Sammys development through the story

â€Å"A&P†, written by John Updike is considered as an initiation story. It focuses on Sammy, a clerk and his experience with the three girls and Lengel. The main character, at first is dependent on his family and their connections to survive. He was employed by his father and mother’s friend, Lengel and it is hinted that his grandmother had a considerable influence on him and that they were still seeing each other. Also, he was still living with his parents since his mother was the one who ironed his shirt for that day. With this dependence on his family, unfortunately, comes a price: he must do his best not to upset nor disappoint his parents. Like most young boys, Sammy was curious, observant and almost always wonders. With the arrival of the girls, Sammy at first adopts the usual response of a young, immature teenager and that was to admire the girls based on their appearance. Usually one not to commit mistakes, he was scolded by an elderly lady for his lapse. Instead of taking responsibility for his mistake, he comforts himself by saying that the old woman was a witch who had nothing better to do. In the first parts of the story, he was still childish and hormonally driven, especially when he was with his friend Stokesie as they â€Å"checked out† the girls. For him to take such a keen interest and distract him from his responsibility emphasizes the temptation that the girls—or more specifically, the â€Å"Queen†Ã¢â‚¬â€posed on him. The situation was then exacerbated since they started to walk around with nothing but their bathing suits and distract everyone around them, and unwittingly seduce people with their gestures. The dream was broken when Lengel entered and started to admonish them in front of everyone. The girls going around the aisles can be interpreted as a dream for Sammy; three attractive young girls walking slowly around in the air conditioned room under the lights in their bathing suits with no beaches nearby. It was unreal and fantastic; it was a dream for every hormone active teenager. Even the fact that they ended up in his lane and the way that the â€Å"Queen† took out her payment was like a â€Å"dream come true†. The movement of the girls and the way that every aspect of them was emphasized seemed sublime. The pace of the story itself seems to be dreamlike in nature, all seen in Sammy’s eyes. Lengel’s entrance from the outside breaks the dream; his entrance can be interpreted as reality coming back. In reality, a boy like Sammy has to answer to an authoritative figure represented by Lengel. His manager symbolized responsibility and the end of childhood fantasies. Updike narrates that Lengel is the straitlaced type of man, one who teaches Sunday school. He starts to admonish the girls and embarrassed them in front of every body. Sammy watches the girls state their reasons for coming in yet Lengel still admonishes them. In Sammy’s eyes, Lengel was being unreasonable and preferred to have things only two ways: his way or one is a delinquent for not following. At that point, the main character realizes that the situation is more complicated than the girls not following policy. What Lengel did in Sammy’s eyes was a show of power; using his position as manager to not only admonish the girls but to also embarrasses them. Even if the girl was only fulfilling an errand for her mother, he still didn’t listen. It was obvious that the â€Å"Queen† went out of her way to buy the jar of herring snacks since the beach was miles and miles away. Also, the â€Å"Queen† seemed to be of a higher social class than Sammy; he sees this and realizes the difference between the both of them. Before they left, the main character made a show of quitting, an indirect way of telling the girls that he was making a stand and that he thinks that they were untreated fairly. Unfortunately, in contrast to his ideal fantasies of them seeing him as their hero, they left him to fend for himself. A mark of his maturity was shown in the way that he refused to back down despite being alone in his opinion since he has developed the sense that one must go through with one’s actions and take responsibility for them. He then mustered up the courage to question the authority for their actions. Lengel then explained to Sammy his own view of what transpired, ushering another realization for the main character. The realization is that not everything is black and white and that people tend to have differing opinions and their own point of view, never realizing the harm that they cause others. Also, in contrast to what is usually taught, in practice, people will choose their own interests and will care little for the welfare of others. Like in the case of Lengel, the manager thought that they were the ones being embarrassed by the girls and not the other way around. It was then clear that Lengel pulled this exhibition of power since everyone else was watching and that he felt that the integrity of the store was being threatened. In Lengel’s eyes, the girls were putting on an indecent show for everyone and even distracted his most trusty clerk. Yet Sammy still retained some of his dependence and thirst for approval since he briefly thought of his grandmother and how proud she would be of him if she could see him now. Lengel then started to remind Sammy of his responsibility to his parents, a sacred oath that he was not allowed to break. In his transition of maturity, he went through with his decision knowing the consequences and outright told Lengel that he knew what he was doing and that the manager was the one who didn’t know what he himself was doing. At that point, Sammy developed a different opinion based on what he saw and what his point of view was, signaling to the audience that he was exhibiting the same behavior as the adults. He then starts to shed the clothes that symbolized his dependence: the bow tie and the apron. Yet with his actions, Sammy still exuded that idealistic and childlike quality that enabled him to care whether the girls were still there or that he can make a clean exit since it was summer and he didn’t have to fumble around for his winter apparel. Throughout the course of the story, he has addressed the shoppers as â€Å"sheep†, letting themselves herded into one point or the other. His description takes life when the shoppers stood and did nothing to defend the young ladies from Lengel’s verbal assault, unlike Sammy who stood up for what he believed in. As Sammy went out of the store, Lengel is seen taking care of the â€Å"sheep† in his place, the people who were still willing to follow authority despite of its misgivings. The last transition then occurred at that point: Sammy realized that fighting for what you believed in would be hard and most often times would leave you lonely and that since he has divorced himself from his dependence on his parents, he would have to make it out on the world on his own. This transition is symbolized by Sammy standing in the hot summer sun with no one but the mother who is frustrated at her children while the others are inside in the comfort of the air conditioned A&P. Seeing Lengel with such a harsh expression also made Sammy realize that the world has not been friendly to the old man either, and that he had to be strong and be the way he is just to survive. He had to forego other people’s feelings and put his interests first. From being a childish, hormonally driven pampered boy, Sammy matured into a responsible man who is not willing to back down from what he believes in once he sees injustice being committed. Like a young man, he went through with his decisions and refused to be intimidated by threats or emotional blackmail. Yet like a young boy, he still holds his idealism and somehow had a feeling that the world was a lot more complicated that he thought and that not every â€Å"right† thing was rewarded. Standing up for what was right will prove to be difficult in a world of Lengels who all thought that they were the ones who were right. If he were to refuse to see injustice and stand up and oppose authority for what he believed in every single time, then like his experience at A&P, he will have no choice but to leave. Either that or he would have to be harsh like Lengel was. It is also interesting to note that while Sammy was narrating the story, his parents thought that it was sad; yet Sammy himself thought nothing of as if he accepted what transpired.

