Evaluation Of The Campaign To Improve Awareness †Free Samples

Valero Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Valero Energy - Essay Example 4. Fundamentally talk about whether Valero Energy has enhanced its items and administrations. Give 3 proposals a time span included of how Valero Energy can make better an incentive through broadening of its corporate-level technique. 5. Basically talk about whether Valero Energy has made and supported an upper hand through its business-level methodology. Give 3 instances of various ecological influencers that have influenced its business-level system. [1] Valero is a purifier of oil feedstock. It purchases oil from organizations that separate them starting from the earliest stage Valero transforms the stuff into clean fuel and different items like plastics, black-top, aromatics, and so forth that it offers to different organizations. Valero’s innovative way of thinking is nearer to that of a little privately-run company where all who work for it feel that they have a stake in the achievement and benefit of the organization. In a June 2006 meeting with HR Magazine, Valero’s first CEO (who resigned in 2005) conceded that the worry of the executives is essentially how to deal with its kin so they improve their tasks, increment refining limit and yield, and help run the organization better. Benefits generally follow on the grounds that the individuals are upbeat working for the organization. Since 1980, the organization has dealt with its kin †it has not laid off a solitary representative in the last twenty-nine years †thus has the advantage of getting the best among the individuals who go after positions there, compensating them for their commitments to the organization. Procedure and item developments at Valero are overseen by sharing the R&D ability of analysts for its four fuel (gas, diesel, stream fuel and renewables) and eight claim to fame (aromatics, black-top, propane, sulfur, base and procedure oils, oil coke, solvents and gaseous petrol fluids) items following the essential rules of being condition benevolent,

All About Catecholamines in the Stress Response

All About Catecholamines in the Stress Response Catecholamines include neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), which are released during the bodys stress response. They are produced in the adrenal glands, the brainstem, and the brain. They circulate in the blood where they act as hormones and are broken down after just a few minutes. They are then excreted in the urine. Simple Explanation of Catecholamines and Stress Catecholamines are an important part of the bodys stress response, which can be vital in a fight-or-flight response to a perceived threat. The adrenaline rush you have probably felt when scared is the result of catecholamines. They also activate an emotional response in the amygdala of the brain, such as fear of the threat. At the same time, they inhibit areas of the brain involved in short-term memory and concentration while activating the area involved in forming long-term memories.?? You are ready to fight or flee and you are more likely to remember the threat to react to it in the future. If activated for too long, catecholamines can produce negative health effects. To counteract these negative effects, its important to learn to return your body to its prestressed state before the negative effects of prolonged stress can be seen. Technical Explanation As the stress response is triggered and the bodys sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is activated, the adrenal glands release stress hormones like cortisol, while the sympathetic-adrenomedullary  axis (SAM) is also triggered to release catecholamines. These circulate through the bloodstream and the brain. They act on neuroreceptor sites to create changes in the body to mobilize energy. This is part of fight or flight, preparing your body to take action. The immediate effects of catecholamines include: increasing your cardiac output, sending  more blood flow to your skeletal muscles, retaining sodium, slowing down the  intestines, constricting the  blood vessels in the skin, increasing glucose in your bloodstream, opening up  your lungs, and  making  you feel excited.?? Your heart is beating faster and directing the flow to your muscles so youll be able to run or fight. By reducing flow to your skin, there may be less bleeding in case of an injury. You breathe faster and take in more oxygen. Prolonged exposure to catecholamines can create negative psychological and physical outcomes. Prolonged release of catecholamines can reduce the effects of certain neurotransmitters that affect mood, creating a negative feedback loop between emotions and physiology.?? These changes can also lead to chronic inflammation of organs and the failure of adaptive systems. This can lead to behavior and quality of life changes, sleep disturbances, metabolic disturbances, and cardiovascular disturbances.?? A negative feedback loop resolves the stress response, allowing a shift to the bodys parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) or the relaxation response, and returns the body to its prestressed state when the perceived threat is gone.

Renaissance Essay - 920 Words

The Renaissance was an era of change in human thought. It was characterized by a new philosophy, which included the rise of humanism, individualism, and secularism. Writers and artists began to focus on the individual man and his potential. The Renaissance movement began in the Italian city-states, especially Florence, and spread northward toward the rest of Europe. The Renaissance was the rebirth of new ideas in all aspects of life such as: science, technology, classical art, and education. A variety of factors led contributed to the beginnings of the Renaissance. One main factor which led to the start of the Renaissance was the Crusades. The Crusades was a series of wars by Western European Christians to recapture the Holy Land†¦show more content†¦This reformation changed the corrupt practices of the Catholic Church and formed many other religious sects in addition to Catholicism. The Renaissance also had a great effect on literature and education. After Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press there was a greater thirst for reading books all over Europe. Because Gutenbergs press could produce books quickly and with relatively little effort, bookmaking became much less expensive, allowing more people to buy reading material. In the Middle Ages, books had been costly and educational books were rare; only the wealthy had been regular readers and owners of books. However due to the Renaissance, the educated middle classes, could now afford books and they demanded works in their own languages. Furthermore, readers wanted a greater variety of books. Therefore, all kinds of books such as almanacs, textbooks, romances, poetry and especially Bibles were all published at this time. As the demand for books grew, the book trade began to thrive throughout Europe, and industries related to it, such as papermaking, increased as well. The result of all of this was a more literate nation and a stronger economy. The Arts also flourished as well, during the Renaissance as people created new techniques and discovered new subjects to paint and sculpt. The most obvious changes during Renaissance times are seen in the paintings and sculptures.Show MoreRelatedEssay on The Renaissance1579 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the 1400s and 1500s in mainly Italy there was a major change that took place in all aspects of life. This was called the Renaissance and was a movement that helped give rebirth to culture and the arts. This movement went away from the medieval times that had forced a feudalist system on its people. The Medieval times were a dark period in European history that saw a major decline in arts and government. This declining can be attributed to a number of different reasons. One of which was theRead MoreEssay on Renaissance Art1826 Words   |  8 PagesThe Renaissance was a period of European history that began in 14th-century Italy and spread to the rest of Europe in the 16th and 17th ce nturies. In this period, the feudal society of the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) was transformed into a society dominated by central political institutions, with an urban, commercial economy and patronage of education, the arts, and music. The term renaissance, literally meaning rebirth, was first employed in 1855 by French historian Jules MicheletRead MoreThe Renaissance Essay758 Words   |  4 PagesThe Renaissance Renaissance is the period of European history that saw a renewed interest in the arts. The Renaissance began in 14th-century Italy and spread to the rest of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. In this period, the fragmented feudal society of the Middle Ages, with its agricultural economy and church-dominated intellectual and cultural life, was transformed into a society increasingly dominated by central political institutions, with an urban, commercial economy and lay patronageRead MoreThe Renaissance Essay1164 Words   |  5 PagesThe Renaissance which translates roughly as a rebirth and fresh thinking which lasted from the 14th through 17th centuries attempted to reapply the ancient intellectual learning of the Greco-Roman Civilization. The thinkers and artists of this new era differed remarkably from their medieval counterparts. Broadly speaking, Mediaeval period was a period predominantly dominated by Christian outlook. Moreover, All of the Civilizations regarded as ‘He irs’ of Rome paid significant tribute to their respectiveRead MoreRenaissance Essay793 Words   |  4 PagesThe European Renaissance, beginning of the New World, the prototype of modern day society. Renaissance in the latin language means to â€Å"rebirth† or the â€Å"reawakening†. The reason why it was called the Renaissance was because it was considered the rebirth of the way of the common man’s thinking and how the society itself viewed things. It was also considered the bridge or the fine line between the Dark Ages and the Modern Times. They had many ideals, hypotheses, and experiments that may have provenRead More The Renaissance and Why Its Important Essay1020 Words   |  5 PagesQ: What was the Renaissance and why was it important? The Renaissance was a radical and comprehensive change of thinking and lifestyle that took place in European culture during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Renaissance was the reformation of many old ideas and the formation of many new, this brought many changes to Europe such as the birth of vital subjects, such as mathematics, geometry, and algebra. As well as sciences such as chemistry and astronomy which led to technological advancementsRead MoreRenaissance and the Reformation Essay example2166 Words   |  9 PagesThe term â€Å"Renaissance† literally translates to â€Å"rebirth† as the Renaissance was a cultural and academic movement emphasizing the rediscovery and application of texts and philosophy from the Greco-Roman and classical eras. The Renaissance lasted approximately three centuries, beginning in the 1400’s and ending roughly in the 1700’s. Although no definite date can be accredited for the beginning or end of the Renaissance, it is be lieved to have been birthed by a gradual influx of ideas that was ultimatelyRead MoreThe Renaissance Prince Essay853 Words   |  4 PagesThe Renaissance, a revival of antiquity starting in Italy around the middle of the 14th century, had broad implications for the way western society would operate thereafter. It would no longer focus on the church and its dictates, although they would still play a part. It would no longer have its government seated in Rome, with small pawns of the church controlling the land, although the church would still have a hand in government. It would no longer shun the vast stores of knowledge createdRead MoreSports of the Renaissance Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pagesthe materials being played with. The materials begin becoming more durable, controllable, and affordable. During the Renaissance period, many sports were evolved and took a turn for the better. Although many sports were introduced during the Renaissance period; football, lawn bowling, and tennis were the three main sports that influenced today’s time period the most. The Renaissance period was a time of change and rebirth. During this period, the rise of the Middle Class occurred. With the MiddleRead More The Renaissance and Humanism Essay1795 Words   |  8 PagesThe Renaissance and Humanism You may wonder about, The Renaissance and its relationship to another term, humanism which fits into the same time period. If you check the dictionary, you will find that both terms can be used in a broad sense or more specifically. Humanism refers generally to a devotion to the humanities: literary culture. (My definitions come from Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary). According to that definition we should all be humanists. The other general meaning

Teaching Morality More Important than Sex Education in...

