Wednesday, November 27, 2019

How To Set Deadlines To Make Your Team More Efficient

How To Set Deadlines To Make Your Team More Efficient Youre blogging for obvious reasons: Your  blog is a really powerful tool. On one hand, it acts as an SEO tool to bring your business website more traffic, while on the other, it provides useful information that helps establish your brand and build trust. And that helps turn your readers into paying customers. But blog posts are comprised of multiple components, so they require multiple people- or for one person to wear many hats- in order for the right keywords, ideas, text, images, and marketing to come together and work  as a cohesive unit. So how to set deadlines and work as a collaborative team to create awesome content is a challenge. But heres exactly how you can rock a content creation process that works for your team- from how to set deadlines and assign  roles to actually creating  the collaborative blog post. How To Set Deadlines To Make You (And Your Team) More Efficient via @titanwebagency1. Establish Blogging Goals And Guidelines Before you start blogging, you need to establish goals for your blogging team so they have some guiding principles that will inform their work. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Some examples of good goals for a blog are: Increase organic traffic to website as part of a comprehensive content marketing campaign. Build your organization’s reputation as a trusted source of information in your industry. Connect with potential customers in your target audience. Create original material to publish to social media outlets. In addition to establishing some broad goals, such as getting more Web traffic, you should also have some specific blogging guidelines for your team. Some examples of these might include: How many words each post should have. How many links/images/keyword uses/etc. each post should have. How often blog posts need to be published (editorial calendar). Where to find appropriate images for the blog. Writing tone/grammar/style guidelines. Information about the target audience you are writing for. By establishing goals and guidelines for your blog, you create a foundation that will help shape your blog and ensure that all team members are on the same page. If everyone on the team understands what you hope to accomplish with your blog and how you want them to do it, this will eliminate the need for extensive rewriting, editing, and other issues down the road. Start #blogging by turning your goals into #blog posts. #contentmarketing2. Make Sure Everyone Knows Their Role When you imagine how a blog post is created, you might think of a single person, typing away in solitude- the blogger. However, effective business blog posts often require several people to work together in a collaborative environment. Usually, it’s most effective for the roles to be split between two or three people, though sometimes one (very busy!) person may fulfill all roles. Here are some of typical roles that go into blog post creation: Project manager: This person assigns all tasks and sets deadlines. Topic and keyword generator: This person is responsible for finding blog topics and doing research to determine the best keywords and title to use. This person may also be the project manager. Content writer: This person is responsible for writing the content, which should incorporate the ideas, keywords, title, etc., as given to them by the project manager or topic/keyword generator. Content editor: This person checks and fixes the content’s grammar before the post is published. Image-finder and blog publisher: The accompanying images (and image tags) are essential for a good blog post. Someone must be responsible for finding these images and securing the necessary copyrights. This same person is often also in charge of actually posting the blog (typically using a content management system  like  WordPress) and making sure everything looks as it should. Promoter: A blog post is not worth much if no one ever reads it. Someone needs to promote your blog on social media, posting links to it across different sites and social media platforms. These marketing team roles may differ somewhat from one team to the next, but the point is that everyone involved is responsible for a particular task so that nothing gets left by the wayside. Make sure everyone involved in #blogging is responsible for a particular task so nothing is missed.It’s also good to have team members that can fulfill multiple roles if needed. For example, if your main writer is out of town one week, the editor should be able to step in and fulfill her role. 3. Set Deadlines Your Team Can- And Will- Actually Meet Everything youve done so far- setting goals, guidelines, and roles- has led up to how to set deadlines that are realistic and achievable for your team. Once everyone knows their role in creating a blog post, you need to set deadlines to make sure each team member actually completes their assigned task, and that they do so in a timely matter. After all, you should be publishing a new blog post every one to two weeks, so timeliness is key. In today’s mostly virtual workplace, the best way to set deadlines and make sure everyone is on task is by using  a project management tool like . With , you can manage all communications regarding the blog in one place, and ensure all tasks and subtasks are completed on time. helps teams collaborate together on content marketing projects like blogging, social media, and events. The tool allows teams to assign different tasks to multiple people working on a given project, while minimizing the use of email. You can use to assign tasks and deadlines to your entire team.  