Classroom Management Plan Essay

I will provide the right environment for all students to learn. I will generate energy, ideas and opportunities to foster student achievement. I will motivate learners to high academic achievement. I will care for, love and understand my students. I will center my decision making about curriculum around my students. I will never feel that I cannot better myself as a teacher. My Philosophical Beliefs About Teaching In evaluating my philosophy for my future teaching career, I have been very seriously considering my values and beliefs about discipline, my own management style and the social goals for my students. As organization is one of my top priorities as a student, I will strive to be as organized as possible when I start my career. My goal is to organize the logistics of my classroom so that I can make my classroom student-centered instead of teacher-centered. I value the education process, and young minds and new ideas never cease to intrigue me. I am committed to making my classroom a safe and challenging environment and engaging my students through the curriculum as well as getting to know them and interacting with them one-on-one. I believe that meeting the needs of my students is a very crucial part of my classroom. I want them to be comfortable with the other students, as well as me, so that there can be meaningful discussions and interactions. Talking will be common place in my classroom, along with group work. I want to encourage all students to participate in class so that they can learn from each other as well as me. I want to have a democratic and equitable classroom so that students can learn. I want to be a fair as I can be, so the students trust me. I feel that I have a very patient and calm attitude with my class. I ask students about their life outside of class and feel that they respond in class even more, knowing that someone is paying attention to them. I want them to feel comfortable asking questions of me. I think my attitude towards the students is not overbearing or authoritative. I do not believe in forcing the students to do anything. I want to work with them in all circumstances so that we can achieve together and they do not feel like I am spoon-feeding them information. I want students to be a part of their learning. I want to motivate students to learn and keep their interest by using engaging curriculum. I want to involve students in rules about the classroom as well as what curriculum they would like to study. I believe if students feel they are involved in the workings of the classroom, they will be more motivated to engage in the class and in turn, learn. In order to be as organized as possible, the structure of my classroom will be variable, allowing me to change parts of my plan from year to year. I realize that this management plan is a work in progress and what I value now as important points to address in my first management plan may eventually come easily to me with experience and other issues of management may require more attention than those I have addressed. In order for my classroom management plan to be effective it needs to align with my beliefs and values. Therefore, I have chosen the theories and practices that reflect my personal teaching style. There are numerous beliefs and practices that serve as the foundation on which I am building my classroom management plan. I believe that the teacher and students should work cooperatively together in order to create a safe and inviting classroom. Linda Albert’s Cooperative Discipline theory emphasizes that the teacher and students should work together to make class decisions. Albert recommends informing and involving the students’ parents in class decisions as well. This can be accomplished by implementing what Albert refers to as the Three C’s: connections, contributions, and capabilities. I agree with Albert that the classroom should be safe and free of threat for all students. The classroom should be a place that the students feel welcome. If the students are contributing to the class, they will feel as if they are an asset to the class. Finally, I believe that the teacher and students should work together because it is essential to developing a community of learners. I believe in creating a code of conduct cooperatively as a class. This belief coincides with Linda Albert’s Cooperative Discipline as well. A class code of conduct indicates how students are expected to behave instead of how they should not behave. Albert states that the teachers and students should work together to determine consequences for when a student does not follow the class code of conduct. When the students are involved in the determining the consequences, Albert feels the students are more likely to follow them because they are connected to them. I believe that having a class code of conduct in the classroom allows the students to know how they are expected to behave. The students will be more likely to remember what is expected of them because they were involved in creating the expectations. Therefore, the students feel as if the expectations are reasonable and can be met. I like that the teacher is not telling the students how to behave. I feel that students should play an active role in the classroom, and that students are capable of making good decisions. I will be sure to place the code of conduct in a visible spot in the classroom so the students can refer back to it. I believe in using â€Å"I-messages† to communicate my feelings to the students. This practice is introduced by Thomas Gordon in his theory of Discipline through Inner Self-Control. â€Å"I-messages† allow the teacher to share their personal opinion with the students in a non-threatening way. On the other hand, â€Å"you-messages† blame the students for their behavior which causes the students to become defensive. I believe that the teacher should have open communication with students, but in a positive way that creates a safe environment. This method could be taught to the students as well in order to help them solve conflicts. I believe that teachers should encourage their students. William Glasser refers to teachers who provide encouragement to their students as â€Å"lead teachers†. Glasser states that teachers should not try to force information into their students. This makes common sense to me because who likes to be forced to do something. I agree with Glasser that the students’ motivation to learn resides within themselves. It will be my job as a teacher to spark their interest to learn. Therefore, as a teacher I will need to create engaging activities, and be there to provide support to the students as necessary. I believe in creating a sense of community in my classroom. Alfie Kohn mentions that classrooms should be â€Å"learning communities in Beyond Discipline. A classroom should be a place where the students feel cared about and are encouraged to care about others. Eventually, the students will begin to feel connected to one another and see themselves as part of the whole class. I believe that in order for my classroom to be an effective learning environment the students need to feel comfortable. A sense of community will encourage my students to be active participants in class matters. I believe that the teacher should teach â€Å"life skills† to the students so that they can be successful not only in the classroom, but in life as well. Kagan, Kyle, and Scott’s Win-Win Strategies promote the use of â€Å"life skills† in the classroom. They refer to â€Å"life skills† such as self-control, anger management, good judgment, and empathy. These theorists believe that if the students require these skills they will be able to live more successfully. I believe that teachers are responsible for preparing students for life so this theory matches my belief. After my students leave my classroom, I want to see them succeed in life. I am strong believer that one needs to be the change that one wants to see in the world so I will model these â€Å"life skills† for my students. I believe that a teacher should handle behavior problems privately. If the teacher must get involved, Glasser believes that the teacher should do so in way that does not punish the student. I am going to take this one step farther, and say that the teacher should talk to this student in private about his/her behavior. Hopefully, the student and I will be able to determine a longterm solution for the behavior problem. I believe that students should be taught procedures in order to maximize their learning and show them responsibility. The Wong’s Pragmatic Classroom Management Plan supports this belief. Harry and Rosemary Wong state that most students will act responsibly if taught the procedures to do so. They believe students’ achievement is affected by how well the procedures are laid out and taught to them. I agree with Harry and Rosemary Wong that procedures are an important aspect of a classroom. I believe that procedures provide students with a structure that lets them know what is expected of them. This will help cut down on disruptions if the students are not confused about what they are supposed to be doing. Management Plan Goals Having the right environment for all students to learn. The ability to manage children’s behavior. Students will have a complete understanding of the classroom rules. Keep parents involved and â€Å"in the know† of their child and the classroom. Instructional strategies will be taught to the best of my ability. Physical Environment The importance and variety of a properly designed early childhood classroom cannot be over-emphasized when providing a learning environment for children. I will provide in my classroom safe and orderly spaces, filled with a variety of materials that will make the classroom more satisfying for both the teacher and the children. Furthermore, well-designed areas will decrease the number of conflicts that may arise. Quite naturally, any space must accommodate all the activities it will be required to house. Therefore, when making my classroom environment safe and orderly, I must make accommodations to have certain spaces to be multipurpose. It will be very important to make sure these areas, as well as other areas in the classroom, are filled with a variety of materials organized into appropriate activity areas. Clearly defined interest areas will allow young children to work best in small groups where they can learn to relate to other children, establish friendships, and solve problems together. The use of low furniture in these areas will allow me to see into all areas while at the same time giving children a sense of privacy. Use of low furniture also helps define work spaces that help children concentrate because they will not be distracted by other activities taking place in other areas. These different areas will be defined by what activities will be taking place in them. For example, I will have such areas as: dramatic play, art area, building area, science/sensory area, game area, and quiet area. I will also make sure to provide an area where children can relax and be alone with friends. This space will have large pillows, beanbags, and carpet. This so called â€Å"soft area† is very important for young children because it is important to their mental health and it promotes positive behavior because children who spend long hours in a group environment need time to themselves where they can rest. When it comes to supplies and materials in the room, they should be displayed on low shelves where children can reach what they need. This helps promote independence because the children will be responsible in getting materials out and putting them away. When displaying materials on shelves they must be in the area where they will be used. I will place labels and pictures showing where each object belongs. Logical grouping of materials promotes their appropriate use. Labeling the place for each object helps children maintain a clean and orderly environment. When it comes to the teacher’s supplies and materials, I will keep them up and away from the children so that they cannot access them. When the children walk through the door, they will be hit with all different colors coming from the pictures and posters on the walls. I hope to have a room with big windows that allow for natural lighting. The pictures I will have on the wall will be displayed on the children’s eye level, thus children will take better notice. I will also display the work of the children. Displaying their original artwork shows them respect and value for their hard work and effort. One last important thing to me, when it comes to the physical environment of my classroom, is that I will make sure the classroom materials will reflect the cultural richness of our society, the backgrounds and life experiences of the children, and people with different abilities. Children need materials they can relate to through past experiences, before they are asked to learn new concepts. A respect for diversity is important for identity and self-esteem. Behavior Management Many disputes and conflicts can be prevented by careful planning and with positive adult support. There is always a reason behind children’s behavior. Misbehavior is usually directed at achieving one of four goals: revenge, power, attention, and/or feelings of adequacy. I know I can’t force a child to change his or her way of behaving, I can only change the way I behave with the child. My ultimate goal in behavior management and child guidance is not to manage children’s behavior, but to help children manage their own behavior. I am aware that conflict situations provide important learning opportunities for children. Therefore, when it comes to classroom management, I will not deprive the children these opportunities to learn problem-solving skills. My role as a teacher in children’s conflicts is to de-escalate them when the children can no longer work out their problems by themselves. When I communicate with the children in my classroom I will use â€Å"I† statements instead of â€Å"you† statements. I will use gentle body language and make sure that I listen to both sides of the issue. I will try to focus on the present and future of the child’s behavior instead of past behavior. Also, I will focus on the child’s behavior and not the child. Most importantly I will keep in my mind the needs of each child and their best interest when it comes to fixing their misbehavior, and not focus on my best interest. My classroom rules will consist of four basic principles. Those four basic principles will be caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. I believe any rule thought up by a child can fit into one of these four basic principles. For example, if a child is not keeping their body to themselves, they are not respecting the other child’s space. That is why I will not have a list of rules in my classroom, but rather have these four principles posted in my classroom where every child will see them. Therefore, when a child is not following the rules I will state what they are doing wrong and how it relates to one of the four principles. When it comes to classroom management and discipline, I will not use punishment, but logical consequences. There are two types of logical consequences. They are naturally occurring consequences and imposed consequences. Naturally occurring consequences usually occur when the problem belongs to the individual on whom the consequences fall. For example, Sally leaves her coat out on the playground and when she goes back for it, the coat is gone. I then say to her, I am sorry that it is gone and tell her it is her responsibility to keep track of it. Imposed consequences often occur when a behavior creates a problem for another person who then must impose consequences in order to change the behavior of the individual creating the problem. When I impose logical consequences on the children in my classroom I will try to keep certain things in my mind. Such things as being a consultant in helping the child solve his or her own problem. Keep the burden of the solution on the child and not me while implying that the child is capable of solving his or her own problem. I must also tie the time and/or place of the misbehavior to the consequence. These are just a couple of ways I will try to manage children’s behavior in my classroom. Parent Communication One of the most vital parts of teaching children and managing a classroom is communicating with their families. There is no one right way to communicate with parents, therefore as a teacher, I have to utilize many different methods to communicate with parents to build rapport. One of the first methods I am going to use is a parent board. On the parent board will be pictures of the activities the children have been doing and other information such as the weekly curriculum and things the children have to bring from home to school. I will have the parent board on a table where there will also be a notebook where parents can leave me messages, and where I can leave them messages. I will also have monthly newsletters to the parents that I will set out on the parent table. Another way I will communicate with parents is by having parents come into the classroom and be a classroom helper. I would try to get every parent to come into the classroom at least one time during the school and spend the day with their child or at least a couple hours. This would help me to get to know the parents of the children I teach and this would give me a good chance to build rapport with the parents so that communication will be made easier. Some of the most basic methods I will use to help me communicate with parents are by use of the telephone. I will call parents when need be and make sure that they know they can call me when needed. Finally, the last way I will communicate with parents is by talking to them face to face. Things I know to remember when talking to a parent are to first approach them with a smile or pleasant look and then introduce myself if I have not ever done so in the past. I will always try to start out the conversation with the parent with something positive about their child. If I were communicating with the parent because of a problem their child is having in my class, I would first tell them the issue at hand and then offer some possible solutions. I then would tell them what I want their role to be after I let them talk about what solutions they have. If they need to further talk to me I would offer them other times they can talk to me. I also would give them other possible people to talk to if they feel that they need to. When communicating with a parent I want them to feel that they can ask me questions about their child’s education or other issues they might have. If I can’t answer their questions, I will flat out tell them I don’t know the answer, but I will find out. I also will make sure not to make promises I can’t keep. If need be, I will always make myself available for a teacher-parent conference when scheduled ahead of time Instructional Strategies and Methods When it comes to instructional planning in my classroom I am going to start with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards. The reason I am going to start with the standards is because in the classroom the students are working towards a goal, and those goals should be set higher than the standards. If I do not teach my students to at least the level of the Pennsylvania standards, then I have not set the goals high enough for my instructional planning. If I set goals for my instructional planning, that gives me a start in what direction I need to go in my lesson planning. The second step I am going to take in my instructional planning is assessment. I have to measure the progress of achieving my goals by doing assessments of my students. Two kinds of assessment I will be doing are what you would call summative assessment and diagnostic assessment. The summative assessment will be tests, examinations, final projects, or other things depending on grade level of the students. These types of assessments will tell me if the students are learning the objectives and making progress towards meeting the goals. On the other hand I will use diagnostic forms of assessments when it comes to planning on how far I have to go to get my students to reach the goals or in meeting the standards. I will use diagnostic assessment at the beginning of the school year and before I begin each new unit. The third step in my instructional planning is planning for the long-term. My long-term plan will be as simple as planning my year end academic goals and group those goals into some discrete units to make sure that I cover my long-term academic goals. When it comes to the delivery of my lessons, I am going to keep it as simple as possible. Even though there are many different formats of lesson plans I can use, there is one general way I can make all the different types of lesson plans fit me. Using the following format to teach my lessons will help my students obtain the goals and objectives of my lessons. The format I will use is to first introduce the lesson. Then have an opening to the lesson, which is when I will tell the students what they will learn and why it is important. Next, I introduce the new material and teach it to the students. Afterwards, I allow time for guided practice and then independent practice. These two areas are where I make some informal assessments to check to see if the students learned the objectives. Last, but not least comes the closing. This is where I stress the connection of the lesson and check the students’ understanding by doing some type of assessment, usually a summative form of assessment. Schedules and Routines. When I go to a class, I like to see a schedule of what we are working on for the day. I believe that all students should be given this courtesy of knowing what is going to be happening during the school day by reading a daily schedule of the day’s activities. I will always have the schedule posted at the front of the class, each day updating any changes in the schedule. In addition, I will list the specifics of the day: for instance, what we are working on that day in math. I have seen schedules that list the basic outline of the day: math, language arts, social studies, lunch and science. I would like to take the schedule one step farther and include some details about the day and what will be happening. Not only are daily schedules helpful for students to see what is happening during a given school day, but my daily schedule will allow me to evaluate my the activities in my classroom, assuring that the type and variety of activities are appealing to different types of learning situations. Also, I want to find a good balance between teacher directed instruction, independent work and cooperative group work. Repetitious activities can sometimes impede the school day as it may evoke comments such as â€Å"We’re doing this again? † However, having routines in which students can predict what will happen can ease the transition from the bus, car or the walk to school to the classroom. To be specific, I will have a beginning of the day routine and an end of the day routine, so that I maintain consistency each day and convey the message that in our class, we use all of our time together to learn and we do not like to waste time. For my start of the day routine, I will play music as the students walk in. I will play quiet music that sets the tone for the day: a warm and relaxing learning environment where we are safe and ready to learn. I will have a welcome message posted on the board with a list of housekeeping items to do before we get settled for the day: sharpen pencils, turn in homework, put coats and backpacks away. In addition to this everyday welcome, I will have a list of activities that students can work on from previous days of school, including plenty of options to accommodate those that have finished all of their work. Also, I will greet my students as they enter the classroom, talking to each student as they get settled for their day, ensuring that I get to see each student and have contact with each one first thing in the morning. At the end of the day, I will take the last ten minutes to wrap up the day. I will post an end of the day wrap up list on the overhead for students to use a guide to get ready to go home. I will have mailboxes with the days handouts in them and my students can collect these handouts and place them in their â€Å"take home† folder. Then I will ask groups to get their backpacks and put away all of their materials. I will ask that they clear off their desks and the area on the floor around their desks so that the custodian does not have to clean up after us. As the students line up to go home, I will have my goodbye salutation: a piece of poster paper with four types of goodbyes: a handshake, high five, or smile. The students can pick any combination of these goodbyes when the leave. I want to have this goodbye so that I can be sure to have contact with each of my students before they leave for to go home. In doing this, I want to convey to my students that I care about them and I want to wish them a safe trip home and tell them that I look forward to seeing them tomorrow. By having structured routines for the beginning and end of the day, I will be setting the tone for the school day. For the beginning of the day, I want to imply that we structure our mornings so that we can get off to a good start with our minds and materials ready for the day. At the end of the day, I want to bring the day to a close with daily routine to ensure that my students understand that every part of our school day together is as valuable as any other part. Individualization In order to promote individualization and responsible behavior, I will implement a job chart where students will have jobs throughout the week. I will have paper passers, overhead cleaners, board erasers, recyclers, lunch duty, and line leaders. I will introduce these jobs on the first day of school and assign jobs to random students. Emphasizing the importance of the jobs will enhance the students’ desire to have the job to demonstrate their responsible behavior. I will have a policy stating that any student who cannot demonstrate responsible behavior and reliably complete their job will have to give up their job title and a different student will get their job. I have seen such a job system in another classroom in which I worked and this system was very successful in creating a sense of responsibility among students. Reflection As I complete my management plan, I feel that I am fully prepared to teach tomorrow. However, I know that that is not the case. My management plan will forever be growing and changing. My management plan focuses on the students’ needs in my class. By organizing many structured components of the school, I am attempting to prepare myself for any discipline problems that may occur. I will organize many aspects of my class before the year starts, but I will also sit down with my students during the first weeks of school and have discussions about rules and expectations to determine what they need from me and from each other. While I know that some misbehavior will occur in my classroom, I am instituting this plan to assist me in dealing with these issues as they occur. I believe classroom management is the key that unlocks the ability for children to learn and in creating an environment where children feel safe. I will set high expectations and encourage my students to succeed. Finally, my classroom management will not only be about creating a good rapport with the students, but creating a rich and engaging curriculum. | | | | | | | | | | | | References Albert, Linda, Pete DeSisto, and Linda Albert. (1996) Cooperative Discipline. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. Web. Guillaume, Andrea M. (2004). K-12 Classroom Teaching: A Primer for New Professionals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall. Print.

