In this course, youll review relevant research, observe video discussions and classroom examples, and do activities on working with learners who are at different levels and who have different learning abilities and approaches. At the end of this course, you will better understand how to identify the various aspects of diversity that affect foreign language learning; and be able to develop strategies for improving the learning of all students in your classroom. You will partake in activities will focus on how to be a leader in your school for diversity, how to assess diversity in your classroom, how to think critically about new ways to teach your curriculum, and how to engage diversity among students. Teachers today gain a broad range of experiences and perspectives through working in public schools today and meet students that differ from them culturally, linguistically, and ethnically. Creating a classroom that caters to these diverse students offers a powerful resource for them to learn more in different ways, in new environments, and with different types of people. Every single teacher in our continuously changing and diverse system has the power to serve as an invaluable resource for all students and peers. Teachers will learn how to become an enabler in the classroom and in their school catering their classroom for all types of students especially because of the growing diversity in U.S. classrooms. The student will be able to: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Use assessment tools to utilize in your class à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gain classroom tips and activities through à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learn best practices à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Create an action plan to increase diversity understanding in your school both in and out of the classroom à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Network with other educators who are concerned with diversity Define and understand disability in the United States Deal with conflict Set up a classroom that caters to diversity Incorporate all types of students Incorporate University Design for Learning Online Learning with Full Instructor Facilitation Our institution maintains an online platform that automatically grades student pre- and post-assessments, monitors their participation in the lecture, and awards them credit when they post in the discussion area. Instructors will monitor the progress and quality of work the students provide, including the threaded discussions, and will provide feedback and evaluate the midterm and final projects. Weekly Online Lecture Assignments: Week 1 Text Reading: Read BUILDING CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION IN DIVERSE CLASSROOMS Critical Issue: Educating Teachers for Diversity Insensitivity to Physical, Racial, or Ethnic Differences Answer Questions (Open Ended) Describe the cultural, linguistic, and/or ethnic diversity in your classroom. How do you draw on this diversity to promote learning? What learning styles seem to predominate among your students (for example, auditory, visual)? How do you accommodate those learning styles? Watch Video Clips Clip 1: Bank Street College of Education Empowers New Teachers (This old college is teaching aspiring educators new tricks, with a focus on experiential learning, classroom immersion, and mentoring) Clip 2: 10 Big Ideas for Better Classrooms: Striving to Improve Public Education (Using Student examples: Successful examples of key elements in improving public education: Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, Integrated Studies, Cooperative Learning, Comprehensive Assessment, Emotional Intelligence, Teacher Preparation, Parent Involvement, Community Partners, and Maximize Resources) Clip 3: CREDE Principles Applied to the Re-Invention of Teacher Preparation(Marty Alberg University of Memphis This presentation provides an overview of the application of CREDE principles at three levels: 1.) The University of Memphis teacher preparation classroom; 2.) Middle school classrooms in Memphis, TN through the Three Rs Program; and 3.) The state of Tennessee through the Problem Based Learning component of the Tennessee Board of Regents Teaching Quality Initiative. As do CREDE?based strategies, problem?based approaches to teacher preparation engage pre?service teachers in learning opportunities that challenge their cognitive and problem solving skills; promote learning through cooperation and teamwork; connect teaching with real?world student experiences, skills, and educational needs; and facilitate learning through meaningful, productive activity. Participants will experience problem? based pedagogy through sample cases developed for teacher preparation in Tennessee.) Assignment: Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Week 2 Text Reading: Read Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Building on Americas Strengths Preparing teachers for children in poverty: the Nashville district picks up the mantle for qualified instruction in high-needs schools School Leadership and Student Motivation. Answer Questions (Open Ended) If you are familiar with the concepts of the multiple intelligences theory, what steps have you taken to incorporate them in your teaching? In multilevel classes or ones in which proficiency levels are quite varied, how have you differentiated instruction for the range of performance levels? Watch Video Clips Clip 1: Teacher and Student Education In Diversity, part 1 Clip 2: Teacher and Student Education In Diversity, part 2 Clip 3: UDL Guidelines in Practice: Grade 5 Language Arts (A panel of UDL experts takes you inside a diverse urban school to show master teachers applying the principles and guidelines of UDL.) Clip 4: Best Practices through Universal Design for Learning Clip 5: An Introduction to Integrated Studies (Combining academic subjects produces deeper learning and a better understanding of the interrelationships between them) Assignment: Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Week 3 Text Reading: Read DIVERSITY AND COMPLEXITY IN THE CLASSROOM Disaggregated Outcomes of Gender, Ethnicity, and Poverty on Fifth Grade Science Performance Educating Students from Generational Poverty: Building Blocks from A to Z Framework for Understanding Poverty Answer Questions (Open Ended) Have you taught special needs students in your classroom? If so, how did you respond to the instructional challenges that they posed? In your experience, how can learning disabilities or learning differences affect learning in a foreign language classroom? What school resources have you found to be helpful when you are faced with making an accommodation that you have not had to make before Watch Video Clips Clip 1: Working With Students From the Culture of Poverty (In their Classroom Instruction That Works research, McREL and Robert Marzano identified nine strategies that can be applied in any learning environment and result in significantly increased student learning. When implemented consistently and correctly, these research-based strategies can provide average percentile point gains as high as 45% on student achievement tests.) Clip 2: Working With Students From the Culture of Poverty 2 (Although most educators are familiar with the Classroom Instruction That Works research, teachers still need help transferring the theory into practice.) Clip 3: Children in Americas Schools clip1 open (Poverty in the classroom) Clip 4: Children In Americas Schools clip2 Poverty (Poverty in the classroom) Clip 5: Children in Americas Schools Clip 3(Poverty in the classroom) Assignment: Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Midterm Project Due Week 4 Text Reading: Read Diversity is a Key To Reducing Racial Bias in Schools Diversity Reduces Racial Bias in Schools Strengthening Teacher-student relationships Watch Video Clips Clip 