Intructional Strategies for Ell Classrooms

There are many different strategies that an instructor can use in ELL classrooms or in classrooms in which ELL students have been mainstreamed. As always, instructors are called upon to constantly modify their curriculum and instruction in order to meet the needs of each individual learner. This is made more possible if the instructor has more knowledge of different teaching methods and strategies. There are many possible research sources that offer ideas, methods and strategies for everyday use in an ELL classroom. Several of the more common or functional strategies will be discussed here. Comprehensible Input There are six prominent areas to consider when creating lesson plans that will help to present the subject material in an organized, understandable manner. These are â€Å"modelling (sic), bridging, contextualisation (sic), building schema, re-presenting text and developing metacognition† (Walqui, 2003). Modeling is simply showing, demonstrating, or asking the student to perform an action or do a project. This hands-on approach is useful for all students but it is particularly helpful with those students who have a language barrier. Bridging, a common constructivist method, involves building on a learner’s previous experience (Gabler, 2003). When dealing with ELL learners, the teacher may have to delve deeper than with average students, into the student’s previous experiences because their country of origin may not have offered the experiences that the educator is accustomed to building on. If they are able to find an experience that the student can relate the new information to, then the student will much better be able to understand the instruction (Gabler, 2003). Contextualization is useful because it presents the same information that one would find in a textbook in a completely different format that can reach the student’s visual, tactile, or auditory modalities. If the student is able to see the information rather than a list of linear facts but instead in a picture, video, demonstration or activity, then the student make learn the concepts or information more quickly and sometimes effortlessly. Building schema gives the students an understanding of the big picture of the new subject or concept before giving them more details. This gives the student a structure that they can build on and relate to. This may help the new information seem less daunting to them and may help develop an anticipation in the student to explore further into the subject. Re-presenting text, is when the teacher asks the students to revisit a text with the intention of presenting it in an alternative way in which the students actively participate (Walqui, 2003). â€Å"This kind of language learning often engages students in the accomplishment of tasks that are interesting and meaningful for them, where the emphasis is placed on the communication that is being carried out rather than on its formal aspects, and where the resulting learning is powerful† (Walqui, 2003). The sixth area for the educator to keep in mind when laying out lesson plans is developing the student’s metacognition. This is defined as the â€Å"understanding of the strategies available for learning a task and the regulatory mechanisms needed to complete the task† (Hallahan, 1997). This particular aspect of ELL instruction can give these students the tools needed to deal with new difficulties, remedy old problems and identify specific needs or problems that they have in their own learning process. The student can even continue to use this knowledge and awareness in their educational endevours after they have achieved English language proficiency. This can also assist average students in their own educational efforts. Ongoing, Specific, and Immediate Feedback Effective teachers often engage in multiple methods of feedback. Ongoing feedback can be in the form of charts, or lists that the teacher, class, or each student creates as they continue learning about a subject. This can show vocabulary words that they have learned, concepts they have mastered, or subjects that they have studied. The teacher can refer back to these lists regularly to reinforce new concepts and build on old ideas. Specific feedback can be integrated into classroom discussions or on student papers, explaining problems or elaborating further on an idea that the student has learned. Immediate feedback can be critical because it can alter the course of the student’s thinking before they become more confused. The teacher who is observant can correct misinformation or misconceptions quickly to avoid further problems in the student’s learning process. This can be a result of classroom discussions, question and answer sessions, and call and response methods. All forms of feedback have benefits and when used together can create a cohesive picture of the student’s abilities and success. Instructional feedback for students can have several benefits ranging from motivating the student to achieve more to helping them develop more refined metacognition and also possibly giving the student a sense of control over their own educational success (Malley, 1994). Grouping structures and techniques Grouping ELL students with â€Å"peer-buddies† or students appointed to assist the ELL student can give the ELL student more opportunities for using conversational English, allow them to receive minor assistance without interrupting the teacher, and give them the opportunity to have â€Å"teacher talk† re-explained to them (Wisconsin, n. . ) Building background and vocabulary development In most subjects, the teacher could develop a list of vocabulary words to help the students complete their understanding of the subjects. An ongoing list of vocabulary words could be a constant resource for students. The definitions would be written in their own words and more understandable to them. When teachers encourage vocabulary development in their students, they may produce better English improvement in the ELL student as a result (Fisher, 2007). Continuous vocabulary expression can encourage the students to learn to enjoy vocabulary expansion. The more comfortable a student is with a word the more frequently they may use it so it stands to reason that the more opportunities that the student has to learn and use new words, the more ingrained into their personal vocabulary the words will become. Presenting an ELL student new words to learn as well as providing opportunities to use the words are likely keys to helping an ELL student become more English language proficient. Classroom discussions, questions and answer sessions, and call and response are three commonly used methods for engaging students in language usage. Student engagement Nearly all of the learning strategies for assisting ELLs in the effort to learn the English language require student involvement. No matter which modality is being tapped into, the student who is involved or engaged will learn any subject more thoroughly and quickly. â€Å"Students usually agree that learning requires work† (Newman, 1992). This work, requires that the students become involved and engaged in their learning. Likely, if a student is willing to work and if the teacher encourages the engagement, then the student will find much better academic success in the end. Conclusion In the end, most instructional strategies that are used are most effective when tailored to each student’s needs. While time restraints may be problematic when attempting to meet individual needs, they may be very helpful for the student who is blessed to be under their tutelage. If teachers are capable of using these strategies to assist their students to help them achieve success in both their to attempt to learn English as well as their academic endeavors. Reference http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED371047.pdf

Information Systems in Organizations Essay

Information systems (IS) is the study of complementary networks of hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, and distribute data. The study bridges business and computer science using the theoretical foundations of information and computation to study various business models and related algorithmic processes within a computer science discipline. Computer Information System(s) (CIS) is a field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software and hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society while IS emphasizes functionality over design. The history of information systems coincides with the history of computer science that began long before the modern discipline of computer science emerged in thetwentieth century. Regarding the circulation of   information and ideas, numerous legacy information systems still exist today that are continuously updated to promote ethnographic approaches, to ensure data integrity, and to improve the social effectiveness & efficiency of the whole process. In general, information systems are focused upon processing information within organizations, especially within business enterprises, and sharing the benefits with modern society. Human Resources Human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector or an economy. â€Å"Human capital† is sometimes used synonymously with human resources, although human capital typically refers to a more narrow view; i.e., the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization. Likewise, other terms sometimes used include â€Å"manpower†, â€Å"talent†, â€Å"labor† or simply â€Å"people†. The professional discipline and business function that oversees an organization’s human resources is called human resource management (HRM, or simply HR). Sales and marketing Sales is what you do and say during the one moment your product or service is being purchased. It’s confirming the payment options. Sales people have to feed the Marketing process and use the resources effectively that they had a part in building. There needs to be a partnership between the Sales and Marketing departments. Marketing is what you do (Sales people and Marketing people), before and after the sale. It is the strategy that will identify prospects that will lead to the sale. Marketing is learning about your client needs and delivering on them (or realizing there is not a fit with a prospect). Marketing is about building awareness and relationships – it’s everything that makes ‘the phone ring’ the first time and convinces past customers to buy from you again. Marketing includes anything that comes into contact with your customer. Finance Finance is the study of how investors allocate their assets over time under conditions of certainty and uncertainty. A key point in finance, which affects decisions, is the time value of money, which states that a unit of currency today is worth more than the same unit of currency tomorrow. Finance aims to price assets based on their risk level, and expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three different sub categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance. Characteristics Of Information Good information is that which is used and which creates value. Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities. Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. It is also communicated in time for its purpose, contains the right level of detail and is communicated by an appropriate channel, i.e. one that is understandable to the user. Further details of these characteristics related to organizational information for decision-making follows. Availability/accessibility Information should be easy to obtain or access. Information kept in a book of some kind is only available and easy to access if you have the book to hand. A good example of availability is a telephone directory, as every home has one for its local area. It is probably the first place you look for a local number. But nobody keeps the whole country’s telephone books so for numbers further afield you probably phone a directory enquiry number. For business premises, say for a hotel in London, you would probably use the Internet. Businesses used to keep customer details on a card-index system at the customer’s branch. If the customer visited a different branch a telephone call would be needed to check details. Now, with centralized computer systems, businesses like banks and building societies can access any customer’s data from any branch. Accuracy Information needs to be accurate enough for the use to which it is going to be put. To obtain information that is 100% accurate is usually unrealistic as it is likely to be too expensive to produce on time. The degree of  accuracy depends upon the circumstances. At operational levels information may need to be accurate to the nearest penny – on a supermarket till receipt, for example. At tactical level department heads may see weekly summaries correct to the nearest  £100, whereas at strategic level directors may look at comparing stores’ performances over several months to the nearest  £100,000 per month. Accuracy is important. As an example, if government statistics based on the last census wrongly show an increase in births within an area, plans may be made to build schools and construction companies may invest in new housing developments. In these cases any investment may not be recouped. Reliability or objectivity Reliability deals with the truth of information or the objectivity with which it is presented. You can only really use information confidently if you are sure of its reliability and objectivity. When researching for an essay in any subject, we might make straight for the library to find a suitable book. We are reasonably confident that the information found in a book, especially one that the library has purchased, is reliable and (in the case of factual information) objective. The book has been written and the author’s name is usually printed for all to see. The publisher should have employed an editor and an expert in the field to edit the book and question any factual doubts they may have. In short, much time and energy goes into publishing a book and for that reason we can be reasonably confident that the information is reliable and objective. Compare that to finding information on the Internet where anybody can write unedited and unverified material and ‘publish’ it on the web. Unless you know who the author is, or a reputable university or government agency backs up the research, then you cannot be sure that the information is reliable. Some Internet websites are like vanity publishing, where anyone can write a book and pay certain (vanity) publishers to publish it. Relevance/appropriateness Information should be relevant to the purpose for which it is required. It must be suitable. What is relevant for one manager may not be relevant for another. The user will become frustrated if information contains data  irrelevant to the task in hand. For example, a market research company may give information on users’ perceptions of the quality of a product. This is not relevant for the manager who wants to know opinions on relative prices of the product and its rivals. The information gained would not be relevant to the purpose. Completeness Information should contain all the details required by the user. Otherwise, it may not be useful as the basis for making a decision. For example, if an organization is supplied with information regarding the costs of supplying a fleet of cars for the sales force, and servicing and maintenance costs are not included, then a costing based on the information supplied will be considerably underestimated. Ideally all the information needed for a particular decision should be available. However, this rarely happens; good information is often incomplete. To meet all the needs of the situation, you often have to collect it from a variety of sources. Level of detail/conciseness Information should be in a form that is short enough to allow for its examination and use. There should be no extraneous information. For example, it is very common practice to summarize financial data and present this information, both in the form of figures and by using a chart or graph. We would say that the graph is more concise than the tables of figures as there is little or no extraneous information in the graph or chart. Clearly there is a trade-off between level of detail and conciseness. Presentation The presentation of information is important to the user. Information can be more easily assimilated if it is aesthetically pleasing. For example, a marketing report that includes graphs of statistics will be more concise as well as more aesthetically pleasing to the users within the organization. Many organizations use presentation software and show summary information via a data projector. These presentations have usually been well thought out to be visually attractive and to convey the correct amount of detail. Timing Information must be on time for the purpose for which it is required. Information received too late will be irrelevant. For example, if you receive a brochure from a theatre and notice there was a concert by your favorite band yesterday, then the information is too late to be of use. Value of information The relative importance of information for decision-making can increase or decrease its value to an organization. For example, an organization requires information on a competitor’s performance that is critical to their own decision on whether to invest in new machinery for their factory. The value of this information would be high. Always keep in mind that information should be available on time, within cost constraints and be legally obtained. Cost of information Information should be available within set cost levels that may vary dependent on situation. If costs are too high to obtain information an organization may decide to seek slightly less comprehensive information elsewhere. For example, an organization wants to commission a market survey on a new product. The survey could cost more than the forecast initial profit from the product. In that situation, the organization would probably decide that a less costly source of information should be used, even if it may give inferior information.