Work Specialization in Starbuck's Research Paper

Work Specialization in Starbuck's - Research Paper Example In this case, five organizational structural elements are discussed which are: work specialization, departmentalization, and chain of command, the span of control and centralization & decentralization. Work specialization: Work specialization refers to how the operational jobs are divided into several small parts. In work specialization, an organization does not assign a whole task to one employee; rather the organization divides the task to certain sub-parts which are performed by individual employees. It is widely used in production procedures which help to accelerate the whole operation. The positive side of work specialization is that it not only can raise the level of expertise of employees, assist in the improvement of special technology, minimize training expenses; but it can also generate dullness and tediousness by performing the same type of task and also offer fewer prospects for development (Mukherjee, 2009). In Starbucks, the work is highly specialized. In the stores, the operation is divided into several sub-parts. Almost four employees are required to operate a ‘drive-through a window’. One employee is in charge of receiving the order, the second one runs the cash register, the third one operates the espresso machine, and the fourth employee completes any additional requirements when required. In the roasting facility of Starbucks, each employee has his/her own tasks to preserve the product quality of their assigned step in the entire production process (Robbins & Et. Al., 2008). Departmentalization: Departmentalization is the alignment of interrelated organizational actions into divisions. The focus of departments in an organization can be internal or external. Internal departmentalization is characterized by internal tasks or jobs of employees and resources required to undertake the jobs.