1: High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools Clip 2: Challenging Poverty (Some schools have over 75% of their students living in poverty. Many students are homeless. They may find alternative housing or simply couch hop with friends or relatives) Clip 3: Challenging Teachers (Teachers and students talk about challenges in the classroom.) Clip 4: Challenging Coursework (Students need challenging coursework to prepare them for higher education. High Schools and nonprofits have programs that help lower income students prepare for college.) Clip 5: Challenging System (Minnesota used to be one of the top states in education. That is not true today. And the expectations of what education needs to provide for students futures are more challenging than ever.) Clip 6: Challenging Peers (Peers can help each other succeed or fail. Education is seen by some to be not cool. Some black students feel doing well in school is white so they dont fully participate. Sometimes students can change to a different school or find their own way to succeed.) Assignment: Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Week 5 Text Reading: Read When teachers build relationships with students Watch Video Clips Clip 1: Learning on Purpose: Transforming a Good School into a Great School (Wall-to-wall career academies and a transition program for ninth graders have helped create an environment at this Texas high school in which rigorous, relevant education inside and outside of the classroom is the norm for all students.) Clip 2: Teaching Students to Work Together (Integrated curricula, team teaching, and technology tools have built up the academic achievement and self-esteem of these rural Louisiana middle school students.) Clip 3: The Key Learning Community: Cultivating Multiple Intelligences (Swimming against the tide, this K-12 Indianapolis school emphasizes exploration and deep understanding over rote memorization) Clip 4: Principal Derek Pierce on Building Relationships Between Students and Teachers (How a Portland, Maine high school made human relationships the building blocks of high student achievement.) Clip 5: Mr. D TV 1-14-10 Building Relationships With Students Mid-Year (Topic: Reaching out to students you havent built a relationship with. Mr. D TV is a weekly teacher advice vlog from the author of I Want to Teach Forever (teachforever.com). ) Assignment: Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Week 6 Text Reading: Read Diversity in America Equal is not Enough Current Issues in Inclusive Education in the Eyes of Children Watch Video Clips Clip 1: Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences (Edutopia revisits its 1997 interview with the Harvard University professor about multiple intelligences and new forms of assessment.) Clip 2: The Key Learning Community: Cultivating Multiple Intelligences (Swimming against the tide, this K-12 Indianapolis school emphasizes exploration and deep understanding over rote memorization. ) Clip 3: Multiple Intelligences Leave No Child Behind (Edutopia revisits Indianapoliss Key Learning Community to see how things have changed since our first look in 2001) Clip 4: Diversity in Teach For America (Listen as corps members reflect on the importance of bringing diverse perspectives and backgrounds into the classroom.) Clip 5: Teach For America Alums Reflect Assignment: Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Final Project Due Discussion Board: Students must submit one unique comment each week in regards to each of the assigned text reading and reply to a fellow students comments at least twice each week. The comments should relate to the material the text reading discusses. Each comment should be at least three sentences in length. The week ends Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time If a student works ahead during the six week course they should still post every week for the automatic scoring software to count the postings. Students are reminded to check the announcement section of the discussion board frequently for items of interest from the faculty. Students are also reminded to use the email, not the discussion board, to ask questions or make comments directed to their facilitator. Methods of instruction: Percentage of Course Credit Video Lectures 20% Textbook/Articles Readings 10% Midterm project 25% Final project 30% Discussion Board interaction (weekly submissions) 10% Participation 5% Grading criteria/system and evaluation activities: A faculty member will be reviewing students answers and providing feedback. Students will be evaluated on their creativity and ability to incorporate techniques from the lecture into the discussion board, research papers, examples, lesson plans and teacher work samples. University Grading Criteria Grade Equivalent 97-100% A+ 93-96% A 90-92% A- 87-89% B+ 83-86% B 80-82% B- 77-79% C+ 73-76% C 70-72% C- 69% or below U Attendance/Participation It is expected that students will attend all instructional sessions, complete all required activities, and field assignments. Students who do not post in the discussion area during the first week of class AND do not notify the instructor in advance will be dropped from the course and may be charged a course drop fee. University Computer Lab/Library Services Please refer to Section VI in the Student Handbook. Disability Services Please refer to Section VII in the Student Handbook. Due dates of major assignments and projects: Midterm Project Due Date: TBA Final Project Due Date: TBA Midterm Project Design for Instruction TWS Standard 4 The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts. Task Describe how you will design your unit instruction related to unit goals, students characteristics and needs, and the specific learning context. Prompt Results of pre-assessment. After administering the pre-assessment, analyze student performance relative to the learning goals. Depict the results of the pre-assessment in a format that allows you to find patterns of student performance relative to each learning goal. You may use a table, graph, or chart. Describe the pattern you find that will guide your instruction or modification of the learning goals. Unit overview. Provide an overview of your unit. Use a visual organizer such as a block plan or outline to make your unit plan clear. Include the topic or activity you are planning for each day/period. Also indicate the goal or goals (coded from your Learning Goals section) that you are addressing in each activity. Make sure that every goal is addressed by at least one activity and that every activity relates to at least one goal. Activities. Describe at least three unit activities that reflect a variety of instructional strategies/techniques and explain why you are planning those specific activities. In your explanation for each activity, include: how the content relates to your instructional goal(s), how the activity stems from your pre-assessment information and contextual factors, what materials/technology you will need to implement the activity, and how you plan to assess student learning during and/or following the activity (i.e., formative assessment). Technology. Describe how you will use technology in your planning and/or instruction. If you do not plan to use any form of technology, provide your clear rationale for its omission. Suggested Page Length: 3 + visual organizer Design for Instruction Rubric TWS Standard: The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts. Rating  ® Indicator  ¯ 1 Indicator Not Met 2 Indicator Partially Met 3 Indicator Met Score Alignment with Learning Goals Few lessons are explicitly linked to learning goals. Few learning activities, assignments and resources are aligned with learning goals. Not all learning goals are covered in the design. Most lessons are explicitly linked to learning goals. Most learning activities, assignments and resources are aligned with learning