The Central Role of Lurie in Coetzees Disgrace Essay

The Central Role of Lurie in Coetzees Disgrace - Essay Example Thus, a story â€Å"speaks to† each person in a similar fashion. â€Å"By reading a moral story, a child learns how important it is to â€Å"live† a virtue and gains a deeper understanding of the moral life†( Narvaez 157). On the other hand, Ormond (47) concurs with this notion when he suggests that â€Å"from a Vygotskian perspective, gradual entry into adult activities enables children to engage in behaviors and thinking skills within their zones of proximal development.† In this case, the author’s development of character revolves around the language, the perception and the thoughts of Lurie, who appears to direct the character associated with all the aspects of character development. Against this background, this paper will discuss the central role of Lurie in the author’s development of different characters throughout the book. The book clearly presents the position of men and women as well as sex and the disgrace that comes with it. The author writes these ideas through the eyes of Lurie, where the reader is exposed to his spoken dialogue as well as the unspoken thoughts – which portray his discourse, desire and passions. Even though the novel is written in third person, the language, perceptions and the thoughts of Lurie dominate the narrative, which shows that character development for all others is filtered through that of Lurie. However, exposure to Lurie’s person does not present intimacy; so much as it portrays his isolation. Through the story, Coetzee represents different characters through that of Lurie. For example, he presents the position of all others – through the subjective outlook of Lurie. However, this is not entirely true; as it appears that his shallow outlook of women is what has caused his two previous divorces and his inability to connect with women. This leads to the contrast that he is

Port management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Port management - Essay Example This might be owing to the development approach of the government of the nation’s towards this particular sector (Chou & et. al., 2003). Contextually, this particular essay will ensure a thorough discussion about why the Far East Asia port market is one of the fastest growing ones in the world along with analysing various factors that contribute in making the market a faster growing one. Observably, East Asia is regarded as one of the fastest growing port sectors of the world, which is largely owing to the export growth strategies persisting within this particular region of the world. The port industry in this particular region of the world has seen substantial changes over the years and it has developed to the maximum level. History depicts that this particular sector had seen noteworthy neo liberal changes that acted as a major aspect towards the development of port sector in the East Asia region. Notably, Asia is amid the major renowned regions of the world in terms of international trade owing to the continuous economic development from the 80s to the modern day scenario. With continuous economic growth in the Far East Asian regions, people became quite concern towards earning a better life for themselves, which further encouraged them towards developing manufacturing and production systems. This depicts the first postulate of production factors. However, as per the second postulate, people belonging to this region were not quite capable of conducting every work efficiently in earlier days, which further resulted in trade amid various regions. With the emergence of trade in this sector, the demands for container port services have increased rapidly. Observably, the combine capacity of Far East Asian ports in terms of handling volumes is recorded to be 107 TEUs, which is again expected to rise in between 254 million TEUs and 306 million TUEs by the year 2015. It has been noted that

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 40

Management - Essay Example Since the organizational environment is a complex comprised of different activities and with the involvement of numerous sides in it, management theories help to make sense in that complexity. Management theories enable organization to realize its activities in order to determine what is relevant for the business, for instance, viable product and compliant workforce. Management theories have changed due to different historical and social times and places still addressing issues of relationships of particular times. Thus, at the turn of 20th century, organizations were large and mostly industrialized whose activities were ongoing with routine tasks that were concentrated with the manufacturing of different products. Thus, in the U.S. there were highly prized scientific and technical organizations that included careful measurement and specification of their activities and outcomes. Management was mostly the same, espousing careful specification and measurement of all organizational tasks. Tasks were standardized and employees either rewarded or punished. This approach was developed by Frederick Taylor and known as scientific management theory and appeared to work well for organizations with mechanistic and routine activities. The scientific management theory was changed with the openings of Max Weber, who developed his bureaucratic theory focusing on dividing organizations into hierarchies and establishing strong lines of authority and control within them. Weber proposed that organizations shoul d develop comprehensive and detailed standard of their operating procedures for all the routine tasks (McNamara, n.d.). Organizations run their activities using bureaucratic management principles across the world, managing their activities in formal processes and hierarchies that enable them to achieve stable structures and consistent results. However, bureaucratic principles are slow to

Incentive pay as a way of compensating employees Essay

Incentive pay as a way of compensating employees - Essay Example According to the Vision Link advisory group, intrinsic rewards also allow employees to obtain a certain level of autonomy, provides opportunities for mastery in which employees may feel and see their progress, and it can establish purpose in their work so that they can feel that they are doing something good not only for themselves but also for the company. On the other hand, extrinsic compensation may include monetary and nonmonetary rewards. Examples of extrinsic compensation can be discretionary benefits such as paid time off and protection programs (Martocchio 86). Generally, â€Å"Incentive pay may come in the form of bonuses, profit sharing, or commission† (Business Dictionary). It is a monetary reward given to employees based on individual or group performances. This type of pay can reflect the way employees continue to pursue positive results in the workplace. In addition, incentive plans can inspire loyalty, commitment, and hard work. This type of plan will allow for recognition of outstanding workers and at the same time keeping track of the organizational goals (â€Å"Employee Incentive†). A company can decide on how they will design their incentive pay plans and on what criteria depending on what industry and type of the company. The most common types of incentive pay plans are individual incentive plans, group incentive plans, and companywide incentives. In many occasions, â€Å"Individual incentive plans reward employees for meeting such work-related performance standards as quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, safety, or attendance† (Martocchio 85). Organizations use individual incentive plans to motivate their employees by granting them the opportunity to receive additional income. These additional incomes can be given in forms of bonuses or commission (Joseph). There are different types of individual incentives the most common are piecework plans, management incentive plans, behavioral encouragement plans, and refe rral plans (Joseph). Piecework plans reward their employees for increases in productivity. It consists of the quantity and the quality of work produced. This criterion is based upon the supervisor’ or managers’ interpretation on the performance of the employee. Piecework plans can be used in industrial and production settings (Joseph). In contrast, management incentive plans involve several intricate objectives. This type of incentive only allows managers to receive their award when they reach objectives depending on sales, profit, production, or other criteria in the company (Martocchio 86). In addition, many companies may compensate their employees for referrals. Some companies use referrals to motivate their workers to recruit new employees into the company the employee will then be rewarded after the new employees has been in the company for a certain period (Joseph). Lastly there are behavioral encouragement plans where employees are given cash for specific behavi oral accomplishments. In addition to individual incentive plans, some companies choose to compensate or reward their employees as a group, in other words, based on collective performance. Group incentive plans are measured depending on customer satisfaction, labor cost savings, material cost savings, reduction in accidents, and services cost savings (Joseph). It is said that â€Å"well designed group incentive plans ultimately reinforce teamwork, cultivate loyalty to the company, and increase

Logistics db Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Logistics db - Essay Example The recent increase in demand of Going Inc planes is evident that, Going Inc has so far differentiated its products to meet their target customers' needs and preferences. Therefore, the main thrust of operational strategy should be on how to reduce production cost and improve company's response to change in market demand. Going Inc. sources its raw materials entirely from U.S markets. Though the company ensure that it gets its raw materials at the lowest possible price, expansion of the raw material sources to include other countries or more conveniently decision to make small parts instead of buying from vendors would automatically lead to even lower cost and better quality. This will involve the realignment of supply chain of the company. According to Heizer and Render (2005), supply chain management is the integration of the activities that procure materials and services, transform them into intermediate goods and final products, and deliver them to customers. In order for the Going Inc. to manage its supply chain effectively, it has to improve the speed and flexibility for its manufacturing framework. Currently, the company is relatively slow in its production speed; only fifteen planes per month. To make the matter worse, the production is riddled with scrupulous customization that takes a lot of time and gives very little room for design flexibility. Going Inc.