How has the Shard impacted the urban ecology of London Essay

How has the Shard impacted the urban ecology of London - Essay Example 83). A viewing gallery which presents an exquisite sight 360 degree around London for up to 40 miles is located on the 68th, 69th and the 72nd floor of Shard. Shard has a number of offices located inside and provides a comfortable and healthy work place environment. Besides this, Shard also has Shangri-La Hotel built inside of it, offering a 5-star experience to its guests. All facilities like gym, pool, international restaurants etc. are readily available as well as business facilities for its honored guests. All in all, Shard is an eloquent and fascinating work, becoming the pride of London (Rogers, 2008). Shard, not being one of the tallest in the world, still holds its position in the UK and in the Europe as well. It certainly has its high impact on the ecology of the city as it is a well-known fact that the infrastructure immensely affects the economy and ecology of a city. This building has added many plus points in the ecology of London. The architect’s team behind Shard has tried their best to make the structure of Shard delicate towards the environment, on both local and global level. Maximizing energy efficiency was targeted enabling it to be a sustainable design (Pickett, Cadenasso and McGrath, 2013, p. 153). From the outside Shard gives an outstanding look, dominating the area with its remarkable features and representing the beauty of its surroundings. Shard is close to the London Bridge, together with it gives a stunning look throughout. Its impressive features have had promising effects on the ecology of London. The unique shape and appearance as well as outstanding functions of Shard distinguish it from many other tall buildings in the area. The granite, glass and steel finish of the tower enables it to combine with the skyline, reflecting the surrounding buildings and the sky (Konmany and Ali, 2013, p. 354). All these features approve Shard to be a magnificent landmark

Why Video Games Matter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Why Video Games Matter - Essay Example He does this for several days, showing how addicted he is to video games. Nonetheless, in this excerpt, he addresses the relevance of video games, based on his personal experiences. In this excerpt, Blissel specifically talks about the video game Fallout 3 produced by Bethesda in 2008. To show how addictive video games can get, Blissel begins explaining the circumstances around his playing of Fallout 3. In his case, Blissel remembers nostalgically, how he missed to follow the happenings involving one of the most important events in the history of United States. While people were glued on their screens, watching CNN and other authoritative television channels for the election and swearing in of the first black president in the history of United States, Blissel was busy playing Fallout 3. Even though he had planned to play this for only a few hours before he would watch CNN, the game got interesting, and he spent more hours than expected, thus, missing the important historical event (B lissel 349-350). Even though Blissel clearly reveals that video games can be addictive, he goes ahead to defend this art form with a lot of passion. It is true, we are in a generation of gaming, and most people, including children, young people, and even adults will confess their love for video games. Although Blissel tends to criticize video games in this excerpt, he again believes that these can get even better. He thinks of video games as frustrating, in the way one has to kill characters and watch them die: â€Å"I killed his mother, and then everyone else. . .allowing your decisions to establish for your character identity as a skull-crushing monster. . .these pretensions to morality suddenly bored me† (Blissel 358). At the same time, he gives credit to video games, for being dazzling. This is in the way he thinks video games have a storyline. This is what makes him prefer to play video games than watch a film or read a novel. Although a novel has a storyline too, one mi ght not be able to concentrate on it for a few more hours like they can do with video games. Blissel thinks films do not have a storyline in the same way as video games. What makes video games appealing to Blissel is the fact that the player of the game is the one in control; therefore, it can never get boring. Apart from this, Blissel thinks playing video games creates another world for a person. They can escape the real world life, and get into another world, which they create themselves while playing video games. Blissel justifies this with his depressing moments when he would get a break by playing video games. Nonetheless, this excerpt describes in detail, Blissel’s descent into the world of Fallout 3, a video game, which has themes that are a reflection of his own compulsions that are self-destructive (Blissel 353-5). In this excerpt, Blissel generally discusses the relevance and importance of video games in people’s social lives. He as well defends video games f rom those biased against them. However, Blissel’s stand with regard to the importance of video games in the cultural aspect is quite ambivalent. Here, he compares video games to the traditional art forms such as novels and films. Comparison shows both the negative and positive sides of video games. Nonetheless, what comes out is that video games, to a larger extent, show a greater degree of incompatibility with the traditional art forms. Blissel purpose is quite clear in this excerpt. He aims at showing the importance of video games in society. This however, ends up in a two-sided argument, as one cannot establish whether video games are good or

Causes of the Civil War Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Causes of the Civil War Activity - Essay Example It has been a common belief that the northerners supported the abolition of slavery. This however was not the case since most northerners were more concerned with freeing the land from the colonizers than the abolition of slavery (Katcher, 2011). Although the northerners did not fully support the abolition of slavery, they had little concern over the issue. The difference between northerners and southerners concerning slavery arose from different agricultural practices in the two regions. The southerners were large-scale farmers and therefore slaves a supplied cheap labor. The cotton boom proved slavery to be an important part of the economy leading to a delay in the abolition of slavery (Varhola, 2011). The northern economy depended more on industry than agriculture, the northerners were city dwellers, and therefore slaves were insignificant to them. Proposals to abolish slavery therefore caused tensions between the two regions and were major cause of the civil war. Gender roles also played a major role in creating the differences between the north and south. Women have always fought for freedom or equality and this struggle is a common feature that characterized the antebellum period. Most American women were against slavery, their struggle against slavery was intended to unite them in their quest for equality between men and women. Unlike the southern women, the northern women had common interests that contributed to their unity. The differences in southern and northern women arose from their duties and roles in the society. Northern women mainly worked or preferred outdoor duties while the southerners preoccupied themselves with domestic duties. The differences in roles played by southern and northern women in the society furthered the differences between the women in the two regions. The issue of states’ rights versus federal rights arose during the antebellum period and

Recent Credit Problems in the Financial Markets Essay

Recent Credit Problems in the Financial Markets - Essay Example Certainly, since then, this crisis gave way to far-reaching alterations in the Western economies. Still a wide range of questions remain unanswered. People still doubt as to the possible outcome of the integration of international economies and the potential limitations of the free market system in the times to come (Larry, Teather & Treanar 2010). During the beginning of the credit crunch in the financial markets, commoners and experts doubted as to the validity of the capitalism in a highly globalized and interdependent world (Larry, Teather & Treanar 2010). The effigies of bankers were put to flame in mass protests. The skyrocketing interest rates in the United States pushed many middle-class homeowners affiliated to sub-prime mortgages to default on their financial commitments towards their lenders. The news eventually spread like a raging and uncontrollable wildfire as the banks and financial institutions desperately cringed from extending further loans. The statutory bodies and organizations started to pump massive funds into their economies to breach the fast-widening crisis of trust in the financial markets. The small investors begin queuing before the local bank branches to withdraw their savings and investments at the earliest. The situation was marked by a sense of chaos, right from the domestic kitchens to the plush offices of the top-notch banks.The ramifications of the drying up of credit sources were immense. Banks and financial institutions collapsed like packs of cards.

Phenomenon (McDonalds) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Phenomenon (McDonalds) - Essay Example It is after investigation that he unveiled how lucrative the entity was but took time joining them Ray After investigating while still dealing with the brothers, he found out the entity had the potential of becoming prominent in the region judging from Americans’ attitudes towards eat out joints. Hence, advised them to expand the entity’s presence but they did not know how to do that where he intervened as their agent and establishing first shop in Chicago (1955) (Johansen 82). After six years, Ray managed to buy this entity from the brothers, hence being able to have adequate and complete control meant to keep it in the best track he deemed would ensure success. Hence, during then being extremely strict in managing his array of restaurants together with ensuring the entity fully embraced cleanliness, quality as well as excellence in service, which comprises its key aspects to date. Besides strict operations, his intention was to spearhead numerous establishments not only in US but also globally but using similar standards. According to Johansen (82), the entity by 2012 had approximately 14,000 units in US and over 33,000 globally. This is despite its owner before and after acquisition then experiencing serious health drawbacks that could have deterred him from realizing the current enormous entity’s global debut (Johansen 82). Many including health institutions have resulted to intense debates claiming the entity has significantly contributed to the menace of obesity especially among children (Korthals 33). Hence, leading to other serious health drawbacks whose medical treatments are extremely pricey to the extent some Americans are unable to afford. Those pushing for this debate contend food served by this entity has low nutritional value compared to what the entity has attractively relayed on the products’ labels (Korthals 33). This was evident in both UK and US where the