goals. Most learning goals are covered in the design. All lessons are explicitly linked to learning goals. All learning activities, assignments and resources are aligned with learning goals. All learning goals are covered in the design. Accurate Representation of Content Teachers use of content appears to contain numerous inaccuracies. Content seems to be viewed more as isolated skills and facts rather than as part of a larger conceptual structure. Teachers use of content appears to be mostly accurate. Shows some awareness of the big ideas or structure of the discipline. Teachers use of content appears to be accurate. Focus of the content is congruent with the big ideas or structure of the discipline. Lesson and Unit Structure The lessons within the unit are not logically organized organization (e.g., sequenced). The lessons within the unit have some logical organization and appear to be somewhat useful in moving students toward achieving the learning goals. All lessons within the unit are logically organized and appear to be useful in moving students toward achieving the learning goals. Use of a Variety of Instruction, Activities, Assignments and Resources Little variety of instruction, activities, assignments, and resources. Heavy reliance on textbook or single resource (e.g., work sheets). Some variety in instruction, activities, assignments, or resources but with limited contribution to learning. Significant variety across instruction, activities, assignments, and/or resources. This variety makes a clear contribution to learning. Use of Contextual Information and Data to Select Appropriate and Relevant Activities, Assignments and Resources Instruction has not been designed with reference to contextual factors and pre-assessment data. Activities and assignments do not appear productive and appropriate for each student. Some instruction has been designed with reference to contextual factors and pre-assessment data. Some activities and assignments appear productive and appropriate for each student. Most instruction has been designed with reference to contextual factors and pre-assessment data. Most activities and assignments appear productive and appropriate for each student. Use of Technology Technology is inappropriately used OR teacher does not use technology, and no (or inappropriate) rationale is provided. Teacher uses technology but it does not make a significant contribution to teaching and learning OR teacher provides limited rationale for not using technology. Teacher integrates appropriate technology that makes a significant contribution to teaching and learning OR provides a strong rationale for not using technology. Final Project Lesson Planning Activity The project will consist of constructing, implementing, and evaluating a lesson plan that incorporates diversity in the classroom. The student should include strategies and techniques emphasized in the course. The assignment should contain the following information: A description of the classroom environment (e.g. grade level, student/teacher ratio, race if known, ELL, etc.) The proposed lesson plan, incorporating strategies and techniques emphasized in the KDS video presentations. The desired or expected outcome of following the new lesson plan. An evaluation of the lesson plan and its effect on student learning, attitude, etc. Did the results match your expected outcome? Why or why not? How do you know? The assignment should be a total of 5-7 pages in length and include 3-5 references. Use APA format: Use the standard Cover Page and submit to your course facilitator. All assignments are done in 12 pt. Times New Roman font and in APA, 5th Edition format. Add a Reference page that lists items of the authors works cited in your document. Use APA format for the items. Scoring Rubric for Assignment Total Value: 100 Points (25% of final course grade) Content of Paper -Value: 70 points Copy of your lesson plan, your reflections. Quality of Writing Value: 20 points Written work shows superior graduate quality in verbal expression, attention to detail, and correct application of the conventions of the English language. In students written work, paragraphing is appropriate with clear thesis statements and supporting details. Sentences are clear and concise. Students vary sentence structure making use of subordinate clauses. Transitional words and phrases are used effectively. Points and ideas are well organized. Word choice is effective. English language conventions are applied correctly (i.e. spelling, capitalization, punctuation, agreement, pronoun usage, sentence structure).   Format Value: 10 points Cover Page, Reference Page and where applicable, citations and references are used correctly and consistently, with clear efforts made to include a wide range of relevant works. For any work requiring citations, students refer to a wide range of suitable sources. All non original ideas are cited correctly and referenced in a reference list. All works in the reference list are cited in the text. Students  should follow the writing format and style as required by the APA Publication Manual, 5th Edition.

Silas Marner by George Eliot - Carefully examine the way in which the E

Silas Marner by George Eliot - Carefully examine the way in which the momentous events of New Year’s Eve dramatically changed Silas Marner’s life. Carefully examine the way in which the momentous events of New Year’s Eve dramatically changed Silas Marner’s life. â€Å"Silas Marner† the novel wrote by George Eliot, is about the linen weaver of an isolated village known as Raveloe. Marner was once a well respected member of a community in a northern district town called Lantern Yard. But after everyone thinking he had been possessed by Satan, a string of events took place where he lost everything he ever valued. Marner was a very religious man and a devote Christian. He was always socialising and very much part of the society. He was forever in the church and gave everything he had to them. An example for this is shown on page 14. â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Marner was highly thought of in that little hidden world known to itself as a church.† This showed that people thought a lot of him and was an extremely popular guy. He had many friends, but one special one who he relied upon for everything. His name was William Dane. He was also in a loving relationship with his fiancà ©e Sarah. After Silas was framed for the theft of the church money, by his so called friend William Dane, he becomes a complete social outcast. At first he thinks God will clear him, but this hope turned into misery when his religious community casts him out. His faith in god is completely lost. Sarah breaks up with him and soon marries William Dane. This makes him realise he can not trust man either. This is shown on page 20, â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Poor Marner went out with that despair in his soul- That shaken trust in God and man, which is a little short of madness to... ... isolated outcast, to a suspicious foreigner and now a well respected member of his society. Marner’s main priority is Eppie. This is shown when the money is handed back to him and he says â€Å"†¦.it takes no hold of me now.† This shows all of his love is concentrated on Eppie. His life has had many ups and downs but he has got on with it and in the end has become a much stronger person, with his faith in God and man restored. This is shown when he says, â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Since the time the child was sent to me and I’ve come to love her as myself, I’ve had light enough to trusten by, and now she says she’ll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die.† This puts his mind at ease that he will always have someone to love who will love him back. All of these events have shown that Marner’s life has changed dramatically to make him a much stronger, reliable person.

