Comparing to the American Dream essays

Comparing to the American Dream essays William Byrd was born in Virginia in 1674. William Byrd received a quality education in England. He returned to Virginia after learning of his father's death. Byrd now had the responsibility of managing his inherited plantation. William Byrd character was constant. In The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, he recorded the highlights of his day. He was an early bird. He wrote that he would wake up no later than seven I the morning. Another observation I read that he loved to eat the same things. For instance, he would eat milk for breakfast and boiled beef for dinner. Byrd would either read Greek or Hebrew. I also noticed that Byrd would pray at the end of each day. It would end just about like this every time, I had good health, good thoughts, and good humor, thanks be to God Almighty. Byrd enjoyed games and company. He always had company in his home. Several times he cousin visited, Mr. Mumford accompanied Byrd as they walked in the garden, shot bows and arrows and play billiard until dinner time. Byrds friends, Drury Stith, Colonel Hill, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Platt also were some of William Byrds guest on the plantation. William Byrd was a plantation owner with a vast amount of slaves. Some of his slaves were sick and some even died on his plantation. A lot of times, Byrd spent most of his time looking after his sick. Different slaves had different jobs to do. Some would unload supplies from Byrds sloop which was a boat, cook the food, clean the chambers, plant trees such as peach trees, put up curtains and fed the animals because he had cattle. Slaves endured cruelty from William Byrd. He whipped some of them and branded one of his slaves because he pretended to be sick when asked to unload his ship. William Byrd recorded some of his sexual transgressions, for instance the Colonel Carters wife daughter and Mrs. Russell, and his wife who would sometimes go to...

Behavior Incentives and Classroom Rewards

Behavior Incentives and Classroom Rewards Classroom incentives, prizes, and punishments are part of a controversial topic for teachers. Many teachers see extrinsic material rewards as an appropriate and effective way to manage behavior in the elementary classroom. Other teachers dont want to bribe the kids to do work that they should be intrinsically motivated to do on their own. Should You Offer Classroom Incentives Early in the School Year? The idea of classroom rewards is an important concept to consider at the beginning of the school year. If you start off the year showering students with rewards, they are going to expect it and will most likely only work for the rewards. However, if you limit prizes from day one, you may find that you can get away from the material aspect a little bit and save yourself a significant amount of money in the long run.  Here is an example of what worked for me and thoughts about the concept of rewards. Rewards in First Classroom? In setting up my first classroom (third grade), I wanted to avoid rewards. I dreamed of my students working for knowledges sake. However, after trial and error, I found that kids respond to rewards well and sometimes you just have to use what works. The teachers before us most likely showered our current students with rewards, so they probably expect it by now. Also, teachers (and all employees) work for a reward - money. How many of us would work and try hard if we werent getting a salary? Money and rewards, in general, make the world go round, whether its a pretty picture or not. Timing When Incentives are Needed At the beginning of the year, I didnt do anything with rewards or behavior management because my kids started out the year quiet and hard working. But, around Thanksgiving, I was at the end of my rope and started introducing rewards. Teachers might want to try going as long as they can without rewards because the prizes start losing their effectiveness after awhile because the kids expect them or get used to receiving the rewards. It also works to change the rewards as the year progresses, just to add a little excitement and a boost to their effectiveness. Avoiding Material Rewards I dont use any material rewards in my classroom. I dont give out anything that costs money for me to buy. Im not willing to spend a lot of my own time and money to keep a store or prize box stocked for daily rewards. Good Work Tickets In the end, positive reinforcement of good behavior worked best for my students and me. I used Good Work Tickets which are just leftover scraps of construction paper (that would have been thrown away otherwise) cut up into little 1 inch by 1-inch squares. I have the kids cut them up for me after school or whenever they want. They love to do it. I dont even have to do that part. Involving Students in Giving Rewards When kids are working quietly and doing what they are supposed to be doing, I give them a good work ticket. They put their student # on the back and turn it into the raffle box. Also, if a child finished his or her work or has been working well, I let them pass out the good work tickets, which they love doing. This is a great thing to do with problem children; kids who are usually in trouble will love monitoring their classmates behavior. The students are usually more strict than I am with handing them out. Since they are free, it doesnt matter how many you give out.   Awarding Incentives On Fridays, I do a little drawing. The rewards are things like: Sit at the teachers desk for the day15 minutes playing an educational computer gameBe the caller for multiplication bingoMake up a math problem for the other children to solveGo to lunch 5 minutes early with a friendStay out for a longer recess with a friendChoose your seat for the dayRead out loud to the class You can tailor these rewards to what the cool things in your classroom are. I usually pick two  or three winners and then, just for fun, I pick one more, and that person is the Cool Person of the Day. The kids and I just thought that was a funny thing to do and a nice way to wrap up the drawing. Also, I keep a bag of candy in my cupboard for a quick reward (if someone catches a mistake I make, goes above and beyond the call of duty, etc.). Its a pretty cheap thing to have around just in case. Just throw candy to the kid and keep on teaching. Dont Overemphasize Rewards I didnt place a large emphasis on rewards. I tried to make learning fun, and my kids genuinely did get excited about learning new things. I had them begging me to teach them harder math concepts because they knew they could handle it. Ultimately, how you use rewards in your classroom is a personal decision. There are no right or wrong answers. Like everything in teaching, what works for one teacher may not work for another. But, it does help to discuss your ideas with other educators and see what others are doing in their classroom. Good luck!

