Building a Classroom Community

Building a Classroom Community Building a classroom community enables teachers to address their students needs that may be lacking at home. It gives teachers the opportunity to teach students about respect, responsibility and how to positively relate to their peers. Here are a few ways that you can build a community in the classroom. Welcoming Students to their Community Send a Letter: Teachers can start taking steps to build a classroom community long before school even starts, just by anticipating the concerns students may have during the first few days. Where will the bathroom be? Will I make friends? What time will lunch be? Teachers can ease these fears by sending a student welcome letter that answers a majority of these questions a few days before school starts.Organize Your Classroom: Just by the way you organize your classroom will send a message to students. If you display a lot of their work or allow them to be a central part of the decorating it will show students that they are part of the classroom community.Learning Students Names: Take the time to learn and remember students names. This will convey to the student that you respect them.Ease Anxiety with Activities: During the first few days/weeks of school you can help break the ice and ease first day jitters with a few back-to-school activities. This will help welcome students and is a great way to start building a sense of community in the classroom. Introducing Students to their Classroom Environment The best way to help children feel a sense of community in the classroom is to first introduce students to their classroom environment. Show them around the classroom and teach them the procedures and daily routines that they will need to learn for the school year. Making Classroom Meetings a Priority The number one way that you can build a successful classroom community is to take the time to hold a classroom meeting every day. This is an essential part of building a community in the classroom because it enables students to speak, listen, exchange ideas, and settle differences. By participating in these daily meetings it shows students what it means to be a part of a community that respects, and accepts one another and their opinions. Set aside time each day for students to discuss whats happening inside or outside the classroom. Make it a tradition each morning and start with fun morning meeting greetings. You can also hold the meetings during transition periods or at the end of the day. Take this time to help students develop their listening and speaking skills, how to be respectful of others, and take turns participating. You will be surprised how excited students become to attend these daily meetings. They are a great opportunity for children to develop life long communicatio n skills. Promoting Respectful Interactions The ability for children to learn to relate to one another and make positive relationships is essential in a classroom community. It is imperative that teachers model respectful interactions and teach students the importance of working together. Model appropriate and respectful interactions, such as greeting students with a handshake or using kind words. Students learn by seeing, and when they see you act appropriately they will follow your lead. Teach students how to treat one another with respect and model behaviors that you expect children to have while in the classroom. Acknowledge respectable behavior and be sure to point it out when you see it. This will encourage others to behave and act accordingly. Promoting Problem-Solving Skills If you ask a teacher what one thing they wish all students would walk away from school learning you would probably hear the response, the ability for students to solve problems on their own. The ability to problem solve in a non-violent way is a life long skill that all people should have. Helping children learn how to resolve a conflict on their own is challenging, but is a skill that must be taught. Here are a few ways teachers can promote problem-solving skills in the classroom:Model how to handle anger in the classroomAddress issues as a class a the daily community meetingIncorporate conflict-resolving activities into the curriculum Sources: Berke, Kai-leà ©. Building Your Classroom Community. Teaching Strategies,  https://blog.teachingstrategies.com/webinar/building-your-classroom-community/.

