Shark Finn Soup Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Shark Finn Soup - Research Paper Example The paper also considers the laws made by various nations to stop shark fin harvesting and how the concerned individuals, groups and institutions can create awareness amongst the masses regarding the cruelty and wastage associated with shark fin harvesting. Keywords Sharks fins, finning, ecology, cruelty, extinction, harvesting Shark Fin Soup There is no denying the fact that Shark Fin Soup happens to be an important constituent of the Chinese cuisine. It is also true that Shark Finn is treated as a luxury item as far as the Chinese cuisine is concerned and is usually served on formal occasions and gatherings like banquets and weddings. Shark Fin is primarily used to add texture to the Chinese soups in combination with a number of other ingredients and spices. As far as the Chinese cuisine is concerned, Shark Finn soup tends to be an ingredient of historical relevance and its history could be traced back to the Ming dynasty (Earth Island Journal 2013, 8). The irony is that though sha rk fin soup involves much cruelty on the part of professional fisherman, with the increase in the income of Chinese population, the demand for the Shark Finn soup has been constantly on the rise. This is indeed worrisome and serious when one takes into consideration the survival and sustainability of the shark species. This is because the shark fins required to make Shark Fin Soup are collected from a range of shark species. Not only Shark Finn Soup is responsible for a decline in the shark populations around the world, the collections of shark fins by the fisherman involves much cruelty as they simply chop off the shark fins from a shark and throw back the rest of the shark in the ocean to die a painful and cruel death. On e big reason why the Chinese like the Shark Fin Soup is because they consider the Shark Fin Soup to be an important part of the Chinese culture. Simply speaking Shark Finn Soup happened to be a culinary delicacy that was earlier afforded by the rich and wealthy o nly (Dukes 2011, 42). In a way the Shark Fin Soup happened to be a symbol of wealth and status. Thereby, to claim that Shark Fin Soup happens to be a food of cultural importance is faulty because most of the Chinese actually speaking did not afford to eat Shark Fin soup. They were simply not in a financial position to buy Shark Fin Soup. Shark Fin Soup happened to be a delicacy that was primarily confined to the rich Chinese families. Thereby, actually speaking the popularity of the Shark Finn Soup is a trend that is of recent origins. This is because with the rise of the economic reforms in China and with the opening up of the Chinese economy, the number of Chinese people who are rich has dramatically increased over the years (Dukes 2011, 42). As Shark Fin Soup carries a snob appeal, many of the newly rich Chinese do prefer to buy and serve Shark Finn Soup because they believe that it adds to their social stature. Yet the bad thing is that those people who like to eat Shark Finn So up are simply not concerned about the cruelty to which the sharks are subjected to, to get their fins. They show no concern for the decreasing shark populations owing to the well established shark fin trade. Every years, millions of sharks are killed around the world so as to harvest the shark fins that constitute an important constituent of the Shark Fin Soup and some other Chinese and East Asian delicacies (Reading 2000, 51). The method resorted to

Moving Average Method: Limitations and Types of

Moving Average Method: Limitations and Types of Forecasting is very essential and important part in business planning. It refers to estimation of the demand for products and services in coming future and the resource necessary to produce these outputs. Estimates of the future demand for products or services are commonly referred to as sales forecast. In other words, forecasting is the art and science of predicting future events. Is is not mere a guess or prediction about the future without any rational basis. It may involve taking historical data or intuitive prediction in the absence of historical data. Basis of Forecasting Forecasting by its nature uses data from the past period to forecast the future projection of the company. Historical data includes your organization`s financial statements and any information you believe has relative predictive value to the future success of your company. Historical data doesnt have to solely come from your company; it can also be historical macroeconomic data, such as the Consumer Confidence Index, interest rates, housing starts or any other economic variable you believe has an effect on your business based on your business experience and observations. Moving Average Method A moving average method uses a number of most recent historical actual data values to generate a forecast. The moving average for n number of periods in the moving average is calculated as : This method uses the