Essay on Personal Freedom Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon essays

Search for Personal Freedom Song of Solomon      Ã‚  Ã‚   Personal freedom is the ability to ignore societal and familial influences to find the true sense of self. Individuals are truly liberated when they are physically, mentally, and spiritually free. The search for personal freedom is exemplified in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. The main protagonist, Milkman achieves personal freedom through attainment of knowledge, by confronting his family, and by overcoming the prejudices of society.    Knowledge is a primary factor in the attainment of personal freedom. This includes not only scholarly education but also awareness of historical heritage and familial legacy. The fact that African-Americans were held in human bondage cannot be forgotten; it has to be remembered and passed on through rememory. Moreover, literacy gives minority cultures a voice to reach out to others with encouragement and hope.    Milkman has a high school education which he took for granted. For Milkman to achieve personal freedom, he needs to search for his ancestral roots. Milkman's father, Macon Dead, Jr., denies Milkman his rememories because Macon assumes that achieving the American Dream means erasing his past. However, as stated above, Morrison believes Milkman has to remember; he has to know his past in order to know his self. His father taught him that Athe one important thing you'll ever need to know: Own things. And let the things you own own other things. Then you'll own yourself and other people too@ (Morrison 55). Macon falsely leads Milkman to believe that "You'll be free. Money is freedom Macon. The only real freedom there is" (163). Milkman buys into his father's fallacy as he too frantically searches for the gold that will s... ... personal freedom is not an easy one, but we must persevere. Milkman's realization of his personal freedom came as his life ended. We must all remember the old Chinese proverb "The longest journey begins with a single step".    WORKS CITED Carmean, Karen, Toni Morrison's World of Fiction, Troy: The Whitston Publishing Company, 1993. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Plume, Peach, Norman. Modern Novelists Toni Morrison. Ed. Norman Page. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995. Storhoff, Gary. "'Anaconda Love': Parental Enmeshment in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon." Style 31 No. 2 (Summer 1997). 290-309. September 18, 2001 <http.//p26688.cl.uh.edu:2071/cgi-bin/web>. Willbern, David. "Reading After Freud." Ed. G. Douglas Atkins and Laura Morrow. Contemporary Literary Theory. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989. 158-179.

Long Distance Relationship And How To Make It Work Essay -- essays res

Long Distance Relationship and How To Make It Work Dear Love Lady,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have a love problem and I don't know what to do. I am a freshman in college and so is my boyfriend. We have been together since our senior year in high school, and we are very much in love. But, since we've been at college, we have developed a problem. We don't see each other from month to month. You see, we go to colleges in completely different states. We have always lived on the same street, but now we are so far apart. I don't even know if it will work, or better yet how to make it work. Any advice? Sad and In Love, Atlanta, GA Dear Sad and In Love,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well, it sounds as if you have a great thing if you can just stick with it. As a matter of fact, I have been in a situation just like yours. My boyfriend and I had just the same problem back when we were in college, and we made it work. We are now happily married with two beautiful children. So, I think I can give you a few pointers on how to keep your love going. You are going to have to have three important things to make it work though. Those things are trust, communication and patience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First and the most important, you and your boyfriend need to have trust in each other. In every relationship there has to be trust, but for some reason, in long-distance relationships, it seems like there has to be just a little something more. Since you two are so far apart, yo...

The Crying of Lot 49 – the Mystery of Trystero

Thomas Pynchon’s novel The Crying of Lot 49 is his second novel, and its his shortest novel, and many even consider it more of an experimantal novel. This novel is about a woman named Oedipa Maas and her quest for the secret behind a hidden and a shadowy organization known as Trystero ( it is also sometimes spelled as Tristero ). This novel was written in 1960s which was a very turbulent time in the history of the United States. Many things happened during this period, many of them had a dramatic influencce on the lives of the ordinary people. During this period, the world witnessed the assassination of J. F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, there was also the rise in the rights women and Civil Rights movement. This was also a time of the so called drug culture, for the abuse of drugs was very common. The novel shows us this world as a world that is constantly high, constantly on drugs and drunk, filled with secrets, information from questionable sources and secret identites. The subject of this paper is the secret society and an organization known as Trystero and their secret underground war against United States government and the official state postal system. Before we move on to the story of the novel, we must first remind ourselves of the postmodern novel and what constitutes a postmodern literature. Postmodern literature, as postmodernism as a whole, is very hard to define for there are no standards for it nor are there any founding fathers, writers who set the standards for it. We could say that postmodern literature is a continuation of the experimantation started by the modernist writers and authors and their usage of fragmentation, paradox, questionable authors, etc and it is also a reaction against the enlighment ideas set by modernist literature. As it was mentioned, postmodern literature is very hard to define and many even say that is no longer exists, also hard to determine. However, many authors and literary critics agree on common themes that occur in postmodern literature, themese that are almost always present in these works and that are always grouped together in order to create irony, humour or to parody something. These themes are however not always used all the postmodern authors, so they can not be called standard postmodern themes, but they occcur most commonly. Thomas Pynchon and his novel The Crying of Lot 49 are an example of postmodern writing, for Pynchon always uses parody, paranoia, playfulness and black humour in his works, and this work is also filled with these themes. Postmodern authors, Pynchon among them, usually treat serious themes and subjects in a humorous and funny manner. Pynchon does that in this novel. In The Crying of Lot 49, Pynchon deals with a serious topic about lives of people in a modern consumer America, about secrets and mysterious organizations, secret identities and also how information can influence our thoughts and even confuse and disturb us, but he approached all of that in a humorous and a funny way. This novel is a sort of a parody of a detective novel. This is because in real detective novels, the hero starts to solve the mystery starting from various and numerous clues, from a, we could say, chaos of information and draws a conclusion which leads to the truth behind the mystery and reveals the bad guy. In this novel however, we have Oedipa who opens a mailbox to get the letter and discovers that she has a job to do, pretty simple really, but as the novel progresses, her life and task become more complicated and complicated, she learns about the Trystero and her ex-boyfriend’s job and