What Human resource planning is Essay Example for Free

What Human resource planning is Essay Human resource planning is a strategy for the acquisition, utilisation, improvement and retention of an enterprises human resources (Mullins 2005). This essay will show in depth what Human resource planning is and the main stages involved in the planning process that insure the right mix of numbers and types of employees deployed across the firm, achieve the strategic goals of the organization. The Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) defines Human Resource Planning as: the systematic and continuing process of analysing an organisations human resource needs under changing conditions and developing personnel policies appropriate to the longer term effectiveness of the organisation. It is an integral part of corporate planning and budgeting procedures since human resource costs and forecasts both affect and are affected by longer term corporate plans Human resource planning is not always certain, as it is not a science, mistakes are bound to occur. However, it can assist organisations to foresee changes and identify trends in staffing resources, and to adopt personnel policies which help to avoid major problems (Mullins 2005). A Human resource plan aims to reconcile differences between supply and demand. There are many factors that affect the demand for labour such as: the objectives of the company and its future plans; market demand for the companys product; the technology used by the company; the product range etc. Read more:Â  Human Resource Planning Process Similarly there are many factors that influence the supply of labour: company policies so far as they affect recruitment and selection, staffing levels, retirement and redundancy; the attractiveness of jobs in the company, including pay and other terms and conditions of employment; the skills available in the labour market; the price of houses in the locality etc. Human resource planning basically attempts to analyse these likely influences on the supply of and demand for people, with a view to maximise the organisations future performance by providing a framework for the effective management of people. Human resource planning is essentially planning for people in the organisation which basically involves trying to obtain: * the right people (assess future recruitment needs) * the right numbers (anticipate and, where possible, avoid redundancies) * with the right knowledge, skills and experience (formulate training programmes) * in the right jobs (develop promotion and career development policies) * in the right place (develop a flexible workforce to meet changing requirements) * at the right time (assess future requirements for capital equipment, technology and premises) * at the right cost (control staff costs while ensuring salaries remain competitive) All these factors are obtained in the key stages of Human resource planning. The first stage is the analysis of current staff in the organisation. This requires an effective system of personnel records and a staffing inventory including, details of gender, age, sex, ethnic origin, disability, job type, title or department, length of service, skill or educational level. Statistical techniques can also be used in the analysis such as: labour turnover; working hours lost due to sickness and absence; rate at which people are promoted; productivity per person; regression analysis; time series analysis; markov analysis of labour flows and rates etc. This first stage of analysis is very important as it defines the world in which the organization is planning for its manpower both externally and internally. It can show gaps in capabilities; lack of sufficient skills, people, knowledge etc. It can also show surpluses in capabilities that may provide opportunities for efficiencies and responsiveness skills, people and knowledge that may be underused, so the organization could consider new opportunities and ventures that would capitalize on these human resources. By doing an analysis on current staff, organizations are able to see if their work force is being utilized efficiently, with knowledge of any known future changes and further availability of key staff. The second stage of Human resource planning is the analysis of the organizations future plans. This includes consideration of changes and losses to the organization replacements for retirements, leavers, transfers and promotions; incremental improvements in staff performance and current programmes of staff development possible improvements in production, redeployment of existing manpower, planned changes in output levels; and external environmental factors such as the likely availability of labour, areas of potential new developments or markets, and changes in legislation planned introduction of new methods and equipment, planned reorganization of work, the impact of changes in employment law or collective agreements. Analysis of the organizations future plans is done in the form of ratio-trend analysis identifies areas where performance has improved or deteriorated over time; work-study or organization and methods (OM) techniques time-study and thorough analysis of the work done to establish the person-hours needed per unit of output; managerial judgment managers make estimates of labour needs, flows and availabilities, executive reviews, succession planning, vacancy analysis. The second stage shows managers any future emerging trends; the sort of workforce envisaged, the pros and cons of the different routes to get there; projections of numbers of staff required in the future, the utility of retraining, redeployment and transfers, what the appropriate recruitment levels might be. Such an analysis is important to any organization as it shows where the organization wants to be in the future. The third stage is the analysis of the matches or mismatches between Human resource supply and demand forecasts. This is basically a forecast of staffing requirements, aided by the results of the previous two stages, necessary to achieve corporate objectives by the target date. Forecasting of employee supply is concerned with predicting how the current supply of manpower will change over time, primarily in respect of how many will leave, but also how many will be internally promoted or transferred. These changes are forecast by analyzing what has happened in the past, in terms of staff retention and/or movement, and projecting this into the future to see what would happen if the same trends continued. This stage is very important in the Human resource planning process as it identifies critical shortfalls organizations can then recruit to meet a shortage of those with senior management potential; allow faster promotion to fill immediate gaps; develop cross functional transfers for high flyers; hire on fixed-term contracts to meet short-term skills/experience deficits. It also shows any surplus of labour allowing organizations to reduce staff numbers to remove blockages or forthcoming surpluses. The fourth stage is evaluating options if there were to be too many staff or to few staff in a given work area. If there were too many staff managers would have to consider natural wastage, redundancy (voluntary and compulsory), redeployment (including training, if needed), early retirement, dismissal, a freeze on future recruitment, part-time working or job sharing, elimination of overtime, move to more labour intensive methods or products, search for additional or new work. If there were too few staff managers would have to consider recruitment, redeployment, promotion or demotion, extension of the contracts of those about to retire, use of freelance, agency or temporary staff, overtime, productivity bargaining, automation or elimination of jobs, increase capital investment to increase productivity e.g. by introduction of new technology. This stage lets managers know what to expect in the future if these situations arise. The fifth and final stage is the selection of best alternatives and implementation of the human resource plan with monitoring and review procedures. Each plan developed by each organization will be unique because it will address and be dependent upon different issues. The implementation of the plan should be assessed regularly as part of the overall review of objectives. It serves as a tool to direct, manage and reinforce actions within the organization to address key management issues. Once prepared, its implementation and the subsequent monitoring of results are essential to addressing the issues effectively. Most organizations want Human resource planning systems which are responsive to change with assumptions being easily modified, that allow flexibility in supply and are simple to understand and use and not too time demanding. However to operate such systems, organizations need appropriate demand models, good monitoring and corrective action processes and an understanding on how resourcing works in the organization. If HRP techniques are ignored, decisions will still be taken, but without the benefit of understanding their implications. BIBLIOGRAPHY Management and Organizational Behaviour, Laurie J. Mullins, 7th edition Human Resource Management, Derek Torrington, Laura Hall Stephen Taylor College Handouts www.manpowerplanning.co.uk