average of a number of adjoining data points or periods. The averaging process uses overlapping observations to generate averages. The term moving refers to the way averages are calculate the forecast moves up or down the time series to pick observations to calculate an average of a fixed number of observations. In our ten periods on the question the moving averages method would use the average of the most recent ten observations of the data in the time series as the forecast for the next period. The moving average is commonly used with time series data to smooth out the short-term fluctuation and highlights long term trends or cycles. The threshold between Long-term and short-term term depends on the application and the parameter of the moving average will be set accordingly. For example it usually used in the technical analysis of financial data like stock prices and return various stock or trading volume A moving average also called rolling average, is an average price movement indicator, showing average value of the data within specific time frame. Moving average levels are interpreted as resistance in a rising market, or support in a falling market. Here a support level means a price rank where the price tends to find support as it is going down. The price is more likely to bounce off this level rather than break through it. A resistance level is the opposite of a support level and is an upper extreme where the price tends to find resistance as it is going up. Modern graphical analytic programs calculate wide range of different Moving Average types and offer assortment of their visualization styles. A time frame for calculation could be set as short, intermediate or long term. For long term trend the 200-days average is most popular; for medium term 50-days average and for short term 10 days average. Following types of rolling averages are used more often than others: a simple moving average (SMA); a weighted moving average (WMA) and an exponentially moving average (EMA). Types of moving average method Simple moving average method it is used to estimate the average of a demand time series and remove the effects of random fluctuation. It is most useful when demand has no pronounced trend or seasonal fluctuations. In this method if we use n period moving averages, the average demand for the n most recent time periods is calculated and used as forecast for the next time period. For the next period, after the demand is known, the older demand from the previous average is replaced with the most recent demand and the average is recalculated. Weighted moving average method in this method each historical demand in the moving average can have its own weight and the sum of the weight equals one. For example, in a 5 period weighted moving average model, the most recent period might be assigned a weight 0.50, the second most recent period might be assigned a weight of 0.30, 0.20, 0.10, and for third most period with a weight of 0.05. text{WMA}_{M} = { n p_{M} + (n-1) p_{M-1} + cdots + 2 p_{(M-n+2)} + p_{(M-n+1)} over n + (n-1) + cdots + 2 + 1} The advantage of weighted average method is that is allows emphasis on recent demand over earlier demand. Exponential Smoothing Method It is a sophisticated weighted moving method that is still relatively easy to understand and use. It requires only three items of data: periods forecast, the actual demand for this period and ÃŽÂ ± which is referred to as smoothing constant and having a value between 0 and 1. The formula of the ESM is as follows: Ft = Ft-1 + ÃŽÂ ± (At-1 Ft-1) Where Ft = Forecast for the period (t) Ft-1 = Forecast for the previous period (t-1) At-1 = Actual demand for the previous period (t-1) ÃŽÂ ± = Smoothing constant (value varies from 0 to 1) Selecting a smoothing constant is basically a matter of judgment or trial and error. Commonly used values of ÃŽÂ ± range from 0.05 to 0.5. Feature Moving average method:- Smoothing data Moving average help in smoothing or smooth function on the original sequence, the original sequence of fluctuation is weakened, and the average interval number N bigger, stronger on series smoothing effect. Odd and Even Moving average time interval number N is odd, only a moving average, the moving average as the middle moving average terms in a trend representative value; and when the moving average term N is even, the moving average value represents the middle position of the even level, not on a time, is in need of an adjacent two average value of the moving average, it can make the average value of a certain period of time, this is called shift is average, also become the center of moving average. Seasonal changes When the series include seasonal change, moving average interval number should be consistent with the seasonal variation of N length, in order to eliminate the seasonal variation; if the sequence contains a cycle of change, from the terms N and cycle length should be basically the same average, cycle fluctuation elimination can be better Advantages of Moving average method: Easily understandable The moving average model assumption is that the most accurate prediction of future demand is a simple (linear) combination of past demand moving average method is easy to understand than any other method. This method smooths the data and makes it easier to spot trend.. Simple and Easy Calculation Moving average is calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of a given set of values. They are easier to use than other regression models. For example, to calculate a basic 10-day moving average you would add up the closing prices from the past 10 days and then divide the result by 10. Stable Forecasts how responsive we want the forecasting model to be to changes in the actual demand data must be balanced against our desire to suppress undesirable chance variation or noise in the data. With help of moving average can achieve such objectives. Limitations of Moving Average Method Equal weighing is given to each of the values used in the moving average calculation, whereas it is reasonable most reasonable data is more important to current situations. The moving average method doesnot takes into account the data outside the average period. The use of unadjusted moving average can lead to misguiding forecast The moving average method to a large number of data records from the past; Through the introduction of new data is more and more time, continuously revised average value, as predicted value. The basic principle of moving average method is through the moving average to eliminate irregular time series of changes and other changes, thus revealing the long-term trend of time series. Solution to the Given Problem Year No. of Cars 3 Year Moving Total 3 Year Moving Average 1 1324 ____ ____ 2 1605 ____ ____ 3 1486 4415 1471.67 4 1567 4658 1552.67 5 1687 4740 1580.00 6 1021 4275 1425.00 7 1424 4132 1377.33 8 986 3431 1143.67 9 1529 3939 1313.00 10 1425 3940 1313.33

Essay --

My 20 year old cousin has been informed that I have recently taken a class in Aids and Epidemics. This course was mainly used to inform me about how risky HIV transmission can be. As well how easily it may be spread from one person to another. My cousin has asked me to inform her about HIV and how it could effect her. There are many ways to avoid the spread but it requires taking proper precautions which I will inform you about as you read along. It’s safest to try and be in a monogamous relationship so you and your partner know who each of you are sleeping with. There are many ways at which you could be at risk and don’t even know it. The safest way to protect you is to wait for sexual intercourse until the person is either checked or each of the individuals are virgins and commit to each other. This will ensure that neither one of you is sleeping with anyone else nor you’re both clean. As you read the essay below I will inform you on how exactly HIV can be tran smitted, how you could be at risk, and what measures you should take in order to protect yourself. This is a very scary v...

Why Do Luxury Companies Sponsor Art?

Course: The Environment of Visual Arts Administration Instructor: Prof. Carlo Lamagna Title of the paper: Why do luxury companies sponsor art? Author: Qing Zhong Why do luxury companies sponsor art? Motivations of corporate art sponsorship fall in many categories, as suggested by O'Hagan and Denice (O'Hagan,J. 2000). The analysis of this article concentrates on the external benefits a luxury company could gain from sponsoring art and particular attention will be given to the promotion of brand image, as it is a dominant motivation for corporate decision makers in order to raise brand awareness (Hitters, 1996).To examine the outcomes of art sponsorship, examples of some luxury companies will be given. These examples include but are not necessarily limited to, Deutsche Bank, LVMH and Hermes. Each example will examine one aspect of the three major motivations that can be generalized into the publicity/brand image promotion category. In addition to these three examples, a personal observ ation will be given as a complete inspection analyzing all the motivations in a flowing process.All the cases used in this article are â€Å"designer sponsorship† which means that luxury companies either initiate corporate art organizations or organize their own art events (Eamon O hOisin 1995). Instead of sponsoring existent art organizations or events, designer sponsorship allow luxury companies to take control over all aspects of the activities and thus maximizes the potential outcomes. The starting point of this discussion is the definition of sponsorship.It has been reiterated thousands of times by many luxury companies as selfless motives. However, it is not true in reality. Differing from charity or philanthropy, sponsorship is at its best a win-win situation in which sponsors put their own benefits, instead of the sponsored subjects’, in the first place. For the recipients, financial support may save them from desperate situations. For the givers, expected bene fits