Celebrity in contemporary America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Celebrity in contemporary America - Essay Example They institute them gorgeous, eye-catching and love to see them on screen or if anyhow they get an opportunity they would like to see their live performances, have an autograph and thus they are highly infatuated with them. It is a mob psychology to follow these celebrities, as most of the people do not know actually know much about them but they have to keep pace with the trend and hence they are keep a track of their favorite celebrities through media, magazines, internet, discuss about them, their personal life in gatherings. People like to discuss about their lifestyle, romance and fashion and here media plays a crucial role in publicizing the personal life of the celebrity. Media in this manner try to seek the attention of people and hence they also enhance their popularity. Media very well grasp the prevailing psychology of the mob and therefore they advertise about any information or program related with the celebrity and their interview so that people watch their show and in turn the channel gains fame along with the celebrity. However, does everyone know what a celebrity is? Indeed, the public just know what kind of people they call celebrities through the media. This paper will closely demonstrate the definition of celebrity using the example of one of celebrities, Britney Spears. Britney has become a celebrity at a very early age, released numerous hit songs. The present article highlights the making of Britney, how has she become a celebrity. According to the theories for being celebritised, Britney has technically been used icon for performance, music, fashion, and of course life style. She emerged as an icon, a complete performer and entertainer in the world of music. People love to watch her performance, they appreciate her every act and move and truly adore her for voice quality and that is how she became a popular star at a very young age. According to Rojek (2001, pp.17-20), "there are three aspects it can be de categorized: ascribed, achieved and attributed." A brief explanation of these categories are initially attributed to the opportunity that is provided to the individual, the fate and destiny- a sheer luck factor that transforms an ordinary individual into a celeb, a star, an icon, a public figure and a big shot. In case of Britney, she is possesses both achievements as well as attribution. People keep a track of their preferred celebrity and try to peep into their life styles, what they eat, what they wear, the big brand names they are associated with, what they eat, how much they eat, and hence a complete business of many industries revolve around the celebrity. It is for this reason, big companies mark the celebrities as their brand ambassador and advertise their brands through them so as to gain command over the market. Business run through these celebrities for big organizations and hence such organizations earn a lot through their publicity making people buy their brands for food, clothing, grooming, writing and decorating their homes and offices. Thus, big companies use celebrities for their brand popularity and use the celebrities as an image of their brand. Marshall (1997, p.150) analyses the popular music has been bounded up with the mass media. Thus, promoting the importance of music to expand the