Teacher Certification Essay Example For Students

Teacher Certification Essay The whole issue of teacher certification is one of great importance and when discussed must be done in a delicate and thoughtful manner. The reason for this increasing importance is because the education of our nations teachers is important to the creation of an ideal education system, which is one of the goals of our national government and State governments. Over the years the whole educational reform movement has become an increasingly hot topic. Reforms in the administration of school systems and in curriculum theory and practice have been asked for and a4re currently being put into effect. Recently, reform of the education of teachers is being added to the lo9ng list of reforms needed. Many reform activists feel that direct changes need to be made on the methods of training and certifying the teachers of our country. Before looking at the reform movement, however, one must first look at the so called problem of inconsistency in teacher certification. In our country today there is a general consistency among the requirements for state certification of teachers. Most states require their teacher institutions to establish a teacher education program that includes coursework and fieldwork. The coursework includes those courses that prepare a student to become a professional teacher and those classes that include major and minor fields of specialization. Fieldwork, which is probably the most important of the two forms of requirements, involves the individual interested in being a teacher going out and observing, practicing, and preparing to enter the educational world as an instructor. There is no argument that all schools in every state has these basic requirements of teacher certification. However, the inconsistency lies within how the numerous institutions go about in teaching hese requirements. We will write a custom essay on Teacher Certification specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Each post-secondary school is given the jurisdiction to choose how they are going to go about meeting these basic teacher certification requirements. For example, many states require a different amount of field hours. An inconsistency can also be seen in the various models of teacher education that are used throughout the nation. Two education researchers, Howey and Zimpher conducted a study on this variety of models in 1989. They came up with three different attempts of teacher training. The first, known as the teachers college model, involves certification students entering a separate chool within a university that is a teachers college. The second approach is called the liberal arts model by the researchers, and is a method that requires and individual to become specialized in a certain liberal arts subject in order to create capable and cultured human beings. The third and final model discussed by Howley and Zimpher is entitled the competency-based model. This method trains individuals in the arts o motivation and understanding. As one can see by this case study, there have been a variety of approaches to teacher certification. An inconsistency can similarly be detected by looking at the various new and innovative ideas in teacher education. Among these include the alternative route, a topic discussed earlier, and the five-year degree program, and issue to be discussed shortly in this section. Altogether, one could state that there is some inconsistency in teacher certification, and this inconsistency brings about a small problem in the educational spectrum of our world. In my opinion, there is no national and universal set of requirements for teacher certification. The variety of different methods and forms of eacher education programs is causing an inconsistency in how teachers are being trained nationwide. When this is realized, the whole issue of reforming teacher certification becomes very relevant to our society. As stated earlier, reforms in the training of future teachers are beginning to really be requested by the general public. Various groups have met to discuss the various issues surrounding the reform movement. Among the most notable are the Holmes Group, the Association of American Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE), the Education Commission of the States (ECS), and Goodlads group. .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e , .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .postImageUrl , .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e , .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:hover , .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:visited , .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:active { border:0!important; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:active , .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u4667732c89f80e20d2e2bdd05127fa4e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Arts and Culture in Colonial America EssayThese various groups and many others have come up with a variety of reforms and new standards that most likely should and will be integrated into the current teacher certification requirements. One certain similarity that all of these recommendations have with each other is that they all call for higher regulations and an increase in the education of future teachers. Many of the group0s called for an increase in providing individuals knowledge on the profession of teachi8ng, and some groups also called for a more intense training in the various fields under a liberal arts education. Increases in the amount f fieldwork required seem s to also be a major issue discussed by the reform groups. The issue of selection under standardized testing was also discussed, with respect to increasing the required SAT/ACT or GRE scores. Finally, the research groups came up with various new ideas involving the creation of professional teaching schools or tiered systems that would require a teacher to go through more training even after they received their bachelors degree. All in all, these reform groups have come up with some very unique and interesting ideas to change teacher certification for the better. It is the best interest f our nation to make changes in our current teacher education program, for, in this case, change would be for the better. To conclude, I would like to take a brief but in depth look at an innovative idea established by the Maine State Department of Education in conjunction with the University of Southern Maine. This program, entitled the Extended Teacher Education Program, involves future teachers continuing on for a fifth year after completing their undergrad uate studies. This fifth year involves the individual taking part in internships. These internships give the future teachers a chance at more fieldwork in order o gain more experiences before they become full fledged teachers. Nonetheless, the results of the initial year of the program seem to indicate that the idea around this new program is a successful one. Those individuals who took part in the program obtained various skills and understandings that all ideal teachers should have. The excellent outcomes of this program leads one to believe that it might be a good idea to implement this structure nationwide. The idea of creating professional schools for teachers has become a popular one in recent times. After all if doctors and lawyers have to go to a professional school, hen shouldnt teachers as well? In conclusion, the issue of teacher training and certification brings up many questions, especially in reference to reforming. The inconsistent and somewhat outdated education of teachers today needs change, in order to create an ideal educational system. Numerous reforms have been discussed and recommended by various research organizations and now is the time to take action and implement some of these reforms before our education systems continue to fall downwards into the depths of degradation. Change I needed and change must come now.