This is an actual example of the workflow we use at ! Based on role, you can customize your workflow, set deadlines for each team members unique tasks, and comment back and forth to the team right in . What Does A Successful Collaborative Blog Post Look Like? So, you’ve put together a team and they’ve started to publish blogs. But how do you know if these blogs are any good? Well first, you’ve got to make sure they have specific instructions. All of our writers know exactly what is expected with each blog post, including, but not limited to: Word count Tone of article Number of inbound and outbound links Types of images to use And more†¦. Think of the things youd have to include in a perfect Write For Us page. Let’s dive into it a bit deeper. Okay, so, what qualities do effective blog posts have? Good blog posts have multiple visuals. Custom images, illustrative screenshots, and photographs of real people are best (as opposed to stock photos). The guidelines for our writers specify how many images, and the types of images that are appropriate for the blog post. Good blog posts are easy to read. Content should be broken down into multiple sections with multiple headers and sub-headers. Bullet points and numbered lists are much easier to read than a big wall-o-text. Good blog posts are optimized for SEO. Posts will integrate keyword research in a natural, organic way. Good blog posts have links. Make sure your blog post links to other resources for further reading, including previous blog posts you’ve published. Where possible, you should also link to studies and statistics that reinforce the points you make in your blog. Good blog posts are original and engaging. This means that they shouldn’t have any re-hashed content from other blogs. They need to have original ideas and be written in a fresh, engaging manner. Good blog posts have proper grammar. If you want your blog to be successful, a blog post with bad grammar is simply unacceptable. Make sure all writers and editors are up to par and don’t have sloppy writing habits. Good blog posts have great titles. Having a catchy title is crucial if you want your blog to do well on search engines. If you need help you can use a headline analyzer or a blog topic generator. Don’t Forget About Guest Blogging While not every blog post will require a guest blogger, this is another important role that makes your blog a group effort. As a guest blogger- someone who writes a post for a website other than their own- I am able to gain exposure and Web traffic for my business through new outlets, and allow new audiences to get to know me. Another great thing about guest blogging is that it is a two-way street, meaning that I often receive a guest blog post from the site I’m writing one for. This helps me meet my own content needs and also get some fresh and interesting perspectives for my blog. This is a great way to divvy up the work for your team, which puts a little less strain on some of your deadlines. Remember: Your Blog Is A Work In Progress Having one good blog post is certainly an accomplishment, but in order for your blog make a lasting impact that furthers your organization’s goals, you need to publish great blog posts on a regular basis. That means knowing how to set deadlines each team member meets.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Free Essays on Classification Of Video Games

Classification of Video Games Video games can be classified into several distinct categories. Though video games are all basically the same thing, a computer program that is made to entertain people. Arguably one of the first video games was Pong on Atari, but since then video games have changed so dramatically that there are thousands of games in various categories. The main categories in today’s gaming world are Role-Playing Games (RPG), Sport Games, and First Person Shooting Games. The most popular category is RPG, so it is best to start off with this class. An RPG is a game that places a player in a story as a specific character or role and the player must complete certain tasks, and solve puzzles to strengthen his/her character and keep the story line going. These games are very long and at some times frustrating to those of little patience. But to true gamers a good RPG can consume them into the plot and make them feel as though they are living another life through the character in the game. Some excellent RPGs that have been known to do this are Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, and The Realm. Also there are games that contain a plot and have the player assume a certain role but give you a first person view and usually a big gun to defeat enemies. These types of games are known as First Person Shooting games. They are pretty basic in their plot and the name of their category says it all. You are a character that has to fend off evil foes from invasion or destruction of something you hold dear. Whether it being your world, country, or even your girlfriend the enemy is trying to kill them and you must put a stop to it. Usually the player is a super human of some sort, who has numerous weapons to eradicate enemies who stand in their way. Most of these games contain various levels, which increase in difficulty as you conquer each of them. When you come to the end of the game there is usually an evil boss who is almost i... Free Essays on Classification Of Video Games Free Essays on Classification Of Video Games Classification of Video Games Video games can be classified into several distinct categories. Though video games are all basically the same thing, a computer program that is made to entertain people. Arguably one of the first video games was Pong on Atari, but since then video games have changed so dramatically that there are thousands of games in various