Master of Business Administration in Marketing Essay

Master of Business Administration in Marketing - Essay Example I would also like to thank my band mates, composing good music, sharing every nice moment with me, for their friendship, encouragement, insightful comments and reviewed my work on very short notice. Finally, I would like to thank my family for giving me life in the first place, for educating me with aspects from both the arts and sciences, for unconditional support and encouragement to pursue my interests, even when my interests went beyond the boundaries of language, field and geography. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 6 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Business Concept 8 1.1 Objectives 8 1.2 The Band’s Biography 9 1.3 Keys to Success 10 1.4 Imaging Statement 11 1.5 Management Team 12 Chapter 2: Music Industry Analysis 12 2.1 General Music Industry 12 2.2 Michael Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 14 2.2.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 16 2.2.2 Bargaining Power of Customers 17 2.2.3 Threat of Substitutes 18 2.2.4 Competitive Rivalry within the Industry 19 2.3 Live Music I ndustry 21 2.4 PEST Analysis 22 2.4.1 PEST Analysis for Mainland China 22 2.4.2 PEST Analysis for Macau 27 2.4.3 PEST Analysis for Hong Kong and Taiwan 31 Chapter 3: Competitor Analysis 35 3.1 Forget the G 36 3.1.2 Evade 36 3.1.3 L.A.V.Y. 37 3.1.4 Blademark 37 3.2 Points of Difference 38 3.3 WhyOceans Analysis 38 Chapter 4: Marketing Strategy and Tactics 43 4.1 Marketing Mix 43 4.1.1 Product 43 4.1.2 Promotion 44 4.1.3 Distribution 45 4.1.4 Price 46 Chapter 5: Financial Plan 46 5.1 Projected Net Income 46 5.2 Sources of Capital 47 5.3 Projected Profit and Loss 47 5.4 Projected Cash Flow 50 5.5 Projected Balance Sheet 52 Chapter 6: Conclusion 52 References 54 Appendix 56 Executive Summary The business plan for the Post-Rock band, WhyOceans, is the result of extensive research via the internet, library and personal communication with a variety of individuals. With thorough research of the music industry, specifically the Post-Rock genre, Mr. Tommy Chu was able to develop a business pl an supporting the promotion of WhyOceans. This business plan focuses on a plan for each of the areas supporting this promotion including marketing, management, technical and financial, to draw some booking agencies or record company managers. These people are able to book the band’s performances and create album sales throughout Macau and begin to spread the music to mainland China. This business plan will show that the band will become successful. Each year, its sales and revenue are planned increases that are an indication of the band’s success. Band Description WhyOceans consists of 6 members based in Macau. Their music combines rock and psychedelic elements and falls into the â€Å"Post-Rock† genre, with roots stretching back to the early days of the Pink Floyd. Post-Rock music is currently an expanding genre. WhyOceans will create a unique stylized image for itself that will help with promotion. WhyOceans’ songs are catchy, melodic and unique. That i s the first selling point for the band. None of WhyOceans’ songs sound the same, and while they are stylistically similar there are noticeable differences. Marketing WhyOceans will employ an integrated mix of low-cost, highly effective tools and

Training Manuals at Strident Marks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Training Manuals at Strident Marks - Essay Example Through its IPO, the company exposes itself to public scrutiny and speculation. The company's decision to venture into other profitable products further requires a finance department which will ensure that only those lucrative investments are pursued. Thus, the role of its finance department becomes more emphasized. The training module which will be given to members of that functional area should be designed so as to guide the new employees in conducting valuation analysis. It is recommended that the training module be composed of three distinct parts: the role of the financial department in attaining the goals and objectives of Strident Marks; the different valuation techniques and their applications; and including qualitative issues in valuation analysis. This paper believes that in order for the employees to appreciate their jobs, they should be able to place themselves within the organization. It is imperative that the training manual shows especially to the new employees their essential role in the organization. Doing this will further boost the morale of the employees and motivate them to do their jobs. Seeing one's place in the organization will enhance the commitment of employees specially the new ones. The next two parts will be the

Texas Parks and Wildlife Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Texas Parks and Wildlife - Research Paper Example Currently, the Texas parks and wildlife department has several responsibilities. These include managing and conserving states natural resources and providing the public with opportunities and access to fish and wildlife habitats. Background information and history The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) was created in 1983, following the merger between the State Parks Board and the Game and Fish commission. However, its formation can be traced back to 1879 when fish commissioner’s officer was first established as a state agency in 1879. In 1983, the department was authorized to oversee all the resources both fish and the wildlife in all counties of Texas. The authority was given after the Wildlife Conservation Act was approved by the Texas legislature. Several historic sites that were under the management of Texas Parks and Wildlife earlier were reassigned to the Texas historical commission on 1st January 2008. In 1879, the governor was authorized to appoint a fish comm issioner by the 16th legislature of Texas. The governor appointed the commissioner to a term of two years after being approved by the senate. This appointment was to ensure that the Act for fish preservation was carefully complied with. In addition, it was meant to ensure that fish ladders and fish ways were constructed. The Fish Commissioner’s office came to being in 1881. ... The commissioner was also given powers to appoint his deputy commissioners. In 1907, the responsibilities of Commissioner’s Office were expanded. It also covered protection of wild birds and wild game. Therefore, commissioner was renamed Game, Fish, and Oyster commissioner. Fish and Oyster Commissioner’s Office was made up of three members. In 1972, the number doubled to six members. By 1983, the commission was made up of nine members who were appointed by the governor and approved by the senate. The commission members are office bearers for overlapping six-year terms. The governor appoints the chairperson of the commission biennially. The meetings of the commission are normally quarterly. However, when required they meet on a regular basis. The major responsibility of the commission is to acquire the appropriate rules and policies that play a significant role in conducting the various parks and wildlife department programs. Location and management of the Texas parks an d wildlife department TPWD headquarters is located at 4200 Smith School Road in Austin, Texas. Both the regional and field offices are established in different parts throughout the state. Those who are not working with the headquarters in Austin are known to be seventy-six percent of the total department staff. The management and coordination of all the policies and programs that concerns personnel is done in the Austin headquarters, Human Resource Division. A commission that comprises of nine members governs TPWD. The governor appoints the commission. The major responsibility of the commission is to adopt appropriate rules and regulations. This will be used in various

