Teaching Race Explicitly in the Classroom Essay -- Education

Teaching Race Explicitly in the Classroom Many literacy experts point out the fact that at the college level, black students who attend all-black schools tend to be more successful than those attending predominantly white schools. Even though these schools often lack resources and financial stability, they nonetheless produce more high achieving black students than predominantly white schools. For instance, according to Fleming, black students attending Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBUC) have higher graduation rates than those attending predominately white institutions. Also, students who graduate from a HBUC and go on to attend predominantly white graduate schools do just as well as students who have graduated from predominantly white colleges (Fleming 1). What is it that black schools and black teachers have that produces academically successful black students? What approaches to learning can white teachers adopt from black teachers in order to maximize the learning of these students? Bell Hooks, author of Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, grew up in the South. As a young child, she attended a segregated school, but then made the transition into a desegregated school later in her youth. Hooks believes that the education she received at the all-black school was far better than the education at the desegregated school. Hooks explains: Almost all of our teachers at Booker T. Washington were black women. They were committed to nurturing our intellect so that we could become scholars, thinkers, and cultural workers—black folks who used our "minds"†¦Within these segregated schools, black children who were deemed exceptional, gifted were given special care†¦When we entered rac... ..., Jacqueline Jordan and James W. Fraser. "Warm Demanders." Education Week 17 (1998): n. pag. Online. Internet. 21 May 1998. Available FTP: http//:www.edweek.org/ew/vol-17/35irvine.h17 Jones, LeAlan and Newman, Lloyd. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago. New York: Washington Square Press Publication, 1997. Ladson-Billings, Gloria. The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994. Smitherman, Geneva. "The Blacker the Berry, The Sweeter the Juice." 1994. Tatum, Beverly. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? New York: Basic Books, 1997. Villegas, A. "School Failure and Cultural Mismatch: Another View." The Urban Review, 20.4 (1988): 253-265. Wellman, David. Portraits of White Racism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Soldier’s Home Analysis