An Overview of the Common Core Assessments

An Overview of the Common Core Assessments The adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is arguably the biggest educational shift in the history of the United States. Having a set of national standards that most states have chosen to adopt is unprecedented. However, the bigger shift in traditional educational philosophy will come in the form of the Common Core assessment. While the national adoption of the standards themselves is immense, the potential impact of having a shared national assessment system is even bigger. Most states would argue that the standards they already had in place align pretty well to the Common Core State Standards. However, the rigor and presentation of the new assessments will even challenge your top tier students. Many school administrators and teachers will need to totally revamp their approach in order for their students to succeed on these assessments. What has been the norm when it comes to test prep will no longer be enough. In an age where a premium has been placed on high stakes testing, those stakes will have never been higher than they will be with the Common Core assessments. Impact of a Shared Assessment System There are several potential ramifications of having a shared assessment system. Many of these ramifications will be positive for education and many will no doubt be negative. First of all the pressure placed on students, teachers, and school administrators will be greater than ever. For the first time in educational history states will be able to accurately compare their students’ achievement to students in neighboring states. This factor alone will cause the pressures of high stakes testing to go through the roof. Politicians will be forced to pay more attention and increase funding in education. They will not want to be a low performing state. The unfortunate reality is that many excellent teachers will lose their jobs and others will choose to enter another field simply because the pressure of getting students to perform well on these assessments will be too large. The microscope for which teachers and school administrators will be under will be massive. The truth is that even the best teachers can have students perform poorly on an assessment. There are so many external factors that attribute to student performance that many would argue that basing the worth of a teacher on a single assessment is simply not valid. However, with the Common Core assessments, this will most likely be overlooked. Most teachers will have to increase rigor in the classroom by challenging their students to think critically. This will be a challenge for both students and teachers. In an age where parents are less involved, and students have information readily given to them at the click of a mouse, developing critical thinking skills will be even more of a challenge. This has been arguably one of the most neglected areas of education, and it will no longer be an option to omit it. Students must excel in critical thinking if they are to perform well on these assessments. Teachers will have to restructure how they teach to develop these skills. This will be such as massive shift in teaching and learning philosophies that it may take a generation of students to cycle through before we see a large group truly start to develop these skills. In the end, this shift in educational philosophy will better prepare our students to succeed. More students will be ready to transition to college or will be work ready when they graduate high school. In addition, the skills associated with the Common Core State Standards will prepare students to compete on the global level. Another benefit of a shared assessment system will be that costs to individual states will be reduced dramatically. With each state having its own set of standards, they have had to pay to have tests developed specifically to meet those standards. This is an expensive endeavor and testing has become a multimillion dollar industry. Now with a common set of assessments, states will be able to share in the cost of test development, production, scoring, etc. This could potentially free up more money allowing it to be spent in other areas of education. Who is developing these assessments? There are currently two consortia responsible for developing these new assessment systems. These two consortia have been awarded funding through a competition to design new assessment systems. All states who have adopted the Common Core State Standards have selected a consortium in which they are a partner with other states. These assessments are currently in the development stage. The two consortia responsible for developing these assessments are: SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) – Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Within each consortia, there are states that have been selected to be a governing state and others who are a participating/advisory state. Those that are governing states have a representative that gives direct input and feedback into the development of the assessment that will accurately measure student progress toward college and career readiness. What will these assessments look like? The assessments are currently being developed by the SBAC and PARCC consortia, but a general description of what these assessments will look like has been released. There are a few released assessment and performance items available. You can find some sample performance tasks for English Language Art (ELA) in Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards. The assessments will be through course assessments. This means that students will take a benchmark assessment at the beginning of the year, with the option of ongoing progress monitoring throughout the year, and then a final summative assessment towards the end of the school year. This type of assessment system will allow teachers to see where their students are at all times during the school year. It will allow a teacher to more readily cater to a particular students strengths and weaknesses to prepare them better for the summative assessment. The assessments will be computer-based. This will allow for quicker, more accurate results and feedback on the computer scored portion of the assessments. There will be portions of the assessments that will be human scored. One of the biggest challenges for school districts will be preparing for the computer-based assessments. Many districts across the United States do not have enough technology to test their entire district via computer at this time. During the transition period, this will be a priority that districts must prepare for. All students grades K-12 will participate in some level of testing. Grades K-2 tests will be designed to set the foundation for students and also give information to teachers that will help them better prepare those students for the rigorous testing that begins in the 3rd grade. Grades 3-12 testing will be much more tied directly to the Common Core State Standards and will consist of a variety of item types. Students will see a variety of item types including innovative constructed response, extended performance tasks, and selected response (all of which will be computer based). These are much more difficult than simple multiple choice questions as students will be assessed on multiple standards within one question. Students will often be expected to defend their work through a constructed essay response. This means that they simply won’t be able to come up with an answer, but will additionally need to defend the answer and explain the process through written response. With these Common Core assessments, students must also be able to write coherently in the narrative, argumentative, and informative/explanatory forms. An emphasis on balance between traditional literature and informational text is expected within the framework of the Common Core State Standards. Students will be given a passage of text and will have to construct a response based on questions over that passage in a specific form of writing that the question asks for. The transition to these types of assessments will be difficult. Many students will struggle initially. This will not be due to a lack of effort on teachers but will be based more on the overwhelming task at hand. This transition will take time. Understanding what the Common Core Standards are all about and what to expect from the assessments are the first steps in a long process of being successful.