Specal Ed Observation Essays - Segregation, Disability, Free Essays

Specal Ed Observation Essays - Segregation, Disability, Free Essays Specal Ed Observation Special Education Visitation For my visitation I went to the public high school in my hometown of Vineland, NJ. Due to time constraints I was not able to visit the school on a weekday when classes were in session. I did however get to witness another part of the special education/inclusion program called the Rooster Buddies. I did, however, get some information on the special education program from an administrator via phone and fax. The special education program at Vineland High School (VHS) is only seven years old. VHS is on a seven-period day, and the Severely Handicapped (SH), Special Day Class (SDC), and Resource Special Program (RSP) teachers are only assigned students two or three periods. The majority of students are only enrolled in a Special Education class one or two periods, depending upon their individual need. The breakdown of each individual section of the special education program at VHS looks like this: SH 10 Students 1 Teacher 1 Aide SDC 30 Students 2 Teachers 2 Aides RSP 50 Students 2 Teachers 1 Aide The administrator that I spoke to wrote in a fax the Special Education classes are transitioning into study skills classes so the teacher can provide additional help and support for the student to succeed in the regular class environment. During the four or five periods, when the teachers and instructional aides do not have students assigned to them, they are providing support for their students in the regular education classroom. The level of support is directly related to two factors: 1) What the student needs to be successful. 2) What the teacher needs to help the student succeed. So the support provided by the teacher may be provided daily in the regular education classroom, in the form of helping the student take notes, monitoring behavior, doing a lab activity, etc. The support may also take the form of weekly program checks with the regular education teacher, modifying and/or adopting curriculum, or teachers meeting informally to talk. As I mentioned before, I didn't get to actually sit in on a class but the weekend that I was home the Rooster Buddies were holding a fund-raiser. At the annual City Series basketball game between my alma-mater Sacred Heart and VHS the Rooster Buddies were selling an assortment of baked goods. The Rooster Buddies is a student club that was started with the intent of helping students with severe disabilities make the adjustment from a self contained classroom in a county special education school to the relatively unstructured experience of a large high school. VHS has over 4,000 students. There are more than 75 non-handicapped students in the club and they work with over 30 students who have disabilities ranging from severe physical handicaps to students with learning disabilities. At the game there were about 15 students without obvious handicaps and 4 students with visible physical handicaps. Since I was not with the administrator at the game I was unable to determine just how many of the seemingly normal students were non-handicapped. From what I saw, the students seemed to work well with each other and actually they were pretty efficient. At halftime they were really swamped by fans and they worked well. The physically handicapped students weren't just ornaments. They actively participated, as much as they could. One of the students, Alex I'll call him, was apparently paralyzed from the waist down. He had full use of his upper body and was one of two kids taking money. Another student in a wheelchair, who appeared to be afflicted with a more serious handicap (perhaps a form of cerebral palsy) was using the tray on his chair as a table displaying various cookies. The purpose of the bake sale was to raise money for a trip to a local amusement park. I thought that this was a good way to entice non-handicapped students to participate in the program. Another thing that I noticed that I found encouraging was the fact that the students with handicaps were into the game, as fans. Up until about two minutes before halftime and then again two minutes into the third quarter the physically handicapped students found their way out into the gym and watched the game from right near the student section. They were cheering just