â€Å"Soldier’s Home† Literary Analysis It is an undeniable fact that war changes people, and this change becomes especially apparent when soldiers return home to their families. In the short story â€Å"Soldier’s Home†, Ernest Hemingway paints a picture of a soldier’s state of mind after arriving home from the war and shows the difficulties of trying to live a normal life, fit in with society, and start over. Hemingway introduces Harold Krebs as he returns home from World War I much later than the rest of the soldiers.It is very evident from his behavior that he is traumatized, confused, and feels very much out of place. He doesn’t know where to begin to pick up where he left off and truly feels confused about his purpose in life, which can be very much related to the way many soldiers feel in our generation. Things such as fitting in with the society, getting a job, and starting a new relationship become a lot more complicated, and Krebs ex presses this several times throughout the story.He especially focuses on the subject of starting a relationship with a girl and his inability and lack of interest of even introducing himself. He likes to observe women, and even desires to be with one; however, the idea of courting and investing time into it completely turns him off. Hemmingway never explains why Krebs feels this way but gives enough hints that perhaps Krebs once suffered heartbreak. â€Å"Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk, but here at home it was all too complicated.He knew he could never go through it all again. † The reader is focused on the words â€Å"again† and â€Å"It all†, allowing the audience to assume that he might have done this once before. The word â€Å"complicated† is repeated a numerous times when it’s associated with girls; â€Å"the girls live in a complicated world, â€Å" â€Å"they were too complicated†, â₠¬Å"it is too complicated† and â€Å"He had tried to so to keep his life from being complicated. †Ã‚  which is another clue that Krebs might have gone through a rough break-up.Whether this happened during his time away or before the war, Hemingway never explains. Another reason for Krebs’ lack of interest to date could be assumed that he developed different outlook on women in his time in Germany. During any war women usually become victims of sexual and physical assault and it is safe to assume that maybe Krebs experienced this during his time in Germany. â€Å"His acquaintances, who had heard detailed accounts of German women found chained to machine guns†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"Vaguely, he wanted a girl but he id not want to spend a long time getting her are statements that can allude to him having interest in getting a girl just for a short time, for pleasure, but nothing more. With all the disconnect Krebs feels, the reader is forced to question â€Å"Wher e is home for Harold Krebs? † It is obvious that he doesn’t feel home, even though he comes from a great small town in Oklahoma, has a supportive and loving family, and has others praying for him. This, however, is not enough for Krebs to compensate for all the horrors he witnessed during the war.His mother encourages him to talk about it but never truly pays attention, which results with Krebs feeling like he cannot express himself without being misunderstood. During breakfast, his mother asks him to pray with her to what he responds, â€Å"I can’t. † This signifies that Krebs lost his faith. He truly doesn’t care what happens to him and proceeds to speak apathetically. When his father says â€Å"don’t you love your mother, dear boy? † and Harold replies, â€Å"no† â€Å"I don’t love anyone†. His mother instantly starts to cry, to which Harold realizes.He knows he hurt her feelings even though it doesn’t se em like he meant to do it on purpose. Many can presume that Krebs cannot make his parents understand everything he went through in combat. Statement such as â€Å"I don’t love anyone† almost sounds as if he is showing his parents he is all grown up and not the little boy he used to be. It is safe to say that Krebs is probably going through many emotions at once. There are things in which he says that he probably doesn’t mean, but doesn’t know how to express them otherwise.One example of this is toward the end of the story when Harold’s mother tells him she held him close to her heart when he was a baby, to which he replies, â€Å"I know, Mummy, I’ll try to be good for you. † He contradicts himself by calling his mother â€Å"Mummy†, which shows he does indeed love her. He proceeds to tell himself that his conversation with his mother didn’t touch him and moving away to Kansas City would be a good escape from his family s ituation. His thinking shows that he could possibly be lying to himself, trying to convince himself that life would be better away from them.Maybe he doesn’t want his mother to love him because he feels ashamed and nauseated for all the things he’s done during the war. Hemingway leaves much of â€Å"Soldier’s Home† to the reader’s interpretation. The story doesn’t have a set plot and the main character Krebs is not better off in the end of the story or at the beginning. A lot of Krebs’ behavior can be paralleled to our modern day soldiers’ who come home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. From personal experience, most of them never truly talk about everything that happened there, and if they do they never express their true emotions about the events.Many have trouble coping with day-to-day lives and sometimes even express violent behavior toward their loved ones. It’s hard to make judgments on their condition because the subject of killing another human being is rather incomprehensible to someone who has never been at war. It is something so abstract for us that the only way for us to understand is to be there physically and mentally and no cinematic movie will ever truly capture those feelings. Unfortunately during Hemingway’s era PTSD was something that wasn’t discussed or even treated.The society and culture at the time was very much removed from the realities of what war was really like. It wasn’t broadcasted over the internet, and people were not exposed to explicit documentaries that showed all the horrors that happen to people. I personally believe Hemingway, who also served briefly in World War I, could relate a lot to Krebs and his environment. It is something that could have been a way for him to cope with his own personal demons while trying to make the readers understand the feelings of apathy, emptiness and the state of mind of soldier upon his return home.

Gemini Electronics Essay

1. What was the business model of Gemini? The business model was to produce TV’s on a just-in-time basis to pass on most of the distribution savings to the consumers. He planned to cater to the big box retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart to name a few, who wanted to cut down their supply chains by sourcing TV’s in North America. By shortening the supply chain you increase reliability making it easier to address uncertainties as well as building lean production to eliminate waste to reduce production time and cost. a. What were the key success factors that determined its past profitability? The key factors that determined its profitability was the reputation for having excellent quality at affordable prices below the competition. b. What are the risks Gemini is facing now? The risk Gemini is facing now is the recessions, the Korean and Japanese competitors lowering their prices, technological trends emerging such as the 3D TVs and video phone capabilities, and difficu lty trying to convince major retailers to carry their product. In order for those products to be carried, retailers pressed for more generous credit terms and no interest on overdue accounts. 2. What is your assessment of the company’s recent performance and current position in the marketplace? Gemini has been grown and holds the U.S. market share at 35% proven itself to be a strong contender in this industry. Through the years 2005-2008 net income increase substantially which could mean that there was sales growth and improved or reduced cost in operating efficiency. With a continuing increase in net income, there are potential opportunities for stock price and market cap increases. This will in turn make Gemini a favorable company for potential investors. In 2009 the net income decrease but that could have been due to the recession occurring in that time frame. Consumers probably didn’t have the money to splurge on TV’s and electronics. There was also the threat of the Sony 3D television and video phone capabilities. Maybe the consumers were more attracted to what was new and trending at that time. 3. Does Gemini need to establish operations outside the U.S. or can it  survive as a domestic company? It doesn’t need to because at this moment the company is very profitable domestically. That would definitely be something to consider in the future after first branding its products as â€Å"made in the USA†. I also agree with Wang in strategically planning to develop Gemini’s product line to be able to complete internally with competitors such as Sony and LG. a. What operational issues is Gemini likely to face if it expends internationally? Issues Gemini could face would be the existing competition, regulations, financial risk such as the exchange rate between currencies could lead to disappointing return on investments. There may be issues with accessibility to supplies needed when dealing with tariffs and fees to ship products in. 4. What is your assessment of Gemini and what strategies do you recommend Gemini to follow. My assessment of Gemini is that the company is operating in a capacity to where, it can generate revenue, cut operational and distributional cost, and still offer savings to consumers without decreasing the price of the units sold or quantity for certain products indicating that the company is continually growing despite the 2009 occurrences. I recommend that they rebrand themselves as a â€Å"made in USA† product and continue to become innovative and technology savvy to develop their product line in order to compete with other big name competitors.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