business undertakings but instead of making things clear, instead of solving the mystery of the Trystero, she became even more confused than she was when she first found out about them, so much confused that she almost lost her mind and started to think if it all was nothing more than a joke, created by her deceased ex-boyfriend or even maybe this was all just the work of her own imagination. This novel also has paranoia present in itself, Oedipa becomes paranoid about the world and the people around herself, but she is not the only one really. Almost all characters are paranoid, and the existence of the Trystero is more than enough to create a paranoid world. What also makes this novel postmodern is the usage of wordplay. Pynchon plays with words, names of the people, like Pierce Inverarity, Mike Fallopian, Stanley koteks, Oedipa Maas, with the names of the towns like San Narciso and we also have the wordplay with words like waste which is turned here in this novel into an acronym W. A. S. T. E. and KCUF radio station. What also makes this novel postmodern is that we have unreliable narrator. Oedipa Maas is the main protagonist of this story, but we see the action of the novel only as she does and we know what we know, no more no less, and she is almost always drunk or on drugs, just like all other characters that appear in the novel. We can say that this novel also combines elements of both modern and postmodern novels, because the relation between these two genres is often connected because they share both similarities and differences. Oedipa Maas is the heroine, a modernist heroine who is trapped in a postmodern world. Her quest is not only to discover the death of Mr Inverarity and of the Tristero, but also to discover her inner self and her inner soul. She meets people who can be considered as lost causes, but Pynchon sees them as someone really worth fighting for as they have shown the real self-discovery. We could say that this is the novel of the character development, a bildungs roman, for Oedipa develops her character, no matter how confused she is in the end, she becomes stronger and more determined to discover the real truth, no matter how weird and confusing that truth really is. She continues and carries on even though her quest is a lost cause. However, Pynchon also uses his postmodern novel in order to criticize the modernist vision of the world by showing us a society that filled with discarded objects and discarded people. The most obvious example of this is the acronym WASTE, which becomes a central theme in the novel, but will talk about it later in the paper. There are also discarded people who formed secret underground groups and societies as a response to various forms of rejection by their society. For example we have IA group, created by a man who swore off love after his wife cheated on him, The Alameda County Death Club and the Peter Pinguids, a group of people who are against industrial capitalism etc. As it was stated in the beginning, the subject of this paper is the mysterious Trystero organization. This novel is a bout a world, a world that seems to be constantly on drugs or drunk. We could think that this is the world that many people try to get away from, trying to vanish from it, for in this novel Oedipa meets various people who just want to be left alone, forgotten perhaps. We see people who have not rebelled against the government and they are not the deserters, they have just chose to leave, to hide and stay hidden. Oedipa sees this as their first real independent choice, a choice they have all made away from the press, the government and its institutions. They don’t use official state institutions, in this case the official postal system of the United States. This is the world of secrets and hidden identities, and of course secret societies, underground organizations, like Trystero is. What is this Trystero? Who are they? What is their goal? Their mission and agenda? Oedipa wants to find out just that, who they are and what they want, but unfortunately all she accomplishes is to end up completely baffled by everything and everyone she meets. As it was mentioned in the previous paragraph, she does not give up and is determined to continue with her search. Trystero represents this main aspect of underground and of hiding away from the government and the world. We as readers of this novel know about Trystero as much as Oedipa does and we also in the end, as she does, end up confused and baffled if all of this was actually real or was it all just her imagination or a bad joke. The bulk of the book is spent following Oedipa as she tries to track down what exactly the Trystero is. She stumbles upon this one night when she and Metzger are at The Scope, a club frequented by Yoyodyne employees, a huge defense contractor for the military in the area. While in the ladies’ room Oedipa notices the following written near a drawing of a muted horn: â€Å"Interested in sophisticated fun? You, hubby, girl friends. The more the merrier. Get in touch with Kirby, through WASTE only, Box 7391, L. A. †1 The book then follows a play-within-a-play format when Oedipa watches a play called The Courier’s Tragedy which puts into some context the history between Tristero and Thurn And Taxis, the latter being a real mail distribution company throughout Europe for many centuries. It is from this play that Oedipa learns about the history of Trystero. According to the story, Trystero was defeated by Thurn and Taxis in the 1700. and since then it has been hiding and went underground. This Trystero now exists, or at least it appears to exist, or maybe not, as a secret society that is completely separated from the United States government and the official postal service. Oedipa even believes that Trystero battled with Pony Express and United States Postal Service over the control of information flow. However, this battle seems to go on, between Tristero and US Postal Service. Tristero is the symbol of the underground here in the novel and they are present as an invisible force with a hidden agenda and goals. Their symbol is a muted post horn which is the first thing Oedipa sees of the Tristero in a club mentioned early and their way of communicating and transfering of information is through the WASTE system which uses clever disguises – their way of transferring information, a kind of parody to the official postal service, is by using waste-bins as their post-boxes. Thomas Pynchon does a very good job in making us believe that this society indeed really exists, but he also confuses by putting various names, most of them of people who are actually not so important for the story of the novel, but he does manage to create and illusion of a conspiracy. The most important part of the novel is the reproduction of the fictional Jacobean Drama known as The Courier’s Tragedy. This play is where Oedipa first hear the name Tristero and of their struggle with Thurn and Taxis. This play provides us with the first account of the Tristero, but it is their symbol that really draws our attention. We will now discuss the symbols of Tristero, for they are the key to understanding it, or at least trying ot understand the story behind them. These include the muted post horn and WASTE system. We will begin with the first symbol that Oedipa comes in contact with and tha th is the muted post horn. Oedipa first sees this symbol in the bathroom of a club The Scope, as a part of a small message, more like an add. Fro mthat moment she will see this symbol everywhere she goes. Genghis Cohen will show her the post horn tha ris hidden in a certain stamp collection that was I nthe possession of her late ex-boyfriend, mr Inverarity. Later she will see the same symbol being scribbled on paper by a technician in Yoyodine building, Stanley Koteks. Oedipa even sees it when children draw it in the park and play a game in which they mention Tristero. This post horn, as Oedipa finds out from Cohen, was a symbol of Thurn and Taxis. Their symbol is a post horn, while Tristero