A List of Programming Contests and Challenges

A List of Programming Contests and Challenges Link to C TutorialsLink to C TutorialsLink to C# Tutorials Not every programmer wishes to test his programming skills in a contest but occasionally I get a new challenge to stretch me. So here is a list of programming contests. Most are annual but some are continuous and you can enter at any time. The experience of stepping outside your programming comfort zone is entirely beneficial. Even if you dont win a prize, youll have thought in new ways and be inspired to have another go. Studying how others solved the problem can also be educational. There are many more contests than I have listed here but Ive winnowed these down to ten that anyone can enter. Most important of all you can use C, C or C# in these. Annual Contests International Conference on Functional Programming (ICFP). This has been running for a decade and happens in June or July each year. Though its based in Germany, anyone can enter using any programming language, from any location. Its free to enter and your team isnt limited by size. In 2010 its from June 18-21The BME International is an intense free to enter contest that takes place in Europe once a year for teams of three, and you have to bring your own computers and software. This year, the 7th took place in Budapest. This has had some interesting challenges in the past- how about driving a car over a virtual terrain? Other past tasks included controlling an oil-company, driving an assembly line robot and programming for secret communication. All programs were written in one 24 hour intense period!International Collegiate Programming Contest. One of the longest-running  - this started in 1970 at Texas AM and has been run by the ACM since 1989 and has IBMs involvement since 1997. One of the bigger contests it has thousands of teams from universities and colleges competing locally, regionally and ultimately in a world final. The contest pits teams of three university students against eight or more complex, real-world problems, with a gruelling five-hour deadline. The Obfuscated C contest has been running for nearly 20 years. This is done on the internet, with email submissions. All you have to do is write the most obscure or obfuscated Ansi C program in under 4096 characters length according to the rules. The 19th contest took place back in January/February 2007.The Loebner Prize is not a general programming contest but an AI challenge to enter a computer program that can do the Turing test, ie talk to a human sufficiently well to make the judges believe they are talking to a human. The Judge program, written in Perl will ask questions like What time is it?, or What is a hammer? as well as comparisons and memory. The prize for the best entrant is $2,000 and a Gold Medal.Similar to the Loebner Prize is the Chatterbox Challenge. This is to write the best chatter bot- a web-based (or downloadable) application written in any language that can carry on text conversations. If it has an animated display that syncs with text then that is even better- you get more points! International Problem Solving Contest (IPSC). This is more for fun, with teams of three entering via the web. There are 6 programming problems over a 5 hour period. Any programming language is allowed.The Rad Race - Competitors in teams of two have to complete a working business program using any language over two days. This is another contest where you have to bring along equipment, including a router, computer(s), cables, a printer etc. The next one will be in Hasselt, Belgium in October 2007.The ImagineCup - Students at school or college compete by writing software applicable to the set theme which for 2008 is Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment. Entries started August 25th, 2007.ORTS Competition. ORTS (open real-time strategy game) is a programming environment for studying real-time AI problems such as path-finding, dealing with imperfect information, scheduling, and planning in the domain of RTS games. These games are fast-paced and very popular. U sing the ORTS software once every year there is a series of battles to see whose AI is best. The International Obfuscated C Code Contest (abbreviated IOCCC) is a programming contest for the most creatively obfuscated C code. It started in 1984 and the 20th competition started in 2011. Entries are evaluated anonymously by a panel of judges. The judging process is documented in the competition guidelines and consists of elimination rounds. By tradition, no information is given about the total number of entries for each competition. Winning entries are awarded with a category, such as Worst Abuse of the C preprocessor or Most Erratic Behavior, and then announced on the official IOCCC website. Theres no prize except if your program is featured on the site then you won!Google Code Jam. Running since 2008, its open to anyone aged 13 or other, and you or a close relative dont work for Google or a subsidiary country and you dont live in a banned country: Quebec, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Syria, Burma (Myanmar). (The contest is prohibited by law). Theres a qualification round and three oth er rounds and the top 25 travel to a Google office for the Grand Final. Continuous or Ongoing Contests Hutter Prize. If you can improve on the compression of 100 MB of Wikipedia data by 3% or better then you can win cash prizes. Currently, the smallest compression is 15,949,688. For every 1% reduction (minimum 3%) you win â‚ ¬500.Project Euler. This is an ongoing series of challenging mathematical/computer programming problems that will require more than just mathematical insights to solve. computationally the problems should be solvable in less than a minute. A typical problem is Find the first ten digits of the sum of one-hundred 50-digit numbers.Sphere Online Judge. Run at Gdansk University of Technology in Poland, they have regular programming contests - with over 125 completed. Solutions are submitted to an automatic online judge that can deal with C, C and C# 1.0 and many other languages.Intels Threading Programming Problems. Running from September 2007 until the end of September 2008 Intel have their own Programming Challenge with 12 programming tasks, one per month that can be solved by threading. You get awarded points for solving a problem, coding elegance, code execution timing, use of the Intel Threading Building Blocks and bonus points for posting in their problem set discussion forum. Any language but C is probably the preferred language. Codechef is Indias first, non-commercial, multi-platform online coding competition, with monthly contests in more than 35 different programming languages including C, C and C#. Winners of each contest get prizes, peer recognition and an invitation to compete at the CodeChef Cup, an annual live event. Annual Contests Hewlett Packard (HP) Codewars is for high school students and takes place every year on Hewlett-Packards Houston campus. its been run every year since 1999. Not only do students get the high-tech HP environment, a wide range of programming challenges, large amounts of good programmer food (pizza and caffeine), music, plus loads of giveaways. There are trophies for the top competitors in each of two classifications, plus loads of exciting door prizes like computers, scanners, printers, software, and accessories. This is the ultimate high school computer programming competition. Dont forget the About C, C and C# Programming challenges. No prizes but you get fame!