Contract Laws Essay Example for Free

Contract Laws Essay When it comes the laws of business there are a broad range of categories and topics. A topic that we would find when studying business law is contracts. â€Å"A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more people.† (Rogers, 2012) In the world we live in learning about contract laws is very vital when entering into one. We must be aware that there is more than just on type of contract and there are several steps that both parties must follow before any contract can be legal. There are several types of contracts that individuals can enter. These types are expressed, implied, bilateral, unilateral, simple, formal and quasi contracts. An express contract are â€Å"formed by the express language of the parties—the actual words they use in their agreement—and can be either written or oral.† (Rogers, 2012) This type of contract does not have to be in writing. An expressed contract contains the offer, acceptance and consideration elements of a contract. Express contracts are usually compared to implied contracts. Implied contacts are â€Å"formed not by the express words of the parties, but rather by their actions.† (Rogers, 2012) With this type of contract the agreement is implied by actions. There are no expressed words within an implied contract. It can be either implied in fact or in law. If a contract will result in inequity or harm it will not be implied. If there is any doubt or discrepancy exists, then the court might not con clude a contractual relationship. If an implication arises that they have jointly assented to a new contract that contains the same requirements as the old agreement. Another type of contract is a bilateral contract. A bilateral contract is a† reciprocal arrangement between two parties under which both parties promise to perform an act in exchange for  the other partys act† (BusinessDictionary.com). When entering into a bilateral contract there is a joint agreement among the two parties that entails the performance of an act. The promise made by one party constitutes sufficient consideration for the promise made by the other party. It is a common contract because we enter into a bilateral contract everything we make a purchase, order or receive any kind of treatment. Bilateral contracts are compared to unilateral contract. Unilateral contract are agreements that deal with a promise that is made by only one person involved in the contract. This agreement is when there is an exchange for the performance or non-performance of an act by the other party. Only one of the contracting parties can be enforced to comply with contract. This type of contract is one-sided because only the offeror is legally bound in complying with the terms of the contract. The offeree can comply or refrain from performing the act, but he or she cannot be sued if they do not comply. If you accept an offer from a unilateral contract it cannot be achieved by making another agreement only by performance or non-performance of some particular act. An offer can be revoked until the act has been performed or there was no act completed and the date has passed. The following contract is called a simple contract. It is in no way a lawfully recorded or legitimately sealed contract, but breeches are still frequently ruled on by a judge. It â€Å"is any oral or written contract that is not required to follow a specific form, or be signed, witnessed, or sealed.† (Rogers, 2012). They are not necessarily formalized contracts and do not entail court proceedings in order to make them binding. They are simply an agreement that is among the parties involved. They are usually compared to formal contracts. Formal contract are â€Å"a written agreement between two parties that are considered to be legally binding and enforced my law† (Laws.com). They must be in writing, signed and seal by all parties entering into the contract. In order for a formal contract to be valid it must contain three elements, which are the offer, the acceptance and a payment for the services provided or goods delivered. This type of contract eliminates any uncertainty regarding its terms and conditions. It contains a preface section which is utilized to clearly define the essentials terms that are utilized within the contract. This helps in eliminating redundancy in the use of common language. It also insures substantive terms of the contract  that are described and referenced in t he contract. Quasi contracts are the last type of contract discussed in the text. Quasi contracts are not a realistic contract. â€Å"They are a remedy that a court may offer to make things fair.† (Rogers, 2012). This type of contract is implied by law. Courts will imply a fictional contract to require one party to return benefits to the other party where unjust enrichment has occurred. Unjust enrichment doctrine deals with the equality of a quasi contract. It states that no party should profit at the expense of the other without making restitution of a reasonable value. When there is no oral or written agreement, courts depend on this doctrine to provide a legal remedy for a quasi contract. A Quasi contract can be compared to an implied contract. There are two types of implied contracts. These types are Implied-in-fact and Implied-by-law. A quasi contract is considered to be an Implied-by-law. It is different from an implied-in-fact because the courts treat the former as an express written contract because of the actions and words that both parties have expressed. Even though neither party has verbally expressed the acceptance of the contract their actions might be viewed differently. A contracted can be valid and enforceable, but can also be found to be unenforceable and can be voided. In order for a contract to be valid and enforceable it must contain the five elements of a contract to be legally binding. These elements are offer, acceptance, consideration, legality and capacity. The first element of a valid contract is the offer. An offer â€Å"is an invitation for another to enter into a contract† (Rogers, 2012). Offers can be verbal or written, but must at all times be clear terms. They can be bilateral or unilateral terms. They are not legally binding. Offers can be voided is any of the individuals involved cannot or do not comply with their promise. Offers can also be voided, repealed or annulled after parties have accepted the offer, unless there is a clause where it states that revocations are not allowed. The following element is acceptance. An acceptance â€Å"is an acquiescence to enter into a contract under the terms of the offer† (Rogers, 2012). Once an offer is made the parties must agree on the terms. All parties must be willing to enter into the agreement. Acceptances can be implied or  expressed. They can be directed to all parties involved or just one person. There are times when the individual making the offer will invite the person accepting the offer by actually performing the acts that the offeror is bargaining for. This occurs when special tribulations of notification, revoking and confidence in the form of limited performance can occur. Consideration is the next element of a valid contract. A consideration is â€Å"anything of legal value that is asked for and received as the price for entering into a contract† (Rogers, 2012). For a contract to be considered to be legally binding it must be supported by a valuable consideration. For instance, a party is required to do something in exchange for the promise that was made in a benefit of value. It is what each individual in the contact provides to the other as the established value for the other’s promise. For the most part, considerations are usually a payment of money, but are not always. At times they can be a promise to do something such as a type of work in return for something. The fourth element is legality. This is â€Å"an agreement may be considered illegal if it would violate a statute; result in commission of a tort; or violate public policy.† (Rogers, 2012). In contract law, legality of purpose is required of every enforceable contract. Agreement of a social nature are presumed not to be legally binding, but with evidence can be rebutted in court. Also, any domestic agreements such as agreements created by a parent and a child are generally unenforceable on the basis of the system of law. The last element is capacity. Capacity is â€Å"the mental competency of an individual and also with special rules for people who are under legal age† (Rogers, 2012). In other words, it deals with the competence of all parties. In order for an individual to enter into a contract they must be capable to do so. All parties entering the contract have to be over the legal age, mentally capable and cannot be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If a contract is made with an individual that is under the age of 18 or 21, depending on the jurisdiction, the contract is voidable, but is legal and enforceable until or unless the individual revokes it. In the  eyes of the law, individuals under the age of 18 or 21 are deemed to be immature and naà ¯ve to enter into a contract. The individual may avoid the legal duty to perform the terms of the agreement without being liable of breach of contract. All parties must also be mentally capable of entering into a contract. If a party does not understand the nature and/or consequences of the contract when it is formed the contract can be voided. An individual that lacks the legal capacity can be declared incompetent in a court and can be appointed a legal guardian. If someone is to enter into a contract with someone who is not mentally capable the contract will be voided and there will not be any legal effects because neither party may be legally compelled to comply with the terms. Lastly, no one entering in to a contract can be intoxicated. All parties must be sober at the time of entering a contract in order for the contract to be deemed enforceable. When someone is under the influence they are not capable of knowing what they are doing and why. They might also not comprehend the terms of the contract which makes it unenforceable. A contact can appear to be legally binding because it may contain all the elements of a contract, but there are defenses to a contract that can also make a contract unenforceable and voidable. There are two types of defense to a contract, which are lack of genuine assent and lack of proper form. Genuine assent or â€Å"meeting on the minds† is a criteria utilized to determine validity of acceptance of an offer for a contract. This occurs when the acceptance of a contract is secured through improper or illegal means such as fraud, mistake, duress and undue influence. The first type of genuine assent that will be discussed is fraud. Fraud is the premeditated falsification of an essential matter of the contract. When there is an existence of fraud in a contractual proceeding it makes the contract unenforceable and can be voided by the party upon whom the deception was perpetrated. According to our text, there are two types of fraud, which are fraud in the execution and fraud in the inducement. Fraud in the execution merely occurs when one of the individuals who entered in to the contract isn’t aware that they are entering in to one. The second fraud is when both parties are aware they are entering into the contract, but one of the  parties is deceived when entering into it. The following type that can make a contract unenforceable and invalid is a mistake. A mistake is also known as a mutual mistake. When there is a mistake this means that both parties made a mistake to something that is vital to the contract. Just because one party can make a mistake doesn’t necessarily mean that the contract is voidable. In order for it to be considered as unenforceable it must have a significant effect on the exchange or bargaining development. The following factor is duress. Duress is when one party forces the other party to sign a contract. The force can be either physical or emotional pressure. When there is use of duress the contract is voidable by the party that was under duress during signing. Duress can be defined by three categories, which are actual or threatened violence to an individual, threats to an individual’s property and/or economic duress. Economic duress is the more difficult to prove because you have to establish the boundaries of acceptance behavior of this kind of pressure. Duress is sometimes compared to undue influence, but there are different. As mentioned above, duress deals with someone being pressured into signing the contract, whereas undue influence is when a party is manipulated in to signing the contract. If one party has put inequitable and inappropriate pressure on the other in the discussions leading to the signing of the contract, common law will allow duress and undue influence to allow for the terms of the contract to be set aside. Common laws are laws â€Å"made by the decisions of judges in individual cases. â€Å" (Rogers, 2012). Undue influence is easy to recognize because it can involve the parties having a fiduciary relationship or one of the members involved depends on another due to their age, illness, infirmity, etc. A fiduciary relationship is a relationship where one individual has a responsibility to act for the others benefit. When undue influence occurs the individual who is suppose to be helping the other person out is taking advantage of that person. Lastly, the second type of defense to a contract as listed above is lacks proper form. This is generally when it lacks writing. There are certain types of contracts that are required to be in writing, but at times we aren’t aware. If these types of contracts are not in writing then they  cannot be enforced. It is important to learn about contract laws. They are the foundation of our society. Since we enter into contracts on a daily bases we should be aware of these laws. Contracts can be complicated and having knowledge of the different types and what makes them enforceable or voided can really be helpful. If there were no laws on contract then the agreements we make could become impractical and unworkable. References Lewinsohn, J. L. (1914). Contract Distinguished From Quasi Contract. California Law Review, 2(3), 171. Rogers, S. (2012). Essentials of Business Law. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Smith, C. A. (2012). Contracts. http://www.west.net/~smith/contracts.htm Information regarding elements of a contract and remedies for breach. Undefined. (n.d.). Bilateral Contract. In BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/bilateral-contract.html. Undefined. (n.d.). Know the types of Formal Contract. In Laws.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://contract-law.laws.com/types-of-contracts/types-of-formal-contract.