You dream of all the wonderful possibilities of living. And you find solace in your reams. â€Å"I want to fly, I will study and become a pilot†¦ † â€Å"l want to make a difference in the world† etc. And as you are on your journey towards your dream you will come across people who will condemn you for the dreams you dream and for the thing you do. People are constantly looking for faults in other people so that they can feel better about themselves. Sometimes these people might be your closest friends your family etc. But you know what keep fighting to live your dream..And of course you will also come across people who will support you encourage you and inspire you to omelet your journey. Mostly in our Asian society if your dream or aspiration is not related to medicine engineering or law it is squished like a bug. Would know; I speak from experience. Some of us of course get lucky and can lay the foundations underneath their castles in the air. But most of us get stuck doing the things we hate because we are not allowed to dream of the things we love. And so we wait, we tell ourselves just one more year just few more days till we become our own people and can do what we like.We are always waiting for that one moment where we can metamorphosis from a trilateral and escape this cocoon and go on our adventures as beautiful butterfly. And if we believe in our wings we will surely fly. That's the trick believing in yourself. Life may look like you are at the edge off cliff about to fall but just stop an feel the water spraying on your face the wind in your hair and the thrill and excitement of it all and once you embrace yourself -? jump! And guess what you don't fall you fly because embracing yourself ad fighting for yourself is what made you this butterfly with these beautiful wings with which you fly.Take risks plunge into the unknown but always believe and never lose hope. Every life is important and every life is worth living. We all are li ke stars making up a the constellation of life and even without one star it loses its meaning. You may sometimes feel like you are less important the another person but remember you are you that is something no one can ever be. ‘Some people are like wildfire rushing and spontaneously changing everyone in their path but we are like the molten lava that flows below the earths surface changing the very foundations upon which we stand.

Understanding strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Understanding strategic management - Essay Example Decision makers and managers must apply their strategic skills in the process of managing an organisation. Increasing competition and changing nature of demand are the two prime reasons behind the increasing demand of strategic management process in the contemporary world. This paper will attempt to assess a company by using strategic management tools and models. The models and tools will be used for two proposes i.e. for environmental scanning and for strategy formulation. Environmental scanning will include internal and external analysis. The next section will show the company’s strategic position in the market. Based on the analysis and findings, relevant strategies will be recommended. Tesco Plc has been selected for the purpose of strategic management analysis. Tesco is a UK based company and is operating in the global retail industry. However, in this paper, the primary focus will be on the UK retail industry. Tesco Plc is a UK based leading retailer. The company was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919. The company was first listed in London Stock Exchange in 1947 and it launched its corporate website (Tesco.com) in 2000 (Tesco Plc-a, 2010). The company offers a wide range of product and retailing service through its numerous superstores. Tesco offers homes products, fast moving consumer products, clothing, consumer durable, electronics etc (Tesco-a, 2010). The latest annual report of Tesco disclosed that it owns 4810 stores in the global market and nearly 472000 employees are working with Tesco (Tesco Plc-b, 2010). It experienced very fast growth and after its global expansion, the company became the third largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. The company has developed its reputed brand image in the market. Specially, in UK, the company has gained a large share of the market (Silverthorne, 2010). Tesco has developed an effective and efficient strategic management procedure in