Free

Freedom to live Essay During the ancient times before imprisonment, there were executions and executions only which were rather completed by stoning. There were consisted of several reasons as to why the capital punishment was needed. The United States inherited its use of capital punishment from the European settlers in the seventeenth century but in the eighteenth century, German philosopher Immanuel Kant appealed that execution was the â€Å"fairest punishment for murder†. He presented that it is the most suitable punishment for those who have committed murder and that a person who has done wrong should suffer for it. Arguing that killers should â€Å"die in order to gain release from their suffering†, including that the crime must fit the punishment. Arguments against the death penalty expose capital punishment for what some believe is a reasonable punishment, while others view it as revenge disguised as justice but overall, is continuously an issue that would not be equally discussed and abolished world-wide. Disagreements about the death penalty mostly turn on issues of fairness, morality and effectiveness. There consists of endless reasons as to why the death penalty is to be abolished. One of many is that executions cost more than life in prison. According to Statistic Brain, it costs nearly 2 million per person to be executed, all which consists of maximum security, counsel for defense and others. Another popular point is that the innocent may be wrongly executed. This is a high risk because evidence, DNA, and witness statements are not one hundred percent reliable. A slightly relevant case was a falsely executed man named Cameron Todd Willingham. He was executed in Texas, known to be the number one state with the highest rate of executions. He was accused of allegedly setting his house on fire that killed his three young daughters. He repeatedly claimed his innocence and the arson investigator was questioned right before Willingham’s’ execution. After his execution, an investigative report discovered the fire was an accident. Several reasons include that the death penalty punishment does not  necessarily decrease the crime rate, that life in prison also guarantees no future crimes, some religions forbid death penalty, killing is wrong even through a punishment, that it violates international human rights laws and that it promotes killing as a satisfactory solution to a difficult problem. A common factor as to why people oppose the death penalty is because of the cruelty of the act itself, such as the common contemporary methods of execution, such as by shooting, hanging, using gas, electrocution and lethal injection. According Amnesty International who are strong non-advocates of the death penalty, capital punishment is the decisive rejection of human rights. It is the â€Å"premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state†. Half the amounts of US States have banned the death penalty for example New York, finding it unconstitutional. In Just Revenge by Mark Costanzo, he states that most Americans are supportive of the death penalty in the abstract by simply wanting the government to take care of it, â€Å"cleanly and efficiently, in a distant prison†. He questions that â€Å"is it morally acceptable to subject murderers to psychological torture before we kill them?†. While others assure it is a harsh, inhuman and undignified punishment done â€Å"in the name of justice†, including that inflicting punishment on wrongdoers discourages others from wrong doing. Some may say that the death penalty is a way to lash back at those who have harmed us, but coo peratively we must be more reasonable and humane than those who commit the act themselves. Those who favor the death penalty argue that if there were no death penalty to hold over the head of prisoners, those who have been sentenced to life without parole would be free to commit whatever crimes they chose without fear of increased punishment. Death penalty supporters often press two claims of executing murderers. The first is that it is injustice to the victims of murder if we do not execute their murders. The second claim is that the death penalty is needed to frighten potential murderers. Fear of the execution chamber will restrain potential murders, knowing they could face the executioner and that those who otherwise kill will stop and innocent lives would be saved. Another factor as to why the death penalty is justified is it giving closure to victims’ families who have suffered tremendously from the loss of their loved one. And also a prisoner can escape prison and give them another chance to kill. The death penalty is said to be needed to protect society from those who would kill again. Many of these factors which relate back to revenge. In some cases, the capital punishment is a â€Å"risk taker†. There are certain cases in which killing a criminal can lead to questioning as to whether or not the individual was guilty of the crime. The death penalty fails to effectively build up a society that is free from crime. Furthermore, it does not relieve the pain and loss of the victims or their families. States have made many proposals as to why capital punishment is wrong. As citizens, the death penalty does not alleviate the fear of violent crime or better safe-guard the people and is not imposed with fairness. Pope John Paul II made a very clear point in a statement he made about the death penalty. He stated â€Å"the death penalty does not allow the opportunity for the spiritual and human reconciliation with the victim† and also that â€Å"we cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing†. This quote is a very good example to supporting the idea of abolishing the death penalty that we cannot teach that murdering an individual is wrong by killing a criminal. Depending on the country, there are different views as to whether the death penalty should be abolished or not. The factors on both sides of the argument have led to the abolition of the death penalty in Eastern Europe. For example, Ukraine has put a pause to its punishment of the death penalty, as well as South Africa, whose parliament voted to formally abolish the death penalty, which had earlier been declared unconstitutional by the constitutional court. Their constitutional court believes that death is the most extreme form of punishment. They believe every individual has the right to life, dignity, public opinion. Not only is this an issue in the United States, but very well around the world. In India, the Indian Penal Code authorizes the imposition of the death sentence as a penalty of murder. Although it is nearly impossible for the abolishment of the death penalty to be equalized and understood by both sides of the arguments, the ideas and opinions shall never fade. With several states not having the death penalty, the real question is whether or not we need the death penalty. Capital punishment is not the core of our criminal system; its only one aspect of it. Only a small percentage of murderers are sentenced to death, and only a small percentage of that are executed. The real question is whether we insist on keeping the death penalty even though we don’t need it. WORK CITED End Capital Punishment. Abolish the Death Penalty. Amnesty International USA, 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martins, 1997. Print. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Death Penalty Statistics. Statistic Brain RSS. Statistic Brain Research Institute, 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Kronenwetter, Michael. Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. Print.

Theory and the Principles of the Colorimeter

Theory and the Principles of the Colorimeter COLORIMETER Introduction Color of food is not a physical characteristic of food but it is an important quality attribute for foods. This is because color affects the acceptability and perception of consumer for the food and even preference and perception of flavor (Lewis, MJ. 1996). The color is determined by the selective absorption of different amounts of the wavelengths within the visible region. Changes of color can occur during food storage, maturation (ripeness), processing and others. Colorimetry is the scientific color measurement which used to express color in numerical terms and to measure the color differences between the specimens. The specimens can be paints, textiles, plastics, food and other products that may reflect or transmit color. Colorimeter is an instrument for psychophysical analysis by measuring the amount of light passing through a liquid. This instrument provides measurements that correlate with human eye-brain perception. Besides, the colorimeter is basically like a spectrophotometer but less complex as the spectrophotometer allows selection of any wavelength of light. Colorimeter measures the color through three wide-band filters which corresponding to the spectral sensitivity curves. A light source creates a beam of light that shines through a sample. The colorimeter then measures the amount of light transmitted or absorbed electronically and provides colorimetric data as tri-stimulus values (XYZ, L, a, b). The design of the Tristimulus colorimetry is about duplicate the response of the human eyes. A light source, three glass filters with transmittance spectra that duplicate the X, Y and Z curves and a photocell are required. This helps to get the reading of XYZ represents the color of the sample. Drawback of XYZ system is not visually uniform, that means one unit of color measurement in one area of the solid was visually different from the same unit in another area. Normally, the values of tristimulus are used to determine the direction and amount of any color difference if a color match is accurate. The colorimeter provided in this lab is Color Flex colorimeter from the Hunter Lab. Color Flex is a self-contained color measurement spectrophotometer which had been introduced in this lab. It can be used in production or in the laboratory for inspecting raw materials and evaluating the final product. Apart from this, the Color Flex is ideal for measuring powders, granules, pastes, liquids and opaque as it has its port-up or port-forward measurement orientations. The Color Flex require glass sample cup to hold the sample for measure and has a hole to insert the glass sample cup according to its size. Specialized versions of the Color Flex are available for the citrus industry and the tomato industry. These systems include specializes calibration standards and measurement scales appropriate for the industry. Based on nonlinearly compressed CIE XYZ color space coordinates, a Lab color space is a color-opponent space with the dimension L which for the lightness and the a and b are for the color-opponent dimensions (Hunter, Richard Sewall, 1948). This L, a, b values used in the system are calculated from tristimulus value (X, Y, Z) as the backbone of all mathematical color models. The first system which uses the opponent-color theory is the hunter Lab system (1958). This system states that the red, green and blue cone responses are remixed into opponent coders as they move up the optic nerve to the brain. Figure 4.0 Tristimulus colorimetr OBJECTIVES To measure the absorbance of particular wavelengths of light by a specific solution. To determine the concentration of a known solute in a given solution by the application of the Beer-Lambert law which state that the concentration of a solute is proportional to the absorbance. To understand the theory and the principles of the colorimeter. To understand the standard operation procedure to operate the colorimeter correctly. THEORY AND PRINCIPLE Color has various degrees of lightness and different values. Opponent-Colors Theory has been developed since the XYZ values are not easily to get understand in term of object. This theory is easier for the scientist perceive color, simplify understanding, improve communication of color differences and can be more linear thought out color space. Based on the basic of the opponent-color theory, the Hunter L, a, b color space is a three dimensional rectangular, where L (lightness) varies from 0 (black) to 100 (white), a which represent red-green axis with positive (redness) and negative (greenness) values, and b which represent yellow-blue axis with positive (yellowness) and negative (blueness) values. The values of 0 for the a* and b* always represent neutral. Once the L, a, b position of a standard color is determined, a rectangular tolerance box can be drawn around the standard. Today, there are two popular L, a, b color scales which are Hunter L, a, b and CIE L*, a*, b*. A color still has different numerical values between these two color scales even though these two are similar in the organization. In fact, the Hunter and CIE L*, a*, b* scales are both mathematically derived from the XYZ values. Neither scale is visually uniform, Hunter L, a, b is over expanded in the blue region of color space whereas CIE L*, a* and b* is over expanded in the yellow region. STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURE ColorFlex Colorimeter The ColorFlex is placed on a flat and stable surface where near an electrical outlet. The system is turned on by pressing the Red (lightning bolt) key and is allowed to warm up for at least two hours before use. Before measuring sample, the instrument must be calibrated. Steps to standardize the colorimeter are carried out as below: The Down Arrow key is pressed until the menu is reached and then the Standardize is selected by pressing the Read key. As instructed, the sample pot should be covered with the black glass first. The black glass is covered at the sample port with the shiny side toward the port and the arrow on the glass should be pointed towards the scientist. The â€Å"thunderstorm† button is pressed. The sample pot then is covered with the white tile. Same with the black tile, the sample port is covered with the shiny side toward the port and the arrow on the glass should be pointed towards the scientist. The â€Å"thunderstorm† button is pressed and the values are showed on the periphery of the tile. A message which indicates the instrument is ready to read will be displayed when the standardization of the instrument is completed. The value of L*, a* and b* should be 50.87, -25.11 and 14.98 respectively. The sample cup must be cleaned before put the sample into it. Make sure that the sample must be at least fully covered the bottom surface of the cup. After closed the cover, the cup is put onto the sensor to measure the sample and take the reading. The L, a, b value will be show on the screen after the â€Å"thunderstorm† button is pressed and wait for a moment. The readings are recorded. Steps 5-7 are repeated for different samples. DATA Table 4.0 Standard Tristimulus Values . Table 4.1 Tristimulus Values of one-third volume of the Samples. Table 4.2 Tristimulus Values of two-third volume of the Samples. DISCUSSION From the demonstration, there are three samples which are green beans, red beans and dried red pumpkin seeds are used to measure by using the colorimeter. These three samples are also measure with different volumes. The L, a, b values are recorded. For the green bean, the small amount of the green bean sample shows the value of a* as 0.57 while the green bean sample with a higher volume get the value of a* as 0.46. This difference between the reading can be explained as the green bean with higher volume gives more greenness with it’s a* value is nearer to the negative values (low positive values). Moreover, the red bean with the low volume show the reading of the a* as 14.23 whereas the red bean with the higher volume show the reading of a* as 14.61. From this result, we can said that the red bean with higher volume are more redness than that of with the lower volume because it’s a* reading is more positive which indicate more redness. Same situation obtained from the dried red pumpkin seed. The high volume of red dried pumpkin seed has higher reading of a* as 27.11 compare than low volume of dried red pumpkin seed with reading of a* as 27.08. Next, green bean has showed that it is lightness with the value of L* as 37.13. It is more brightness than the red bean and also dried red pumpkin seed with the reading of L* as 22.89 and 26.46 respectively. In the demonstration, the value of a* of the green bean is 0.57 which means that are green in color in that sample. Besides, the b* values as 23.71 has showed that the green bean samples consists of more yellow color but less blue if compared to the standard value as it’s b* value is positive value and higher than that of the standard values. In the demonstration of red bean, it show that it consists of lowest lightness with the value L* as 22.89 if compared to others two samples. Thus, we can conclude that the red bean is the darkest among the samples. The a* value of red bean is 14.23 which means that there are red color in the sample and is more red than the standard which has the negative value of a* as -25.11. Moreover, the red bean has b* values as 8.16 and this showed that it consists of more yellow color but less blue color in it. Last, the dried red pumpkin seed has the L* value as 26.46 which is lower than that of green bean but higher than that of red bean. Among these three samples, the dried red pumpkin seed has the highest values of a* as 27.11. It showed that it consists of more red color than other samples. For the b* value, it’s b* value is about 13.82 which means that the dried red pumpkin seed also consist of more yellow color but less blue. Compare the results obtained, we can notice that the dried red pumpkin seed has higher values of L* and a* which showed it is more lightness and also more redness than the red bean. PRE-CAUTION STEP Make sure that the setting of the colorimeter is set as default setup before conduct the experiment to obtain accuracy data. The standard plates must be cleaned and make sure that it is free from dust and fingerprint. After done the calibration, put the black glass and the white tile back to the box to avoid scratching. The volume, size and weight of the sample must be standardized (constant). The amount of the samples must at least cover fully the bottom surface of the sample cup. The sample must be covered with the non-transparent black-coloured cover (light trap) when the readings are being taken. This helps to avoid the light sensitive colorimeter from the disturbance of other light sources. References Lewis, M. J. 2006. Physical Properties of Foods and Food Processing System. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Limited. Murano, P. S. 2003. Understanding Food Science and Technology. USA: Wadsworth/ Thomson Learning. Pankaj B. Pathare, Colour Measurement and Analysis in Fresh and Processed Foods: A Review. 2012. http://works.bepress.com/pankaj_pathare/3/.