Industrialisation and the Family Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Industrialisation and the Family - Assignment Example Of course, not all of the explanations can be found in economics and, most likely, social structure and culture can explain the changing economics as well. However, looking for explanations in the changing economics for sociological phenomena enriches our insights and sharpens our sociological analysis. I will attempt to do just that in this work. According to Eshleman and Bulcroft (2010, p. 4), a family traditionally refers to â€Å"two or more persons related by birth, marriage, or adoption who reside together in a household.† It is a definition that â€Å"emphasizes the structural dimension of families because it focuses on the requirements for membership and spatial arrangements of members.† Simultaneously, families can also be defined â€Å"in terms of their functional significance as societal institutions† (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 4). The function of a family can be for â€Å"procreation† or â€Å"socialisation† of children (Eshleman an d Bulcroft 2010, p. 4). Social structure and power distribution in society influence how a family is defined (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 5). How a family is defined mirrors adaptation to circumstances and is a product of cultural innovations and of a process in which â€Å"those in positions of power and privilege promote definitions that serve their interests and values† (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 5). Eshleman and Bulcroft identified three basic types of family structure. ... n easy visiting distance, contacts are regular, provides autonomy for families in decision making, manifests considerable exchanges of goods and services, and provides roles for kin, friends, and non-kin in the socialisation process (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 28). The nuclear and conjugal family is small, experiences geographic isolation, is exposed to only minimal kin contact, enjoys family autonomy, displays economic self-sufficiency, usually acquires socialisation from non-kin and get emotional support and protection from non-kin (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 28). Of the latter type are the transnational families (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 11). Transnational families are families whose members are scattered all over the world. There is a variety of transnational families (Eshleman and Bulcroft 2010, p. 11). In particular, Eshelman and Bulcroft (2010, p. 11) identified that some of the several types of transnational families are: 1. families created by marriages between individuals from different nationalities; 2. families residing in one nation but some of whose members may be working in other parts of the globe; 3. families residing in one country but â€Å"recreating their home culture with that nation (diaspora families)†; 4. families whose members are scattered across several nations; and 5. families that regularly move across several countries. Elliot and Gray (2000, p. 7) defined a nuclear family as a â€Å"two-generation family consisting of a father and mother and their children or a single, possibly widowed, parent and his/her children.† However, besides a nuclear family, Elliot and Gray (2000, p. 7) also identified a stem family which is â€Å"a three-generation consisting of a father and mother, a married child, their spouse and their children.†

