Last Day at School Essay Example for Free

Last Day at School Essay As we come to the end of 2012-13, the words that come to mind are â€Å"thank you. † This has been an amazing year !! As we reflect on the 2013-2014 school year, please join me in acknowledging and celebrating the many wonderful learning experiences and educational opportunities that have taken place for our students at school, in numerous classrooms and in very creative and innovative ways. Together we have planned and executed best teaching practices and held students to high standards and expectations. The schools unique character, excellence in teaching, and the tremendous dedication and talent of all staff members continues to make it a wonderful and special learning environment. It is my deep belief that the hallmark of a great school is to continuously work to improve learning for each and every child. As the leader of the school, I see this is as my most important responsibility and I take it very seriously. Therefore, creating strong and effective teacher teams at each grade level each year is a top priority for me as I work to ensure positive and effective teacher collaboration on behalf of children’s learning. As principal, I am solely responsible for the supervision and evaluation of every staff member at School. In doing this, I visited every classroom several times throughout the year for extended periods of time as well as made numerous informal visits. These observational visits have given me a unique perspective on the teaching life of the school. I have been able to see firsthand how and what kind of learning is taking place in every classroom. In addition, I have also gained knowledge and perspective in working with faculty members both in groups or individually, throughout the year. This year can be summarized in a few words: In the face of significant challenges, we made significant progress. I thank you for your continued commitment and all that you did to deliver on our purpose – to help students and parents seize opportunities at every stage. I wish Mr Shawn and Ms Charo a wonderful future in terms of their careers and personal lives. Please enjoy some well deserved rest with family and friends during this holiday season, and let’s get right back to school on 13th July 2013 at 8. 00 am.

Rocking The Boat :: essays research papers fc

Throughout history individuals have been plagued with decisions in which they must choose to act in their best interest or act as a martyr, dedicating their lives to the best interests of others. While these choices may seem irrational, selfish, and poorly contemplated from the outside, on the inside there are simply no other options. Paradoxically, the protagonists in both Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain sacrifice what is precious to them to preserve their emotional and spiritual survival. Chopin’s Edna Pontillier forfeits a comfortable role and style of life in order to maintain her emotional integrity and independence. Set in the late Victorian Era, characterized by a rigid repression of women’s independence, Edna Pontillier finds herself in the center of a male-dominated society, and tries desperately to break through the expected mold of a woman at that time. She finds it particularly difficult to conform to the expected role of Victorian motherhood. Leonce, Edna’s husband, is rather upset by this fact, and often tells Edna that she must become a better mother, more involved in her children’s lives, similarly to their friend Adele, who idolizes her children and worships her husband. "In short, Mrs. Pontillier was not a mother-woman. This mother-woman seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious b road. They were woman who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels." (Chopin, 8) Furthermore proving her independence and self-reliance, many parallelisms are drawn between Edna and the language spoken by Mrs. Lebrun’s parrot. It is "language which nobody understood." (Chopin 1) Edna’s constant struggle with dissatisfaction with the social constraints of womanhood led her to a raging internal conflict. Regarded as a possession in her marriage with Leonce, Edna seeks freedom, and searches to pursue it in relationships with other men. One of these men, Alcee Arobin, allows Edna to maintain her liberty, although he is used to having the upper hand in his previous relationships with women. Edna’s short-lived romance with Alcee is the only relationship she has experienced that is not structured by possession. The other man, Robert Lebrun, is the man who holds Edna’s heart. Though Robert is Edna’s only true love, he cannot declare or act on his feelings, for he cannot cease thinking of her as anything other than the possession of another man.

