Product Review of Do 2 Learn

Product Review of Do 2 Learn Visit Their Website In search of emotions cards to use as part of my social skills programs and the article I wrote on Emotional Literacy, I found Do2Learn.com, a great resource for emotions, but with a range of other offerings. Not everything on offer is of equal quality or value, but the unique quality of the free games and social skill songs make the whole site worth adding it to your favorites. In an effort to make a full offering of activities as well as their super interactive games, the publisher put up some kind of lame art and writing activities. They are overly simple, lack much specificity and replicate things that are free on other sites. The interactive games, on the other hand, are super for children with disabilities, especially students with poor skills and an interest in computers. They are also great for classrooms with Smart Boards or Promethean Boards, as these boards act as giant touch screens, and students with poor motor skills get a bit of gross motor activity in as well. A Mix of Free and Inexpensive Games and Resources The free computer games and songs come with some companion activities, which are generally sold as inexpensive digital files delivered to your email. Resources for Emotions I stumbled on the site in search of emotions cards. I have a set that was already in my classroom, but I wanted to find other resources to recommend to my readers. I stumbled on the feelings cards that  you can print on your color printer. It uses the faces of real models, faces that reflect diverse ages, races and ethnic backgrounds. And when I found the ​Feelings Game, another free resource, I was delighted. I have been using it with my class on the Smart Board in my classroom. My students take turns tapping the sad or angry person on the nose. It also has three levels, from matching the face to the emotion, moving on level 2, where you read a scenario, and choose how a person would feel, and finally reading a scenario and naming the emotion you see on the persons face. There is a second free activity is the Facial Expressions game, which allows children to manipulate facial simulations to mirror human facial expressions. In some ways they seem kind of creepy, but students on the autism spectrum love the computer, and it does help them isolate specific aspects of facial expressions, from the direction of the eyes to the shape of the mouth. A Cursory Survey of Disabilities and Disabilities Terms It seems that the creators of Do2Learn are attempting to create a comprehensive special education website, but the informational pages are cursory at best. The disabilities sections offer both definitions of the disabilities and an adjoining page that lists strategies. And List is the right word: the strategies are dense and dont provide the logic behind choosing specific interventions. They are not written with enough specificity to inform the novice, nor enough structure to help professional plan interventions. Worksheets and Activities for Students with Disabilities The Do 2 Learn team also attempt to provide a broad range of activities, activities for students from a range of ages, disabilities and challenges. I work in the same field, and know the challenges of creating attractive worksheets and materials to support the range of needs for children. They include fine motor activities like cutting, letter recognition and Math activities. I find the activities they create worthwhile, but with poor production values. By all means, feel free to use them, but they are not the reason for a trip to Do 2 Learn. Picture Cards Do2Learn has created their own pictures cards to be used for Picture Exchange. They seem pretty comprehensive, and may work as a suitable substitute for PECS, Boardmaker symbols or Pogo Symbols. They claim to have over 2,000 symbols, but without access to their picture making system, its hard to gauge the range and readability of the pictures. Still, Id check them out before purchasing one of the other two systems. Do 2 Learn: The Destination for the Feelings and Emotions Resources Put Do 2 Learn in your favorites, if you are doing social skills and emotional literacy activities. These are outstanding. The color and math Mahjong games will be fun for your students, as well. Put shortcuts on the computers your students use, especially for young students or students with emerging skills. They will enjoy them. The other activities that make it worth the trip are the social skill songs for safety. Not songs you will want on your IPod; still, paired with short videos they are catchy and will help young students with disabilities remember important steps to guarantee personal safety. By all means, make the trip. Check out Do2Learn and see if they have resources you can use. Visit Their Website