categories. The main categories in today’s gaming world are Role-Playing Games (RPG), Sport Games, and First Person Shooting Games. The most popular category is RPG, so it is best to start off with this class. An RPG is a game that places a player in a story as a specific character or role and the player must complete certain tasks, and solve puzzles to strengthen his/her character and keep the story line going. These games are very long and at some times frustrating to those of little patience. But to true gamers a good RPG can consume them into the plot and make them feel as though they are living another life through the character in the game. Some excellent RPGs that have been known to do this are Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, and The Realm. Also there are games that contain a plot and have the player assume a certain role but give you a first person view and usually a big gun to defeat enemies. These types of games are known as First Person Shooting games. They are pretty basic in their plot and the name of their category says it all. You are a character that has to fend off evil foes from invasion or destruction of something you hold dear. Whether it being your world, country, or even your girlfriend the enemy is trying to kill them and you must put a stop to it. Usually the player is a super human of some sort, who has numerous weapons to eradicate enemies who stand in their way. Most of these games contain various levels, which increase in difficulty as you conquer each of them. When you come to the end of the game there is usually an evil boss who is almost i...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Businness Continuity Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Businness Continuity Plan - Assignment Example The managerial strategy is shaped according to the internal environment of the organization. In the modern era, every business organization performs in a dynamic environment where the external factors are constantly changing and unpredictable. The primary goal of all companies is to achieve their set goals and objectives, and all strategies pertaining to this attainment is subjected to situations both internal and external to the organization. The external factors include political and economic conditions of the country along with customers, competition and technology. The concerned print shop is connected to the internet by satellite link. In this case, the external threats can be in the form of viruses or worms that are generally spread through the internet. Internal threats may occur when an employee steals any information. In many cases external threats may happen due to internal factors. For instance, if an employee, knowingly or unknowingly passes on business information in soc ial media sites then any foreign entity can send an innocent looking email to employee’s profile which if the employee opens can infect the entire system and compromise the shop’s network (Cole, 2012, p.88). Therefore, the need is to keep track of all kinds of threats and adopt protection accordingly. It is important for any manager to identify risks of the concerned business and take practical steps not only for daily activities but also for the future of the company. Managing risks can become extremely difficult if the manager does not take into confidence the owner of the shop. As a manager it is my duty to remind the owner the significance of an effective risk management tool. Communication is another important aspect of risk management. Therefore, my principle focus is on communication to the employees about the current events that can affect the smooth operation of the shop. It is not possible for a manager to work along without

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Sampling size and sample size for qualitative research Coursework

Sampling size and sample size for qualitative research - Coursework Example There are many factors that divide the population into sub-populations. This study expects that the measurement of interest may vary significantly among different strata. The variation has to be captured when selecting a sample from the whole population in order to obtain a sample that represents the whole population (LeCompte & Schensul,  2010). This is very significant in eliminating any form of biasness. A stratified sample is obtained through taking samples from each stratum of the whole population. As a result, each characteristic that is unique within the population which is under study is captured. This plays a significant role in reducing any potential for human bias when selecting cases to be incorporated in the sample (Ryan, 2013). Therefore, this strategy will enable me to come up with a sample that is highly representative, assuming that there will be no cases of missing data which might affect the overall results of the study. Reducing sampling error is one of the major goals of any selection technique while conducting a research. Although other sampling techniques are less expensive and time consuming, they are bound to have several errors that might affect the overall results of the study. Therefore, the fact that each stratum is incorporated in the sample and all the variables that might affect the results are taken into consideration makes this strategy to be more effective in comparison with others. Since the samples are selected using probabilistic methods, stratified sampling method will enable me to make statistical conclusions after analyzing the data that will be collected. This will be critical in identifying whether the data will be valid or not and whether there will be some other factors that will need to be taken under consideration. Furthermore, relative to simple random sample, this strategy is more superior because it will improve the potential for the units to be evenly spread across the