Pros and Cons of Social Networking Essay

There are many different pros and cons of social networks. Social networks allow for easier communication and allow people to make new friends. However, these sites allow pedophiles to groom kids and allow for bullying. Social Networking sites have allowed easier communication between family and friends. This means that instead of having to meet in a certain place to speak to your friends about school or what they are doing at the weekend, you would now be able to switch on your computer and go onto a social network such as Facebook or Twitter to do this. This reduces the chance of kidnappers of taking kids when they are walking to get their friends. This also reduces the amount of kids walking around the streets committing crimes. Social Networks also remove the problem of speaking to someone on the other side of the world and someone who follows a different religion. Inserted of just speaking to people from the same area as you, people can now speak to people from America to Australia who has the same interests as you. This allows people to make new friends and gives the world a more friendly society because more and more people are becoming friends across the world. These sites are also very interactive so you are able to upload pictures or videos, so you can see what your friends and relatives are up to. These sites also allow messages to be sent and received, which allows people to keep in touch. For example people may not speak to family members to often but because of Facebook they are able to have a chat whenever they want which allows for a better family relationship. These social networking sites can be taken advantage of by the wrong people. People could pass themselves as a sixteen year old girl but could actually be a forty year old man who is looking to take advantage of someone who will think they either know the person or they are the same age. As these pedophiles have the use of Google images or yahoo images they are able to post profile pictures of whatever or whoever they want and pass as that person. Even though we know this is happening there is no way to stop this  unless social networking sites were shutdown. These people will often go for young kids and are able to receive dirty pictures because they tempt the kids into doing these things. If u make your page open to the whole world to view pedophiles will use this to their advantage and take any pictures or videos you have uploaded for their personal use. Social Networks are also poorly censored. Kids, of a very young age, could end up downloading pornography or other unsuitable images. Kids will click on unsuitable images or videos but no warning will come up or something blocking people under a certain age to block this. However many people will lie about their age which will allow many very young kids the opportunity to view these unsuitable pictures. â€Å"Trolling† is also a major issue with social networking sights. â€Å"Trolling† is when someone posts rude or nasty messages on someone’s online forum, chat room or memorial page just to receive and emotional response from the readers. Trolls get a buzz from doing this on people’s pages and receiving responses as they think it is funny and they just love the attention they get from sending these messages. As Twitter and Facebook got bigger and bigger more and more trolls began to appear ruining sites and making people very upset. As the issue of â€Å"trolling† got bigger and bigger the police became more involved and have started jailing people. For example Sean Duffy, who wrote abusive messages on tribute pages for example a girl called Natasha MacBryde who was hit by a train. He also did this to many other pages. In the end he only received ninety weeks in jail. Like many trolls Duffy was unemployed and an alcoholic who spent his days sitting on social networking sites making people very upset. Even though we know â€Å"trolling† exists there is not much we can do to stoop it apart from not allowing people to view the tribute page or forum unless you know who they are. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8760504/Internet-troll-jailed-for-mocking-dead-teenagers-on-Facebook.HTML Cyber bullying is the main problem of social networking sites. Cyber bullying is when someone is threatened, harassed or humiliated using social networking sites, mobile phones or any other type of digital technology. Many people have either been cyber bullied of they have cyber bullied themselves. From the introduction of the big name social networks cyber bullying has become a very big problem. On sites such as Formspring people can post anonymous comments about people who they dislike which end up to people not wanting to leave there house or even committing suicide. For example Phoebe Prince, an Irish immigrant in America, killed herself after three months of bullying because she was dating somebody who was older then her. She was bullied through text message and Facebook. She hung herself because of who she was dating. Cyber bullying is very common and will never be stopped due to lack of supervision on these websites. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TheLaw/teens-charged-bullying-mass-girl-kill/story?id=10231357 In conclusion, social networking sites are have pros and cons but mostly cons. Even though these websites allow people to make lots of new friends they don’t actually know if the person they are talking to is actually who they say they are. Religions are able to mix but sometimes this is not a good thing. People will start posting racist comments and then arguments will start because someone follows Christianity but the person doesn’t like that religion so they become racist. Pedophiles thrive on pictures being posted and they also love using things such as the Facebook chat system to their advantage. Trolls make peoples life’s, who has lost someone they love, a misery so they can feel better. Bullies get a kick out of being a coward and ruining someone else’s life because they have their own problems. Therefore social networking sights are not good for the world and cause more anger and hatred than people getting along.