Evaluating My Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluating My Marriage - Essay Example Thus, it was both interesting and exciting to answer the self-test since it will help me understand what style do we have as a couple. The result yielded that we have a validating marriage style. Although, there also moments that we both adopt the conflict-avoiding mode ( especially my spouse) since his upbringing is used to a passive-submissive environment. My marriage like any other marriage has its own high and low points. At times, things can be so routine that one would not even notice a partner’s new haircut especially if both are preoccupied with busy careers. Sometimes, it is laced with excitement as special occasions are celebrated and simple acts of endearment are sent by one partner by calling and asking : how’s your day?†. These experiences makes me agree with Gottman when he argued that : funny recalling that I was the one who mostly start a fight especially when I become very jealous. I am jealous when he spends more time with his friends, his work or even with his parents. When this happens, my spouse and I sit down together and discuss the roots of my jealousy ( most are invalid, however). Nevertheless, the important thing about this sensitive issue is that our willingness as a couple to calmly sort out an issue that affects us. Aside from jealousy, there are also other important issues like money, sex, and values that my spouse and I should agree on. It must be remembered that two people in a marriage come from very different backgrounds that could really intensify a conflict, much like diversity in a working environment. The only difference is that one must not quit since marriage is a commitment. In order for that commitment to be maintained, we came up with a plan that would pave way for a more intense marital relationship. Some contents of these plan were lea rned from experience while others are from advice of fellow couples. 1. The first important thing to do is involve God in your relationship. Having the

Visual Analysis and critical reflection Research Paper

Visual Analysis and critical reflection - Research Paper Example At the age of 16 he won a street painting competition that he entered into. He believes he is an autodidact who learns by doing. He has studied the techniques of old masters of street painting and started to make it his profession. Today he is a street painter and does not paint conventionally anymore. His early paintings led him to the title ‘maestro madonnari’ which means master street painter, and these paintings were mostly two-dimensional. As the street art developed, the three dimensional paintings came into effect. Muller first painted in 3D on a client’s car. He was eventually inspired by the ideas of Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner. He started painting illusion in 3D street paintings and his skills and drawing techniques made him the best in the world (WebUrbanist, 2013). Lava burst (Bored Panda, 2013) Mueller uses the street as his canvas and literally involves the viewers to the imagery. He uses hundreds of square meters of the pavement and paints to chal lenge the perceptions of the street walkers. This 3D painting of a lava burst was painted by Mueller on the 30th anniversary of international competition of street painters held in Geldern, Germany. He painted a large sized picture once more and created scenery which appeared apocalyptic. Mueller was 25 years old when he had given his entire life to street painting. He made several paintings all around Europe and aimed to earn through the transitory art. He became an organizer and committee member for street painting festivals and also set up the Internet board for street painters of Germany. This was a forum which promoted the solidarity amongst the various German street painters. He also presented the master works of old painters to people in his studio and drew perfect copied of those paintings. With the help of the old painters’ works, Mueller helped the ones interested in paintings to understand the depth of the art. Ice Age (Bored Panda, 2013) This is one of the best wo rks of Mueller and was completed in 5 days. It is a huge picture of the ice age and shows creative illusion. He needed about five assistants who helped him all day long in painting the huge painting. The illusion was painted by the application of the anamorphic technique to the huge pavement. The picture is approximately 250 square meters large. This was the most challenging painting made by Mueller and it was created for the Festival of World Culture in Ireland (2008). This painting was the most challenging one for Mueller because of the weather conditions of Ireland. Ireland’s weather often fluctuates and usually there are four seasons felt in one day. Sunshine, hailstorm and rain all were experienced within few hours. Mueller and his team of assistants did not think that they would get through with the painting, but they accepted the challenge and completed it. The street painters often face the difficulties with coping with weather conditions because all of their work is out on the streets. Rain is usually the biggest element to fight as the use of paints and chalks is done for these paintings. If the rain spoiled the painting overnight, Mueller would usually start a new one. Hence the weather issues are not a problem for Mueller as he says â€Å"once a painting is done, I somehow lose interest in it. It’s done and for me it is up to go for the next† (WebUrbanist, 2013). Gradually the changing trends have also redirected the interest of Mueller in his paintings. Thus he has