40 Back From Christmas Break Writing Prompts

40 Back From Christmas Break Writing Prompts Christmas break is over and now its time to get back into the swing of things. Your students will be very eager to talk about all that they did and received over the holiday break. A great way to give them the opportunity to discuss their adventures is to write about it. Christmas Break Writing Prompts What was the best gift that you received and why?What was the best gift that you gave, and what made it so special?Write about a place that you went over the Christmas break.Write about something you did with your family over Christmas break.How did you bring joy or happiness to someone other than your family this holiday season?What are your familys holiday traditions? Describe all of them in detail.What is your favorite Christmas book? Did you get to read it over break?Are there any parts of the holiday that you didnt like? Describe why.What are you most grateful for this holiday season?What was your favorite holiday food that you had over break?Who was the person you spent the most time with and why? What did you do with them?What would you do if Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanza was canceled this year?What is your favorite holiday song to sing? Did you get a chance to sing it?What did you miss the most about school when you were on break and why?What was one new thing you did this h oliday break that you didnt do last year? What will you miss the most about Christmas vacation and why?Did you get to see a movie over winter break? What was it and how was it? Give it a rating.Think of three New Years resolutions and describe them and how you will keep them.How will you change your life this year? Describe the steps you are going to take.Write about the best New Years Eve party that you have ever attended.What did you do for New Years Eve? Describe in detail your day and night.Write about something you are looking forward to doing this year and why.Write about something you hope will get invented this year that will change your life.This will be the best year because†¦I hope that this year brings me†¦.Make a list of five ways your life is different this year than it was last year.Its the day after Christmas and you noticed you forgot to unwrap just one gift†¦This year I really want to learn†¦.In the next year, I would like to†¦.My least favorite thing about Christmas break was†¦List three places you wish you could have visited over winter break and why. If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it over winter break?What if Christmas only lasted one hour? Describe what it would be like.What if Christmas break was for one three days, how would you spend it?Describe your favorite holiday food and how you can incorporate that food into every meal?Write a letter to Santa thanking him for everything you received.Write a letter to the toy company about a defective toy you received.Write a letter to your parents thanking them for everything you received for Christmas,If you were an elf how would you spend your Christmas vacation?Pretend you are Santa and describe how you will spend your Christmas break. Celebrate the Holidays with Christmas Activities

Police and alcohol abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Police and alcohol abuse - Research Paper Example Alcohol forms a significant component of cultural, social and interpersonal associations in most societies across the world. According to Doherty and Roche (2003), alcohol is the most widely used drug in the world in spite of its well documented adverse effects on health and social order. Medically, research has demonstrated that consuming moderate amounts of the beverage is beneficial to health by reducing incidents of cardiac ailments especially among the elderly (Lindsay, 2008). However alcohol abuse is a major global concern, affecting people in various professional backgrounds. The adverse effects of excessive alcohol consumption to the user and others are documented in numerous research studies. Excessive alcohol consumption is a major contributing factor of premature death, high morbidity rates and accidents in the population. In addition, it increases of interpersonal violence and aggravates mental illnesses such as depression resulting to high suicidal rates in the contemporary society (Doherty and Roche 2003). In the police force, alcohol consumption does not only cause health problems, but also impacts negatively on the officers’ performance. In a profession that requires high levels of alertness, alcohol use lowers reaction time and reduces mental and physical coordination. A combination of these factors results to reduced productivity in the work place, high levels of absenteeism and increases the risks of work related injuries and accidents(Lindsay, 2008). Research findings on drinking habits of police officers indicate that they drink higher quantities of alcohol in a given occasion compared to the general population (Amaranto, et al 2003). Several factors are attributed for alcohol abuse in the police.