A controversy is rising in America about the nature of sex education in the nations high schools. Studies show that 81 percent of American adults support a joint program teaching abstinence and contraception as opposed to an abstinence-only program (Roper 0316946), and 79 percent support contraception education regardless of the level of sexual activity in teenagers (Roper 0340807). The sad fact is, contraception is societys attempt at a quick fix for a problem that runs far deeper than the issue of teen sex. In the debate over the best safe sex, educators and parents must consider not only the health issues, but must also reevaluate the morality of the nations young people. Leafing through Planned Parenthoods†¦show more content†¦To top it all off, you were given a safer sex packet. But youve been lied to. At that point the crowd was becoming a little indignant with the speaker. Then he asked the question: After all the information on safer sex you have received this week, how many of you heard this week the statistical failure rate of the condom? Not one hand went up! Suddenly the auditorium was as quiet as a cemetery. We looked at each other with expressions of astonishment. We realized we hadnt been told the whole truth about safer sex (McDowell and Hostetler162). The fact is, condoms have a failure rate of over 15 percent (Dobson 207). One researcher, Dr. George Grant, puts it in these terms. . . . : A fourteen-year-old girl faithfully using the pill . . . has a 69 percent chance of getting pregnant at least once before she finishes college . . . Using condoms, the likelihood of unwanted pregnancy while she is in school rises to nearly 87 percent (McDowell and Hostetler 142). Perhaps this is why over one million teenagers in the U.S. become pregnant per year (Reducing Teenage Pregnancy). And certainly a contributing factor is shown in the study published in Consumer Reports: The FDA checked more than 150,000 samples from lots representing 120 million condoms. The agents had to reject about one lot in ten of domestic condoms because too many leaked.Show MoreRelated Education Is Key: A Comprehensive Approach to Sex Education Essay1579 Words   |  7 PagesSex education is about informing students about sex so that they can make educate d decisions when the time comes to have sex. Sex education helps students protect themselves from unintended pregnancies, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. Students should leave a sex education course with the right tools so they make informed decisions about their sexual health and well-being. The goal of sex education is to provide a student with as much information as possible so that they can use the skills they learned inRead MoreEarly American Education and Early Education Laws1179 Words   |  5 PagesLincoln EARLY AMERICAN EDUCATION Harvard Started by the Congregationalist, Harvard was founded as a school that trained men for the ministry of being a pastor (Barton, (2004)). Its philosophy was â€Å"Christ and the church and to the glory of God† (Barton, (2004)). This school produced great men such as Cushing, Pickering and many more that would lay a Godly foundation for education (Barton, (2004)). Yale Started by the Congregationalist, this too was founded as a school to train men for the ministryRead MoreIs Religion Become An Outdated Policy?1614 Words   |  7 PagesReligion is the guiding force of human morality and through many centuries it has shaped our perspective of the world and each other. While religion and faith have had a substantial impact on their communities in a spiritual way it has also helped to construct our modern society. The question is has religion become an outdated policy means, and has our society grown past the need for the moral compass that faith provides us? Today religion might be dividing us more than ever before, political parties usedRead MoreAbstinence-only vs. Abstinence-plus1607 Words   |  7 PagesThere are many problems facing teenagers these days. None are bigger than the issue of underage sex, and all the issues stemming from it. The number of teenagers becoming sexually active, pregnant, and contracting sexually transmitted disea ses are rapidly on the rise. There is no simple fix, or easy solution to this problem. Sex education should begin at home, and extend to include an effective program in schools that reinforce a clear message of abstaining from sexual activity in addition toRead MoreSex And Its Effects On Children1706 Words   |  7 PagesWhen someone hears the word â€Å"sex†, or talks about sex, there is usually awkwardness that follows. Sex was a topic that is not supposed to be discussed publicly. Why is something so natural illegal to discuss or educate? Today, 1 in 4 teenagers acquire a sexually transmitted disease/infection. In 2015, 13,828 youth males were diagnosed with HIV. These statistics are so high because of the insufficient amount and the lack of information being taught to teens. With the media’s lack of discretion, teensRead MoreEssay on Should Sex Education be Taken Out of Schools?969 Words   |  4 Pagestorrid public affairs or publicly discussing their increas ingly active sex lives. No longer is sex education left to teachers and parents to explain, it is constantly in our faces at the forefront of our society. Regardless of sex education curriculums and debates about possible changes, children and teenagers are still learning everything they think there is to know about sex from very early on in their young lives. However, without responsible adults instructing them on the facts about sex, thereRead MoreSex Education : Which Is Better? Essay1718 Words   |  7 PagesComprehensive Sex Education: Which is better? Sex is in the air, everywhere. It is seen when the television is turned on in the morning, it is used to sell hamburgers and cereal, and is the cornerstone by which we gauge our success. Sex is everywhere and the youth of today need to be equipped to handle it safely. There are two primary paths that can be taken when referring to sexual education: Abstinence or a more comprehensive education. Abstinence education is the promotion of deterringRead MoreThe Reality Of Abstinence Versus Sex Education1224 Words   |  5 Pages2017 The Reality of Abstinence Versus Sex Education Do you ever stop to wonder what goes through a teen’s mind? Maybe it s the late paper that wasn t turned in for English or the worry of coming home after school to family members being high as a kite, maybe it s the plans for their significant other later on or the so called special night they have planned together. Whether it be one of the topics mentioned or some far off random thought either way sex will be on a teen’s mind at some pointRead MoreLife, Especially That Of The Human Variety, Has Many Interconnected1417 Words   |  6 Pageshuman, or homo sapien, so too have sexual acts, branching out from their primitive, instinctual roots. Although sexual desire has retained its status as an important drive experienced by most people, it must now be approached with much more nuance than it might have been in the days of our predecessors. With bigger and more powerful brains comes more responsibility; with sexual agency comes the threat of its violation. Unfortunately , that violation is taking place in classrooms across America. The visionRead MoreEssay on Abstinence vs. Comprehensive Sex Education1339 Words   |  6 Pagesfunding was put to use in â€Å". . . sex education programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage to the exclusion of all other approaches . . .† according to the article â€Å"Sex education† (2010) published by â€Å"Opposing Viewpoints in Context;† a website that specializes in covering social issues. Since then a muddy controversy has arisen over whether that is the best approach. On one hand is the traditional approach of abstinence (not having sex before marriage), and on the other is the idea

Curriculum and Material Development Free Essays

string(98) " teachers report on classroom innovations or other activities they wish to share with colleagues\." THE TEACHING PROCESS The focus here is on the teaching practices that occur within a program, how these can be characterized, and how quality teaching can be achieved and maintained. a. Teaching Model and Principles This book has emphasized the curriculum as a network of interacting system involving teacher, learners, materials, school, administrator, and curriculum planners, and choices ay one level affect other elements in the system. We will write a custom essay sample on Curriculum and Material Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus the choice of a particular curriculum philosophy or ideology implies a particular model of teaching. Roberts (1998, 103) compares two teaching models implicit in many language program: the operative model and the problem problem-solving model: ? Operative is model the teacher is restricted to meeting the requirements of a centralized system, such as the delivery of a textbook as planned, to a set timescale. Such as limited role, limited to that of curriculum transmission, implies training objectives based of mastery of a set of competencies determined by the centralized syllabus. ? Problem solver is model a decentralized curriculum gives teachers greater autonomy in making educational decisions. A diversified teacher to able to diagnose problems and adapt materials and design original learning activities. The former can viewed as a teaching model compatible with a mechanistic model of organization design and the latter to the organic model. In language teaching programs, teaching models are often based on particular methods or approaches. For example: †¢ The communicative approach : the focus of teaching is authentic communication; extensive use is made of pair and group activities that involve negotiation of meaning and information sharing. Fluency is a priority. †¢ The cooperative learning model : students work in cooperative learning situations and are encouraged to work together on common task and to coordinate their efforts to complete task. Rewards system in group †¢ The process approach : In writing classes, student take part in activities that develop their understanding of writing as a process. †¢ The whole-language approach : Students are taught to read and write naturally, with a focus on real communication, authentic texts and reading and writing for pleasure. Rather than drawing approach or method, the teaching model in a program in a program may be based on a coherent set of participles that reflect how teaching and learning should be approached. This is the teaching philosophy of the program and serves as the basis for decisions about classroom methodology. Articulating a teaching philosophy in this way can help clarify decision relating to choice of classroom activities, materials, and teacher evaluation. In the case of a teaching model that is based on an existing teaching model such as communicative language teaching, the philosophy and principles of the model are accepted as givens : teachers are expected to be familiar with them and to put the principles into practice. Teacher teaching in different ways. Even thought two teachers work toward identical goals they may choose different ways of getting there. Teachers bring to teaching their own personal beliefs and principles and these help to account for how they teach. Teachers principles are a product of their experience, their training and their beliefs. Bellows are the example of teacher’ principles cited by Breen are: †¢ selectively focus on the form of the language †¢ selectively focus on vocabulary or meaning †¢ enable the learners to use the language †¢ address learners’ mental-processing capacities †¢ make the new language familiar and manageable †¢ monitor learner progress and provide feedback †¢ facilitate learner responsibility †¢ manage the lesson and the group b. Maintaining Good Teaching Quality teaching can’t simply be assumed to happen. It results from an active, ongoing effort on the part of teachers and administrators to ensure that good teaching practices are being maintained. This involved the establishment of shared commitment to quality teaching and the selection of appropriate measures to bring it about. The following are strategies that address this issue. 