Transformational Leadership style Research Paper

Transformational Leadership style - Research Paper Example People love working for businesses where they feel motivated and greatly inspired. A transformational leader is always inspiring, energetic, enthusiastic and passionate person who can influence the followers to change their perceptions, expectations and ultimately motivate them to work towards a common goal. This article analyses some of the transformational leadership styles evident in Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz. Schultz has learnt the art of transformational leadership which has really steered his business to a higher level in the recent past. According to Schultz, leadership is more than just winning or becoming triumphant but it is a continuation process which involves a number of people working towards achieving a common goal. He thinks that celebrating everyone in a company is a vital thing regardless of the position held in the business. Schultz further things that shared success is very important and that businesses requires team spirit that is highly inspired. Schu ltz believes that business itself is a team that requires highly motivated team spirit to catapult it to success. Inspiring employees is one thing that Howard believes in as it motivates them to share the company’s common goal (Bussing-Burks 76-83). ... The company gives modest paychecks, healthcare packages and stock options to her employees as a way of motivating them. He feels that by offering such kind of benefits that also involve career counseling ties the employees into the business and further creates the sense of belonging. Schultz believes that people are motivated to work even harder because they are part of the results of the company (Burke, Graeme and Cooper 183-185). Additionally, the Starbuck CEO treats his employees as one family thus prompting them to give their all to the company. Treating workforce like a family is a tool of maintaining loyalty amongst employees thus reducing even turnover rate. The warm and family treatment initiated by Schultz is one of the reasons most customers also remain loyal to the retail company due to hospitable treatment by employees. The culture is so much engrained in the company that the company does not call their workforce employees but as partners. He further provides training, le arning and some acknowledgment packages such as coffee education and learning to lead as a way of building confidence amongst the partners and boosting degree of attachment (Strauss 162-163). Schultz also gives hear to his partners’ needs and continuously consulting them and carefully receiving feedback relating to the company’s vision. He takes his time to communicate with employees via phone calls or sending emails enquiring about feedbacks of what the organization offers as well as seeking advice. What Starbuck CEO has successfully done is to communicate his vision so well that it sticks in the mind of all the partners as well as asking for their feedbacks and understanding of the vision (Cassidy & Kreitner 30-31). He further passionately

Sex Education In Public Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sex Education In Public Schools - Essay Example As much as proponents argue for it stating some benefits, its drawbacks overshadow them in the long run. One of the reasons why sex education should not be taught in public schools lies in the fact that the topic is not taken seriously by both the students and teachers. The whole affair runs through like a leisure teaching and learning experience. One proof of this lies in the lack of exams after its classes (Dogra, 2010). Where the students are not to be awarded grades raises concerns as many will not work hard to understand. This then beats its purpose while related to other courses like mathematics or science. Just as any other recreational course, sex education intends to teach just a few who are willing to learn while others spend the time to do other things. Sex education leads to embarrassment of many students and teachers in the classroom. Considering the tender ages at which it is introduced teachers find it uncomfortable to teach the subject (Dogra, 2010). The same applies to students who become overly excited. At some point students mock others who depict signs of puberty e.g. developed breasts, height and so on. This leads to low self esteem to the ridiculed students which may in the long run affect their education and the whole learning experience. A sex education class in most cases fails to serve the purpose of informing. Sex education is rarely given the respect and time offered to other subjects. Most instances it is offered as an interlude while teaching physical education. This also shows that many schools still do not regard it as important and it is a burden to their curriculum. Teachers on the other hand are not adequately trained on how to teach it (Dogra, 2010). Due to its extraordinary scope, there is need for them to incorporate other methods other than normal ones. They end up teaching according to their