Nursing care to transgender Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Nursing care to transgender - Research Paper Example Nursing care to transgender: Current state of knowledge Both the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force define transgender â€Å"broadly to include those who transition from one gender to another (transsexuals), and those who may not, including genderqueer people, cross-dressers, the androgynous, and those whose gender non-conformity is part of their identity† (NTDS, 2011, p. 12). Gender non-conformists include lesbians, gay, and bisexuals (NTDS, 2011, p. 12). Provision 1 of the Code of Ethics for Nurses of the American Nurses Association (2001) pointed out that â€Å"the nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.† The preamble of the Code of Ethics prescribed by the International Council of Nurses clearly and unequivocally pointed out that nursing care must be respectful and unrestricted by gender and gender orientation (ICN, 2006, p.1). In line with the codes of ethics mentioned, this review of literature seeks to find out the current state of knowledge in gender-orientation-sensitive health care. ... literature seeks to find out what material can be considered as the material that can provide a basic reference for protocols and approach towards a gender-orientation-sensitive health care. This review covers materials from 2009 to 2012 and starts from a review of literature conducted on the subject in 2009. Thus, the inclusion criteria followed for the literature review are works written from 2009 to 2012, published in nursing or health journals, and must have the word transgender in the title of the material. The exclusion criteria included materials that are unpublished or non-journal articles, published earlier than 2009, and those that are only online materials. Other materials appear in the bibliography because they are relevant to be discussed in elaborating the points articulated in the selected materials. In a review of literature Addis et al. (2009, p. 647) pointed out that â€Å"member of various groups will have different needs, risks and expectations which impact on he alth, well-being and patterns of accessing health and social care services.† Primarily based on this point, the authors justified why a review of literature on social and health care are important among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older people. The focus of the authors’ integrative review of literature was to find out what research has indicated to be the appropriate guidelines or principles in health care among transgender people. Addis et al. (2009) pointed out that transgender people have been largely unknown, together with the gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Based on their 2009 review of literature, Addis et al. observed that among the main themes that can be derived in the health care studies involving the social groups are isolation and their state of mental health.

Business to Nation Building Essay Example for Free

Business to Nation Building Essay There are three particular foundations sustaining any process that concerns nation building: government representing political leadership; civil society or the citizens of the country; and business or the economic sector. These three concepts must work together and as much as possible, work together harmoniously to drive the said nation-building process forward because they serve as the hands and feet of the nation. Business is the cornerstone of prosperity in society: companies create the resources that permit social development and welfare. Companies, through their commercial operations, actively contribute to progress in society. Obviously, the government alone cannot accomplish things especially its projects and programs on its own. Had it been capable, it would already have done it. Without the businesses around, the government wouldn’t work out the plans it opt to undertake because it needs funds coming from taxes and taxes comes from these establishments. The ability to produce an added value for firms – profit – is the basic prerequisite for business, but it is also a foundation for prosperity in society. Only profitable companies are sustainable in the long term and capable of creating goods, services, processes, return on capital, work opportunities and a tax base. This is what business does better than any other sector. Hence, companies’ basic commercial operations are the primary benefit they bring to society. Companies benefit society by: Supplying goods and services that customer cannot, or do not want to, produce themselves * Creating jobs for customers, suppliers, distributors and co-workers; these people make money to support themselves and their families, pay taxes and use their wages to buy goods and services * Continually developing new goods, services and processes * Investing in new technologies and in the skills of employees * Building up and spreading international standards, e. g. or environmenta l practices * Spreading â€Å"good practice† in different areas, such as the environment and workplace safety The role of business in the development of society can be described in many ways. In another point of view, they are sometimes referred to as the company’s corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility is a less broad concept than civic involvement. Even though there is no set, internationally accepted definition, this is often described as a voluntary responsibility that transcends the demands of national legislation and includes the human rights and environmental and social issues. Another definition of CSR uses sustainable development as a starting point. In practice, CSR means that businesses meet the demands of national legislation and, where this is inadequate, look in addition to a collection of established, fundamental freedoms and rights that are globally recognized. CSR demands that businesses manage the economic, social and environmental impacts of their operations to maximize the benefits and minimize the downsides. Business is the ‘game-changer’ of today’s world. We are significantly dependent on them. Majority of our day-to-day activities are involved with an interaction with various kinds of businesses (whether you felt hungry and decided to buy food or you just went to a parlor to have a haircut). But what’s good to know is that they do not benefit from us alone whenever we pay their goods or services but they give mutual advantage for the welfare of the greater society by having their own share in nation-building, too.