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Sunlight on the Grass Essay Example for Free

Sunlight on the Grass Essay For the purpose of this assignment I will analyse two stories. Firstly I will examine the â€Å"Compass and Torch† by Elizabeth Baines and will demonstrate how the objects in the title relate to the characters of the story and represent key themes. I will then discuss â€Å"Something Old, Something New† by Leila Aboulela and highlight the ways in which the title relates to the story. Firstly the â€Å"Compass and Torch† is a story about a young boy setting out on a camping trip with his estranged father. The compass and torch are used symbolically throughout the narrative to reflect the boy’s feelings and relationship to his family. I feel that the compass symbolises a lack of direction or the absence of a relationship between father and son. This can be demonstrated when they are about to leave the car for their journey together at the bottom of the hill. â€Å"The man looks up – for the first time – at the path they will take, which runs from the gate to the brow of the hill. Then he groans: I didn’t bring a compass†. The lack of compass showing with nothing to guide them the chance for them to get closer in their relationship is doomed. However, the narrative continues to suggest that the compass is not required, that with love and hope in their hearts, father and son will always be bonded. â€Å"Compasses are things boys and dads tend to have, but which, when they are alert and strong at heart, they can leave behind.† The compass can also be seen as a metaphor for the pull of the boy between his divorced parents. This idea is shown when the boy had gone upstairs looking for his torch and overhears his Mother and her boyfriend Jim talking in the kitchen. â€Å"The boy might have remembered it, the compass, as they were leaving. But he couldn’t wait to get going, for it all to be over †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ And the way his mother said hardly anything, and made her face blank whenever Dad spoke to her or looked her way†. This text demonstrates that mother and father remain hostile following their divorce and reflects the boy’s awareness of this and feelings of being in the middle of it all. The story demonstrates how the camping trip is an opportunity to strengthen the father son relationship, with the torch signifying the path of reconciliation, used as a tool to light the way to a new future. This is highlighted when, as the boy is sitting in his father’s car, he shows him he has brought his torch, representing the boys longing to bond with his dad.â€Å" as the man drops into the driving seat something in the boy’s chest gives a little hop of joy and he cries excitedly, ’oh I brought my torch!’†. This idea is further reinforced in the narrative when we discover both father and son have torches, â€Å"Two torches are for lighting a bigger space in the wilderness, for lighting it together. Two torches are for father and son to back each other up.† Furthermore, the colour of the torches seems to hold some significance. It is shown that the boy has a red torch whilst the father has a green one. I feel this is deliberate and hold connotations similar to a traffic light system where the red torch symbolises the lack of relationship with this father, with no way of moving forward whilst the fathers green torch reflects the idea of rebuilding the relationship, with the possibility of new horizons. Although not in the title of the story the horse is also symbolic of the boy’s mother and highlights further how Baines uses symbolism to represent characters throughout the narrative. For example whilst on his journey with his father a horse appears. â€Å"The horse comes up to the car. She nudges up, puts her nose over the edge of the door. The man bats her away† I feel this represents the mothers need to protect her son and the struggle the boy feels between his parents. The quote above illustrates the father not wanting the mother to be involved, to take a step back. Similarly â€Å"the horse nuzzles the rucksack top and the man pushes her away†. In Something Old, Something New, Leila Aboulela writes about a wedding due to take place between a Scottish man and his Sudanese bride. The title is therefore appropriate to the story as the popular wedding phrase something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. However, the title goes deeper than that and relates to the story in many more ways representing a number of key themes. The groom is depicted as a man desperate to find himself. He has dropped out of medical school and is unsure on which direction his life should take. He converts from Catholicism to Islam and his new spiritual world seems to have saved him. Indeed, the narrative demonstrates how his view of Islam is different to his brides. â€Å"She associated Islam with her dark skin, her African blood, her own weakness. She couldn’t really understand why anyone like him would want to join the wretched of the world. But he spoke with warmth†. Religion for her seems a flaw, but for him represents a new beginning in life. This theme of conflicting ideas of old and new is also depicted when he arrives in Egypt to meet his bride and her brother. Back in Scotland, her ethnic difference seemed exotic, exciting but once in her home country he realises its nothing new any more â€Å"He became aware that everyone looked like her, shared her colour, the women were dressed like her†. The author also utilises the Nile as a metaphor for the proposed marriage. The Nile is one of Egypt’s most anticipated sights, but on closer inspection the groom finds it is not as he expected â€Å"yes it’s beautiful he replied. But as he spoke he noticed that the rivers flow was forceful, not innocent, not playful. Crocodiles no doubt lurked beneath the surface.