Social Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Change - Essay Example Following this logic, I believe that the cases of illegal aliens committing criminal acts are exceptions beyond generalizations. Also if we take the statistics of total criminal acts that occurred in the same period of time, I am sure there will be an equal number of crimes committed by people of our own country as compared to people from outside. Because, every society, through its imperfections, generate a few criminals who can never be categorized based on where they were born. To prove my point, I searched the race-wise statistics of crimes in USA on internet and found that the crime ratio tilts towards non-whites. But this data refer to arrests that were made. We should not forget that there can be racial bias involved in these arrests. I have read in newspapers that several studies demonstrating this factor have come out in the recent years. My experience with immigrant friends tells me that people cannot be good or bad based on their place of birth. Even our forefathers were aliens to this land. Writers who look at this issue from a sociological perspective have opined that immigration is a more complex phenomenon than meets our primary inferences (Henslin 391). The attitude that the sanctuary cities have to retract this benevolent space given to illegal immigrants is against the spirit of global humanity and will amount to what scholars like Henslin have called as â€Å"a reactive social movement† (p.415). â€Å"Authoritarian personalities and frustration displaced towards scapegoats† is the right description to define the now-prevalent branding of all illegal immigrants as criminals (p. 416). I think the Mayor of Newark NJ is perfectly justified in saying that the immigration status of the suspected killers has nothing to do with the

Being a Vegetarian Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Food Health Essay

Being a Vegetarian "Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends." -George Bernard Shaw Vegetarianism used to be an unusual lifestyle choice. Today it is becoming more common and accepted by mainstream society. While there are many reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet, the most important are health reasons, environmental and economic reasons, and, above all, ethical reasons. Health reasons alone are sufficient grounds for becoming a vegetarian. Research has shown that we do not require meat in our diets and that it is actually healthier to avoid meat. Meat is high in saturated fats which are known to cause clogged arteries Cultures that consume less meat than North America have much lower cholesterol and lower rates of heart disease. For example, Japan used to have a lower incidence of heart disease, as well as cancer, before meat consumption increased. There is also reason to believe that humans have naturally evolved to be herbivores, rather than carnivores. Human teeth resemble the teeth of other herbivores, and human intestinal tracts are long, unlike the short intestines found in carnivores. What is natural is usually healthier, and people who become vegetarians frequently report a feeling of increased energy and well being. There are also environmental and economic reasons for becoming vegetarian. Some people are not aware of these reasons, but a lot of environmental destruction is linked to meat production, especially cattle farming. Huge areas of f...

Effective Study Essay

Effective learning depends upon good study skills, but â€Å"Many students – – both traditional and nontraditional – – entering college have few, if any practical study skills.† ( Huber, 1994, 29) Good study skills do not simply occur; they must first be learned and then applied consistently. Efficient study strategies include a preset time, a desirable place, and a well-designed plan for study. A Time for Study Many of us think we have more to do than we have time to do, and studying gets shortchanged. It is important to prepare a schedule of daily activities that include time slots for doing the studying you have to do. Within each study slot, write the specific study activity; for example, â€Å" Red Unit 6 In Modern Writing, answer Questions 1-10.† Keep the schedule flexible so that it can be modified if you meet your study goals early- – or late. A Place to Study Choose the best place to study and use the same each time each day. Doing so will help to put you in a study mood when you enter that place. Choose a place that has the fewest distractions: people traffic, conversation, telephone, TV, and outside noises. Usually study is the best done alone in the absence of sights and sounds that distract the eye and ear. Force the mind to focus intently on the study task. (Silver, 1992, 26) A Plan for Study Research on the effects of specific study skills on student performance suggests that the following study tactics help to improve academic performance. (Dansereau, 1985, 39) 1. Skim a unit or a chapter, nothing headings, topic sentences, keys words, and definitions to clue you to what you are going to study. 2. As you need the material, convert the headings into questions; then seek answers to those questions as you need 3. If you own the book, use color marked to highlight important ideas: heading, topic sentences, special terms, definitions and supporting facts. Otherwise, make notes of these ideas. 4. After reading the material, review the highlighted items( on your notes that contain them) 5. Using the heading stated as questions, see if you can answer those questions based on your reading. 6. Test yourself to see if you recall definitions of important terms and list of supporting fact on ideas. A high correction exists between good study habits and good grades for courses taken in high school. REFERENCES Dansereau, D.J. â€Å"Learning Strategy Research.† Thinking and Learning Skills. Vol. 1. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erllaum, 1985 Huber, Rose. â€Å" Teaching Students How to Study.† Eastside Weekend. September 1-7, 1994 Silver, Theodore. Study Smart. New York: Villard Books, 1992