include earning capacity growth or transferring a responsible corporate image to the public.Luxury companies may not gain directly from their sponsorship behaviors, but they gain huge indirect bnefits from branding and image promotion to the public (Krzysztof Klincewicz, 1998). Indirect benefits relating to art sponsorship could be further detailed in three aspects. Firstly, by appearing more frequently in front of the public’s eyes on banners, boards, websites or TV news report, luxury companies propagate themselves and impress the latent clients in a way that is different from traditional advertisements.A good example worth mentioning is the Deutsche Bank’s sponsorship for various art forms, including art fairs such as the International Hong Kong Art Fair, Art Fair Tokyo, self designed art events such as â€Å"Artist of the Year† and influential long-term art projects like the cooperation between Deutsche Bank and the Guggenheim Museum. Figure 1 Hong Kong International Art Fair Sponsorship for worldly renowned art events gives Deutsche Bank a wide coverage and exposure in social media and thus expands its visibility to the public, but this kind of brand exposure is not directly related with Deutsche Bank’s products.It gives the public a fresh and indirect perspective to approach the bank and its products. As can be seen in Figure 1, whenever viewers browse on the Hong Kong Art Fair’s website, they can’t avoid noticing the little image of the bank on the right corner. Same situation applies to other art events such as the â€Å"Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year†. It is impossible for the media to mention this event without saying its title beginning with the â€Å"Deutsche Bank†.It is neither impossible for the public to get a first impression for the event without knowing that it is sponsored by the bank. Secondly, art sponsorship transcends the role of a narrowly defined advertising tool a nd adds meanings and value to the company and its products, which is the most essential difference between art sponsorship and sports or entertainment sponsorship (O'Hagan,J. 2000). Value creation is essential as it stimulates emotional connections in human minds and help luxury companies attract and gather key clients who share the same kind of ifestyle with their unique brands. By sponsoring art, luxury companies create images that consistently convey their value and expect potential clients connect the corporate identity with these images, which is often times not just an illusion as meaning transferring and image associations are most effective and immediate when such image links exist (Gwinner, K. 1997). Let’s take a look at Bernard Arnault‘s plan on the LVMH Museum, which has been a controversial issue since 2006 because of the conflict between the public rights and the corporate’s benefits.Figure 2 LVMH Museum The museum looks fabulous. It’s itself an art work by the renowned architect Frank Gehry, but it’s also a iconic image of the corporate self-portrait: arrogant, powerful, egocentric and elitist. The project once ceased constructing because neighbors  objected: they want the space to remain green and they don't want this to be the start of more buildings in the bois, even if it's by Gehry. However, the senate finally compromised to LVMH’s superpower announcing that this project contributes to the civic pride and cultural identity of the nation.Ironically, the content of this museum may not be as democratic or liberal as stated. It will include Arnault’s private and corporate collections as well as heritage pieces from several brands such as Dior and Vuitton-those have always been regarded as belongings of the elite. Contrary to the senate’s announcement, LVMH reinforces its value and identity by building up a private coded museum that can only be decoded by the counterparts, namely, the limit ed elite who would have the sense and taste to appreciate the art in the same way the company appreciates it.Wouldn’t the public be scared off if they approach this apparently exclusive and flamboyant museum? They might come up with an even stronger conclusion that glory only belongs to the superior. As for the â€Å"lucky† elite, their requirements for supremacy can be further satisfied and therefore confirms their degree of honesty for the company. Thirdly, since sponsorship is naturally linked with social responsibility, it will relieve the public’s aversion for the luxury that is often times regarded as a superior, limited VIP belonging distinguishing the elite class from the grass roots.Promotion of public image also provides better returns in luxury companies’ rent-seeking process – that of lobbying important politicians or policy makers (O'Hagan, J. 2000). Cartier might have been excelled in establishing such a generous and socially responsi ble identity in its continuous giving for the Foundation Cartier since 1984. Besides the organization’s name, there is no link between the artworks commissioned by or in the foundation’s collection and the Cartier