† I feel this represents the marriage that his idealised view of his wedding and his bride suddenly turning fearful, with the lurking crocodiles a metaphor perhaps for her overbearing brother. With this fear in place, the groom begins to yearn for the comforts of home and staying at the Hilton hotel represents to some degree the characters longing for home comforts. The Hilton used as sign of the Western world in contrast to the barren landscape of Egypt. †The hotel lobby was impressive, the cool tingling blast of the air-conditioner, music playing, an expanse of marble. He felt soothed somehow, more in control†. Another example of this is when the character struggles to follow the strict Islamic custom of mourning following the girls Uncle’s death. â€Å"He shrugged, he did not want to talk about it, was numbed by what had happened, dulled by the separation from her that the mourning customs seemed to impose.† Furthermore the anxiety he feels about this new culture is noted again â€Å"He had thought, from the books he’d read and the particular British Islam he had been exposed to, that in a Muslim country he would find elegance and reason. Instead he found melancholy, a sensuous place, stripped to the bare bones†. The idea of a new life and a new culture suddenly turning sour in his mind is reinforced with the theft of his British passport contributing to a feeling of a loss of identity. To conclude I feel I have demonstrated how the stories titles relate to the overall meaning of the story and how symbolism is used to portray characters and to enhance the mood and tone of the narrative. Where possible I have provided key examples to support my ideas and to illustrate my understanding of the texts.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Admissions Essay: To Fly Alone :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay: To Fly Alone "Dr. Johnson ... Dr. Johnson...." As I wearily walked down the artificially lit corridor, I realized it was my father's doctor being paged. I turned and ran towards the intensive care unit I had left a few minutes ago. The sterilized odor of the hospital overwhelmed me as I raced through a maze of white walls to confront his death. After bolting through heavy metal doors, I saw doctors and nurses rushing frantically around the room. I could only hear one sound. It filled the air and was audible above all the commotion and the heavy pounding of my heart. The monotonous beep of the monitor meant Daddy was gone forever. While sitting next to his cold body, I focused at the crimson drops, which stained the yellow linoleum floor and slowly remembered what a terrible ordeal the past six weeks of hospitalization had been. My Life had changed forever since the day I sped through traffic with my Dad shivering in the back seat next to my worried mother. I was scared to death without even knowing that the killer was Leukemia. Although the chemotherapy proceeded well, it gradually wore my father away. The first side effects were a loss of appetite accompanied by nausea and vomiting. His hair fell out next, and I could tell my Father's courage was beginning to waver. A look of pain and anguish had replaced his usual smile and with each passing day he looked more like my grandfather. It all seemed like a bad dream. While packing up hours after he had passed away, I found a note directed towards me. It was in Father's handwriting; blurry scribbles because the medicine made his hands shake. I sat down and cried because it said in Spanish, "My son, it is time for you to fly alone." It is hard to understand Dad's absence, and that he left on my 17th birthday. Although I miss him everyday I am grateful for all the time we spent together and everything my father taught me. He pointed me in the right direction and made me believe in myself. There is good in this beautiful world, and life will always receive my best effort. I will never be embarrassed by my heritage and will succeed. I know he is proud of me.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Motivation To International Business

Domestic market: VOSCO will still be the biggest shipping company especially in bulk and dry bulk cargo transportation while continuing to develop oil and container shipping International market: VOSCO tend to be more active and concentrate on seaborne trade within Asian Region (such as Korea, China, Indonesia†¦) as well as furthering other freight routes all over the world (Africa, Europe and America). Motivation why VOSCO want to expand their market to foreign market because Currently the demand of shipping in Vietnam is limited and just holds a minor part.So VOSCO certainly will need to enter foreign markets to get more profit and customers (sources of cargo-supply in long term) and utilize the fleet capacity (bulk, tanker and container ships) as well as reduce the inventory cost and promote economies of scale. In the near future demand for import-export from regional countries and the amount of cargo in international shipping expects to rise tremendously in the near future.A ccording to UNDESA 2012, worldwide commercial good transported by sea will increase by 36% in 2020 and double the gross tonnage by 2033, especially bulk cargo still remain as the major – which is also the strength of VOSCO fleet. The barriers to entrance foreign market are reduced or eliminated when Vietnam joined ASEAN and WTO recently: VN has been a member of WTO since 2007, commercial relations with over 220 countries and territories, sign 88 bilateral trade agreements, establish 7 FTA with 15 countries.So