Effect of Reader Schemes and Initiatives on Child Reading

Effect of Reader Schemes and Initiatives on Child Reading Investigate whether the Accelerated Reader Scheme and Star Reader Test has a positive effect on a child’s reading achievement. Abstract An evaluation carried out in a primary school on the implementation of the Accelerated Reader Scheme demonstrates its efficacy in improving reading scores and reading ages for students who are less able readers. The literature review shows that while there is limited evidence on the scheme itself, which is derived from American schools settings, there is evidence which shows that similar schemes, which are targeted on reading development, and also schemes which integrate ongoing support and feedback (either personal or ICT based) are effective in supporting those who are falling behind national literacy standards. However, this study, which utilises marks and reading scores to evaluate the scheme, is limited in its applicability and in the usefulness of its findings. More research is needed into the underlying cultures and pedagogies which affect such reading interventions, and more depth and detail of pupil attitudes and responses are required to understand how such programmes affec t student achievement in reading and in the longer term. Introduction Children’s reading development is a key feature of overall literacy in the primary age group, and as such is subject to considerable governmental governance and input. Achieving standardised levels of literacy is seen as important in ensuring children reach developmental and cognitive milestones, and are properly prepared for secondary school when they move into this phase of their education. However, there are a number of challenges to supporting children to read, because even though this is a key element of their learning, children are often lacking in enthusiasm or confidence about reading, and do not take well to reading for pleasure. Similarly, school resources often mean that support for reading is less than optimal, particularly if teachers do not have enough time to devote to listening to children read and providing them with feedback and guidance. This dissertation describes an evaluation of a new approach to improving literacy in a chosen age group within a primary education setting: the Accelerated Reader Scheme, which includes the Star Reader Test. This scheme uses computer-based resources to encourage children to read. Children take the Star Reader test, are assigned a ‘reading age’, and then are pointed to books associated with that reading age within the school library. Children read the books and then take comprehension tests, which demonstrate their level of learning and their progress. Students can access the website at Think.com to chart their progress and see their own attainment. The scheme originated in America, where its success within primary age schools was demonstrated, and has since been adopted in a number of schools in the United Kingdom. There is some literature to cite the benefits of the Accelerated Reader scheme, and a lot of examples of websites, weblogs and feedback demonstrating enthusia stic approaches to it in certain schools and locations. This dissertation shows an evaluation of this scheme in one school setting in a socio-economically deprived area, and contains primary data on the implementation and effects of the scheme. A critical review of the literature was carried out, to explore the context of the scheme and its place within the pedagogy and practice of primary education within this country. The discussion of the scheme and its results takes into account current theory, and concludes with recommendations for future research and practice. A summary judgement of the efficacy of the scheme is included. The evaluation is based on reading result scores as discussed in the findings sections, and indicates where the scheme has been effective, and where findings were found to be other than those anticipated. The conclusions make recommendations for future research surrounding this intervention, and also explore some of the drawbacks of using such an approach. Literature Review Search Strategy A critical review of the available literature was carried out, in order to set the context of the study and evaluation, and to explore the current state of theory and practice. A literature search was first carried out, in order to identify the pertinent literature which could be used to inform the study. In order to do this, the author first carried out a ‘thought shower’ in order to identify key terms to be used as search words and search word combinations, then used these to search the literature, shortlist articles by abstract, and then select full text articles for reading and review. The Critical Review The changing nature of education, particularly within the state-funded sector, is such that there are emergent issues around the ways in which educational goals are defined and set, and the context of education[1]. However, the concern of this dissertation is the effectiveness of interventions in relation to supporting reading competence in primary schools, and so the focus of the literature review is on reading competence, reading interventions, and factors which might affect reading and the success of such interventions. It was decided to take a broader approach to the literature review because there were very few primary studies which directly assessed Accelerated Reader itself, and therefore the understanding of the current theoretical and practical context needed to be explored in terms of this type of approach to reading competence. The literature demonstrates that there are many factors which may affect children’s reading abilities and progress[2], not all of which are necessarily to do with the child’s cognitive or other abilities[3]. Understanding these factors may be important in understanding the kinds of schemes and programmes which might support reading progress in all children[4]. This review does not specifically address children with Special Educational Needs but does make some mention of them in relation to inclusive schools practices. Although published data presented by governmental and other official sources suggests that there have been significant improvements in reading and literacy overall in children in primary education, there are other authors who argue that this is not the case, and the tests and measured used have been ‘advantageously designed’ to reflect better on the current ruling party and its policies[5]. While standards may be improving, it is suggested tha t these improvements are not as significant as they are claimed to be[6], [7], and that recording and testing processes are sufficiently biased to warrant an independent body being set up to monitor standards[8]. The introduction of the National Literacy Strategy may have something to do with changing responses to reading and even changing attitudes to reading, but this does not mean that the responses are overwhelmingly positive. One study suggests that the ways that children interact with reading and with books, and their attitudes towards books, are much more complex than the official guidelines and strategies might suggest[9]. This study was a questionnaire study with a sample of 5076 pupils in Years 4 and 6, and found that attitudes towards reading, while generally positive, did appear to decline between the younger and older of the sampled age groups[10]. Of the overall sample, it seems sub-sample of 2364 of these pupils were actually in the same schools where the same questionnaire had been implemented previously, in 1998, and it was found from comparison of these two incidences that â€Å"enjoyment of reading had significantly fallen over the five years, whilst confidence as readers had significantly increased over the same period†[11]. It may be that these changes may have something to do with the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy, but it is argued that other, less popular explanations are also possible for this change, including differences in social life and differences in children’s exposure to other media and other forms of entertainment[12]. What is interesting about this study is that children were enjoying reading less, but had more confidence in reading. This might reflect the outcomes based type of education that is now very much the standard with the UK context, and to this author, also reflects the fact that reading literacy is very much related to competence rather than true enjoyment of texts and of wider opportunities for reading. This might also represent a restriction of students to only reading ‘set’ books or texts, perhaps, which would possibly limit enjoyment and pleasure in reading. Strategies towards improving literacy have taken many forms, but on significant change has been the use of classroom assistants, who specifically target reading and other deficits in children in general classroom settings. Interventions to provide extra support through classroom assistants have been shown to improve standards at Key Stage 1 testing[13]. However, studies such as these on meeting national standards in literacy do not address the wider and more complex issues around reading and engagement of students, and around the pedagogy of literacy teaching and the limitations of having standards based education rather than supportive education that encourages children to realise their own potential. Other studies, such as one carried out recently in Ireland, show that specific programmes, such as the Reading Recovery programme, can be efficacious in improving standards[14], but more work needs to be done on evaluating what is described as the ‘depth’ of such approache s, meaning how they really affect student-teacher interactions and quality of experience[15],[16]. Earl and Maynard explore one potential issue in relation to reading progress and proficiency, the ‘reluctant reader’, looking at what makes children behave in this way[17]. They examined the underlying reasons for children to develop a negative relationship with reading, and the possible resulting attitudes that they may develop towards it, and found that while the majority of children claimed to enjoy reading, in actuality, they found reading difficult, and subsequent investigation indicated that these children were not confident n their reading abilities[18]. The study showed that self-efficacy and a sense of autonomy were potential features of improving these responses to reading[19]. Earl and Maynard conclude that reluctant readers should be offered the opportunity to take responsibility for their own reading practice and development, to allow them to learn for themselves the value of reading[20]. â€Å"It was also discovered that it is vital that the childs parents /carers1 are involved with helping to tackle their childrens reluctance to read. Parental input is crucial to a childs education; if this input is provided at an early stage, then reluctance to read is more likely to be successfully overcome and may even offer prevention as well as cure† (p 163)[21]. There is some research to suggest that teachers are one of the important factors affecting student outcomes in literacy[22]. This is not just to do with their ability to use teaching skill in literacy development, but to do with other features of teaching practice. †It is teachers’ expectations, their enacted curriculum, their classroom talk, their relations to young people and their actual ways of inducting them into specific textual practices that most affect literacy outcomes.[23] This would suggest that while there may be specifics of educational practice, and pupil response or individual ability, there can be things to do with teachers themselves that are as important as paying attention to reading ability. In a study by Wilkinsonit was found that teachers used theory effectively to improve the literacy outcomes of students in eight disadvantaged South Australian schools[24]. â€Å"Teachers constructing and using theory to enhance their agency emerged as one of the key factors that made a difference to student outcomes†, which can be viewed as teachers using theory to underpin their actions, and achieving positive effect[25]. It would seem from this study, that â€Å"teacher quality is predicated on teacher knowledge, particularly theoretical knowledge†[26]. However, this study was carried out in Australia, within a different cultural, pedagogical and policy context, and as such would have to be replicated within a UK context to be fully transf erable. Fisher also suggests that there are features of teachers and teaching practice which may affect reading activities and reading attainment[27]. He also suggests that despite a growing awareness and understand of sociocultural nature of language and classrooms, teachers and theorists are continuing to argue for more frequent and extended opportunities for teacher-pupil exchanges and discussions about texts, and more reciprocity in teacher-child dialogue in relation to reading and exploring texts and books[28]. Fisher (suggests that there are studies of classroom teaching practice and activities which demonstrate the continued use of triadic dialogue, in which the teacher predominantly controls the nature and length of any interaction, and effectively closes down discussion rather than encouraging more free exploration and debate[29]. This would seem to indicate that there is more to students developing reading skills and engaging with reading than simple pedagogical practices and activ ities, and much of the work around reading is still functional rather than philosophical. However, it may be that these findings simply reflect the realities of classroom practice, with deliberate control over discussions because of the need to maintain good discipline and achieve the prescribed tasks and goals of the teaching at that point. Certainly a classroom which encouraged more free debate and interaction with teachers could be viewed by some traditionalists as one in which discipline would be harder to maintain. And because of the kinds of limitations on resources, some ideal ways of addressing reading skill might not be practical. A study by Downer (2007) shows