brand.This kind of sponsorship is therefore called the â€Å"pure† sponsorship in order to distinguish from the product-related one (O'Hagan,J. 2000). Figure 3 The Foundation Cartier The artworks in the collection travel around the world and ongoing programs take place in the foundation’s dynamic, light-filled home in Paris, which Figure 2 presents. For nearly 30 years, Foundation Cartier has been sponsoring the contemporary art in a modest and prudent manner.Though hard to notice, this conduct might have won a good reputation for Cartier and would benefit the brand enormously in its long term rent-seeking activities. Finally, in order to delineate a more consistent and comprehensive picture, an independent case based on my personal observation at the Rolex Mentor ; Protege Arts Initiative will be studied to integrate all the three motivations stated above. The Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative is an international philanthropic programme created to assist extraordinary, rising artists to achieve their full potential.It seeks out these artists from around the world and brings them together with great masters, for a year of creative collaboration in a one-to-one mentoring relationship. The event that I volunteered at was a â€Å"dinner celebrating the Mentors and Proteges of the 2010-2011 Rolex Arts Initiative†. It was actually a quite exclusive event with safeguards standing outside the entrance and all guests dressing up with their by-invitation-only cards. Admittedly, Rolex has done a lot to propagate this initiative, as can be seen on various websites, on banners, n magazines and on spot of the celebrating dinner (Refer to Figure 4). Figure 4 Entrance of the dinner for celebration the Rolex Arts Initiative However, â€Å"By Invitation Only† is what I felt for this arts initiative because during a whole year of mentoring, no public access has been allowed into the procedure all the way from selecting qualified candidates to presenting the cooperative final projects. Only the â€Å"selected† will have a real sense for what is happening within this event.This â€Å"selected† group includes the renowned artists, board of the Rolex, celebrities and business magnets, all of whom share a common character of being superior and elite (from my observation at the Rolex dinner). As the art initiative reflects the value of Rolex, it satisfies and attracts the same group of people who recognize and approve of this value. If attracting only a small group of people is what Rolex aims at, there will be some questions to ask: Does the initiative promote the public image of Rolex? Is this program contributing to the overall goodness of the society?Can the public feel the goodness an d if yes, to what extent? Information gathered from the websites or the observation did not suggest a positive answer to this question, but together they do not provide enough evidence to make a decisive conclusion. Luxury companies’ motivations for art sponsorship are tailored to the internal and external situation each company faces. They are diversified and sometimes hard to recognize, but together they stimulates information and resource exchange between art organizations, business and the public and contribute to the flourish of the art ecology.Bibliography Bulut, D. â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility in Culture and Art. †Ã‚  Management of Environmental Quality  20, no. 3 (2009): 311. Comunian, R. â€Å"Toward a New Conceptual Framework for Business Investments in the Arts: Some Examples from Italy. †Ã‚  The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society  39, no. 3 (2009): 200. Eamon O hOisin. â€Å"Art Marketing: Sport on the Sidelines. †Ã‚  Ci rca  no. 71 (Spring, 1995): pp. 43-45. Gwinner, K. â€Å"A Model of Image Creation and Image Transfer in Event Sponsorship. †Ã‚  International Marketing Review  14, no. 3 (1997): 145.Krzysztof Klincewicz. â€Å"Ethical Aspects of Sponsorship. †Ã‚  Journal of Business Ethics  17, no. 9/10, How to Make Business Ethics Operational: Creating Effective Alliances: The 10th Annual EBEN Conference (Jul. , 1998): pp. 1103-1110. O'Hagan, J. â€Å"Why do Companies Sponsor Arts Events? some Evidence and a Proposed Classification. †Ã‚  Journal of Cultural Economics  24, no. 3 (2000): 205. pp. 6. 8 Okonkwo, Uche. Luxury Fashion Branding : Trends, Tactics, Techniques. Basingstoke: Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Deusche Bank,â€Å"Art & Music: Fostering Creativity†, http://www. db. com/csr/en/art_and_music. htm (Accessed Novembe r 21). [ 2 ]. Judith H. Dobrzynski, â€Å"Paris To Get Gehry's LVMH Museum Afterall†, Arts Journel Weblog, http://www. artsjournal. com/realcleararts/2011/04/lvmh. html (Accessed November 21). [ 3 ]. LaPlaca Cohen, â€Å"Cultural Sponsorship†, http://www. laplacacohen. com (Accessed November 21). [ 4 ]. The Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative, â€Å"About the initiative†, http://www. rolexmentorprotege. com/en/ about-the-initiative/index. jsp(Accessed November 21, 11).