1. Monitoring Information needs to be collected regularly on all aspects of the program to find out how teacher are teaching the course, what is working well or proving difficult and what issues teachers need to resolve. Monitoring can take place through formal and informal mechanism such as group meetings, written reports, classroom visit, and student’s evaluations. 2. Observation Regular observation of teachers by other teachers or supervisors can provide positive feedback on teaching as well as help identify areas that might need attention. Observation may, but need not, involve evaluation. Peer observation can also be used to enable teachers to share approaches and teaching strategies. This might include information on how students complete a learning activity or the type and frequency or questions the teacher uses. Teacher can also make use of self observation to see what it tells them about their teaching. 3. Identification and resolution of problems Timely identification of problems in a program is essential to ensure that small problems do not develop into bigger ones. Good communication systems can help ensure that problems are brought to the attention of teachers or supervisors for timely resolutions. 4. Shared planning Teachers often work in isolation and do not always have the opportunities to benefit from the collective expertise of their colleagues. One way to avoid this is to build on opportunities for collaborative planning, as when teachers work together in pairs or groups on course planning, material development and lesson planning. During the process of planning, potential problems can often be identified and resolved. 5. Documentation and sharing of good practices A great deal of excellent teaching goes on in schools, but much of it is known only to individual teachers or supervisors. Teachers should be encouraged to report on their positive teaching experiences. For example, teacher might write short case accounts of a successful course they taught and share them with other teachers or post them in the Internet. They could write short articles for an in-house newsletter or teacher’ magazine. Classes can be video-recorded to provide input to workshops or teaching-training sessions. Meetings or â€Å"mini-conferences† can be arranged in which teachers report on classroom innovations or other activities they wish to share with colleagues. You read "Curriculum and Material Development" in category "Papers" 6. Self-study of the program Self-study involves a study of a program’s practices and values as part of the process of self-evaluation and review. It is part of the process of demonstrating a commitment to quality and to long-term goals and professional development. A self-study should be undertaken every three to five years and involves teachers, administrator, and students in a process of examining all aspect of a schools’ operations (Kelly 1988) self-study involves a study of a program’s practices and values as part of the process of self-evaluation and review. It is part of the process of demonstrating a commitment to quality and to long-term goals and professional development. A self-study should be undertaken every three to five years and involves teachers, administrator, and students in a process of examining all aspect of a schools’ operations (Kelly 1988). c. Evaluating Teaching If a program seeks to provide quality teaching, it is essential that teachers’ performance be regularly reviewed. An appraisal system may have several different purposes: †¢ To reward teachers for good performance †¢ To help identify needs for further training †¢ To reinforce the need for continuous staff development †¢ To help improve teaching †¢ To provide a basis contract renewal and promotion To demonstrate an interest in teachers’ performance and development The purpose of the appraisal will determine the type of appraisal that is carried out. 1. Developing the appraisal system An appraisal system is likely to have greater credibility if it represents both teachers and administrators views. It should therefore be produced colla boratively and represent all point of view. However, any appraisal system needs to recognize that there is no single correct way conduct of teaching. Teacher have different styles of teaching, and two teachers may conduct their classes very differently yet both be excellent teachers. Therefore, criteria for the complexity of teaching as well as the fact that it is a uniquely individual activity. In language teaching, there are no universally accepted criteria for assessing teacher effectiveness and several different kind of appraisal approaches are used. Criteria are generally established on an institutional basis, drawing on general principles for teacher effectiveness and factors specific to the type of program in which the teacher work. Murdoch (1997) contains a questionnaire designed to the perceived qualities and competencies of good English teacher, and organized according to three areas. . The focus of appraisal Although appraisal usually involves observation of a teacher teaching one or more classes, the focus of appraisal may include a number of other aspects of a teacher’s work, such as: a. Lesson plans b. Teacher-made classroom materials c. Course outlines and handouts d. Class assignments e. Participation in profession development activities 3. Conducting the appraisal A teaching appraisal may be carried out by a supervisor, a colleague, the teacher himself or herself, or students. Appraisal by a supervisor: supervisor often assume the role of appraiser, though many teacher find that they prefer appraisal to be carried by someone other than a supervisor. The presence of a supervisor in the classroom may inhibit the teacher from performing to his or her best. In addition, if the supervisor is largely an administrator rather than a classroom teacher, he or she may not have a good understanding of the classroom situation, resulting in misperceptions about different aspect of the lesson. In order to provide some consistency to appraisals, checklists are often used. Appraisal by a colleague: peer appraisal is generally less threatening for a teacher than appraisal by a colleague and may result in more constructive feedback. A colleague will often have a better understanding of the difficulties a teacher faces and perhaps be able to suggest useful easy of addressing them. †¢ Self-appraisal : teacher themselves are often in a good position to assess their own teacher and self-appraisal is perhaps the threatening form of teacher assessment. Self-appraisal may take a variety of forms : o Lesson reports : The teacher may use structured descriptions of a lesson whit an evaluation of each component. Teaching journal : The teacher keep a regular journal about his or her class, and describe and reflect on different aspects of planning and teaching the course. o Audio/video recording : The teacher may record a number of lesson of his or her class or arrange to have someone else record them, review the recordings, and comment on the strengths or weaknesses of the lesson. o Student appraisal : Student are in a good position to assess the effectiveness of teaching, although the extent to which they are able to do so depends on the type of feedback instrument they are given. Although students often critical, they usually have a good sense of whether a teacher prepares his or her lesson, teacher relevant content, provides lesson that are engaging, relevant and at an appropriate level of difficulty. 4. THE LEARNING PROCESS Learning is not the mirror image of teaching. The extent to which teaching achieves its goals will also dependent on how successfully learners have been considered in the planning and delivery process. The following factors may affect how successfully a course is received by learners. . Understanding of the course Understanding of the course very important to ensure the learners understanding to the goals of the course, the reason for the way it is organized and taught, and the approaches to learning they will be encouraged to take. b. View of learning Learners enter a course with their own views of teaching and learning and these may not be identical to those of their teachers. Al Corso and Kalantzis (1985) found that teacher rates the usefulness of ommunicative activities highly, whereas their learners tended to favor more traditional activities such as grammar exercises, copying written material, memorizing, and drill work. Course may assume a variety of different learner roles, such as: †¢ Manager of his or her own learning †¢ Independent learner †¢ Need analyst †¢ Collaborator and team member †¢ Peer tutor c. Learning Style Learning styles may be an important factor in the success of teaching and may not necessarily reflect those that teachers recommended. In a study of the learning style, Willing found four different learner types such as: Concrete learners These learners preferred learning by games, picture, films and video, taking in pairs, learning through the use of cassettes, and going on excursions †¢ Analytical learners These learners liked studying grammar, studying English books, studying alone, finding their own mistakes, having problems to work on, and learning through reading newspapers †¢ Communicative learners This group liked to learn by observing and listening to native speakers, taking to friends in English, watching TV in English, learning English words by hearing them and learning by conversations Authority-oriented learners These students liked the teacher to explain everything, writing everything in a notebook, having their own textbook, learning to read, studying grammar, and learning English words by seeing them d. Motivation Beside of learning style, motivations also important to find out what the learner’s motivations are for taking the course. e. Support Support mechanism provided for learners are another component of course delivery. These include the kinds of feedback learners will get about their learning and opportunities that are provided for faster or slower learners. CONCLUSION In this paper we are discussed about â€Å"providing for effective teaching† which have four factors, which are: ? Institutional factors Institutional factor has correlation about the institution organizational, institutional quality, good internal communication between administrator and the teacher also professional teacher and opportunities for developing teacher’s ability. ? Teacher factors Teacher factor discuss about teacher’ skill and qualification, the aspect for supporting teacher to do their responsibility. ? Teaching factors Teaching process is the way to monitoring process teaching-learning based on the model and principle which chosen by its institution, than maintenance when found the error process and also evaluating teaching. ? Learners factors The last factor to achieve quality teaching is learner factor. Learner factor is the way to know what the learner need, how to choose the appropriate learning style, giving motivation and also support to the pupils REFERENCE Jack C. Richards. 2001. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press How to cite Curriculum and Material Development, Papers