that one to one, targeted reading and literacy support, provided by teaching assistants, could be efficacious in improving the reading abilities of pupils who were falling behind literacy standards[30]. The study showed that as little as four minutes one to one support each day could make a difference[31]. However, this study is about supporting children identified as having fallen significantly behind their peers and the natioanl standards for their developmental age, and might require resources that are simply not available in the majority of state schools. It also has the disadvantage of singling out the students who are demonstrating slower progress and development in reading, which is not necessarily a good thing because it highlights the difference between them and their peers. Yet it does highlight the potential value of providing targeted reading support, perhaps even 1 to 1 support, in supporting children’s reading. Hatcher et al (2005) report a randomised controlled trial which evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention for reading-delayed children in Year-1 classes[32]. In this, a sample of 7 children from 14 different schools, children identified as having the poorest reading ability, were randomly allocated to either of the two groups, and the 20 intervention group received the programme for two times ten weeks, the second group only for the second ten weeks[33]. This was a small group programme, providing daily sessions of around twenty minutes, comprising small group and individual teaching[34]. In this study, the children who received the programme during the first ten weeks made markedly more progress on outcome literacy measures, but the children who received the programme in the second 10 week period seemed to catch up with the first group[35]. This programme, as with that described by Downer (2007), used trained teaching assistants, and found it was effective for children who show ed reading delays, although around a quarter of children did not respond to the intervention[36]. Again, this is an intervention which singles out those with less ability and provides specialist input, but it does not really address the notion of reading as a whole within the primary classroom, and, as with the previous study, singles out the poor achievers. This is no surprise, as it really reflects the predominant ideologies of national strategies for literacy[37]. There are a number of ways of targeting literacy, especially in poor achievers. Bunn (2008) reports a study which compared the progress in reading and spelling of 256 children in eleven classes in nine primary schools in England, located in years 3 and 4, and a partially overlapping sample of 126 children who received additional help with literacy during a single year[38]. In this study, teachers and teaching assistants implemented either Additional Literacy Support (ALS), which is a highly structured programme of small group teaching activities and materials, developed by the English National Literacy Strategy, or they used a broad range of other materials and approaches, including other published intervention programmes, reading scheme-based, computer-based and individually designed interventions, alone or in combination with ALS[39]. A strength of this study is that the researchers explored the influence of a broad range of contextual factors, especially whether childrens qualitie s, school factors such as socio-economic status and class size, and delivery differences made any marked differences to the results of the different interventions in relation to reading ability[40]. The design of the study was a naturalistic quasi-experimental design, and the author found ALS was marginally more effective than other interventions in the majority of the classes studies, however, the authors also found limitations in their ability to ‘catch up’ to their peers, and found little difference in attainment in relation to individual factors[41]. Another study demonstrates a targeted, home-based intervention that can be good at supporting literacy in children identified as being at risk of developing reading problems[42]. This was the Literacy Early Action Project, which is described as a home-visiting scheme for these children, carried out by teaching assistants, which involved parents and grandparents[43]. The study of this intervention identified five key factors which supported the child’s progress: â€Å"the flexibility in the teaching assistants approach that enabled extended family members to become engaged in literacy support; the teaching assistants sensitivity to family culture; the playful approach to learning adopted by the teaching assistant; putting the child at the centre of the intervention; and the existence of a school culture that strongly promoted involvement for parents†[44]. What this shows is that not only do certain children need more support than is available in current school settings, but that the individual needs and attributes of the child are important in achieving reading standards. The nature of the intervention, therefore, must be something that would be responsive and sensitive to individual children. Most literacy support programmes, particularly those for under-achievers, are based on phoneme-oriented strategies[45]. Authors of one study suggest that training in phoneme awareness and letter-sound knowledge is a fundamental part of effective interventions for poor reading in the context of reading books in particular, and evaluate the UK Early Literacy Support (ELS) programme[46]. Again, this is a study on children who were already identified as poor readers, and found that this programme offered a cost effective method of boosting 6-year-old childrens reading to an average level[47]. However, it does not address the idea of improving attitudes towards reading, rather, it focused on functional reading skill. A similar study explored why students did not respond well to phoneme-based reading support, and showed that other factors, such as letter knowledge and vocabulary were important in attaining reading competence[48]. This study also fails to address issues in the nature of the reading materials that may affect children’s responses to reading activities. Technological advances and the rapid development of information and communications technologies within the leisure as well as the educational sector an have effects on and provide insight into different ways of supporting reading skill development for children. Wood reports a small scale study of beginning readers using a form of ‘talking books’ software, compared to adult teaching support, using the same books in paper versions[49]. The authors found that â€Å"there were no significant differences between the two groups in their phonological awareness attainment, with both groups showing equivalent gains from pre- to post-test. Use of specific features of the software was associated with gains in rhyme detection ability and with changes in the childrens reading strategies†[50]. While this is a small study with a limited sample, and limited transferability, it does show that children might interact slightly differently with ICT-based reading interventions, perhap s due to differences in autonomy and engagement with reading materials, although more research is definitely needed into what features of the ICT-based reading activities are most effective. Another study describes the evaluation of a parent delivered, computer based beginning reading program[51]. â€Å"Statistically significant treatment effects were found for Kindergarten students in the intervention group on letter-sound fluency, oral reading fluency, non-word decoding, and phonemic awareness skills. Grade 1 students in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement over time on letter-sound fluency, letter-name knowledge, non-word decoding and oral reading fluency; however, these improvements were not significantly greater than those for the Grade 1 comparison group†[52]. This study was implemented in pupils across the ability range, but the authors also concluded that it might be a very useful intervention for students more at risk of poor achievement in reading and literacy[53]. It is interesting that this computer-based intervention was particularly targeted at reception and year one age students, and this author would raise the question of how well different reading programmes meet the needs of different ages. Also, it would have been good to have more detail about the computer based programme and its components. This may be a feature of these kinds of studies, that they do not really look at what it is about the programme that attracts students or engages them. Another study outlines the use of computer software to identify reading problems and propose ways of addressing these. This is in the form of an adaptive assessment named the Interactive Computerised Assessment System (InCAS), and can be used with children of a wide age range and differing levels of ability, in order to identify specific reading problems[54]. There are different potential formats of feedback to teachers, but overall the feedback provided also indicates how children need to improve[55]. Such programmes may be very useful but it is difficult to see how they can improve on good teacher-student interaction, and whether or not they would help to reduce the major challenges of managing the teaching workload to improve literacy. While it is unsurprising that the programme is aimed at addressing specific reading problems, it also underlines the ongoing theoretical and pedagogical orientation towards eliminating problems rather than enhancing students’ reading experien ce, engagement and enjoyment. However, there is research which shows that reading can be enhanced by ICT-type reading tools and activities[56]. Reading is important for many reasons, not just for the child’s ability to carry out the increasingly difficult tasks which concur with their progress through school[57]. Wallace (2008) shows how literacy an identity are strongly linked within the minds and behaviours of children, and how reading can help them to build links and connections between the childrens diverse personal histories and the texts and practices validated by school[58]. Supporting the development of reading literacy, and also engagement with reading as an activity in itself, may be a more important feature of primary schooling than is suggested by government guidance[59] and by teaching practice and pedagogy. It may, perhaps, be more than a functional skill. There are also some differences found within primary education between the genders[60],[61], [62], and between reading fiction and non fiction independently[63]. Boys tend to be of lower reading ability than girls, [64], [65], and although they may read marginally more non-fiction than fiction, they appear to do this less carefully and with less skill[66]. A mixed methods, but primarily ethnographic study in the North of England found that there were two different discourses around reading, both of which were gendered: â€Å"Two main differently gendered discourses about reading were encountered. The one discourse, dominant in the ‘working class’ classroom, was strongly gendered and afforded reading low status. The other discourse encountered in the ‘middle class’ classroom was gender-inclusive and reading carried high status. It is argued that the interaction between social class and gender is important in understanding children’s discourse about reading.†[67] This seems to show that reading ability is based upon a much more complex interaction of factors than simply the child interacting with the set activities, and being defined as a reading ‘age’ regardless of other features of their life, personality and attitudes. The study also demonstrates the ways in which class and social context affect perceptions of reading and reinforce gender differences in literacy and attainment at this early educational level. How much any reading intervention or teaching approach to redress this balance is debateable. Other research appears to demonstrate that the idea of encouraging reading for pleasure, rather than for necessity[68], is not really a part of current pedagogy and classroom practice[69], [70]. In a study of secondary schools in the south of England, it was found that because of a lack of time and absence of demand for wider reading in the English curriculum, teachers expressed ambivalence about encouraging and assessing wider reading, and teachers with less experience expressed uncertainty about how to introduce and encourage this[71]. Interestingly, it was also found that â€Å"where teachers did initiate wider reading, this was sometimes against departmental practice, a semi-illicit addition to their workload and could thus be seen almost as a form of bootlegging† [72]. This study places emphasis on the need for school children to learn to read widely rather than just because they have to, but also shows that the current approach to reading and literacy is prohibitive rath er than encouraging[73]. It would seem that current pedagogical and classroom cultures are limiting the opportunities for children to develop as individuals, in their own ways, and to engage in individual ways with reading[74], making their own choices[75]. The Accelerated Reader programme appears to increase self-efficacy and motivation in primary students[76], but the evidence for this is limited and is based on American schools, which have a different culture to the UK. However, the interactive, ICT based nature of the programme makes it attractive to the current primary education context, particularly in enhancing cross-curricular knowledge development. The Evaluation The Accelerated Reader Scheme was implemented in three classes, years 3, 4 and 5 in a primary school in an urban, deprived area. The aim was to improve reading scores, using the scheme to support students to engage more with their own reading activities and progress. It is well known that attainment levels suffer in schools with a high proportion of children who are subject to socio-economic deprivation[77]. The Accelerated Reader Programme has been implemented with some success in a range of schools in the