Politics and Society Essay Example for Free

Politics and Society Essay â€Å"There was an old bastard named Lenin Who did two or three million men in. Thats a lot to have done in But where he did one in That old bastard Stalin did ten in.† ― Robert Conquest[-0] According to the historian Robert Conquest, Joseph Stalin gives the impression of a large and crude claylike figure, a golem, into which a demonic spark has been instilled. He was nonetheless a man who perhaps more than any other determined the course of the twentieth century. Any adult inhabitant of this country, from a collective farmer up to a member of the Politburo, always knew that it would take only one careless word or gesture and he would fly off irrevocably into the abyss. (The Gulag Archipelago, vol. 2, p Fear by night, and a feverish effort by day to pretend enthusiasm for a system of lies, was the permanent condition. (Conquest, The Great Terror: A Reassessment, According to some reports, entire groups of men were taken in one swoop by the NKVD. Almost all the male inhabitants of the little Greek community where I lived [in the lower Ukraine] had been arrested, recalled one à ©migrà ©. Another reported that the NKVD took all males between the ages of seventeen and seventy from his village of German-Russians. In some stories, the police clearly knew they were arresting innocent people. For example, an order reportedly arrived in Tashkent to Send 200 [prisoners]! The local NKVD was at its wits end about who else to arrest, having exhausted all the obvious possibilities, until it learned that a band of gypsies (Romany) had just camped in town. Police surrounded them and charged every male from seventeen to sixty with sabotage. In the city of Zherinka, Ivan Ivanovich had his wife sew rubles [Soviet currency] into his coat because the NKVD was taking all the men in his town. (Thurston, Life and Terror in Stalins Russia, 1934-1941

The Importance of Latin in the Curriculum Essay -- Latin Language Educ

The Importance of Latin in the Curriculum My memories of Latin in high school are less than fond. I remember slouching in my chair, staring blankly at my desk as I tried to remember the form of the word agricola (farmer) in the ablative plural. Much of the class consisted of mundane activities like this. We translated endless Bible passages from Latin, translated what seemed like the entire body of Greek mythological literature, and read hundreds of lines from The Aneid, The Odyssey, and The Iliad. I signed up for Latin because I was considering going into medicine, and I had heard that doctors need to know Latin. As high school progressed, though, a medical career seemed less and less likely so it appeared I had no real use for Latin, except that I knew the meaning of phrases like carpe diem and semper ubi sub ubi (always wear underwear). When someone would ask me why I took Latin, I would either mumble something about how Latin is the foundation on which all modern languages are based, or I would laugh and agree w ith them that it was a waste of my time, and that it’s a dead language. And it is a dead language, at least in spoken form. Regardless of what Dan Quayle thinks, Latin is not the official language of Latin America. Latin has dropped from being the language spoken by almost the entire known Western world to an obscure language known mainly in scholarly circles. After the fall of the Roman Empire to Germanic invaders in 476 AD, Latin began a shift from being the common tongue to a language used mainly by upper-class and learned people (Hammond 243). Because the Church used Latin extensively, it became, along with ancient Greek, â€Å"the sheath in which the sword of the Spirit is lodged,† as Martin Luth... ...s managed to escape from the wrath of the approaching Greek army. Works Cited â€Å"Amo, Amas, Latin – How Schools Are Using the Ancient Tongue to Teach English.† Time 11 December, 2000: 61. Culham, Phyllis, and Edmunds, Lowell, ed. Classics: A Discipline and Profession In Crisis. Lanham: University Press of America, 1989. Davis, Sally. Latin in American Schools: Teaching the Ancient World. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991. Hammond, Mason. Latin: A Historical and Linguistic Handbook. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1976. Kopff, E. Christian. The Devil Knows Latin: Why America Needs the Classical Tradition. Wilmington: ISI Books, 1999. Smith, Sharwood. On Teaching Classics. London, Henley and Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977. Waquet, Francoise. Latin Or The Empire Of A Sign. Trans. John Howe. New York: Verso, 2001