Ramses Ii Essays - Ancient Egyptian Mummies, Ramesses II

Ramses Ii While visiting the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, I found numerous works of art that interested me. I was able to appreciate these works more than before because of the knowledge I now possess after having taken this class thus far. Understanding the background, time periods, and history of the works that I was practically analyzing at the museum, made the pieces even more interesting and valuable to behold. The piece of work that captured my eyes the most was the statue of Ramesses II (?). This statue was found at the Heracleopolis, Temple of Harsaphes, in Egypt. This sculpture was made somewhere between 1897 and 1834, during Egypt's Middle Kingdom. The artist was probably an ancient Egyptian who was patroned by the Pharaoh Ramesses II himself. According to the museum's description of the work, Ramesses II seized this sculpture from a former ruler and the head was replaced to fit Ramesses' satisfaction. This is a historical piece to preserve his power and immortality. This statue is an example of freestanding sculpture or sculpture in the round. It has been carved and chiseled out of Quartzite stone. This particular stone is composed mainly or entirely of quartz. ?The stone is compact and is a form of metamorphosed sandstone in which silica, or quartz, has been deposited between the grains of quartz of which the sandstone is essentially composed?. Quartzite has a smooth fracture and is found primarily among ancient rocks. The subject and iconography of the work is to emphasize the success, reign and power of Ramesses II. According to the museum's description, the sculpture also functioned as a place for the non-priests of the community to place votive offerings for the gods of the temple. The non-priests were not allowed in the temples hence the sculpture must have been near the entrance of the temple. There is a slab in front of the pharaoh's feet where offerings would have been placed. The statue is rather large and stands approximately 10 feet high and 5 feet wide. The mass of the sculpture is almost overpowering to the observer. Egyptian art is known to be very compact, and this characteristic is evident in the statue of Ramesses II. The sculpture stays within the frame of the stone, nothing in this piece protrudes outside of its frame. The pose of the Pharaoh is consistent with Ancient Egyptian art as well. The Pharaoh is seated with his hands placed on his upper legs. His arms are close to his body at both sides, and his legs are close together and connected to the throne he sits upon. He sits upright in a tranquil manner reflecting power and kingship as well. His body is bilaterally symmetrical while his pose is frontal and his movement is suppressed. Ramesses II wears a headdress and a fake detachable beard (which is missing) to denote his rank. This visual evidence, (hairstyles, clothes, objects), is common in Ancient Egyptian art to symbolize the status of the figure. When the pharaoh is portrayed, he usually has an elaborate headdress, is larger in scale than other figures around him, wears an elaborate patterned kilt, and is in perfectly fit form. The Ancient Egyptians idealized the body of the pharaoh and were not realistic when it came to portraying the actual facial characteristics of the pharaoh. Although the statue is not being compared to other figures in the work, one can tell by its stance, dress, and mass that the figure is important. Another characteristic of this sculpture is the bull's tail on the back of his kilt, which is visible hanging between his legs. The bull, in Ancient Egypt, was accepted as a sign of power and was associated with the status of the pharaoh. The bull can be seen in many other Ancient Egyptian works of art involving the pharaoh. The sculpture's space and form takes up a three dimensional quality and is meant to be viewed from all sides. It is composed into a block of stone. This three-dimensional sculpture occupies both mass and volume. The carving technique used in the sculpture is known as subtractive, taking away from the original form of the stone. The slab of

How to Write a Perfect UC Essay for Every Prompt

How to Write a Perfect UC Essay for Every Prompt SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're applying to any University of California campus as an incoming freshman, then you have a special challenge ahead of you. Applicants need to answer four UC personal insight questions, chosen from a pool of eight unique prompts different from those on the Common App. But not to worry! This article is here to help. In this article, I'll dissectthe eight UC essay promptsin detail. What are they asking you for? What do they want to know about you? What do UC admissions officers really care about? How do you avoid boring or repulsing them with your essay? I'll breakdownall of these important questions for each prompt and discuss how to pick the four prompts that are perfect for you. I'll also give you examples of how to make sure your essay fully answers the question. Finally, I'll offer step-by-step instructions on how to come up with the best ideas for your UC personal statements. What Are the UC Personal Insight Questions? If you think about it, your college application is mostly made up of numbers: your GPA, your SAT scores, the number of AP classes you took, how many years you spent playing volleyball. These numbers only reveal so much. The job of admissions officers is to put together a class of interesting, compelling individuals- but a cut and dried achievement list makes it very hard to assess whether someone is interesting or compelling. This is where the personal insight questions come in. The UC application essays are your way to give colleges a sense of your personality, your perspective on the world, and some of the experiences that have made you into who you are. The idea is to share the kinds of things that don’t end up on your transcript. It's helpful to remember that you are not writing this for you. You're writing for an audience of people who do not know you, but are interested to learn about you. The essay is meant to be a revealing look inside your thoughts and feelings. These short essays- with a 350 word limit- are different from the essays you write in school, which tend to focus on analyzing someone else’s work. Really, the application essays are much closer to a short story. They rely heavily on narratives of events from your life, and on your descriptions of people, places, and feelings. If you’d like more background on college essays, check out our explainer for a very detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application. Now, let’s dive into the eight University of California essay questions. First I’ll compare and contrast these prompts. Then I’ll dig deep into each UC personal statement question individually, exploring what it’s really trying to find out and how you can give the admissions officers what they’re looking for. Once upon a time, there was a mouse who really, really wanted to get into your college. Comparing the UC Essay Prompts Before we can pull these prompts apart, let's first compare and contrast them with each other. Clearly, UC wants you to write four different essays, and they're asking you eight different questions. But what are the differences? And are there any similarities? The Actual UC Essay Prompts #1: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. #2: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. #3: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? #4: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. #5: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? #6: Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. #7: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? #8: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? How to Tell the UC Essay Prompts Apart To help tell the UC personal statement prompts apart, sort them into big-picture categories, so when you’re brainstorming ideas you can see where your event or life experience would fit: Topics 1 and 7 are about your engagement with the people, things, and ideas around you. Consider the impact of the outside world on you and how you handled that impact. Topics 2 and 6 are about your inner self, what defines you, and what makes you the person that you are. Consider your interior makeup, the characteristics of the inner you Topics 3, 4, 5, and 8 are about your achievements. Consider what you’ve accomplished in life and what you are proud of doing These very broad categories will help when you’re brainstorming ideas and life experiences to write about for your essay. Of course, it's true that many of the stories you think of can be shaped to fit each of these prompts. Still, think about what the experience most reveals about you. If it’s an experience that shows how you have handled the people and places around you, it’ll work better for questions in the first group. If it’s a description of how you express yourself, it’s a good match for questions in group two. If it’s an experience that tells how you acted or what you did, it’s probably a better fit for questions in group three. For more help, check out our article on coming up with great ideas for your essay topic. "And that's the last time I went to a psychic." Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: How Is This Guide Organized? We analyze all eight UC prompts in this guide, and for each one we give the following information: The prompt itself and any accompanying instructions What each part of the prompt is asking for Why UC is using this prompt and what they hope to learn from you All the key points you should cover in your response so you answer the complete prompt and give UC insight into who you are Dissecting Personal Insight Question 1 The Prompt and Its Instructions Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking a lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities? Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family? What’s the Question Asking? The prompt wants you to describe how you handled a specific kind of relationship with a group of people- a time when you took the reigns and the initiative. Your answer to this prompt will consist of two parts: Part 1: Explain the Dilemma Before you can tell your story of leading, brokering peace, or having a lasting impact on other people, you have to give your reader a frame of reference and a context for your actions. First, describe the group of people you interacted with. Who were and what was their relationship to you? How long were you in each others’ lives? Second, explain the issue you eventually solved. What was going on before you stepped in? What was the immediate problem? Were there potential long-term repercussions? "We couldn't decide between butter and cream cheese frosting in the final round of the baking competition!" Part 2: Describe Your Solution This is where your essay will have to explicitly talk about your own actions. Discuss what thought process led you to your course of action. Was it a last-ditch effort or a long-planned strategy? Did you think about what might happen if you didn’t step in? Did you have to choose between several courses of action? Explain how you took the bull by the horns. Did you step into the lead role willingly or were you pushed despite some doubts? Did you replace or supercede a more obvious leader? Describe your solution to the problem, or your contribution to resolving the ongoing issue. What did you do? How did you do it? Did your plan succeed immediately or did it take some time? Consider how this experience has shaped the person you have now become. Do you think back on this time fondly as being the origin of some personal quality or skill? Did it make you more likely to lead in other situations? What’s UC Hoping to Learn about You? College will be an environment unlike any of the ones you’ve found yourself in up to now. Sure, you will have a framework for your curriculum, and you will have advisers available to help- but for the most part, you will be on your own to deal with the situations that will inevitably arise when you mix with your diverse peers. UC wants to make sure: That you have the maturity to deal with groups of people That you can solve problems with your own ingenuity and resourcefulness That you don’t lose your head and panic at problems "And that's how I saved Christmas with a single crushed can!" How Can You Give Them What They Want? So how can you make sure those qualities come through in your essay? Pick Your Group The prompt very specifically wants you to talk about an interaction with a group of people. Let’s say a group has to be at least three people. Raise the Stakes Think of the way movies ratchet up the tension of the impending catastrophe before the hero swoops in and saves the day. Keeping an audience on tenterhooks is important- and makes the hero look awesome for the inevitable job well done. Similarly, in your essay the reader has to fundamentally understand exactly what you and the group you ended up leading were facing. Why was this an important problem to solve? Balance You vs. Them Personal statements need to showcase you above all things. Because this essay will necessarily have to spend some time on other people, you need to find a good proportion of them-time and me-time. In general, the first, setup, section of the essay should be shorter, since it will not be focused on what you were doing. The second section should take the rest of the space. So, in a 350 word essay, maybe 100-125 words go to setup, while 225-250 words to your leadership and solution. Find Your Arc Not only do you need to show how your leadership met the challenge you faced, but you also have to show how the experience changed you. In other words, the outcome was double-sided: you affected the world, and the world affected you right back. Make your arc as lovely and compelling as a rainbow. Dissecting Personal Insight Question 2 The Prompt and Its Instructions Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem? How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career? What’s the Question Asking? This question is trying to probe the way you express yourself. Its broad description of â€Å"creativity† gives you the opportunity to make almost anything you make that didn’t exist before fit the topic. What this essay question is really asking you to do is to examine the role your brand of creativity plays in your sense of yourself. The essay will have three parts. Part 1: Define Your Creativity What exactly do you produce, make, craft, create, or generate? Of course, the most obvious answer would be a visual art, a performance art, or music. But in reality, there is creativity in all fields. Any time you come up with an idea, thought, concept, or theory that didn’t exist before, you are being creative. So, your job is to explain what you spend time creating. Part 2: Connect Your Creative Drive to Your Overall Self Why do you do what you do? Are you doing it for external reasons- to perform for others, to demonstrate your skill, to fulfill some need in the world? Or is your creativity private and for your own use- to unwind, to distract yourself from other parts of your life, to have personal satisfaction in learning a skill? Are you good at your creative thing or do you struggle with it? If you struggle with it, why is it important to you to keep doing it? Part 3: Connect Your Creative Drive With Your Future The most basic way to do this is if you envision yourself actually doing your creative pursuit professionally. But this doesn’t have to be the only way you draw this link. What have you learned from what you’ve made? How has it changed how you interact with other objects or with people? Does it change your appreciation for the work of others or motivate you to improve upon it? "As the sole living practitioner of the ancient art of rock bodybuilding..." What’s UC Hoping to Learn about You? Nothing characterizes higher education like the need for creative thinking, unorthodox ideas to old topics, and the ability to synthesize something new. That is what you are going to college to learn how to do better. This essay wants to know whether this mindset of out-of-the-box-ness is something you are already comfortable with. They want to see: That you have actually created something in your life or academic career That you consider this an important quality within yourself, and that you have cultivated your skills That you can see and have considered the impact of what you’ve done on yourself or on the world around you Think outside the box- unless there are donuts in the box. How Can You Give Them What They Want? How can you really show that you are committed to being a creative person? Be Specific and Descriptive It’s not enough to vaguely gesture at your creative field. Instead, give a detailed and lively description of a specific thing or idea that you have created. For example, I could describe a Turner painting as â€Å"a seascape† or I could call it â€Å"an attempt to capture the breathtaking power and violence of an ocean storm as it overwhelms a ship.† Which painting would you rather look at? Give a Sense of History The question wants a little narrative of your relationship to your creative outlet. How long have you been doing it? Did someone teach you or mentor you? Have you taught it to others? Where and when do you create? Hit a Snag and Find the Success Anything worth doing is worth doing despite setbacks, this question argues- and it wants you to narrate one such setback. So first, figure out something that interfered with your creative expression. A lack of skill, time, or resources? Too much or not enough ambition in a project? Then, make sure this story has a happy ending that shows you off as the solver of your own problems. What did you do to fix the situation? How did you do it? Show Insight Your essay should include some thoughtful consideration of how this creative pursuit has shaped you, your thoughts, your opinions, your relationships with others, your understanding of creativity in general, or your dreams about your future. (Notice I said â€Å"or† not â€Å"and†- 350 words is not enough to cover all of those things!) "And that's when I knew I was destined to become a master confectioner!" Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Dissecting Personal Insight Question 3 The Prompt and Its Instructions What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Things to consider: If there’s a talent or skill that you’re proud of, this is the time to share it. You don’t necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you? Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule? What's the Question Asking? Basically, what’s being asked for here is a beaming rave. Whatever you write about, picture yourself talking about it with a glowing smile on your face. Part 1: Narrative The first part of the question really comes down to this: tell us a story about what's amazing about you. Have you done an outstanding thing? Do you have a mindblowing ability? Describe a place, a time, or a situation in which you were a star. A close reading of this first case of the prompt reveals that you don’t need to stress if you don’t have an obvious answer. Sure, if you’re playing first chair violin in the Symphony Orchestra, that qualifies as both a â€Å"talent† and an â€Å"accomplishment.† But the word "quality" really gives you the option of writing about any one of your most meaningful traits. And then, the words â€Å"contribution† and â€Å"experience† open up the range of possibilities that you could write about even further. A contribution could be anything from physically helping put something together, to providing moral or emotional support at a critical moment. But the key to the first part is the phrase â€Å"important to you.† Once again, what you write about is not as important as how you write about it. Being able to demonstrate the importance of the event that you’re describing reveals much more about you than the specific talent or characteristic ever could. Part 2: Insight and Personal Development The second part of the last essay asked you to look to the future. The second part of this essay wants you to look at the present instead. The general task is similar, however. Once again you're being asked to make connections- how do you fit this quality you have or this achievement you accomplished into the story of who you are? A close reading of the second part of this prompt lands on the word â€Å"proud.† This is a big clue that the revelation this essay is looking for should be a very positive one. In other words, this is probably not the time to write about getting arrested for vandalism, unless you can spin that experience into a story about how you been on the straight and narrow path ever since. Even if your vandalism was really, really, cool, don't write about it. What's UC Hoping to Learn About You? Admissions officers have a very straightforward interest in learning about your accomplishments. By the end of high school, many of the experiences that you are most proud of don’t tend to be the kind of things that end up on your resume. They want to know what makes you proud of yourself. It is something that relates to performance, to overcoming a difficult obstacle, to keeping a cool head in a crisis, to your ability to help others in need? At the same time, they are looking for a sense of maturity. In order to be proud of an accomplishment, it’s important to be able to understand your own values and ideals. This is your chance to show that you truly get the qualities and experiences that make you into a responsible and grown-up person, someone who will thrive in the independence of college life. In other words, while you might really be proud that you managed to tag 50 highway overpasses with graffiti, that’s probably not the achievement to brag about here. Unless you were hired to paint the overpasses. Then definitely brag about it. How Can You Give Them What They Want? The trick with this prompt is how to show a lot about yourself without listing accomplishments or devolving into cliche platitudes. Let's take it step by step. Step #1: Explain Your Field Make sure that somewhere in your narrative (preferably closer to the beginning) you let the reader know what makes your achievement an achievement. Not all interests are mainstream, so it helps your reader to understand what you’re facing if you give a quick sketch of, for example, why it’s challenging to build a battle bot that can defeat another fighting robot, or how the difficulties of extemporaneous debate compare with debating about a prepared topic. Keep in mind that for some things the explanation might be obvious. For example, do you really need to explain why finishing a marathon is a hard task? Step #2: Zoom in on a Specific Experience Think about your talent/quality/accomplishment in terms of experiences that showcase it. Conversely, think about your experiences in terms of the talent/quality/accomplishment they demonstrate. Since you're once again going to be limited to 350 words, you won’t be able to fit all the ways in which you exhibit your specific