My experience, role and learning support Essay

In accordance to the ethical guidelines written by The British Education Research Association (BERA, 2004), the names of the children and school, where used, have been changed in order to maintain confidentiality and anonymity. My role (Hancock et al. , 2013 p1) States that â€Å"the practice of learning support as carried out by teaching assistants has developed considerably in recent times†. In the nursery I work along side two higher level teaching assistants and the nursery teacher. At this stage of school life, the majority of learning is through play, so we encourage the use of structured, well thought out fun educational games and play either in small groups or on a one to one basis, I carry out structured activities i. e. drawing, writing, crafting and reading, either on a one to one basis or with a small group of usually 4-6 children. I help identify any child or children that may benefit from further one to one help, through keeping well informed observation notes (KU1. 1) (KS3. 1) (PPS4. 3) In my role as classroom assistant in year one, my role is very similar to that of the classroom assistant, Margaret Verrecchie, in reader book 1 (Hancock et al. , 2013, pg4) A classroom assistant) I work along side the teacher and one teaching assistant. I help the teacher in the classroom, prepare resources’ for the session and offer the children extra support with reading and writing, it depends on what the teacher wants and needs and on what she asks me to do. Each day is different, and my duties vary accordingly. (PPS4. 3) (KS3. 1) As a midday supervisor, I work along side 10 other midday supervisors, supervising the children in the dining area and other parts of the school during the lunch time break. I help the children with a variety of tasks such as cutting up food, unwrapping of pack lunches and help teach good eating habits, After the children finish eating, we go to the playground, or if it’s wet play, a classroom, where I supervise the children at play. I ensure pupils keep out of areas that are out of bounds, deal with misbehaviour, reporting any problems that I’m unable to resolve to my duty manager, I attend to all pupils who are sick or injured, ensuring they receive the appropriate medical attention, reporting all accidents in the accident report book, I am aware of my responsibilities under the child protection legislation, reporting any concerns I may have to my senior supervisor or child protection officer. I enjoy this role as it allows me to see the children in a more relaxed environment, giving me the invaluable opportunity to get to know the children, on a more personal level, getting to know their personalities outside of the classroom. As lunchtimes are a great opportunity for the children to burn of f some steam, I try to encourage the children to take part in lots of physical activities like skipping and hoopla hoops. (PPS4. 3) I can personally relate to the parent helper in the (The Open University, 2013) E111 DVD sequence –Pam Crawford is a parent helper with a son who is special needs statemented, In the sequence, Pam states that she originally started to volunteer mainly to support her son, but along the way she decided that being a teaching assistant was what she wanted to be, so started a college course to train to become a qualified teaching assistant, which is exactly the same as why I am doing this course. Framework I provide a varied and broad array of duties and tasks on a daily basis in support to the pupils, the teacher, the school and the curriculum, through performing activities on a one to one basis or as part of a team with my work colleagues. Although they do tend to regularly overlap each other, I offer the four levels of support as suggested in the DfEE framework. (PPS4. 3) To support the pupils I encourage them to act independently in an appropriate way, to interact with each other and engage enthusiastically in all the classroom activities. I try to establish a good relationship with all the pupils, acting as a good role model, being aware of and responding appropriately to all individual needs. I supervise and support all the pupils ensuring their safety and make sure they have access to learning at all times. I help them to develop their skills in listening, to express their feelings and ideas, help them to understand, describe, select and retrieve information, show them ways in which to help with problem solving, communication etc. I also attend to all pupils’ personal needs including social, health, physical, hygiene, minor first aid and general well being. To help support the teacher, I prepare the classroom as and when needed for the lessons then clear everything away at the end of the lesson. I also help display pupils work around the classroom; I keep records as and when asked to do so by the teacher. I also support the teacher by managing pupil behaviour, reporting all difficulties appropriately, to the relevant member of staff. I also gather and report and information to and from parents or careers at the end of the school day and I provide administration duties as and when the teacher requires. To support the school I participate in any training and learning activities and any performance development meetings as and when required, I contribute to the overall ethos of the school, I am aware of and support difference and ensure all pupils have equal access to opportunities to learn and discover and to be aware of and comply with policies and procedures relating to child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person. To help support the curriculum I help prepare and maintain equipment/resources as directed by the teacher and assist the pupils in their use, also supporting the pupils in using basic ICT as directed by the