Effects of Police Misconduct

Effects of Police Misconduct What is police misconduct and how does it affect police and community relations? Police misconduct includes a comprehensive range, reflecting the high standards we expect of police officers. Police misconduct can apply to off-duty behavior as well as conduct on the job. Any conduct that is disgraceful, improper or unbecoming a police officer, or shows unfitness to be or continue as a police officer, or does not meet the requirements the community reasonably expects of a police officer. Examples of on-the-job police misconduct would be: Failure to provide medical treatment to a detainee. Assaulting another individual in a night club would be an example of off-duty police misconduct. The violation of state and federal laws or the violation of individuals constitutional rights by police officers; also when police commit crimes for personal gain. Police misconduct terms refer to a wide range of procedural, criminal, and civil violations. Misconduct is the broadest category. Misconduct is procedural when it refers to police who go against police department rules and regulations; criminal when it refers to police who defy state and federal laws; unconstitutional when it refers to police who abuse a citizens Civil Rights; or any combination thereof. Common forms of misconduct are: Excessive use of physical or deadly force, Discriminatory arrest, Physical or verbal harassment Selective enforcement of the law. Profit or another type of material benefit gained illegally as a result of the officers authority is considered misconduct. Forms of police misconduct include bribery, extortion, receiving or fencing stolen goods, and selling drugs. The term also refers to patterns of misconduct within a given police department or special unit, particularly where offenses are repeated with the consent of superiors. Police departments establish codes of conduct, train new recruits, and investigate and discipline officers, sometimes in cooperation with civilian complaint review boards which are intended to provide independent evaluative and remedial advice. Protections are also found in state law, which permits victims to sue police for damages in civil actions. Excessive force- police brutality, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and wrongful death are examples of actions brought for claims. State actions may be brought at the same time with additional claims for constitutional viol ations. Federal law specifically targets police misconduct through both criminal and civil statutes, Federal law is applicable to all state, county, and local officers, including those who work in correctional facilities. The key federal criminal statute makes it unlawful for anyone acting with police authority to deprive another person of any right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States (Section 18 U.S.C. ÂÂ § 241 [2000]). Another statute, commonly referred to as the police misconduct provision, makes it unlawful for state or local police to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of their rights (42 U.S.C.A. 14141 [2000]). Federal law prohibits discrimination in police work. police departments receiving federal funding is covered by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. ÂÂ § 2000d) and the Office of Justice Programs statute (42 U.S.C. ÂÂ § 3789d[c]), which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. These laws prohibit conduct from racial slurs and unjustified arrests to the refusal of departments to respond to discrimination complaints. In the 1990s, the New York City Police Department began a community policing approach to crime fighting. Some major cities in which community policing and other community relations strategies have been used report increased public confidence in police, a reduction in crime, and the easing of racial tensions. The goal of community policing is for community residents and police to work together addressing crime in the neighborhood. Effective police-community relations initiates community members learn about policing and how to prevent crime, and a police department can learn about neighborhood members and their policing needs. Community policing allows neighborhood residents and police departments to come together to fight crime. Community policing effort can ruin the relations between the police and the community that it is designed to protect. As the NYPD has recognized, if the price is the trust and respect of the community we serve whatever gains we have achieved in fighting crime is minimized. If members of the community are reluctant to approach police for fear of a negative encounter, then we have not met our obligations to the public even if crime levels decline. Abner Louima was assaulted and sodomized by officers inside Brooklyns 70th Police Precinct; Mayor Giuliani created the Task Force on Police/Community Relations on August 19, 1997, 10 days after Haitian immigrant was assaulted. The goal was to give better communication among members of the police department and residents of the City of New York. The New York City Police Department began to put in place a program in June 1996, called the Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect (CPR) program. The CPR program encourages professionalism within the department, including the constant display of courtesy and respect toward the citizens of New York City. The NYPD initiated the program in response to a rise in the number of complaints against the NYPD. The mayor believes there is a problem in the relationship between the New York Police Department and the communities of color in New York, which must be addressed from both sides of the problem. Many of the complaints concerned discourteous conduct by members of the NYPD. To improve the situation it is critical that officers understand the need for respectful treatment of the people of New York. We train them to refer to people as Mr. and Ms, to try to explain to people why theyre doing what they do and to go out of their way to be respectful. According to the NYPD, the ultimate goals of the CPR program include: A more productive relationship between the NYPD and residents Improved officer safety through increased public support More success for all crime strategies An image of members of the NYPD as law enforcement professionals. To accomplish these goals, the NYPD provides its officers with in-service training as well as training at the Police Academy. The twentieth century saw multiple legal, administrative, and scholarly approaches to the problem. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, gave new protections to citizens who had long suffered discriminatory policing. A string of landmark Supreme Court decisions highly influenced cases resulting in the strengthening of Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable Search and Seizure, evidentiary rules forbidding the use at trial of evidence tainted by unconstitutional police actions, and the establishment of the so-called Miranda Warning requiring officers to advise detained suspects of their constitutional rights. Traditional views were based on the assumption that police abuse reflected the moral failings of individual officers-the so-called bad cop. The Knapp Commission was organized to hold hearings on the extent of corruption in the citys police department. Testimony against fellow officers not only revealed systemic corruption but highlighted an obstacle to investigate these abuses: the understanding among police officers known variously as the Code of Silence and the Blue Curtain under which officers regard testimony against a fellow officer as betrayal. The work of criminologists and others, police departments sought to improve organizational rules, training, and prevention and control mechanisms. The publication of a code of police conduct by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, reflect more hard training for officers, and experimented with so-called community policing programs to improve relationships between officers and the community. Several cities established joint police and civilian complaint review boards to give citizens a larger role in what traditionally had been a closed, internal process by police departments. Among the most dramatic examples of system-wide reform is New York Citys response to long-standing brutality, discrimination, and corruption within the New York City Police Department. After reviewing civilian complaints against police in the 1960s, the city committed to it after public outcry over the videotaping of officers beating citizens who violated curfew in 1988. The Civilian Complaint Review Board, which became an all-civilian agency in 1993. In 1992, responding to new complaints, the Mayor appointed the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the Police Department, known as the Mollen Commission. Two years later, the commission concluded that the city had alternated between cycles of corruption and reform. The full-time Commission to Combat Police Corruption (CCPC) as an entity independent from the police department was created. The CCPC monitors the NYPD anti-corruption policies and procedures, conducts audits, and i ssues public reports. Misconduct complaints can be quantified on a city-by-city basis, but these data are often subjective, and far more complaints are filed than ever are evaluated at trial. Corruption is even harder to measure. As the National Institute of Justice acknowledged in its May 2000 report, The Measurement of Police Integrity, most corruption incidents go unreported, and data that do exist are best regarded as measures of a police agencys anticorruption activity, not the actual level of corruption. Prosecution of the officers was less conclusive. Officer Justin Volpe pleaded guilty to leading the Sodomy assault and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. However, in 1999, his fellow three officers were acquitted on charges of assault in the police cruiser; one of them, Officer Charles Schwarz, was convicted of violating Louimas civil rights for holding him down during the bathroom assault. In 2000, all three were convicted of obstructing justice for their actions in covering up evidence of the attack, but these convictions were later overturned in United States v. Schwarz, 283 F.3d 76 (2d Cir. 2002). Ordered a new trial on the civil rights charge, Schwarz reached a plea bargain in September 2002, agreeing to be sentenced to a 5-year prison term. Misconduct by police officers has occasionally led to rioting. The Los Angeles riots in 1992 followed the acquittal of white police officers charged with the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. In April 2001, three days of rioting in Cincinnati followed the acquittal of a white police officer on charges of shooting Timothy Thomas, a 19-year old unarmed black man. Cities continue to examine ways to bring meaningful reform to police departments. Some critics have argued that misconduct and corruption are age-old problems that resist all efforts at eradication; the best society can do, in this view, is monitor and correct. Others trace recent problems to public policy that emphasizes aggressive policing of drug, gang, and street crimes. Until more effective remedies are found, some citizens will still require protection from the very people appointed to protect and serve them.

Charles Shults :: essays research papers

PEANUTS The comic strip PEANUTS has always been a favorite of mine, and most of America’s. It’s been a hit ever since the first PEANUTS comic strip was printed on October 2nd 1950 in seven U.S. daily newspapers. Charles Shultz, the inventor of this imaginative comic strip, still comes up with every PEANUTS strip for the Sunday papers. He leaped from job to job after completing his art’s program, he was even an art teacher for a while, but finally made it to the top. His original comic strip was called "Lil’ Folks" but because of political issues he was forced to change it to PEANUTS. It is now the longest running and most popular of all comics. It was also one of the first comics ever to have more than a few characters. In fact in Shultz’s strip there were about twelve actual reoccurring characters, of which I am about to share with you along with a brief description of each. First off, of course, is Charlie Brown. He wins your heart with his losing ways. It always rains on his parade, his baseball game, and his life. He’s an stong willed boy who is afraid of arguments. Although he is concerned with the true meaning of life, his friends sometimes call him "blockhead." Other than his knack for putting himself down, there are few sharp edges of wit in that head of his; usually he’s the butt of a joke, not the joker. He can be spotted a mile away in his sweater with the zig zag trim, head down, hands in pockets, headed for Lucy’s psychiatric booth. He is considerate, friendly and polite and we love him knowing that he’ll never win a baseball game, or the heart of the the little red-haired girl, kick the football Lucy is holding or fly a kite successfully. His friends call him "wishy-washy," but his spirit will never give up in his quest to be all that he can be. Next on the list of introductions should be none other that Lucy Van Pelt, since I mentioned her once before. Lucy works hard at being bossy, crabby and selfish. She is loud and yells a lot. Her smiles and motives are rarely pure. She’s a know-it-all who gives out advice whether you want it or not--and for Charlie Brown, there’s a charge. She’s a real grouch, with only one or two soft spots, and both of them may be Schroeder, who prefers Beethoven.