Community Health Promotion Tool Essay

Kimberly Thomas: Good Evening, I am Kimberly Thomas. I’m interviewing Hypertension what is a disorder that affects cardiovascular system. Let’s talk about the population and treatment for hypertension. There are a lot of medications for hypertension. What is hypertension? Where do you start for treatment? Hypertension: Hypertension is high blood pressure. Well, there are several medication treatments for hypertension. Most doctor start patients with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), which is a diuretic. Diuretics are basically known as a water pill, which helps remove excess sodium and water from the body. Second most common medicine for hypertension is beta blockers. Beta blockers help the heart to beat a slower pace with less force. Again, there are several other medication treatments for hypertension, and your primary care physicians will discuss what options are best for you. Kimberly Thomas: Ok, thank you. Who are at risk of hypertension? Hypertension: There are some cultures that are more at risk than others. However, certain conditions and habits can put anyone at risk for high blood pressure. According to â€Å"Hypertension† (n.d.), â€Å"It’s more common in African American adults than in Caucasian or Hispanic American adults.† African Americans tend to get high blood pressure early in life. Also, Puerto Rican adults have higher rates of hypertension than any other Hispanic group. Kimberly Thomas: Why do you think African Americans and Puerto Ricans are more at risk than any other culture? Hypertension: There are several factors why these two cultures are more at risk than other cultures. According to â€Å"Hypertension† (n.d.), â€Å"The main factor is the choice of food both cultures eat. Both cultures diet include too much salt.† Kimberly Thomas: Heredity is a factor correct? Can the individual manage some of the risk factors? Hypertension: Yes to both of your questions. There are a few things you can do to manage your high blood pressure. If you’re overweight, it’s highly recommend that you start exercising. Eat healthy food low in saturated fat, Trans fat, cholesterol and salt. Limit your alcohol intake, and stop smoking. Always, take medicine the way your doctor tells you. Kimberly Thomas: I absolutely agree with that. Kimberly Thomas: What about impact it has on cost? Hypertension: According to â€Å"Hypertension† (n.d.), â€Å"In 2010, high blood pressure was projected to cost the United States $93.5 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work.† Kimberly Thomas: How does hypertension impact the society? Hypertension: The number 1 cause of death in the United States throughout most of the 20th century. Unfortunately, whether the hypertension is treated or untreated, only 34% of Americans with hypertension have their blood pressure controlled to 140/90. An estimated 30 to 35 million Americans have uncontrolled hypertension, and are therefore at unduly increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Kimberly Thomas: I completely agree with you. I think the number one problem we still have today is that there are many people out there who are not being adequately treated. People who are denial of their problem, is unfortunate because there is help for them. Kimberly Thomas: Well, that’s all for today and Thank you for your time. References: Hypertension. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hypertension/faqs.htm http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/basics/definition/con-20019580

Definition of art Essay

A number of people have asked about the value of addressing aesthetics, the philosophy of art, or the definition of art. The reasoning is that if it is so difficult to define, it must therefor be ultimately subjective, and each person should just determine for herself what it is. Perhaps we all do determine for ourselves the meaning of anything. Because, as in the â€Å"tree falling in the forest† example, the meaning does not exist if it does not exist for me personally. I am allowed to define â€Å"table† or â€Å"chair† any way I wish for myself, but if I hope to communicate with others about tables and chairs, the meaning or definition must be shared. And that shared meaning derives from a combination of (a) acquired meanings from those whom we give credibility and (b) connotations developed from our experiences with tables and chairs. If there were really no way to define art, there would be no way to determine what is art, and art could be anything. Fortunately, art can be defined, although not succinctly in verbal form, as we might define â€Å"table† or â€Å"chair. † We learn the definition indirectly through understanding why works have been labeled art by critics and artists in the past, and directly by understanding the perspectives of those critics and artists. From the standpoint of complete subjectivity, if art can be anything, it is meaningless as a term == art is everything and nothing. There is nothing that is not art, so everything is art. The term â€Å"art† has no shared meaning and has no value in communication, and yet we use it all the time. By what criteria do you determine what is art for yourself? Because it pleases you? Because it pleases your friends, or someone you respect, or most people around you? What criteria constitute pleasing? What does it do to please? From another perspective, other than pragmatic needs, by what criteria do we select a season? Or what material we place in museums? By what criteria do we judge quality? How do we determine â€Å"good† from â€Å"not good? † Whatever criteria we use become our criteria for our aesthetic, which then become, in fact, our definition of our art. It is useful and valid for us to question what those criteria are, to challenge the validity of those criteria, and to constantly explore new criteria to define the art experience. In order to comprehend the options of criteria, the kinds of questions to ask of our criteria, the possible limits of our personal vision, it is worthwhile to explore the explorations of others. Understand that the definition of art and the determination of quality are linked and mutually affected. Alter one and the other is changed. One additional concern is the value in trying to understand how art works have meaning. Once we begin to explore this as artists, our work instantly changes dimension. It moves from the surface to the soul and allows us to refocus on the meaningful.

