Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Example for Free

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Middle school is one of the most difficult situations of transition. Middle schoolers are awkward, hard to deal with and confused. They aren’t children but certainly not adults. They are egocentric to say the least and have little concern for the consequences of their actions. Yet, they are also one of the best ages to work with, if one is willing to try to understand their difficult lives. The culture in middle school can be broken down as such: sexuality, intellect, and social status. Sexually, these students have to deal with their changing bodies and feelings. They also have to try to understand how these feelings and changes fit in appropriately within the community. This is the area they are most sensitive toward. Intellectually, students have to decide if being â€Å"smart† is something they are willing to do. In some environments, being smart is cool, so those students who are gifted have no trouble fitting in. In other schools, these students are outcasts. When it is not cool to be smart, many students have a hard decision to make. If they show their gifts, they may sacrifice social standing. When it is cool, the struggling students feel even more left out and troubled. At times, these students may even act dumber to try to hide how much they truly struggle. Social status varies with each school environment. Wealth, possessions, address, family legacy and athletic ability are all indicators of success. Middle school is a contest and students are constantly scrutinizing each other to see who will win, popularity being the prize, of course. There are leaders and followers; the status symbols then change as the leaders themselves change. Whether it is the newest clothing label, shoe or track star, the culture of middle school is dominated by judgment. Evaluation The Illuminative Model of Evaluation rests its assessment on process. It appraises based on qualitative analysis of a situation in order to understand its initiation as clearly as its conclusion. Thus, in order to evaluate a situation, one must observe the effects of the process not simply look at data. The following tools of assessment are based upon that model and are applied to the curriculum overall. Several lessons will be used that typify the learning environment created within the classroom. Evaluation One: How does this lesson provide skills that work outside the testing environment? To evaluate this lesson, the calendar of lessons was assessed. Questions were asked such as, how do the lessons flow and what overall messages are the students receiving? Can they define, find and apply the concepts discussed in class? Upon reviewing the lessons, they seem to present isolated concepts. The entire unit is research process and narrative writing techniques which are two genres and should be taught separately. These lessons are trying to do way too much too fast. Middle school students are more successful when you break the process down and connect it to real world reasons for completing the work. If they would’ve started with day five, â€Å"reading the memoir,† then they could use the text to help define and find the language. Once they can do that, then they can apply the concepts such as writing dialogue, good word choice and using sensory language. The lesson plans as they are, present interesting skill sets but they aren’t connected to the question of, how do I apply this to reading and writing outside school. These skills might help them pass a test, but if you ask them to write dialogue, they will not know how. The non-fiction author board is a great idea but is not developed. They are completing tasks that have a function. This project should be enhanced by having students read Georgia authors and doing actual research and a research project on their author. This schedule needs to be totally revamped in order to serve the real world needs of the students. Evaluation Two: Does this lesson connect to a home environment? As is, there is no connection with the home environment. This will lessen the importance of the work and disconnect the families from what the students are learning. To enhance the process, when having the students write narratives, why not have them collect narratives from family members? This validates the home environment while creating an interest in the school environment at home. For the research section, they could research their family tree or conduct a survey at home regarding their family’s favorite authors. The greater the involvement from the home, the greater opportunity to work with the family for the student’s well being. Evaluation Three: What purpose does technology serve? This also needs improvement. There is no use of technology which works against evaluative point number one. In the larger society, students must be technologically literate. Students should research using the internet, present their projects via power point, and utilize online oral history collections to hear memoirs. Computers should not only be used to type in language arts but should be used as a tool for diversification of learning styles and presentation methods. Conclusion Overall, the learning process in this curriculum model needs to be improved. The questions of evaluation, based on the Illuminative Model, show that the process is flawed. Although there are many interesting lessons, they don’t flow together to teach an entire concept that can be applied to a real world learning situation. The terms need to be taught as part of an entire concept. Students can then define, find and apply what they have learned rather than simply be occupied for a 45 minute block of time. According to this model, students are more successful when the process is improved. The product should be the last point of evaluation rather than the first.

Free Essays on William Faulkners A Rose for Emily - Homicide :: A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner

A Homicide for Emily   Ã¢â‚¬Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short intriguing story written by William Faulkner.   This is because the way Emily’s character is portrayed, the mysterious death of Homer Barron, and the way Faulkner uses the narrator to tell the story.   Emily is portrayed as a woman who kept to herself throughout her whole life.   In her younger years her father had driven all her suitors away.   No man was good enough for Emily.   Emily’s solitude was especially evident after her father died and when her boyfriend Homer disappeared.   Her hair had turned an irony gray after her father died.   She had a black manservant throughout her whole life that went to the market, cooked and gardened for her.   During the end of her life the manservant’s visits were the only way that the townspeople knew that she was still alive.   After her father died Emily kept his body in her house.   A few days after Emily’s father’s death a couple of ladies came to give their condolences.   But Emily came to the door dressed in casual clothes and showed no signs of grief.   The townspeople were about to resort to law enforcement when she finally broke down and told them that her father was dead.   The townspeople did not believe she was crazy, even though they knew insanity ran in her family.   They thought Emily did this because they remembered how the father drove all the young men away.   Now she was a figure that could be pitied by the town, alone and penniless.   Eventually Emily met Homer, a Yankee who came into town to pave sidewalks during the summer of Emily’s father’s death.   They started seeing each other but Homer would rather hang out with the guys than hang out with Emily.   He was not the marrying type.   When Emily figured this out she bought some arsenic from a druggist.   The townspeople thought she was going to use the arsenic to kill herself.   However the next week they were sure homer and Emily would get married because Emily had been seen at the jeweler’s ordering a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. on each piece.  Ã‚   Two days later she was seen buying a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt.   Homer was not seen for a week or so but he eventually came back into town and a neighbor saw the manservant let him in at the kitchen door.

Internet Search Synopsis Essay

The first website, National Institute of Mental Health, deals with different mental illnesses including eating disorders. This website is considered to be credible because of many factors. The number one factor would be that it is recently updated. It is indicated that the website was last reviewed on April 22, 2009. This is important because it means that the latest news regarding mental illnesses and eating disorders can be found. It also means that the people behind the website checks the site if there are errors. It also has an About Us page and a Contact Us page so people can obtain further information about mental illnesses. The organization also has a Privacy Policy, which is important because â€Å"the presence of privacy policies also appears to influence the perceptions of website credibility† (Lazar, Meiselwitz, & Feng, 2007, p.18). The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) offers assistance to people who may have gambling problems. They promote public awareness regarding the problem and can be contacted to obtain counselors who deal with this type of problem. Unlike the previous website, NCPG does not have a privacy policy nor does it indicate when the website was last updated. However, it has an About Us page and contact details are posted on the web site’s homepage. It also has a domain extension of .org, which can be a determinant of the site’s credibility. The National Eating Disorders Association is the third website to be reviewed. The About Us page contains videos that talk about what the organization is all about. It does have a Contact Us page for those who want to avail of the organization’s services. The site also offers users links to other resources that might be helpful when researching about eating disorders. It appears that the three websites are accurate and authoritative, which make them credible. â€Å"†Accuracy is one indicator of quality and suggests the author or host feels a degree of responsibility for the image or content that’s put forth† (Friedman, 2004, p.159). However, the National Institute of Mental Health’s website is the most credible of all three websites reviewed due to the completeness of the requirements of a good website.

Rett Syndrome Essay - 3003 Words

Rett Syndrome Abstract Rett syndrome is considered one of the autism spectrum disorders. Rett syndrome is a developmental disability disorder resulting in severe mental and physical deficits in female children. Rett syndrome is grouped as a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) in which conditions are severe and pervasive, and that begin in early life and influence multiple areas of development. Rett syndrome, including the age of onset and the severity of symptoms, varies from child to child. Before the symptoms begin, however, the child generally appears to grow and develop normally, although there are often subtle abnormalities even in early infancy, such as loss of muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty feeding, and jerkiness in†¦show more content†¦The disorder was identified by Dr. Andreas Rett, an Austrian physician who first described it in a journal article in 1966 after he noticed two girls in his waiting room exhibiting identical hand mannerisms (Perry, 1991). He subsequently identifi ed 20 other girls with mental retardation who exhibited similar hand movements and shared a number of other features (Kerr Stephenson, 1985). It was not until after a second article about the disorder, published in 1983 by Swedish researcher Dr. Bengt Hagberg, that the disorder was generally recognized (Hagberg, 1983). Rett syndrome, including the age of onset and the severity of symptoms, varies from child to child. Before the symptoms begin, however, the child generally appears to grow and develop normally, although there are often subtle abnormalities even in early infancy, such as loss of muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty feeding, and jerkiness in limb movements. Then, gradually, mental and physical symptoms appear. As the syndrome progresses, the child loses purposeful use of her hands and the ability to speak (Rett Syndrome, 2010). Other early symptoms may include problems crawling or walking and diminished eye contact (Rett Syndrome, 2010). The onset of a period of regres sion is sometimes sudden. Apraxia — the inability to perform motor functions — is perhaps the most severely disabling feature of Rett syndrome, interfering with every body movement, including eye gazeShow MoreRelatedThe Developmental Patterns Of Rett Syndrome1202 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction In a neurodevelopmental disorder like Rett syndrome, there is a very normal period of development followed by gradual regression period. This disorder is caused by an MECP2 (methyl CpG binding protein 2) mutation on the X chromosome. Since this gene was only discovered in the last twenty years, there is still a great deal of information that needs to be understood about the regressive nature of Rett syndrome. It is characterized by this sudden regression that occurs in four stagesRead MoreEssay on What Is Rett Syndrome?1236 Words   |  5 Pagesdescribe the disorder that is Rett Syndrome. 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The literature shows that a diagnosis of ELS and the presence of a personal or a family history