Graduation Speech :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Tonight is a turning point in our lives. We've struggled through 12 longs years together to make it to this stadium -- to wear these ridiculous looking caps and gowns as our families watch us proudly. But tonight is more than just a ceremony, it is the closing of a chapter in our lives, the end of our public education. Our education has been a time of maturing, goal-setting and self-discovery. Mostly this has been positive. Time sure flies, so my parents say, but I think it's been a long 12 years -- 13 if you count kindergarten when our parents first put us on that big yellow school bus. As time passed, we discovered that school wasn't so bad. We learned reading, writing, arithmetic, and of course, our most scholarly class: recess. Junior high was another story. We were very eager to discover ourselves and to mature -- perhaps too eager. Above all, we learned to think a lot about ourselves and not much about anything else. High school has been a time of self-discovery for all of us. Suddenly, in high school we got responsibility -- more than we wanted. We balanced jobs, sports, family, friends, and of course, homework. We also found ourselves busy with school assignments -- chasing down butterflies for our biology insect collections, parallel parking the family car for driver's ed., going to the library to actually do research and pulling all-nighters to write our term papers. It is not surprising that by the middle of 12th grade we began to develop a little syndrome -- sometimes referred to as senioritous. However, we managed to trudge through the last part of this year to achieve the dream and goal that we've worked so hard for. High school has really been about setting goals and accomplishing them. As this chapter closes in our lives, it gives way for the opening of many more chapters to come; all of which will bring new challenges. Accomplishing our dreams is what gives meaning to life. The poet Carl Sandburg said, "Nothing happens unless first a dream.

The Katrina Breakdown

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina may be remarked as a very important aspect to understand the relationship between federal, state, and local governments when it comes to major catastrophe. In Katrina’s case, federalism is seen as central to what was largely a government-created disaster. Numerous scientific articles are trying to offer various interpretations of what went wrong and why; however, out of all perspectives, I find Stephen Griffin’s argument most persuasive. Yes, I may agree with Martha Derthick that there were both success and failures in governmental responses to the disaster, but I also find this idea less persuasive because there were more failures than successful responses. I may agree with Marc Landy’s position that federalism was put to a difficult test that required effective decisions, speed and coordination, and I agree that some citizens were not cooperating with the mandatory evacuation orders and consequently were the ones to blame. However, Griffin’s examples of governmental failure show something valuable about the nature of federalism. First of all, he proves that federalism is not simply about the fact of the existence of federal and state governments. Federalism is also about localism. Despite being dependent for their legal authority on state governments, local governments have substantial legal and political authority. Prior to Katrina, federal disaster policy had been based formally on the idea that local governments knew local conditions best. However, one of the most unusual characteristics of Hurricane Katrina was how