Free Essays on Designing and Managing a Sales Force

Summary: 5 pages. 4 sources. MLA format. This paper discusses how businesses should design a sales force and how managers can effectively manage that sales force. Designing and Managing a Sales Force Introduction U.S. businesses spend over $140 billion annually on personal selling (Anderson, 1995 and Dalrymple, 1994). This is more than they spend on any other promotional method. Furthermore, over 11 million Americans are employed in sales and related occupations (Anderson, 1995 and Dalrymple, 1994). Sales forces are found throughout the business environment from the insurance industry to college recruiting and just about everything in between. According to author Philip Kotler, sales personnel serve as the company’s personal link to its customers (p. 620). Kotler asserts that â€Å"the sales representative is the company to many of its customers† since it is the salesperson who delivers information to the customer (p. 620). Therefore, a company must carefully consider how to design and manage its sales force in order to be successful in the marketplace. This paper discusses how businesses should design a sales force and how managers can effectively manage that sales force. Designing a Sales force When designing a sales force, a company must thoroughly deliberate several issues in order to establish an efficient sales system. These issues are: the development of sales force objectives, strategy, structure, and compensation of the sales force (Kotler, p. 620). Sales force objectives are the specific goals that companies expect their sales representatives to achieve (Kotler, p. 620). A typical example of how companies delineate an objective is the establishment of sales quotas for their sales representatives. Sales quotas inform a salesperson of exactly what their objective should be for a given period of time. Additionally, besides quotas, there are other ways of delineating sales objectives. For exampl... Free Essays on Designing and Managing a Sales Force Free Essays on Designing and Managing a Sales Force Summary: 5 pages. 4 sources. MLA format. This paper discusses how businesses should design a sales force and how managers can effectively manage that sales force. Designing and Managing a Sales Force Introduction U.S. businesses spend over $140 billion annually on personal selling (Anderson, 1995 and Dalrymple, 1994). This is more than they spend on any other promotional method. Furthermore, over 11 million Americans are employed in sales and related occupations (Anderson, 1995 and Dalrymple, 1994). Sales forces are found throughout the business environment from the insurance industry to college recruiting and just about everything in between. According to author Philip Kotler, sales personnel serve as the company’s personal link to its customers (p. 620). Kotler asserts that â€Å"the sales representative is the company to many of its customers† since it is the salesperson who delivers information to the customer (p. 620). Therefore, a company must carefully consider how to design and manage its sales force in order to be successful in the marketplace. This paper discusses how businesses should design a sales force and how managers can effectively manage that sales force. Designing a Sales force When designing a sales force, a company must thoroughly deliberate several issues in order to establish an efficient sales system. These issues are: the development of sales force objectives, strategy, structure, and compensation of the sales force (Kotler, p. 620). Sales force objectives are the specific goals that companies expect their sales representatives to achieve (Kotler, p. 620). A typical example of how companies delineate an objective is the establishment of sales quotas for their sales representatives. Sales quotas inform a salesperson of exactly what their objective should be for a given period of time. Additionally, besides quotas, there are other ways of delineating sales objectives. For exampl...