piece of awesomeness into this essay. This means that you’ll need to figure out how your ability can best be shown through one event when you displayed it. Or if you’re writing about an experience you had or a contribution you made, you’ll need to also point out what personality trait or characteristic it reveals. Step #3: Find a Conflict or a Transition The first question asked for a description, but this one wants a story- a narrative of how you do your special talent, or how you accomplished the thing you were so great at. The main thing about stories is that they have to have: A beginning: This is the setup, when you weren’t yet the star you are now. An obstacle or a transition: Sometimes a story has a conflict that needs to be resolved: something that stood in your way, a challenge that you had to figure out a way around, a block that you powered through. Other times, a story is about a change or a transformation: you used to believe/think/be one thing and now you are different/better. A resolution: When your full power/self-knowledge/ability/future goal is revealed. "And that's how I negotiated peace with the aliens of Tarkon V." Dissecting Personal Insight Question 4 The Prompt and Its Instructions Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that’s geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you - just to name a few. If you choose to write about educational barriers you’ve faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who are you today? What's the Question Asking? Cue the swelling music, because this essay is going to be all about your inspirational journey. You will either tell your story of overcoming adversity against all (or some) odds, or of pursuing the chance of a lifetime. If you write about triumphing over adversity, your essay will include: A description of the setback that befell you: The prompt wants to know what you consider a challenge in your school life- and definitely note that this challenge should have in some significant way impacted your academics rather than your life overall. The challenge can be a wide-reaching problem in your educational environment or something that happened specifically to you. The word â€Å"barrier† also shows that the challenge should be something that stood in your way: if only that thing weren’t there, then you’d be sure to succeed. An explanation of your success: Here, you’ll talk about what you did when faced with this challenge. Notice that the prompt asks you to describe the â€Å"work† you put in to overcome the problem- so this piece of the essay should focus on your actions, thoughts, ideas, and strategies. Although the essay doesn’t specify it, this section should also at some point turn reflexive. How are you defined by this thing that happened? You could discuss the emotional fallout of having dramatically succeeded, or how your maturity level, concrete skills, or understanding of the situation has increased, now that you have dealt with it personally. Or, you could talk about any beliefs or personal philosophy that you have had to reevaluate as a result of either the challenge itself, or of the way that you had to go about solving it. If you write about an educational opportunity, your essay will include: A short, clear description of exactly what you got the chance to do: In your own words, explain what the opportunity was, and why it’s special. Also explain why you specifically got the chance to do it. Was it the culmination of years of study? An academic contest prize? An unexpected encounter that led to you seizing an unlooked-for opportunity? How you made the best of it: It’s one thing to get the opportunity to do something amazing, but it’s another to really maximize what you get out of this chance for greatness. This is where you show just how much you understand the value of what you did, and how you’ve changed and grown as a result of it. Were you very challenged by this opportunity? Did your skills develop? Did you unearth talents you didn’t know you had? How does this impact your future academic ambitions or interests? Will you study this area further? Does this help you find your academic focus? "When I had a chance to go to Wizarding School..." What's UC Hoping to Learn About You? Of course, whatever you write about in this essay is probably already reflected on your resume or in your transcript in some small way. But UC wants to go deeper, to find out how seriously you take your academic career, and how thoughtfully you’ve approached either its ups or its downs. In college, there will be many amazing opportunities, but they aren’t necessarily simply there for the taking. Instead, you will be responsible for seizing whatever chances will further your studies, interests, or skills. Conversely, college will necessarily be more challenging, harder, and potentially much more full of academic obstacles than your academic experiences so far. UC wants to see that you are up to handling whatever setbacks may come your way with aplomb rather than panic. How Can You Give Them What They Want? Define the Problem/Opportunity Not every challenge is automatically obvious. Sure, everyone can understand the drawbacks of having to miss a significant amount of school due to illness, but what if the obstacle you tackled is something a little more obscure? Likewise, winning the chance travel to Italy to paint landscapes with a master is clearly rare and amazing, but some opportunities are more specialized and less obviously impressive. Make sure your essay explains everything the reader will need to know to understand what you were facing. Watch Your Tone An essay describing problems can easily slip into finger-pointing and self-pity. Make sure to avoid this by speaking positively or at least neutrally about what was wrong and what you faced. This goes double if you decide to explain who or what was at fault for creating this problem. Likewise, an essay describing amazing opportunities can quickly become an exercise in unpleasant bragging and self-centeredness. Make sure you stay grounded- rather than dwelling at length on your accomplishments, describe the specifics of what you learned and how. "But learning to be a wizard wasn't easy..." Dissecting Personal Insight Question 5 The Prompt and Its Instructions Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone? If you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, â€Å"How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends, or with my family?† What's the Question Asking? It’s time to draw back the curtains and expand our field of vision, because this is going to be a two-part story of overcoming adversity against all (or some) odds. Part 1: Facing a Challenge The first part of this essay is about problem-solving. The prompt asks you to point at something that could have derailed you, if not for your strength and skill. Not only will you describe the challenge itself, but you’ll talk about what you did when faced with it. Part 2: Looking in the Mirror The second part of Topic B asks you to consider how this challenge has echoed through your life- and more specifically, how your education has been affected by what happened to you. What's UC Hoping to Learn About You? In life, dealing with setbacks, defeats, barriers, and conflicts is not a bug- it’s a feature. And colleges want to make sure that you can handle these upsetting events without losing your overall sense of self, without being totally demoralized, and without getting completely overwhelmed. In other words, they are looking for someone who is mature enough to do well on a college campus, where disappointing results and hard challenges will be par for the course. They are also looking for your creativity and problem-solving skills. Are you good at tackling something that needs to be fixed? Can you keep a cool head in a crisis? Do you look for solutions outside the box? These are all markers of a successful student, so it’s not surprising that admissions people want you to demonstrate these qualities. "I realized that if I wanted to become the Junior Champion Snake Shifter, I would have to do something drastic." How Can You Give Them What They Want? Let's explore the best ways to show off your problem-solving side. Show Your Work It’s one thing to be able to say what's wrong, but it’s another thing entirely to demonstrate how you figured out how to fix it. Even more than knowing that you were able to fix the problem, colleges want to see how you approached the situation. This is why your essay needs to explain your problem-solving methodology. Basically, we need to see you in action. What did you think would work? What did you think would not work? Did you compare this to other problems you have faced and pass? Did you do research? Describe your process. Make Sure That You Are the Hero This essay is supposed to demonstrate your resourcefulness and creativity. The last thing you want is for you to not actually be the person responsible for overcoming the obstacle. Make sure that your story is clear that without you and your special brand of XYZ, people would still be lamenting the issue today. Don't worry if the resource you used to affect a good fix was the knowledge and know-how that somebody else brought to the table. Just focus on explaining what made you think of this person as the one to go to, how you convinced them to participate, and how you explained to them how they would be helpful. This will shift the attention of the story back to you and your doings. Find the Suspenseful Moment The most exciting part of this essay should be watching you struggle to find a solution just in the nick of time. Think every movie clichà © ever about someone defusing a bomb - even if you know 100% that the guy is going to do it, the movie still ratchets up the tension to make it seem like, well, maybe... You want to do the same thing here. Bring excitement and a feeling of uncertainty to your description of your process to really pull the reader in and make them root for you to succeed. You're the superhero! Dissecting Personal Insight Question 6 The Prompt and Its Instructions Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. Things to consider: Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can’t get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom - such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs - and what you have gained from your involvement. Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that? What's the Question Asking? This question is really asking for a glimpse of your imagined possibilities. For some students, this will be an extremely straightforward question. For example, say you’ve always loved science to the point that you’ve spent every summer taking biology and chemistry classes. You can just pick a few of the most gripping moments from these experiences and discuss the overall trajectory of your interests, and your essay will be a winner. But what if you have many academic interests? Or what if you only discovered your academic passion at the very end of high school? Let’s break down what the question is really asking into two parts. Part 1: Picking a Favorite At first glance, it sounds as if what you should write about is the class where you have gotten the best grades, or the class that easily fits into what you see as your future college major or maybe even your eventual career goal. There is nothing wrong with this kind of pick- especially if you really are someone who tends to excel in those classes that are right up your interest alley. But if we look closer, we see that there is nothing in the prompt that specifically demands that you write either about a particular class or an area of study where you perform well. Instead, you could take the phrase â€Å"academic subject† to mean a wide field of study and explore your fascination with the different types of learning to be found there. For example, if your chosen topic is the field of literature, you could discuss your experiences with different genres or with foreign writers. You could also write about a course or area of study that has significantly challenged you, and where you have not been as stellar a student as you want. This could be a way to focus on your personal growth as a result of struggling through a difficult class, or the way you’ve learned to handle or overcome your limitations. Part 2: Relevance The second part of this prompt, like the first, can also be taken in a literal and direct way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with explaining that because you love engineering and want to be an engineer you have pursued all your school’s STEM courses, are also involved in a robotics club, and have taught yourself to code in order to develop apps. On the other hand, you could focus on the more abstract, values-driven goals we just talked about. Then, the way you explain how your academics will help you can be rooted not in the content of what you studied, but in the life lessons you drew from it. In other words, for example, your theater class may not have created a desire to be an actor, but working on plays with your peers may have shown you how highly you value collaboration. And the experience of designing sets was an exercise in problem-solving and ingenuity. These lessons would be useful in any field you pursue and could easily be said to help you achieve your lifetime goals. My favorite subject is underwater basketweaving. What's UC Hoping to Learn About You? If you are on a direct path to a specific field of study or career pursuit, admissions officers definitely want to know that. Having driven, goal oriented, and passionate students is a huge plus for a university. So if this is you, be sure that your essay conveys not just your interest but also your deep and abiding love of the subject, and maybe even includes any related clubs, activities, and hobbies that you’ve done during high school. But of course, more traditionally, college is the place to find yourself and the things that you become passionate about. So if you’re not already committed to a specific course of study, don’t worry. Instead, you have to realize that in this essay, like in all the other essays, the how matters much more than the what. No matter where your eventual academic, career, or other pursuits may lie, every class that you have taken up to now has taught you something. You learned about things like work ethic, mastering a skill, practice, learning from a teacher, interacting with peers, dealing with setbacks, understanding your own learning style, and perseverance. In other words, the admissions office wants to make sure that no matter what you study you will draw meaningful conclusions from your experiences, whether those conclusions are about the content of what you learn or about a deeper understanding of yourself and others. They want to see that you’re not simply floating through life on the surface, but that you are absorbing the qualities, skills, and know-how you will need to succeed in the world- no matter what that success looks like. How Can You Give Them What They Want? Focus on a telling detail. Because personal statements are short, you simply won't have time to explain everything you have loved about a particular subject in enough detail to make it count. Instead, pick one event that crystallized your passion for a subject, or one telling moment that revealed what your working style will be, and go deep into a discussion of what it meant to you in the past and how it will affect your future. Don’t overreach. It’s fine to say that you have loved your German classes so much that you have begun exploring both modern and classic German-language writers, for example, but it’s a little too self-aggrandizing to claim that your 4 years of German have made you basically bilingual and ready to teach the language to others. Make sure that whatever class achievements you describe don’t come off as unnecessary bragging rather than simple pride. Don’t underreach. At the same time, make sure that you have actual accomplishments to describe in whatever subject you pick to write about. If your favorite class turned out to be the one you mostly skipped to hang out in the gym instead, this may not be the place to share that lifetime goal. After all, you always have to remember your audience. In this case, it's college admissions officers who want to find students who are eager to learn and be exposed to new thoughts and ideas. "This is how I realized my passion for horticulture." Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Dissecting Personal Insight Question 7 The Prompt and Its Instructions What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place - like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community? Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community? What's the Question Asking? This topic is trying to get at how you engage with your environment. It’s looking for several things: #1: Your Sense of Place and Connection Because the term â€Å"community† is so broad and ambiguous, this is a good essay for explaining where you feel a sense of belonging and rootedness. What or who constitutes your community? Is your connection to a place, to a group of people, or to an organization? What makes you identify as part of this community- cultural background, a sense of shared purpose, or some other quality? #2: Your Empathy and Ability to Look at the Big Picture Before you can solve a problem, you have to realize that the problem exists. Before you can make your community a better place, you have to find the things that can be ameliorated. No matter what your contribution ended up being, you first have to show how you saw where your skills, talent, intelligence, or hard work could do the most good. Did you put yourself in the shoes of the other people in your community? Understand some fundamental inner working of a system you could fix? Knowingly put yourself in the right place at the right time? #3: Your Problem Solving Skills How did you make the difference in your community? If you resolved a tangible issue, how did you come up with your solution? Did you examine several options or act from the gut? If you made your community better in a less direct way, how did you know where to apply yourself and how to have the most impact possible? "And that's how I saved the children of MiceTown." What's UC Hoping to Learn About You? Community is a very important thing to colleges. You'll be involved with and encounter lots of different communities in college, from the broader student body, to your extracurriculars and classes, to the community outside the University around you. UC wants to make sure that you can engage with the communities around you in a positive and meaningful way. How Can You Give Them What They Want? Make it personal. Before you can explain what you did in your community, you have to define and describe this community itself- and you can necessarily only do that by focusing on what it means to you. Don’t speak in generalities, but instead show the bonds between you and the group you are a part of through colorful, idiosyncratic language. Sure, they might be â€Å"my water polo team,† but maybe they are more specifically â€Å"the twelve people who have seen me at my most exhausted and my most exhilarated.† Feel all the feelings. This is a chance to move your readers. As you delve deep into what makes your community one of your emotional centers, and then as you describe how you were able to improve it in a meaningful and lasting way, you should keep the roller coaster of feelings front and center. Own how you felt at each step of the process: when you found your community, when you saw that you could make a difference, when you realized that your actions have resulted in a change for the better. Did you feel unprepared for the task you undertook? Nervous to potentially let down those around? Thrilled to get a chance to display a hidden or underused talent? "After brokering peace between the two rival cat clans of my neighborhood, I feel like I can do anything!" Dissecting Personal Insight Question 8 The Prompt and Its Instructions Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? Things to consider: If there’s anything you want us to know about you, but didn’t find a question or place in the application to tell us, now’s your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better? From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don’t be afraid to brag a little. What's the Question Asking? If your particular experience doesn’t quite fit under the rubrics of the other essay topics, or if there is something the admissions officers need to understand about your background in order to consider your application in the right context, then this is the essay for you. Now, I’m going to say something a little counterintuitive here. The prompt for this essay clarifies that even if you don’t have a â€Å"unique† story to tell, you should still feel free to pick this topic. But, honestly, I think you should only choose this topic if you have an exceptional experience to share, and that any everyday challenges or successes of regular life could easily fit one of the other insight questions instead. What this means is that evaluating whether your experiences qualify for this essay is a matter of degrees. For example, did you manage to thrive academically despite being raised by a hard-working single parent? That’s a hardship that could easily be written about for Questions 1 or 5, depending on how you choose to frame what happened. Did you manage to earn a 3.7 GPA despite living in a succession of foster families only to age out of the system in the middle of your senior year of high school? That’s a narrative of overcoming hardship that easily belongs to Question 8. On the flip side, did you win a state-wide robotics competition? Well done, and feel free to tell your story under Question 4. Were you the youngest person to single-handedly win a season of BattleBots? Then feel free to write about it for Question 8. What's UC Hoping to Learn About You? This is pretty straightforward. They are trying to identify students that have unique and amazing stories to tell about who they are and where they come from. If you’re a student like this, then the admissions people want to know: What happened to you When and where it happened How you participated or were involved in the situation How it affected you as a person How it affected your schoolwork How the experience will be reflected in the point of view you bring to campus The reasons that the university wants this information are: It gives context to applications that otherwise might seem mediocre or even subpar It can help explain times in a transcript where grades significantly drop It creates them the opportunity to build a lot of diversity into the incoming class It’s a way of finding unique talents and abilities that otherwise wouldn’t show up on other application materials How Can You Give Them What They Want? Let's run through a few tricks for making sure your essay makes the most of your particular exceptionalism. Double-Check Your Uniqueness There are many experiences in all of our lives that make us feel elated, accomplished, and extremely competent, that are also near-universal. This essay isn’t trying to take the validity of your strong feelings away from you, but I think it