How can Gatsby be called Great Essay -- F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gats

The title of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ can be seen as incredibly ironic: not only can the ‘greatness’ of the eponymous character be vehemently contested, he is not even named ‘Gatsby’. In fact, he is a criminal, James Gatz, who, although he appears to be an epitome of the idealistic American Dream, having grown from an impoverished childhood into a life of excess and splendour, he has obtained everything through crime and corruption. Indeed, it has been said that ‘The Great Gatsby’ is â€Å"a parable of disenchantment with the ‘American Dream’† , and it is, for the American Dream is the idea that â€Å"through hard work, courage and determination, one could achieve prosperity.† James Gatz did not obtain his prosperous lifestyle through â€Å"hard work†, but rather through felony. Of course, it may seem that he ‘worked hard’ for it, and there is no disputing hi s determination and perhaps even his courage, but the â€Å"hard work† on which the American Dream is based is not the work of criminals. Of course, we cannot deny that Gatsby has achieved a great deal in his lifetime, all, apparently, in the name of love. Indeed the narrator of the story, Nick Carraway, describes Gatsby as having â€Å"an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person†, and this forms the basis of his opening argument for the greatness of Gatsby. We must, however, examine the reliability of the narrator. Nick says himself that he is â€Å"inclined to reserve all judgement†, but then quickly goes on to say how â€Å"it has a limit†, that he cannot reserve judgement on everyone, and also that Gatsby was â€Å"exempt from my reaction†, following this with how Gatsby â€Å"represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn†,... ...l of Daisy, either. After all, Nick himself says that â€Å"Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply†, and one can assume that this would also be true for Daisy: Wilson would not have shot Daisy as he does Gatsby: it would appear that his â€Å"romantic readiness† was eventually the cause of his murder. The fact that he was killed by Wilson is deeply ironic: the underdog, the only poor character we see in the novel, running a â€Å"bare†, â€Å"whitewashed† garage under the god-like eyes of â€Å"Doctor T. J Eckleburg†, kills the prosperous, rich, idealistic hero, showing not only the â€Å"disenchantment of the ‘American Dream’†, but also that there really is no place for Jay Gatsbys in the world: the qualities which Nick perceives as â€Å"great† slowly pave the way for his defeat. Was Gatsby â€Å"great†? No, he was simply naively idealistic in a society completely deficient in morality. How can Gatsby be called Great Essay -- F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gats The title of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ can be seen as incredibly ironic: not only can the ‘greatness’ of the eponymous character be vehemently contested, he is not even named ‘Gatsby’. In fact, he is a criminal, James Gatz, who, although he appears to be an epitome of the idealistic American Dream, having grown from an impoverished childhood into a life of excess and splendour, he has obtained everything through crime and corruption. Indeed, it has been said that ‘The Great Gatsby’ is â€Å"a parable of disenchantment with the ‘American Dream’† , and it is, for the American Dream is the idea that â€Å"through hard work, courage and determination, one could achieve prosperity.† James Gatz did not obtain his prosperous lifestyle through â€Å"hard work†, but rather through felony. Of course, it may seem that he ‘worked hard’ for it, and there is no disputing hi s determination and perhaps even his courage, but the â€Å"hard work† on which the American Dream is based is not the work of criminals. Of course, we cannot deny that Gatsby has achieved a great deal in his lifetime, all, apparently, in the name of love. Indeed the narrator of the story, Nick Carraway, describes Gatsby as having â€Å"an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person†, and this forms the basis of his opening argument for the greatness of Gatsby. We must, however, examine the reliability of the narrator. Nick says himself that he is â€Å"inclined to reserve all judgement†, but then quickly goes on to say how â€Å"it has a limit†, that he cannot reserve judgement on everyone, and also that Gatsby was â€Å"exempt from my reaction†, following this with how Gatsby â€Å"represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn†,... ...l of Daisy, either. After all, Nick himself says that â€Å"Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply†, and one can assume that this would also be true for Daisy: Wilson would not have shot Daisy as he does Gatsby: it would appear that his â€Å"romantic readiness† was eventually the cause of his murder. The fact that he was killed by Wilson is deeply ironic: the underdog, the only poor character we see in the novel, running a â€Å"bare†, â€Å"whitewashed† garage under the god-like eyes of â€Å"Doctor T. J Eckleburg†, kills the prosperous, rich, idealistic hero, showing not only the â€Å"disenchantment of the ‘American Dream’†, but also that there really is no place for Jay Gatsbys in the world: the qualities which Nick perceives as â€Å"great† slowly pave the way for his defeat. Was Gatsby â€Å"great†? No, he was simply naively idealistic in a society completely deficient in morality.

The Development of New Testament Canon

Describe the development of New Testament Canon in period of time studied (35 marks) The New Testament Canon is described by Princeton Online Dictionary as, â€Å"a collection of books accepted as Holy Scripture – the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired. † Basically the Canon is a selection of books used by the Church for public worship and also the books which the Church acknowledge as inspired scripture normative for faith and practice.The term (the Greek ‘kanon’ means ‘reed’, which went on to mean ‘measuring rod’ and then finally the list written in the column) was coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources – Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Hebrew Bible. Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BC and AD 50, while the formation of the Christian Canon was not until the fir st and second centuries. These canonical books have been developed through debate and agreement by the religious authorities of their respective faiths.During the first and second centuries, there was not a Canon of Scripture set down as it is today; originally the information was passed by oral tradition, until they were written down as it became clearer that eye witnesses would all grow old and pass away. Firstly, it was the four Synoptic Gospels, and then around 85 AD, Paul’s letters were collected. However at this stage there was no sense of a Canon of Scripture, which is a closed list (which is books that cannot be added or removed).Marcion of Sinope was the first well-known heretic in the history of the early church, and he was the first Christian leader in recorded history to propose and delineate a canon (about 140 AD) which included 10 epistles from St. Paul as well as parts of the Gospel of Luke which today is known as the Gospel of Marcion – he famously atta cked the Gospel of Luke with a penknife, and left only the parts he agreed with. This dividing of the books was viewed as a heresy, and so the church felt they had to organize the books in the right way to defend Christianity.In the first and second century, the early church accepted the Hebrew canon of Scripture as authoritative, and this was an influence on the formation of the New Testament canon. The church felt that because they regularly read the Old Testament within worship, they needed to make a link to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Surely these were authoritative enough to be included? Indeed, the teaching of Jesus was respected as much as the Old Testament, the Apostles writings too, especially after their death. Gradually, the term ‘Scriptures’ was used to group these books together.In 153 AD, Justin Martyr confirmed that the Gospels were read in the services in Rome, along with the Old Testament prophets, â€Å"†¦ the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits†¦ †. The main criterion to be included in the canon was apostolicity, and to gain this the books had to be written by or ‘sponsored’ by an Apostle, contain Christ-honoring content compatible with oral tradition and contain spiritually fruitful use of the books within the church from the Apostolic age onwards.Firstly, Paul’s letters were brought together at the end of the first century, and then the four synoptic gospels were added fifty years later. However John’s gospel took longer to be accepted, particularly by the Gnostics and then the Montanists. Papias, the Bishop of Hierapolis in 130 AD, witnessed the Apostolic credentials of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and near the end of the second century, Irenaeus spoke of the apostolic origins of all four when he said, â€Å"Matthew published his gospel among the Hebrews in their own tongue†¦Mark, the disciple and interpret er of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the substance of Peter’s preaching. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the gospel preached by his teacher. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on his breast, himself produced his gospel†. In 200 AD, a canon list from this period was created and is now known as the Muratorian canon. It includes all the books accepted as Scripture by the Church at Rome, which includes the gospels, Acts, thirteen of Paul’s epistles, 1st and 2nd John, Jude and Revelation.Wright says, â€Å"Hebrews is missing altogether which is surprising since it was used by Clement of Rome a century earlier. † However he explains how it was not accepted in the West, probably due to doubts about who wrote it were brought forth by Montanist use. At this period, it was generally accepted that all New Testament books were included, except James, 2nd Peter, 2nd and 3rd John, Jude, Hebrews and Revelation (which was only partially excluded, as its apostolic origins were questioned).Within the third and fourth century, the position of the canon was strengthened. Apostolic Fathers, such as Tertullian, Clement and Origen all used the New Testament scriptures regularly in doctrinal discussion, and often commented on the books themselves. Eusebius tells us that the only books still disputed at the beginning of the fourth century were James, 2nd Peter, 2nd and 3rd John and Jude. â€Å"†¦ we must set in the first place the Holy quaternoin of the Gospels; which are followed by the book the Acts of the Apostles.After this, we must reckon the epistles of Paul; following which we must pronounce genuine the extant forms epistle of John, and likewise the epistle of Peter. After these we must place, if it really seems right, the Apocalypse of John†¦ there is the extant the epistle of James, and that of Jude; and the second epistle of Peter; and the second and third of John†¦ † However not e verybody agreed with the New Testament Canon – in the late second century, there was the production of several ‘acts’ of the Apostles which were not recorded in Acts.Furthermore, a number of ‘gospels’ appeared which included the childhood of Jesus, or the life of Pilate. However these were mainly imaginative and some originated from fringe Christian groups’ ideas, such as Docetists. However Irenaeus ruled out the possibility of there being more than four gospels by saying, â€Å"since†¦ there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds†¦ it is fitting that she (she church) should have four pillars, breathing incorruption on every side and vivifying men afresh. These ‘gospels’ included the gospels of Peter, Thomas and Matthias, and the Acts of Andrew and John. Eusebius said of the spurious writings, â€Å"none of these has been deemed worthy of any kind of mention in a treatise by a single mem ber of successive generations of churchmen; and the character of the style is also far removed from the apostolic manner, and the thought and purport of their contents is so absolutely out of the harmony with true orthodoxy as to establish the fact that they are certainly the forgeries of heretics†¦ To conclude, it is easy to see how the New Testament Canon developed over a period of four centuries. The canon list set out in detail in the Easter letter of Athanasius in 367 AD contains the 27 books to the exclusion of all others, however certain books such as Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache were permitted for private reading. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the third century.