it blasted away the entire local government infrastructure in New Orleans. It challenged assumptions as to how the federal structure needed to operate, not just during a crisis, but also in preparing for crisis situations. It also removed the basis on which the National Response Plan was built. Second, the failure to respond to the disaster exposed one of the few real structural weaknesses in the U. S. Constitution – a mechanism to coordinate the work of local, state and national governments. While Washington had difficulty making long-range plans, coordinating its actions and political decisions, local, state and federal officials were debating over who was in charge. The fractured division of responsibility – Governor Blanco controlled state agencies and the National Guard, Mayor Nagin directed city workers, and the head of FEMA, Mr. Brown, served as the point man for the federal government – meant no one was in charge. For example, the evacuation was delayed unnecessarily because the federal and state governments could not communicate effectively about who was supposed to provide transportation. It meant that officials were unaware that there were thousands of people without food, water, or bare necessities. The consequences of this governmental paralysis were appalling human suffering and the humiliation of the U. S. government in the eyes of the nation and the whole world. Another part of the problem was that the scale of devastation was vast. It appeared that Katrina was beyond the capacity of the state and local governments, and it was beyond the capacity of FEMA. Federal authorities were waiting for state authorities who were supposed to combine local decisions to request resources in an emergency. However, when local governments and communications had been wiped out, state authorities did not know what to request. The extent of the crisis meant that state officials were unable to cope. In other words, when the crisis hit, different agencies could not communicate with one another due to different types of systems. When in fact, Katrina was a national problem and could only be solved by a national mandate. It seems that the federal system must be a certain way because it has always been that way – it is a system that the founding generation designed and thought was well-justified. Among other effects, this saves officials from having to fully confront their own responsibility for how the system is run. In Katrina’s case, for instance, there was no justification for allowing local and state authorities to fight for years over who was going to buy which communications system. They should have not fight over the idea of how the block grants needed to be distributed. Indeed, they would not have been able to fight at all were it not for the federal dollars they were receiving. Unless some institutional and constitutional lessons of Katrina are learnt, if another terroristic event, or a massive earthquake, or even another hurricane happens, we will get the same ill-coordinated response. We need to stop our customary thinking about what federalism is and what it requires in order to prevent another disaster. The formal structure that does carry over from the eighteenth century is misleading because it has been supplemented and subtly altered by continuous institutional change. To quote Stephen Griffin: â€Å"The federal system as it exists today is our system, not that of the founding generation. â€Å"We† – generations still alive – created it and we are continuing to change it. † In any event, if this system is ours, we are responsible for its successful operation and we can decide to change it for good and sufficient reasons.