uses a muted post horn, probably as a way to mock them. Tristero, as it is given, fought against Thurn and Taxis and lost the battle. Tristero went into the hiding and managed t oreach United States somewhere arund 1853. nd fought the Pony Express and Wells, Fargo, and their agents were always either dressed as outlaws in black or as indians, Oedipa manages to recover a ring fro man old man, Mr. Thoth, who lives in a retirement home bulit by Pierce Inverarity. He tells her that this ring, which ha s the muted post horn engraved on it, was given to him by his grandfather who got it from an indian he killed. However, at one time, Oedipa met a man who wore a pin with the muted post horn: â€Å"What if I told you, â€Å" she adressed the owner of the pin, â€Å"that I was an agent of Thurn and Taxis? † â€Å"What, â€Å" he answered, â€Å" some theatrical agency? †2 Here we have a different story about the origin of the muted post horn. According to his story, this is a symbol of Inamorati Anonymus, a group of people who forsook love, which they see as the worst addiction of all. The creator of the organziation and of the symbol was a Yoyodine executive, who found the Inamorati Anonymus after finding out that his wife was cheating on him. This leads us back to point when Oedipa saw for the first time the muted post horn as a part of the advertisement for this organization, which makes us believe if Tristero really is real or just an organization of people who have forsook love and make sure that no one else ever falls in love are using secretive methods to communicate with each other. Another characteristic of this novel, and another symbol of the Trystero, is the so called WASTE. This can stand as an acronym which means We Await Silent Trystero Empire, which is always written on regular waste bins. This can also stand for a secret undergrounf information network that is used by people who forsook their own lives and chosen t olive I nsecrecy and away form the government. There are even corporations who refuse to use the official postal system, like Yoyodine, and there is also an organization known as Peter Penguid Society, of which Mike Fallopian is the member, who oppose the monopoly of the US Postal Service and are using their own private system. This is a system of information transfer that is used by those who want to remain hidden, secret, and there are signs that Tristero is the runner of it. They use waste bins and their postman, or couriers,are bums and other social missfits. Inamorati Anonymus is the organiztion that openly uses the WASTE system for their communication. These two symbols, the muted post horn and the WASTE system, give us and Oedipa clues about Tristero but the lalso confuse us, brcause as we learn about their connectionwith Tristero, we also learn their other meanings and that they are being used by some other ynderground isoalted groups and organizations. After all this confusion, Oedipa returns to the Jacobean Drama, where she first heard the word Tristero. She comes in contact with Emory Bortz, a proffesor at San Narciso College, for the information about the play itself, especially the Tristero version of the play. Unfortunately, the only person who knew the real story about the play was Driblette, who directed the play Oedipa saw, and he commited a suicide. As we draw near to the end of the novel, we see that Oedipa discovers a great deal of historical Tristero, about its origins. She discovers that it was created around 1577, I nthe Netherlands. After William of Orange achieved independence from Spain and the Holy Roman empire, he replaced the people who were in control of the Thurn and Taxis and Leopold I’s rule, and in their place put a man named Jan Hinckard. However, Hinckard was challenged by his cousin Hernando Joaquin de Tristero y Calavera. Tristero fought a guerilla war against Hinckard from 1578. until 1583. Tristero gives up the fighting and sets up a covert system. However, Oedipa finds out that during 17th Century, Thurn and Taxis struggle to maintain their system ,and this may mena that Tristero was very effective during that time and period. Tristero’s presence as the black coated bandits was confirmed by Proffesor Bortz wh ogave her a book An Account of the Singular Peregrinations of Dr. Diocletian Blobb. Dr. Blobb survived one of their attacks with him being captured by them and sent back to England in order t otell everyone of the power of Tristero. Oedipa in the end managed t odiscover a great deal of historical information about the Tristero, but this did not satisfy her because she still did not know why Driblette mentioned the Tristero in his work, when in the original work there is no mentioning of them at all. Wheteher this is true or not, Oedipa tells everything to Mike Fallopian back at the Scope, where she first saw the muted post horn. Fallopian, after hearing her story and her findings, asks Oedipa if she ever considered the possibility that this may all had been a joke orchestrated by Pierce Inverarity. She did consider this, but refuses to think like that anymore. Later she goes back and again searches through all of the Pierce’s possesions and finds out that Pierce had presence in all the places and had inlfuence on all the people she met. He owned Zapf’s Used Bookstore, where she bought her copy of the Jacobean drama, he also owned the Tank Theater, where she saw Driblette’s production of â€Å"The Courier’s Tragedy†. Proffesor Bortz works at San Narciso College, which was founded by Pierce himself, and even blobb’s Peregrinations were bought at Zapf’s Used Bookstore. Thisl eads her to believe that Fallopian may be right, that all of this was nothing more than joke, a gag produced by Pierce himself. The ending of the novel also does not help us, for it is open ended. Oedipa goes to an auction of Peirce’s stamp collection, which is under the name Lot 49, but that is where it all ends. In a conclusion, we are left confused whether this was all real. Pynchon did a great job of providing the information about the historical founding of the Tristero, but he also filled his novel with other information, all of it made up, even the historical. Instead of finding answers, we find more and more questions. The Crying of Lot 49 shows a fragmented world in which there are always more alternatives, in this world information leads to more information which create more questions and answers. This leads people, like Oedipa in this case, to create various alternate interpretations just in order to create some sort of the bigger picture onto which they will hold to. This entire Tristero conspiracy may have been a joke or a paranoid creation by Oedipa herself, or maybe there is truth behind it all. We will never know. We do know, that there are secret organizations who uses secret and undercover means of communicating, there are people who have secret identities, who seek truth somewhere else. We all live in the world filled with information and symbols and who knows, maybe there is a secret undercover conspiracy by a secret postal system who wants t obring down the monopol of the government’s postal system. Personally, I find this novel to be very interesting because it deals with a mystery and search for the truth. When I read it, I found it hard t ounderstand it in the end, whether this is all true, if there really is Tristero, or maybe this was all just a paranoid dream by Oedipa or maybe even a possibilty that this was all a bad joke by Pierce with Oedipa as its target. Whatever the truth is, we will never really know, for the novel has the open ending, but all quests, all attempts to find some sort of truth end up like that – with more questions than answers and with multiple interpretations of evidence and information. End Notes 1. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, First perennial fiction library edition, 1986. Pg. 52 2. ibid. , Pg. 111 Bibliography www. wikipedia. org www. sparknotes. com http://www. examiner. com/x-13462-West-Palm-Beach-Literature-Examiner~y2009m7d19-Modernism-v-Postmodernism-part-one-The-Crying-of-Lot-49 http://cl49. pynchonwiki. com/wiki/index. php? title=The_Crying_of_Lot_49 Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, First perennial fiction library edition, 1986