teacher. I support the pupils in respect to national and local learning strategies e. g. literacy, numeracy, early years as directed by the teacher and help pupils understands instructions that have been given by the teacher. Previous interests and experiences I enjoyed school and took part in lots of school activities like the school productions and the school summer floats at carnival time, I also learnt to play the flute which gained me a place in the school orchestra. I was confident and never had problems making friends, although I did struggle with my school work, but I never let it beat me, I always strived to do my best. I have always been able to take the initiative and have a positive and adaptable personality. I find it easy to fit in with my surroundings and work well as part of a team or on my own. Since leaving school, I’ve worked for various companies, big and small. I’ve been a company administrator for a large company, which built up my confidence working as part of a team which encouraged me to be more efficient with my time as I had to work to strict deadlines, gaining knowledge on company policies and procedures and improving my ICT, and communication skills. I was also a care worker for a care agency where confidentiality was paramount; I went to client’s homes to perform various duties from personal care to shopping and housework. It’s through this job that I learnt skills to encourage people to be independent and carry out simple instructions/tasks. It’s also through this job that I learnt the importance of confidentiality and to keep completely accurate, up to date client observational records. I have three children of my own now and the experiences gained from being a mother, on top of the experiences gained from previous employment and my current employment, has enabled me to make the clear decision that I would like to pursue a career as a teaching assistant as I feel that the skills I’ve gained through life are all relevant to a teaching assistant’s role and skills that I have acquired for life. Key theories and concepts Both Piaget and Vygotsky were instrumental in forming a scientific approach on cognitive development in children. Jean Piaget was one of the first psychologists to reveal that children reason and think differently at different periods in their lives. Piaget considered development went through four stages: Sensori-motor: Pre-Operational: Concrete Operational and the formal Operational stage. The Sensori-motor period (0-2 yrs) is the first stage, as the infants interactions are based on exploring their environment through their senses and abilities, such as grasping and sucking, this also includes practice play as the infant is able to repeat actions continually, but with no intention. The pre-Operational stage (2-7 yrs) is where children’s language is rapidly developed, allowing them to express themselves. They start to use pretend play and parallel play which means children are talking but it is not directed at anyone in particular. The Concrete operation (7-11 yrs) and Formal Operational (11-adult) periods are the third and fourth stages. These are not usually considered in early childhood education but they are still equally important as they are able to think realistically and logically about situations and understand their world (Pulaski. 1980) Vygotsky believes children’s learning of new cognitive skills is guided by an adult or a more skilled child, such as an older sibling, who structures the child’s learning experience, a process Vygotsky called scaffolding. To create an appropriate scaffold, the adult must gain and keep the child’s attention, model the best strategy and adapt the whole process to the child’s developmental level. Vygotsky used this term to signify tasks that are too hard for the child to do alone, but can manage with guidance. Children do seem to follow a certain internal structure, for example grasping and touching, but not all children learn in the same way or at the same pace. A classic example of Vygotskys scaffolding theory can be seen with my two sons, the youngest that at the time was in nappies wanted to use the big toilet like his big brother, so as suggested by Vygotsky, my eldest son used the scaffolding technique. Vygotskys ideas have important educational applications, like Piagets, Vygotskys theory suggest the importance of opportunities for active exploration. But assisted discovery would play a greater role in a Vygotskian classroom than in a Piagetian class: The teacher would provide the scaffolding for children’s discovery, through questions, demonstrations and explanations. To be effective, the assisted discovery processes would have to be within the zone of proximal development of each child (Bee and Boyd, p38. (2009) Cognitive learning is not just internal but also external. Piaget believed that developmental growth was learned in stages. Vygotsky believed that learning was a social and progressive process that did not start or stop at a certain stage or age. A child’s activity plays a key role in the way they learn. I believe that both these theories go hand in hand and that the environmental factors do influence learning behaviours. Training needs My overall aim is to become a qualified teaching assistant, for primary school aged children, which I will gain through completing this course and with the ongoing training I am receiving at work. I aim to develop a better understanding of the ways in which children learn and be more involved in the planning and preparation of lessons. Even though I am a valued member of staff, I still feel that I need to develop my relationships further with professional bodies. I feel I also need to develop my leadership skills further, in order for me to improve my effectiveness in leading pupils through a class activity.