New Religions Essay

Present essay studies how new religions are born in the context of social, cultural and intellectual relations between people. The analysis addresses the origins of three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam to trace their origins, historical and social needs that drove their development and intrinsic ties with their predecessors. The thesis is defended that the birth of religions should not be regarded as merely divine providence, intellectual development, but should be understood through the prism of socio-political developments in a given society. The origins of Christianity Christianity was not born as fully autonomous religion, but in contrast was under a great influence of Judaism (Brown, 963). This influence relates to the same canonical religious texts, including Old Testament, monotheism etc. Hence, Christianity was born simultaneously as a follower and opponent to Judaism. There is no denying the importance of the fact that social roots of Christianity should be traced in Jewish revolutionary movement against Judaist aristocracy, living in wealth and oppressing lower classes and Roman dominance, which was particularly aggressive. In its intellectual roots Early Christianity focused on critique of material goods, which is reflected in its celebration of soul, love and salvation. Such ideology was particularly successful amongst ordinary people, who saw Christianity as the source of their liberation (Bruce, 235). However, notwithstanding these social roots, Christian religion was for a long time persecuted in Judea and Roman empire in general. It did not function as state religion until AD 325 when the First Council of Nicaea took place and Constantine the Great made his historical decision. Until that time Christianity functioned within different sects, which focused on often contradictory interpretations of Bible, Greek philosophy, Gnosticism, Judaism etc (Grant, 45). Therefore, establishing Christianity as a full-fledged religion required its ascendance in the role of state religion and codification of its canonical legacy. The task was realized by St. Paul, who transformed the earlier premises of Christianity and made them affordable to interpretation by state power. Various Christian Councils later codified Christian texts and interpreted them to create unified traditions. Other interpretations of Christianity were persecuted by official Christianity, which marked the final stage in its transformation into full-fledged religion. Judaism The historical roots of Judaism should be traced back in the social need of Judea state to legitimize and develop its national autonomy in the ancient world (Shaye and Cohen, 36-39). The proof of the latter thought may be found in Tanakh (Old Testament), a canonical text of Judean tradition. Old Testament presents a Jewish nation (Childern of Israel) in their direct relationship with God, who proclaimed them the chosen nation. The latter shows that Judaism was central for Judea in positioning itself as the most progressive state in the Middle Eastern region. The historical origins of Judaism should also be traced in the need of regulating social relations in Judean society. This is the most evident in commandments or Law of Moses, which includes 613 laws, regulating various spheres of life in society. Hence, there is no denying the importance of the fact that Judaism was a very important ethical, legislative and moral tool in ancient Jewish society. Its main principles were later included in Talmud, which became the prototype of religious legislative system in general. Notwithstanding the fact that Judaism was the first monotheistic religion it was influenced by some ancient religions such as Zoroastrianism, from which Judaism borrowed certain cult practices, monotheistic ideas and philosophical mindset (Shaye and Cohen, 295). The ties of Judaism are also evident with Christianity and Islam, which form the group of common Abrahamic religions. Islam Islam has its historical roots both in Judaism and Christianity. As it is widely known, Islam uses Christian tradition of preaching Jesus; however, unlike Christianity in Muslim tradition, Jesus is regarded as a mortal person (Esposito, 23). Muhammad, the final prophet of God is regarded as a great reformer, who restored the original monotheistic tradition of Moses, Jesus and Abraham, which arguably was distorted in Christianity and Judaism. Therefore, it may be said that Islam is based on permanent reference to Judaism and Christianity, as the sources of its own development. The birth of Islam was also fostered by the ethical, intellectual and moral needs of Arab societies. Quran may be compared to Torah in this respect, because it served as the main tool for regulating social relations in Muslim societies. Its main commandments were included in Shariat law, which reflects Muslim tradition of correspondence between law and religious norms. Moreover, it should be noted that Islam was born and developed in the period of the rapid ascendance of Arab civilization as the center of power and development in Asia (Esposito, 68). Arab conquests and interrelations with the West were premised on the construction of the national and religious identity, which was found in Islam. Islam served as the tool for contrasting Muslim world with Western and allowed unifying various Muslim nations in the single task of promoting the cause of Mohammad. To sum it up, we have discussed major historical, social, cultural and ethical causes, which influenced the birth of three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The analysis shows that their birth and development should be understood as the complex process, affected not only by intellectual development, but deeper social and political processes, including revolutionary movement, the inception of new nationalist states, the relations between different civilizations etc. Bibliography Brown R. E. 1994. The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave. New York: Doubleday, Anchor Bible Reference Library. Bruce F. F. , 1988. The Canon of Scripture. Intervarsity Press. Esposito, John. 2003. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press Grant, M. 1977. Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels. New York: Scribner’s. Shaye, J. D. and Cohen. 1999. The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties, Berkeley: University of California Press.