Thomas Plantes Do the Right Thing Essay examples -- Personal Reflecti

This is paper is a personal reflection on the views reflected by Thomas Plante the author of Do the Right Thing. Living ethically in an unethical world. Thomas Plante interprets principled and ethical understanding into realistic life approaches. By use of his five moral mechanisms for making tough Life decisions Plante steers readers all the way through a step-by-step process for generating a individual fair foundation based on truthfulness, capability, individual responsibility, admiration, and consciousness of the interests of others. Readers are then coached on ways to apply this self-designed scheme and systems to hard-hitting life situation. For instance, it deals with intricate professional environments or situations, family and relationship choices and even private economic decisions. As a personal reflection this paper will give personal opinions, examples and day to day examples of the application of these ethical views. It will use examples of the different dilemma situati ons. Medical ethics is a system of well placed guidelines, rules and principles to guide the conduct and judgments of medical practitioners or personnel in their endeavor to practice medicine. In this case, there is a dilemma in a supposed unborn baby who apparently has a damaged brain. The dilemma involves whether to terminate or rather abort the baby or let him live and donate the organs to other deformed children. The family decides to let the baby live however the hospital has advances by declaring the baby’s brain dead and they need the body parts as part of the requirements for a required transplant. This is the dilemma behind this healthcare issue (Beauchamp & Childress, 2008). It is however important to note that brain damage is the actual de... ... We Really Want to Produce Good People? Journal of Moral Education, 16(3), 177-188. Noddings, N. (1988). An Ethnic of Caring and Its Implications for Instructional Arrangements. An American Journal of Education, (962), 215-230. Oman, D., & Thoresen, C. E. (2007). How does one learn to be spiritual? Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood. Peters, R. S. (1970) Ethics and Education. London. Allen & Unwin Pollack, J. (2007). Ethics in criminal justice: Dilemmas and decisions (6th ed.). Belmont: Thomson and Wadsworth. Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2008). The police in America: An introduction (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Purpel , D. & Ryan, K. (1976). Moral Education. It Comes With Territory. Berkeley: McCutchman. Straughan , R .(1988). Can We Teach Children Good? Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Tom, A. (1984). Teaching as a Moral Craft. New York: Longman. . Thomas Plante's Do the Right Thing Essay examples -- Personal Reflecti This is paper is a personal reflection on the views reflected by Thomas Plante the author of Do the Right Thing. Living ethically in an unethical world. Thomas Plante interprets principled and ethical understanding into realistic life approaches. By use of his five moral mechanisms for making tough Life decisions Plante steers readers all the way through a step-by-step process for generating a individual fair foundation based on truthfulness, capability, individual responsibility, admiration, and consciousness of the interests of others. Readers are then coached on ways to apply this self-designed scheme and systems to hard-hitting life situation. For instance, it deals with intricate professional environments or situations, family and relationship choices and even private economic decisions. As a personal reflection this paper will give personal opinions, examples and day to day examples of the application of these ethical views. It will use examples of the different dilemma situati ons. Medical ethics is a system of well placed guidelines, rules and principles to guide the conduct and judgments of medical practitioners or personnel in their endeavor to practice medicine. In this case, there is a dilemma in a supposed unborn baby who apparently has a damaged brain. The dilemma involves whether to terminate or rather abort the baby or let him live and donate the organs to other deformed children. The family decides to let the baby live however the hospital has advances by declaring the baby’s brain dead and they need the body parts as part of the requirements for a required transplant. This is the dilemma behind this healthcare issue (Beauchamp & Childress, 2008). It is however important to note that brain damage is the actual de... ... We Really Want to Produce Good People? Journal of Moral Education, 16(3), 177-188. Noddings, N. (1988). An Ethnic of Caring and Its Implications for Instructional Arrangements. An American Journal of Education, (962), 215-230. Oman, D., & Thoresen, C. E. (2007). How does one learn to be spiritual? Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood. Peters, R. S. (1970) Ethics and Education. London. Allen & Unwin Pollack, J. (2007). Ethics in criminal justice: Dilemmas and decisions (6th ed.). Belmont: Thomson and Wadsworth. Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2008). The police in America: An introduction (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Purpel , D. & Ryan, K. (1976). Moral Education. It Comes With Territory. Berkeley: McCutchman. Straughan , R .(1988). Can We Teach Children Good? Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Tom, A. (1984). Teaching as a Moral Craft. New York: Longman. .

Jennifer Lopez :: Art

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born July 24, 1970 in Castle Hill, Bronx. She is the daughter of Guadalupe and David Lopez. Lopez has been able overcome the Spanish stereotypes becoming the highest paid Latin woman in the world. Every time she appears on magazine covers, presents on the Oscars, makes movies and music she is breaking down barriers and showing that every woman, no matter what race, can do this. The place where Jennifer grow up was a Spanish area, with people, food, and music Her grandparents taught her all about her roots. That is why she is proud of her ethnic background. As Jennifer grow up â€Å"West Side Story† was an inspiration to her, she especially looked up to a character named â€Å"Anita† played by Rita Moreno. She has always admired her. Ever since Jennifer was a kid she knew that she wanted to be a actress, singer, and dancer. When she was 5 years old she took ballet classes at the â€Å"Ballet Hispanico†. She Contained taking classes trough her teenage years. All trough her life she â€Å"On The 6† train to go tryout for dance auditions. When Jennifer was 15 years old, she meets her ten year long boyfriend David Cruz, know as â€Å"The best looking guy in the neighborhood†. Her parents did not approve of the relationship. Eventually they had outgrown the relationship, because David’s and her life were headed in a different direction, she also got lost in the Hollywood entertainment culture. Jennifer held multiple jobs, going to school during the day, dancing at night and kept a job, she was not home often. She even dropped out of college, because she knew she wanted to pursue dancing . At one point she and her mom had big fallout. When she was 18 years old she got kicked out of her house. She got an apartment at â€Å"Hell’s Kitchen†, the same neighborhood that Jennifer’s other role model â€Å"Lisa Lisa† grow up in. In 1990 Lopez gets her first big break as a fly girl in â€Å"In Living Color†, she beat more then 100,000 other girls for the part. She also takes acting classes and begins to appear in music video’s like Janet Jackson’s â€Å"That’s The Way Love Goes†. She went on tour with Janet and saw the pop culture that eventfully she would lead. She appears in sit-coms that did not really last like â€Å"Hotel Malibu† and â€Å"Nurses On The Line†.