Attitudes on Poverty Essay - 1636 Words

Poverty is an issue affecting the whole globe, and the United States is no exception. Reading, Pennsylvania, the site of our study, has the largest share of its residents living in poverty in the United States according the Census Bureau data (Tavernise 2011). With poverty clearly an issue to its inhabitants, we are going to investigate locals’ attitudes towards poverty. Items that affect peoples’ opinions on poverty include local context, political views, religion and education, race, gender, and family structure. LOCAL CONTEXT In his study Daniel Hopkins (2009) looked at the effect local context had on Americans’ portrayals of poverty. He focused on two major views of poverty: poverty in structural terms and poverty in†¦show more content†¦The individualistic category and structuralist category coincide with Hopkin’s (2009) study. The fatalistic category places the cause of poverty on the non-social-structural forces such as bad luck, sickness, and physical handicaps. After conducting a survey in the Los Angeles County, Hunt (2009) discovered that structuralist explanations of poverty were favored over individualistic explanations by respondents. Hunt (2009) also took into consideration race and ethnicity with poverty beliefs. Results of the survey showed that Latinos and African Americans are more structuralist than whites on poverty (Hunt 2009). The results of Hunt’s (2009) study can be used to further implement the conclusion of Hopkins (2009) study, that an area’s views on poverty is strongly influenced by the local area. Because Hunt (2009) only surveyed people in Los Angeles, his results were based on a particular area, and Los Angeles is heavily populated by Latinos and African Americans. POLITICAL VIEWS James Robinson (2009) performed three different studies involving perceptions of poverty. His studies were focused around two inquiries: is there a continuum for viewpoints of poverty with strong individualism at one end and strong structuralism at the other with a balanced mix in the middle and if so, what influences location on the continuum. In his first study, he looked at the 1990 General Social Survey and performed regression analyses on many aspects of theShow MoreRelatedEvaluating the View that Poverty is Caused by Economic Inequality Rather than Cultural Attitudes and Lifestyles1327 Words   |  6 PagesEvaluating the View that Poverty is Caused by Economic Inequality Rather than Cultural Attitudes and Lifestyles There is much debate in sociology that poverty is caused by structural factors such as economic inequality and those who state that it is caused by cultural factors such as attitudes, values and lifestyles. The first group say that the poor are made to be poor by the economic and political systems, they state that the poor are prevented from achieving a good standardRead MoreI once believed that poverty was a state of mind that resulted in a variety of physical and mental1100 Words   |  5 Pagesonce believed that poverty was a state of mind that resulted in a variety of physical and mental manifestations. While this may be true in some cases, the simple truth is that many people around the world are born in poverty with virtually no exposure to any other way of life. Others may find themselves in its clutches due to personal choices or from circumstances beyond individual control. The same as any other social issue, it is important to understand the cause of poverty; however the complexityRead MoreAbsolute And Relative Poverty849 Words   |  4 Pagespoverty, these people develop certain attitudes about living. â€Å"Often the attitude in generational poverty is that society owes one a living† (Payne 47). It can be hard to change within the course of a couple months. â€Å"In situational poverty, the attit ude is often one of pride and a refusal to accept charity† (Payne 47). The next two types of poverty are absolute and relative poverty. â€Å"Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is the same in all countries and which does not change over time†Read MoreThe Case For Reparations By Ta Nehisi Coates Essay1180 Words   |  5 Pagesdeserve reparations because they inherit an â€Å"ecologically different† type of poverty compared to whites as members and are haunted by their history of impoverished ancestors (â€Å"The Case for Reparations†). 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Influenced by New RightRead MorePoverty and Culture One of the common liberal claim is that all the poor are just like everyone900 Words   |  4 PagesPoverty and Culture One of the common liberal claim is that all the poor are just like everyone else except that they have less money. – Anonymous The Poverty Poverty is hunger, Poverty is lack of shelter, and Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not being able to go to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by contaminated water. PovertyRead MoreThe Disparities Between Races And Ethnicities1244 Words   |  5 Pagesand ethnicities say otherwise. The African American demographic of America has the lowest poverty rate and household income than all other races and eth nicities. The statistics about African American poverty are staggering in regards to more than just unemployment, food insecurity, and nutrition. In the 21st century, decades after the civil war and desegregation, and with such a diverse population, the poverty in our country still pertains to race and the color of our skin. The following paragraphsRead MorePoverty And The Effect On Our Society1694 Words   |  7 Pages Poverty and the effect it has on our society, and our students are an uncomfortable topic for some people to approach. We as a culture sometimes like to assume that this is an unfortunate phenomenon that occurs outside of the United States, far removed from our first world resources. In reality we are surrounded by poverty, wether or not we realize that truth is determined by our perception of others around us. In the book â€Å"Teaching with Poverty in Mind† by Eric Jensen, we are forced to learn aboutRead MoreSocial Aspects of American Children Being Born i n Poverty Essay1520 Words   |  7 Pagesargues, children who are faced with economic distress and poverty are particularly vulnerable. For them the risks are compounded, as they lack the defenses and supports needed to combat the toxicity surrounding them. According to the Childrens Defense Fund, 13.5 million children living in America today are poor, and 5.8 million of them are living in extreme poverty, with incomes below half the poverty line. The issues related to poverty -- from substandard housing and malnutrition, to inadequateRead MorePolitical And Social Involvement Of Public Opinion On Government Policy1503 Words   |  7 PagesPolitical and social involvement is among the most discussed issues nowadays, since the considerable influence of public opinion on government policy is unquestionable. It is obvious that political participation directly affects our lives. The range of attitudes toward controversial aspects of politics, economics, religion, and so on is too broad in American society. In this regard, public opinion research becomes extremely important. It helps us better understand citizens expectations, to assess the impact