College GPA Does It Really Matter

College GPA Does It Really Matter Freaking out about your GPA? Sure, you’ve been told your whole life that grades are the difference between becoming a millionaire and having a lifelong career at Taco Bell. As a college student, that idea is emphasized even more, with many vital courses for your degree having specific GPA requirements. As the end of the semester approaches, you may be spending sleepless nights worrying about whether you did enough to get your GPA to that millionaire-level or if you should just learn how to make a killer Mexican Pizza. Fortunately, your GPA isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. In fact, there are several very real reasons why your grades aren’t the end-all be-all of your college experience. Just take a look at these facts and statistics about GPA and you may be able to relax enough to keep your current grade level in perspective. 60-70% of HR recruiters think that GPA is important Okay, so GPA is important. In fact, when you’re looking for a job after college, a majority of hiring managers will want to see a GPA above 3.0. Still, if you haven’t met that magical arbitrary number, don’t worry. A full 30-40% of businesses don’t even look at GPA. Instead, they’ll be interested to see what kinds of extracurricular, community, and volunteer experiences you’ve had. 43% of letter grades given are A’s In a recent study from Teacher’s College Record, almost half of all grades that are given are A’s. This means that getting a 4.0 really doesn’t mean what it used to. Many employers know this and understand that being good at kissing the teacher’s butt doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is smarter or more qualified. Lots of influential organizations like Google and America don’t care about GPA Lazlo Bock, the Senior VP of People Operations for Google said in a New York Times interview, â€Å"GPA’s are a worthless criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless†¦We found that they don’t predict anything.† This is proving to be a very valuable theory, with many CEOs, business leaders, and even president’s not boasting very high GPA’s. Remember what George W. Bush said: â€Å"To all the C-students: I say, you too can be president of the United States.† 45% of college dropouts leave school with a GPA between 2.0 and 3.0 The pressure to get good grades and keep them can be so overwhelming for some students that it will push them out of college altogether. It’s all about how students perceive their success. According to research from the Education Advisory Board (EAB), students who have a mixture of B’s and C’s are more likely to stay in school than those with a mix of A’s and F’s. Despite their equal potential, focusing on â€Å"perfect† grades can actually be a deterrent to success. People not concerned with GPA tend to have higher GPA’s In a small study conducted at Cal State San Marcos, researchers found that students who were most concerned about GPA were more likely to have lower ones. While this could be due to some students’ confidence in their abilities, it could also be that a lack of stress about grades helped them to do better on tests and naturally increased their scores. Your GPA may depend on your personality Although everyone has to take tests, there is a certain group of people who seem to excel naturally when it comes to bumping up their GPA. In a study done at Rice University, students who were considered â€Å"conscientious† (disciplined and goal-oriented) had higher GPA’s overall. That means GPA’s may do a good job defining the work ability of certain types of students, but completely miss the qualities of students who are more laid back and people-oriented. 51% of MBA programs ding applications based on GPA Although 51% seems like a high number, it’s actually a good thing. What this means is that, while over half of MBA programs see GPA as in indicator of success, almost half think that it’s not a big deal. So depending on your program of choice, GPA can either be a deterrent or a non-issue. Schools with tougher grading policies produce almost 60% fewer successful MBA applicants Schools who participate in grade inflation may not be as honest as others, but they have more students who are accepted into post-graduate programs. In fact, research published in PLOS One showed that students from schools with stringent grading policies (i.e., they only gave out 10% A’s) had only 12% of their applicant’s accepted. Schools with inflated grades were accepted 72% of the time – often because the school in question was seen as prestigious. Basically, it’s important to do your best in school – but don’t put too much emphasis on your GPA. Instead of fretting about how you can get that A+ rather than an A, focus on the additional value you can bring to your school and career. A person who has proven to be a creative, innovative self-starter is going to be much more attractive than a super-smart person who only knows how to take a test. Hows your GPA doing? Are you worried about your grades at the moment? Do you have some GPA success formula? Tell us more, dont be shy!