Police Shooting/Diallo Case :: essays research papers

In our society today, it is very sad that the African-American community has lost a great trust and respect for the Mayor, the police commissioner and the N.Y.P.D. Amadou Diallo's shooting was very upsetting for the African-American community. The shooting shock many people because an unarmed innocent black male was shot 41 times in front of his home by four officers that assume him to be a rapist. Amadou Diallo was a black man in a primarily black neighborhood who saw four guys in the middle of the night and perhaps he thought these four undercover police were somehow looking for trouble. He probably said," I don't want to be a part of this", and tried to leave the scene. If I were in the same particular situation as Amadou Diallo, I would be just as afraid and try to get out of the scene. No one actually knows what Diallo was thinking about, you can only imagine. People often say that if Amadou Diallo had listen to the cops he wouldn't have been killed. I also hear people say the he cause his own death because of his lack of submission. Personally, I know Amadou Diallo stood innocent before those cops. Diallo was in a situation that he had no clue about. There was an outrage when the verdict "Not Guilty" broke out. Many people were furious, astonished and stunned. When I heard that the case was not guilty I was so shocked because I felt that the evidence was perfectly clear that the four New York police officers was GUILTY. It was not fair to my community or me to see such a case misjudge like that. African-American communities has changed their hearts toward Police Dautruche Officers. Police Officers are the ones who we are suppose to trust and entrust with our lives. Obviously, in our world today, that is not the case. I have never had a dispute with an officer, though I have seen my friends go through events with police officers. For instance, I was in an elevator with my friend and when we got to the last floor, a police officer was right in front of the elevator. So when my (guy) friend and me came out, the P.O. Pointed his gun toward my friend's chest and ask him some questions. The P. O did not approach me or even acknowledge me.

Different Styles of Imitation Essay

In The Transmission of Knowledge by Juan Luis Vives, Vives describes his idea of proper imitation. His basic theory is that people are not innately born with skills of art or rhetoric and therefore, these skills are obtained through the imitation of other skilled artists or rhetoricians. This idea is parallel to those of Petrarch and Alberti. Petrarch and Vives both say that proper imitation should be analogous to the way a son resembles his father. Vives says â€Å"A son is said to be like his father, not so much in that he recalls his features, his face and form, but because shows to us his father’s manners, his disposition, his talk, his gait, his movements, and as it were his very life, which issues forth in his actions as he goes abroad, from the inner seat of the spirit, and shows his real self to us.† (190) Petrarch says, similarly, â€Å"As soon as we see the son, he recalls the father to us, although if we should measure every feature we should find them all different.†(199) The father to son resemblance is the basis of imitation to both these authors. They both believe that a good writer should use imitation in a way where what they imitate resembles the original, but does it not duplicate it. For Petrarch and Vives, this can be achieved by properly integrating reading with writing. They both believe that by reading something and being able to digest it thoroughly, one can transport the overall idea and feeling of what he read onto his own writing. This creates a deep imitation, rather than copying what a writer says in different words. Both authors use the father to son metaphor to show that imitation should be meaningful and evocative. Petrarch supplements this idea by claiming that reading should be an alterative to experience. As one would in a sense â€Å"experience† the father through the son, one should similarly be able to experience the author a writer imitates. To illustrate this he referrers to â€Å"wandering† and â€Å"transport† throughout his works. Specifically, Petrarch interchanges writing with experience when he describes climbing Mont Ventroux. He says â€Å"But nature is not overcome by a man’s devices; a corporeal thing cannot reach the heights by descending† and, further, â€Å"there I leaped in my winged thought from things corporeal to what is incorporeal and addressed myself in words like these†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (39) The physical and spiritual are linked so closely together that they transport and overlap one another. According to Petrarch, characteristics like this are traits of a good imitator. Vives also relates to the kind of imitation which interchanges the bodily action with spiritual. He describes an oration, which links actions with rhetoric. He says â€Å"But these modern imitators regard not so much the mind of the orator in his expression, as the outward appearance of his words and the external for of his style.† (191) Both writers believe that by interchanging techne which psyche, one can properly imitate and transcend a deeper significance of what the writer is imitating. Although Petrarch and Vives share similar ideas, they also hold a contradictory belief: Petrarch only imitates Cicero, while Vives believes that one should imitate several models to create a single work. Although Vives clearly states that Cicero is the best model for writing in the conversational style: â€Å"Caesar and Epistles of Cicero will come into the first rank of conversational style,† (192) he also states that one should comprise writing by mimicking several writers: â€Å"The more models we have and the less likeness there is between them, the greater is the progress of eloquence.† (190) Foremost, Petrarch is not writing in the conversational style, instead he using the plain style. Therefore, he should mimic another writer from the list Vives has specified. Also, Petrarch is only interested in imitating one writer, Cicero. He defends the Ciceronian tradition by writing only in Cicero’s style. For this reason, Petrarch does not read other writers, like Dante, because he is afraid that he will become the product of what he reads, ideas and style. Instead he immerses himself in Cicero’s style by reading his work in such depth that he essentially writes in Cicero’s style without knowing he is doing so. Vives respects Cicero’s work, but he does not believe that Cicero is the best writer. Other than Vives’ belief that Petrarch should have imitated several conversationalists, Vives also states that â€Å"imitation of Cicero’s work is useful and safe, but not of his style; for if anyone cannot achieve success in the attempt he will degenerate into redundant, nerveless, vulgar and plebeian kind of writer.† (191) Therefore, the difference between Vives and Petrarch is that Vives believes that one should imitate several writers and that Cicero is not the best writer. Further, he offers a list of writers which should be imitated when trying to achieve a certain style. Petrarch, on the other hand, writes in Cicero’s style and believes that Cicero should be imitated while engaging in every kind of writing. Alberti was an author who was more like Vives in this sense. He also believed that one should embrace all the things which would make something beautiful into one. For example, he says that all arts are linked to painting somehow, and that all arts take from incorporate the skills associated with painting into their works: â€Å"The architect, if I am not mistaken, takes from the painter architraves, bases, capitals, columns, faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ades and other similar things. All the smiths, sculptors, shops and guilds are governed by the rules and art of the painter. It is scarcely possible to find any superior art which is not concerned with painting. so that whatever beauty is found can be said to be born of painting .†(Book II) Furthermore, it was important to Alberti to imitate the laws of nature, rather than nature itself. He pointed out that an architect should mimic the structure of reality and the geometry hidden in reality. Like Vives and Petrarch, Alberti joined the bodil y with the spiritual to create the perfect art. But, he resembles Vives, in the sense that he believes that one should imitate several things to create one thing. One difference between Alberti and Vives is that Vives believes that one should start out imitating a person who is not the best at what he does, but someone who is better than the imitator. Eventually, according to Vives, one should be able to move up in rank and imitate the best. He says â€Å"it is a wise precept of M. Fabius Quintilian that boys should not at first attempt to rise to emulation of their master, lest their strength fail them. An easier and quicker method will be to let them imitate someone more learned than themselves among their fellows, and contending with him let them gradually rise to copying their master himself.† (189) Alberti does not mention this method of imitation. Instead he says that when it comes to art, on must have â€Å"the favors of nature.† (Book I) In other words, Alberti strongly believes that one should have a natural talent for what he is doing, and that the gradual chain of improvement is not necessarily an established method, a s Vives indicates. Also, Alberti uses a style that is short and to the point. He says â€Å"I beg that I may be pardoned if, where I above all wish to be understood, I have given more care to making my words clear than ornate. I believe that which follows will be less tedious to the reader. (Book I) This type of frankness is a distinguished style of writing. He uses simple rhetoric so that his audience can grasp the idea quickly. This kind of style corresponds to the type of art he is writing about. He says that he writing about a new type of art: â€Å"We are, however, building anew an art of painting about which nothing, as I see it, has been written since this age.†(Book II) His new style is imitating his concept of having a different type of manual towards art. Also, his main is to gear away from the Ancients and more towards the Florentine. By changing his style of writing he is achieving this, not only through what he saying about graduating art from mechanical to liberal, but also through his style and techne. Both Alberti and Vives spend time discussing subject matter. Vives splits up who should be imitated based on the subject of the piece being writer. Similarly, Alberti pays attention to the subject matter of the painting. He says that an image can only bring pleasure of the subject matter of the painting brings pleasure. Alberti believes that one must imitate the feeling he wants the viewer to have in the subject of his painting for the artwork to be successful. This is what Vives is saying when he illustrates that one must pick the best writer in the subject that he wants to write about and imitate that style to be successful. Both Petrarch and Alberti can be compared with Vives and his ideas on imitation. To all three writers imitation plays a huge role on how to present written and artistic works. All three of them believe that imitation of others will lead to success. Further, they believe that imitation is the only way to learn how to write properly. Alberti adds another assumption: he says that to be the best, one must imitate, but before the imitation process takes place, one must have a natural talent for art. Petrarch and Alberti both believe that one must mimic what they believe is the right tradition through their styles. Petrarch believes in the Ciceronian tradition and follows in Cicero’s footsteps by imitating his style. Alberti is more concerned with understanding than the use of eloquent language. Overall, to all three writers imitation plays a huge role in their understanding of how written works influence their audiences.