Bulletin Boards as a Part of a Learning Environment

Bulletin Boards as a Part of a Learning Environment Best Practices dictate that you use your bulletin boards. Too often, teachers evaluate each other by how clever their bulletin boards are, especially at the beginning of the school year. Many teachers dip into their own pockets and buy bulletin boards already made, but handmade bulletin boards offer opportunities to: Display Student Work (as models of acceptable or good quality school product.)Support InstructionReinforce desired behaviors Display Student Work Posting student work offers two important impacts on classroom management: Reinforce and motivate students by recognizing their best work product.Model the sort of work that you want students to create. Star Student Work: A dedicated section of the board to post good quality work each week can help motivate students. Project Board: Project-based learning is one way to keep kids excited about learning and fully engaged. In self-contained programs, try rolling from subject to subject: after a big reading project, you start a big science project, or a big inter-subject project, like planning a house or a trip, including making budget (math,) finding a flight (research) and writing an imaginary journal (language arts.) One board could be the project board and turn over every time a new project comes up. Student of the Week: One way to support self-esteem, help students learn about each other and even to do a little public speaking is by having a student of the week. Choose them randomly rather than with any reflection of their behavior (dont decide on Monday that Johnny can no longer be the student of the week because of a bad recess.) Post their picture, a format for each child to tell about favorite foods, television shows, sports, etc. Include some of their work, or if your students portfolio fork, have them choose some papers or project they are particularly proud of. Support Learning Student Boards: Put students in charge of creating a board or boards to go with topics you are studying. Make creating the board (brainstorming, choosing what to find pictures of) a class project. You can have a few students responsible for individual boards, or you can have all students participate by doing research. Teach them how to right click on images online to save them in a file, and then show them how to insert into a Microsoft Word document to print. You will need to check your schools policy for colored output-hopefully you have access to at least one color printer. Word Walls: From kindergarten to graduation, a word wall with important words/terms to learn should be a part of regular instruction. For social studies, you may want to review new terms both as they come up and merely as you are reviewing for assessment. You can involve students in creating the board background (our first will use an undersea theme with sponge painting.) High-frequency words should also be part of word walls, especially with struggling readers. You might want to cluster words with similar endings or with the same irregularity. Interactive Boards: Boards that are puzzles or provide students with practice can be a fun way to use some wall space. A free website provides some fun ideas for interactive boards. Reinforce Desired Behavior There are many ways to reinforce positive classroom behavior. Positive Behavior Support  can include group rewards (a marble jar) awards (best speller, most improved) and homework charts. Your boards can also function to put individual students on notice, either a color chart or color-coded cards.

bzyt archtecture essays

bzyt archtecture essays The greatest of medieval civilizations was the Eastern Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was divided in 395. The Western half, ruled from Rome, was ruled by the barbarians in the 5th century. The Eastern half, known as the Byzantine Empire, lasted for more than over 1,000 years. The Byzantine Empire was one of the leading civilizations in the world. Is a mixed style composed of Graeco-Roman and Oriental elements which, The form of the church used most in the west, a the long rectangular part of the cathedral with the alter in it is supported on columns and an atrium appears in many examples of the fifth century in Byzantine. In the West this style of building occasionally presents similarities which are thought by some authorities to be of Oriental origin galleries over the side aisles, spirally channelled columns, and imposts between capitals and arches. Vaulted basilicas were made at a early date in Constantinople. The domical style, with barrel-vaulted side aisles and transepts is a favourite with the Byzantines. Many of the oldest basilicas in Asia Minor, as well as the Church of St. Irene, Constantinople, carried one or more domes. This type leads to the structure in a centralized circular, octagonal, or cross shaped plan. In ancient Roman times tombs and baths had this sort of plan. These types of buildings cannot be s een as only Byzantium, because the Romans and Oriental also used these kinds of plans. Even in Italy, the churches there were strongly influenced bu the many influences from the west and particularly from the Byzantine. In the church of St. Sophia, built by Justinian, all the principal forms of the early Christian churches are represented. A rotunda is enclosed in a square, and covered with a dome which is supported in the direction of the long axis of the building by half-domes over semicircular rounded ends of the building. In this manner a basilica, 236 feet long and 98 feet wide, and provided with domes, i...