A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations

A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations By Mark Nichol Formatting quotations can be tricky, especially when the words between the quotation marks do not constitute a complete sentence. How would you revise these clumsily formatted partial quotations? For each example, compare your corrections to mine in the paragraphs following each one. 1. â€Å"These days, says Smith, ‘The market does the valuation work for you.’† To clarify the context, the writer has provided the quotation with an introductory phrase the person quoted did not actually utter; therefore, it is not inserted within the quotation marks. And because although â€Å"The market does the valuation work for you† is a full sentence the potential quotation is â€Å"These days, the market does the valuation work for you,† the original quote is treated as a partial quotation and therefore does not begin with an initial-capped word: â€Å"These days, says Smith, ‘the market does the valuation work for you.’† Also, the attribution tag (â€Å"says Smith†) could be relocated to follow the quotation, but the sentence’s rhythm is better as is. 2. â€Å"But he conceded that, ‘with the world like it is, the situation looks a little different now.’† If you do choose to make a partial quote immediately follow a contextual paraphrase, note that unlike as in the case of a simple attribution tag, when the paraphrased part of the sentence and the quotation portion are linked by that, they are not separated by a comma: â€Å"But he conceded that ‘with the world like it is, the situation looks a little different now.’† However, if you convert the initial phrase to an attribution tag, do insert a comma after it: â€Å"But, he conceded, ‘with the world like it is, the situation looks a little different now.’† 3. â€Å"If you own a business ‘dependent on an abundant, reliable water source,’ he said, you probably aren’t thinking about building a plant in Las Vegas.† In journalistic writing, quoted material gives the article a sense of accessibility you feel like you are there listening to the source and of veracity. But some people are more quotable than others, and some reporters are better at recording their source’s utterances better than others. Often, in the rush to capture a speaker’s comments, the reporter manages just a phrase here and there and presents them as partial quotes. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Here, as is frequently true, the exact words are inconsequential because the statement is mundane; there’s no personality or pithiness in the prose. In that case, it’s usually better just to treat the information as a paraphrase a rewording of the quotation even if it includes words or phrases (or the entire sentence fragment) actually uttered by the source: â€Å"If you own a business dependent on an abundant, reliable water source, he said, you probably aren’t thinking about building a plant in Las Vegas.† 4. â€Å"Smith kept his cool, but he was clearly upset that the plan was meant to ‘discredit the committee’s work and undermine its conclusions before those conclusions are even reached.’† This partial quotation could be converted to a paraphrase, but because the issue is sensitive and the speaker is critical in his choice of words, most reporters would retain the markers indicating that these are the source’s exact words. However, although it is strongly implicit in this sentence that Roberts is the source of the partial quotation, that’s not good enough. Even if a contextual phrase preceding a partial quotation refers to the speaker, insert an attribution tag: â€Å"Smith kept his cool, but he was clearly upset that the plan was meant to, as he put it, ‘discredit the committee’s work and undermine its conclusions before those conclusions are even reached.’† 5. â€Å"He championed an $11 billion water bond ensuring ‘a reliable water supply for future generations, as well as restoring ecologically sensitive areas.’† This quotation is less stable than the previous one because it’s even less clear here that the person identified as the subject uttered the partial quotation. Make the connection clear: â€Å"He championed an $11 billion water bond ensuring, he said, ‘a reliable water supply for future generations, as well as restoring ecologically sensitive areas.’† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?How to Punctuate with â€Å"However†20 Criminal Terms You Should Know

The Belief in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Belief in Education - Essay Example The children were having their Hindi lessons. And the teacher was seated on a chair placed inside the broken walls. We greeted each other and the children gathered around me trying to communicate with me in whatever few English words they knew. The teacher told me, â€Å"We had a proper school until last year. But it was destroyed last year in a grenade attack. You might know that in Kashmir we are having some trouble with extremists and there was a shoot out between the army and them. Thank God, it was vacation time. No child was hurt. But we lost the school building.† I was shocked though I knew a little bit about the situation in Kashmir. Even some of our friends had warned us not to go to Kashmir, but my father said, â€Å"What is the use of visiting India without seeing the paradise on Earth!† Our tour operator also said we could visit some safe areas of Kashmir if we insisted. â€Å"Why do you take this much risk to continue the school?†, I could not help a sking the teacher, â€Å"can't the children go to some other school in a safer place?† The teacher smiled and said, â€Å"You know, 25 years back, in this village, every house had at least one man who was with the extremists. But after this school came in 1985, we have two doctors, 13 school teachers, and one deputy collector even, all of them completing their 10th standard in this school. And we have fewer extremists. And of course, less unemployment. If this school is not functioning, the next nearby school is 35 kilometers away from here. How many of these children do you think will be able to go there?† I bade the children and teacher goodbye and walked back to our car. Faces of impoverished child soldiers from Sri Lanka, Africa, Lebanon... that I have seen on television flashed before my mind's eyes. Hadn't their fate been different if they had the opportunity to get a proper education? Until then I had never realized the transformation that education could bring into a man or woman. As I lived in a country where there are universal education and better opportunities to avail it, education was like environment. I was inside it and was never aware of its existence and how it molded me. Now I started thinking.