Leaderships: Gender and Characteristics Essay

Leader from different gender can bring good and bad to organization. However, studies shows bad and good leader can be from both male and female leaders. From the follower’s perspective, there were no significant indicators shows either male or female leaders is the worst or good leader (Singh P., Nadim A.& Ezzedeen S.R, 2012) In recent years, more and more women becoming a leader in organization, here in Malaysia itself, Bank Negara Malaysia is led by a women. This topic, Leadership style and gender had become interesting and most intensely studied in the field of Leadership. The purpose of this articles is to identify leaderships styles by different gender and what are the characteristic identified as a good or bad leaders for each gender. Some characteristic may share by both gender and some may be uniquely to one gender. By identifying these criteria we should be able to further identify which styles significant for each. Literature Review Leadership in organization is defined as a process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its effort toward goal setting and goal achievement (Stogdill, 1950). By the definitions, we can firmly confirm that either male or female can be a leader which the long belief that leadership effectiveness equates with masculinity and being male (Eagly & Karau, 2002). Gender differences in organization leadership’s style is still full of ambiguity and paradox despite the number of studies done to address the topic. There are still unanswered questions (Moran, B. B., 1992). Further study in gender differences in leadership style were further studied by Eagly and Johnson (1990). The findings indicates that women were more participative or democratic compared to men. Men were more directive or autocratic than women. Contingency theory suggest men and women use different approaches to leaderships, women focus on social and emotional concerns and being supportive of their members whereas men are more task oriented (Gray, 1992). This two characteristics, referred as democratic and autocratic leadership styles. Traditional leadership models and expectations are still in place, presenting challenges for women in such roles. An exploration of gender stereotypes about leadership serves as a foundation for positing new leadership definitions and strategies for successful negotiation of leadership roles. In the Malaysia, career expectations for both women and men have shifted over time. If women are in professions in which leadership is expected, additional concerns related to this pressure may be raised. C. West and Zimmer- man (1987) suggested that gender is in fact an action that allows individuals to ascribe meaning to daily functions and describe the way that specific gender roles enable and enhance certain functions. Bem (1974) began the discussion on gender in the late 1970s and presented a gender continuum. She suggested that androgyny is the sought-after perspective to highlight the best of a person’s masculine and feminine sides, rather than the traditionally prescribed focus on gender roles for men and women. The androgynous approach is meant to liberate men and women to more freely express themselves and their masculine and feminine qualities. Discussion Traditional perspectives and gender roles may be denigrated by some and expected by others. Thus, the female leader is left in a quandary. As gender, an issue worthy of regard, has received more attention, gender’s role in career transitions, career choice, and career success has been studied. Learning how to be a leader may present yet another challenge for female leader. Considered within the framework of feminism, mentoring itself may be counter to ideals of equality by virtue of the imbalance of power inherent in the relationship. However, such an assumption is based on the traditional notion of mentoring relationships in which there is a teacher and a student. Wary of being perceived as having a separatist attitude, many women tacitly agree to â€Å"play the game,† whose rules were made by the men who typically held the power, and attempt to get ahead professionally by following the traditionally male-oriented routes to success. Other women may feel marginalized by this perspective and fear that they will not be able to get ahead without sacrificing family, relationships, or their personal well-being. Many men are faced with an even greater challenge to uphold the masculine gender role expectation to be career-driven and success-oriented, when in fact they may prefer to spend more time with family, friends, and generally nurturing themselves and their relationships (Staggenborg, 1998). Through historical examples and traditional organization leadership, women may receive the message that assuming leadership means they must sacrifice in other areas of their life. Perhaps the definitions and portrayal of leadership are in need of exploration to address their inherent challenges to different gender. Examining traditional definitions of leadership, leadership styles, and the role of gender in leadership provides a foundation for understanding these challenges and creates a platform for opportunities for reform and support. J. D. West, Osborn, and Bubenzer (2003) suggested three leadership dimensions: context, vision, and action. Context involves exploration of the population or task, vision reflects work to achieve an intended goal, and action moves people and process toward change and improvement. Leadership requires one to be an advocate for a profession, a cause, or a task (J. D. West et al., 2003). Similarly, Borders and Shoffner (2003) defined leaders as individuals who are change agents, social activists, and catalysts in their disciplines. In the counseling profession, leaders may be in various positions and serve myriad functions. Given these functions, leadership may be a sought-after quality. The degree to which a daily work is construed as fulfilling a leadership role may be a reflection of the profession’s definition. Leadership Styles It is perhaps the manner in which one leads that distinguishes style and perception of ability. Collaborative, transformational, and context-driven leadership styles are inherently geared toward stereotyped interpersonal leadership styles attributed to women. At odds with the traditional view of how women should behave are the characteristically male leadership styles that are driven by authoritarianism and swift decision making. A qualitative study of eight female leaders suggested that women’s leadership attributes and behaviors are actually an interaction between personal, interpersonal, and professional domains (Black & Magnuson, 2005). Black and Magnuson (2005) highlighted authenticity, compassion, and vision, respectively, with the three domains they identified. It might even be suggested that the traditional hierarchical model of leadership, challenged by feminist efforts to equalize power (Humble et al., 2006), runs counter to the actual lived experience of women’s leadership. An individual’s leadership style reflects a unique combination of personality traits and professional goals and vision (Black & Magnuson, 2005). It is assumed that leadership style will correlate with success. Yet, the myriad books describing leaders across disciplines do not advocate a specific leadership style (e.g., J. D. West et al., 2003). Leadership Theory: The Role of Gender Leadership, by implication, suggests power. Yet, power comes in many forms and, historically, addresses issues of oppression. Dimensions of race, gender, and class have been conduits of oppression. Gender has not been fully explored within the context of oppression and may have a place in discussions of hierarchy and power (Murray, 2006). Stepping into a leadership role can be