NMSQT Test Tips and Basic Information

NMSQT Test Tips and Basic Information The NMSQT Basics You may have heard of the Redesigned PSAT Test with the acronym â€Å"NMSQT† attached. When you heard it or saw it, you probably asked yourself a bunch of questions: What does the NMSQT stand for? Why is it attached to the PSAT? I thought that was just the test that demonstrated how you might score on the SAT. Why should I be concerned about this test? Why does everyone always have to use acronyms for multiple choice exams? If you want to know more about the PSAT -  NMSQT, I’m here to help. If you do not want to read more about it, then go read something else. What Is the NMSQT? The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) is the exact same thing as the PSAT exam. That’s right – you only have to take the one test, usually during your sophomore and junior years of high school. So why the extra acronym? Well, this test provides you with two different outcomes: a National Merit Scholarship score and the PSAT score. So, what is the National Merit Scholarship? If the PSAT is qualifying you for it, you definitely should know what the stakes are. How To Qualify for the NMSQT First things first. Before anyone will ever look at your PSAT/NMSQT score, you have to have the following things going for you. Give yourself a point if you are: A U.S. citizen/intended U.S. citizenEnrolled full time in high schoolTaking the PSAT your junior yearCarrying a strong academic recordGoing to complete the NMSC Scholarship application Oh! One other small thing†¦you have to have  scored well on the darn test itself. There’s always a catch. The PSAT/NMSQT Score They Want   In order to determine your NMSQT Selection Index,  your Math, Reading, and Writing section scores (which fall between 8 and 38) are added and then multiplied by 2.  The PSAT NMSC Selection Index ranges from 48 to 228.   Math: 34Critical Reading: 27Writing: 32Your NMSQT Index Score Would Be:  186 A 186, however, would be way too low to qualify for a scholarship from the NMSQT. Each state has a minimum index score for eligibility, which starts at 206 for places like North Dakota and West Virginia, all the way up to 222 for New Jersey and the District of Columbia. So if you’re interested in the benefits of the National Merit Scholarship, you better prepare for the PSAT. The National Merit Process Scholarships usually involve cash, but there’s a process that happens behind the scenes before they’re handed out. Once you’ve taken the PSAT and receive your NMSQT index score back, one of three things can happen: Nothing. You didn’t score high enough to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. Congrats. Go crawl in a hole somewhere and cry yourself to sleep.You become a Commended Student. You’re no longer in the running for the National Merit Scholarship, but since you impressed the selection committee with your score and academic record, you can still qualify for other scholarships sponsored by businesses and corporations.You qualify as an NMS Semi-finalist.  You made the cut, and hats off to you, because only 16,000 out of the 1.5 million who take the test actually make it this far. The semi-finalists will then be whittled down to 15,000 finalists. From there, 1,500 finalists will receive special scholarships from corporate sponsors, and 8,200 will receive the oh-so-coveted National Merit Scholarship. What Do You Get If You Receive the NMS? Fame. Maybe not the Brad Pitt kind, but the National Merit Scholarship Committee will release your name to the media for some pretty heavy exposure. You always wanted to be a star, right?Money. You’ll get $2,500 from the NMSC, and other scholarships from both corporate and college sponsors. In other words, your parents may have to find other uses for the gigantic Stafford Loan they just took out in your name, because you’ll have some cash coming in.Bragging Rights. Since only 0.5 percent of the PSAT-takers receive this illustrious scholarship, you can certainly brag about it for a while. Or at least until someone gets really irritated. That’s it. The NMSQT in a nutshell. Now go study.

Drug Abusers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Drug Abusers - Research Paper Example The abuse of drugs started from experimentations in efforts to establish their effectiveness and psychological effect. After recognizing the punitive nature of these drugs, people began to use them for other purposes other than the intended medicinal purpose. Drug abuse is a major cause of problems in public health. It has either direct or indirect effect on the health of an individual. Drug abuse and addiction have an impact on the society’s well being. Drug abuse leads to cancer, heart diseases, HIV and AIDS prevalence, and death in severe cases. All these have a direct effect on the health of the victim and the public health in general. The government directs most of its funds to the drug addicts and the victims that could otherwise have been used in other programs of that benefit the entire society (Slobodan, 2005). Drugged driving has been the cause of the thousands of accidents that occur on the roads and result in deaths of millions of people per year. Drug abusers beco me violent, hence, engage in crime acts like homicide, theft, and assaults. This can amount to their arrests or conviction over crime levels. Drug using exposes an individual to continued stress. Drug abusers can harm or misuse children leading to advanced maltreatment effects over them. Addiction has adverse effects on the health of the public and the society as well. For example, women addicts give birth to underweight babies and increase its chances to have hyperactivity disorder and child obesity. Child abuse is common on instances where the perpetrators are drug addicts. Incidences of homelessness, crime, education deterioration are common in incidences where drug abuse is common. Drug users are more likely to fail attend and work an event that translates to their... According to the study findings drug abuse is a major cause of problems in public health. It has either direct or indirect effect on the health of an individual. Drug abuse and addiction have an impact on the society’s well being. Drug abuse leads to cancer, heart diseases, HIV and AIDS prevalence, and death in severe cases. All these have a direct effect on the health of the victim and the public health in general. The government directs most of its funds to the drug addicts and the victims that could otherwise have been used in other programs of that benefit the entire society. This essay stresses that drugged driving has been the cause of the thousands of accidents that occur on the roads and result in deaths of millions of people per year. Drug abusers become violent, hence, engage in crime acts like homicide, theft, and assaults. This can amount to their arrests or conviction over crime levels. Drug using exposes an individual to continued stress. Drug abusers can harm or misuse children leading to advanced maltreatment effects over them. Addiction has adverse effects on the health of the public and the society as well. For example, women addicts give birth to underweight babies and increase its chances to have hyperactivity disorder and child obesity. Child abuse is common on instances where the perpetrators are drug addicts. Incidences of homelessness, crime, education deterioration are common in incidences where drug abuse is common. Drug users are more likely to fail attend and work an event that translates to their sacking or demotion.