would be best served by for stories that are on a different scale. Wondering whether what you went through counts? This might be a good time to run your idea by a parent, school counselor, or trusted teacher. Do they think your experience is widespread? Or do they agree that you truly lived a life less ordinary? Connect Outward The vast majority of your answer to the prompt should be telling your story and its impact on you and your life. But the essay should also point toward how your particular experiences set you apart from your peers. One of the reasons that the admissions office wants to find out which of the applicants has been through something unlike most other people is that they are hoping to increase the number of points of view in the student body. Think about, and include in your essay, how you will impact campus life. This can be very literal- if you are a jazz singer who has released several acclaimed albums, then maybe you will perform on campus. Or it can be much more oblique- if you are disabled, then you will be able to offer a perspective that differs from the able-bodied majority. Be Direct, Specific, and Honest Nothing will make your voice sound more appealing than writing without embellishment or verbal flourishes. This is the one case where what you’re telling is just as- if not more- important than how you’re telling it. So the best strategy is to be as straightforward in your writing as possible. This means using description to situate your reader in a place/time/experience that they would never get to see firsthand. You can do this by picking a specific moment during your accomplishment to narrate as a small short story, and not shying away from explaining your emotions throughout the experience. Your goal is to make the extraordinary into something at least somewhat relatable- and the way you do that is by making your writing down to earth. "Is it accurate to say that I saved the entire world?" "No." Writing Advice for Making Your UC Personal Statements Shine No matter what personal insight questions you end up choosing to write about, here are two tips for making your writing sparkle: #1: Be Detailed and Descriptive Have you ever heard the expression â€Å"show, don’t tell†? It’s usually given as creative writing advice, and it will be your best friend when you're writing college essays. It means that any time you want to describe a person or thing as having a particular quality, it’s better to illustrate with an example than to just use vague adjectives. If you stick to giving examples that paint a picture, your focus will also become narrower and more specific. You’ll end up focusing on details and concrete events, rather than not particularly telling generalizations. Let’s say, for instance, Adnan is writing about the house that he’s been helping his dad fix up. Which of these do you think gives the reader a better sense of place? Version 1 My family bought an old house that was kind of rundown. My dad likes fixing it up on the weekends and I like helping him. Now the house is much nicer than when we bought it and I can see all our hard work when I look at it. Version 2 My dad grinned when he saw my shocked face. Our â€Å"new† house looked like a completely rundown shed: peeling paint, rust-covered railings, shutters that looked like the crooked teeth of a jack-o-lantern. I was still staring at the spider web crack in one broken window when my dad handed me a pair of brand new work gloves and a paint scraper. â€Å"Today, let’s just do what we can with the front wall,† he said, and then I smiled too, knowing that many of my weekends would be spent here with him, working side by side. Both versions of this story focus on the fact that the house was dilapidated and that Adnan enjoyed helping his dad do repairs. But the second does this by: Painting a picture of what the house actually looked like by adding visual details ("peeling paint," "rust-covered railings," "broken window"), and through comparisons ("shutters like a jack-o-lantern," "spider web window crack") Showing emotions by describing facial expressions ("my dad grinned," "my shocked face," "I smiled") Using specific and descriptive action verbs ("grinned," "shocked," "staring," "handed") The essay would probably go on to describe one day of working with his dad, or a time when a repair went horribly awry. Adnan would make sure to keep adding sensory details (what things looked, sounded, smelled, tasted like), using active verbs, and illustrating feelings with spoken speech and facial expressions. If you're having trouble checking whether your description is detailed enough, read your work to someone else. Then, ask that person to describe the scene back to you. Are they able to conjure up a picture from your words? If not, you need to beef up your details. It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but it'll make a great college essay! #2: Show Your Feelings All good personal essays deal with emotions. And what marks great personal essays is the author’s willingness to really dig into negative feelings as well as positive ones. As you write your UC application essays, keep asking yourself questions and probing your memory. How did you feel before it happened? How did you expect to feel after, and then how did you actually feel after? How did the world that you are describing feel about what happened? How do you know how your world felt? Then write about your feelings using mostly emotion words ("I was thrilled/disappointed/proud/scared"), some comparisons ("I felt like I'd never run again/like I'd just bitten into a sour apple/like the world's greatest explorer"), and a few bits of direct speech ("'How are we going to get away with this?' my brother asked.") Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. There's "it was exciting." And then there's "I felt at once exhilarated and terrified, as if I had just jumped out of an airplane for the first time." What’s Next? This should give you a great starting point to attack the UC essay prompts and consider how you'll write your own effective UC personal statements. The hard part starts here- work hard, brainstorm broadly, and use all my suggestions above to craft a great UC application essay. Making your way through college applications? We have advice on how to find the right college for you, how to write about your extracurricular activities, and how to ask teachers for recommendations. Interested in taking the SAT one more time? Check out our highly detailed explainer on studying for the SAT to learn how to prepare best. Worried about how to pay for college after you get in? Read our description of how much college really costs, our comparison of subsidized and unsubsidized loans, and our lists of the top scholarships for high school seniors and juniors. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Regional Dialect - Definition and Examples

Regional Dialect s A regional dialect is a distinct form of a language spoken in a particular geographical area. It is also known as a  regiolect or topolect. If the form of speech transmitted from a parent to a child is a distinct regional dialect, that dialect is said to be the childs vernacular. Examples and Observations As opposed to a national dialect, a regional dialect is spoken in one particular area of a country. In the USA, regional dialects include Appalachian, New Jersey and Southern English, and in Britain, Cockney, Liverpool English and Geordie (Newcastle English). . . .In contrast to a regional dialect, a social dialect is a variety of a language spoken by a particular group based on social characteristics other than geography.(Jeff Siegel, Second Dialect Acquisition. Cambridge University Press, 2010)[L]inguists refer to so-called Standard English as a dialect of English, which from a linguistic point of view, is no more correct than any other form of English. From this point of view, the monarchs of England and teenagers in Los Angeles and New York all speak dialects of English, (Adrian Akmajian, Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication, 5th ed. The MIT Press, 2001) Studies of the Regional Dialects in North America The investigation of the regional dialects of American English has been a major concern for dialectologists and sociolinguists since at least the early part of the twentieth century when The Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada was launched and dialectologists began conducting large-scale surveys of regional dialect forms. Although the traditional focus on regional variation took a back seat to concerns for social and ethnic dialect diversity for a couple of decades, there has been a resurgent interest in the regional dimension of American dialects. This revitalization was buoyed by the publication of different volumes of the Dictionary of American Regional English (Cassidy 1985; Cassidy and Hall 1991, 1996; Hall 2002), and more recently, by the publication of The Atlas of North American English (Labov, Ash, and Boberg 2005). (Walt Wolfram and Natalie Schilling-Estes, ​American English: Dialects and Variation, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2006) Varieties of Regional Dialects in the U.S. Some differences in U.S. regional dialects may be traced to the dialects spoken by colonial settlers from England. Those from southern England spoke one dialect and those from the north spoke another. In addition, the colonists who maintained close contact with England reflected the changes occurring in British English, while earlier forms were preserved among Americans who spread westward and broke communication with the Atlantic coast. The study of regional dialects has produced dialect atlases, with dialect maps showing the areas where specific dialect characteristics occur in the speech of the region. A boundary line called an isogloss delineates each area. (Victoria Fromkin, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams, An Introduction to Language, 9th ed. Wadsworth, 2011) Regional Dialects in England and Australia The fact that English has been spoken in England for 1,500 years but in Australia for only 200 explains why we have a great wealth of regional dialects in England that is more or less totally lacking in Australia. It is often possible to tell where an English person comes from to within about 15 miles or less. In Australia, where there has not been enough time for changes to bring about much regional variation, it is almost impossible to tell where someone comes from at all, although very small differences are now beginning to appear. (Peter Trudgill, The Dialects of England, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 1999) Dialect Leveling [T]he frequent complaint today that dialects are dying out reflects the fact that the basis for dialects has shifted. Nowadays, people travel hundreds of miles and think nothing of it. People commute to work in London from as far afield as Birmingham. Such mobility would explain, for example, why 150 years ago there was a traditional Kentish dialect, while today it barely survives, such is the close and regular contact with London. ... [I]nstead of small relatively isolated communities where each person mingles with more or less the same people for a lifetime, we have vast human melting-pots where people have diffuse social networks- mingling regularly with different people, adopting new speech forms and losing the old rural forms. Both developments in communication and the effects of urbanization have contributed to dialect leveling, a term referring to the loss of original traditional dialectal distinctions. (Jonathan Culpeper, History of English, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2005)