a means of exerting power over traditionally oppressed groups or, conversely, a means of reacting to one’s own history of oppression and thereby exerting one’s first experience with power. Multiple cultural identities have challenged the stereotypes of leadership. For example, Bradley (2005) discussed the traditional stereotypes for professional African American women as either â€Å"Mammy† or â€Å"Sapphire,† referencing instead the nurturing and strength they bring to their professional roles. There are penalties for holding professional roles that by nature do not fit with the stereotypes of African American women, including criticism by other. Traditional masculine and feminine traits are stereotyped in terms of leadership potential. Women in leadership positions are often expected to demonstrate typical masculine traits such as decisiveness, authority, and directness. Women are perceived to work from a care and relational orientation, and these traits may be inconsistent with the traditional concept of leadership (Gilligan, 1982). However, concepts of patriarchal power and hegemonic masculinity challenge women to uphold traditional gender role expectations (Coleman, 2003). Participants in a qualitative study of female head teachers in England and Wales found advantageous ways to step outside of the male role (Coleman, 2003). Several participants in this study discussed using â€Å"feminine wiles† and having different interactions with men to achieve their professional functions. Whether decisiveness, authority, and directness are indeed reserved for men and masculine behavior is a multilayered question that addresses surface behaviors and, more deeply, effective leadership styles. There are distinct challenges for women who wish to assume leadership positions, either by choice or by nature of their abilities.. The profession must move beyond leadership stereotypes to which female leaders may conform and promote the strengths of each individual. Similarly, consistent with the profession’s multicultural and social justice emphases, provisions must be made to consider individuals’ personal strengths rather than assume that they must change to effectively lead. Stereotyped gender perspectives are generally unintentional and based largely on personal belief systems and experiences (Staggenborg, 1998). The organization might even benefit from female leaders who, as a way to validate women engaging in similar struggles, publicly share the challenges they face in their effort to balance multiple roles and responsibilities (Steiner, 2006). Mainstream authors (e.g., Warner, 2005) have suggested that organizational and societal infrastructures must change if women and men are to be equally successful. Providing child care at conferences, offering flexible work schedules, and identifying differential markers for success and accomplishment have been recommended (Levitt & Hermon, 2009). Defining leadership in terms of action and style rather than position and power is a framework that organization may endorse. Even exploration of the professional literature can have an impact on this perspective. Exploring gender differences with respect to social context, not simply a male–female dichotomy, may provide greater meaning in the explorations of human development and counseling phenomena (Yoder & Kahn, 2003). My experience working with different gender either as a manager or subordinate, show a different aspect, characteristic and behavior of male and female leader. Most Malaysia male leader are more democratic, task oriented and open minded. Female leader on the other hand, adopt and strict follow the rule leaderships. However, no studies show that women are bad or worst leader. This may due to more male leader compare to women leaders. If both gender are equal in leadership role, some significant finding will can be shows. Currently, more women report to male manager/leader. The perception on good or bad leader will be totally based on their experience. However, some consideration should be make, to just good or bad leader. Some studies show, if leader either male or female which have characteristic as empowering, knowledgeable, inspiring were consider as good leader. If male or female who have characteristic as autocratic, unaspiring, degrading and manipulative is voted as bad leaders. This can be seen in our daily work. Due to challenge, male and female who able to cope with pressure in either work or family life plus with hectic lifestyle today, they will become a good leader. Those who failed to cope with all the pressure, will somehow effecting their leadership’s style. Some studies show that male have strong understand of their good or bad leader compare to women. Even in dyad relationships, male to male, female to female relationship should be good for organizations, but study show, men prefer male as their leaders.

My Life, My Favorites

My Life, My Favorites I have a few different interests that entertain me while I live this crazy life of mine. I’d like to think I spend most of my time wisely, but I’ve been known to get carried away with stress-free activities such as shopping, socializing and watching my kids’ sporting events. Okay, maybe the sporting events bring a little stress upon me, but it all goes away after the game is over. Shopping is my top favorite interest. I asked a girlfriend to give me her opinion on what she thought my greatest interest was and she said it’s definitely shopping. Her tone made it sound like I shouldn’t even ask such a silly question! Well, I had no idea it was so noticeable to others, but since I am known to give her my hand-me-downs every time I indulge, it’s probably more prevalent to her than to anyone else who knows me well. I spend many lunch breaks and Saturday afternoons on the hunt for a cash-savings, clearance rack purchase. I will dig at any Ross, TJ Maxx or Marshall’s for the best, brand name deals. Of course, I’m not just thinking of myself when I actively take over the shoe or clothing department. I keep my kids, friends and friend’s kids in mind if the size and price are right! My daughter, son and career are always my first priority, but this full-time working mom likes to let loose every now and then. An occasional happy hour, social drinking only, sometimes will strike my interest after a long day at the office. Working for a baseball club, we see our highs and lows. Either mood can instigate such an event. So, if I’m not answering the cell phone after normal business hours, it’s probably best for all parties involved. I am most likely partaking in a social activity that is for the betterment of my sanity. Any disruption could cause an eruption! I have come to the realization that I enjoy sports more than I thought. In my childhood years, I despised the idea of watching any games because my father ruled the only television in our home. He most always had it tuned to baseball, football or boxing. Once my daughter started playing basketball though, I thought â€Å"this isn’t so bad. Now that she’s playing on a select team, I’m thinking â€Å"this is awesome! † To watch the progression in her skill-set development on the court is amazing. It’s such a blessing to have a coach she respects and trusts. Her interest in basketball has become my interest as the rewards of her becoming a self-disciplined, young lady makes raising her much easier. I honestly don’t mind spending four days a week in the gym to support her. My 5 year old son is coming along well behind her. His t-ball efforts make me giggle. He’s so little, so serious about the game and doesn’t sit still long enough to understand much, but he’s suited up and ready to play! At this age, all you can do is laugh and take pictures for memories sake. I can say I am blessed to have a life that offers time for enjoyment. I never thought I would be such a busy lady, but as long as I am able to free my mind by spending a little cash to make myself feel pretty, visit with friends over a cocktail, and watch my kids learn and grow, I am a happy camper.