removes significantly trade barriers and is good condition for Vietnamese companies, specifically VOSCO to enter foreign markets. VOSCO has a lot of good competitive advantages to develop further like: low-cost and skilled crew (seafarers), good related and supporting system such as shipbuilding industry, ports†¦ (VOSCO is a member of VINALINE)†¦ Moreover the company can manage and exploit their own fleets therefore positively seek to customers and participate in international market without dependence on other partners.In addition, VOSCO officially takes part in foreign market also means the company have to deal with a lot of threat. The biggest one is the competition from much bigger rivals around us such as COSCO, Hanjin†¦ in both price and quality wars, then other threats emerging from the host country like culture, policy and currency. Now move to factors this company should consider in shaping their strategies to compete in foreign market.We did mention that China and Indonesia can be potential foreign market so let’s take a look at some external environmental analysis of them: Political Factor: both Indonesia and China are considered as stable political environment, unlikely the high political risk in Africa. Tariffs are high but on decreasing slope. The recent dispute on The East Sea between China and some countries including Vietnam may not affect too much on trade between countries. Economic Factor: both countries ar e in trillion dollar GDP club. Currently China’s economy is the second biggest economy in the world and Indonesia ranks 15th.Especially FDI plays a vital role in China and Indonesia growth rate. Trade between these two countries with other all over the world continues to rise significantly regardless of the bad impact of public debt in Europe economy. Socio-cultural Factor: Population in Indonesia and China is extremely high not only in Asia but in the world. However there’s a big difference between these culture, especially in religion(major religion in China is Buddhism but Indonesia is Muslim) Technological Factor: Transport system and Communication System in these countries are effective and highly developed compared with other in region.From this analysis we can see that the company should choose a proper method to access the market. We think the way of merger and acquisition or integration with a local freight forwarder would be efficient because setting up a new affiliate is risky (postponement). Nevertheless setting up subsidiary or using will help the firm take the initiative in linking with local customers. Beside that VOSCO should focus on its own strength in shaping other strategies.Generic competitive strategies: Focus on market niche will be a good choice because VOSCO now take advantage in dry and bulk cargo transportation. It also means mineral, grain and other agricultural product will be the major commodity. In shaping the production strategy, there are two main factors: fleet and logistics service. Like we said before, VOSCO should renew and upgrade regularly their quality and functionality fleet to meet the international transport demand. For example:Firstly, technical improvement in ship sizes and draft is required (international coal shipping require 30,000 – 70,000 DWT vessels; demand for regional rice shipping currently concentrate on under 10,000 DWT vessels but in the near future it will increase to 20,000  œ 30,000 DWT) Secondly, standardization factor (the problem of registry – Vietnamese registered vessel may satisfy the operation standard but in fact it is unfavorable in international transport because standards by VR may not strict enough). The factor of logistics activities in both home and host country is very important.Investing in logistics infrastructure such as warehouse, inland transportation†¦ in China or Indonesia should be a long-term objective. Initially it should be integration with local providers. Expanding business in foreign market certainly need to consider factors in human resources. Integration can be seen as the first step before M&A process. Initially local shipping agent and logistics provider will run totally by local employees (inpatriate) then gradually replaced by our expatriates especially the top position. Therefore selection, training and development those expatriates will play an important role (Ex: Culture: China – Indonesia).Secon dly VOSCO must set up a competitive compensation package to motivate them and finally a proper relocation policy. Move to financial issues, initially the company should not consider the financial objective as the most important. Instead, the outcome better focus on (which is reflected by customer satisfaction). Another factor is the source of fund for the subsidiary. Depend on the (high) IR and exchange rate in both China and Indonesia, it’ll be better if the fund depends on both parent company and local borrowing and they uses the most common method: dividend remittance to pay back the parent firm.Finally regular financial report to the VOSCO headquarter is necessary in order to hedge the risk and develop their own financial strategy. The last but not least is containerization. Expand the business focusing on dry and bulk cargo market doesn’t mean we skip the container market. Like I said, this is a long-term objective because the current inefficiency of VOSCO contain er vessels. Therefore, profit from bulk cargo shipping can be reinvested in developing container lines services in the future.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Supreme court

Write a speech from your characters point of view about why they don't like the New Deal and what they think should happen instead. We, the Supreme Court are strongly opposed to the legislations of the New Deal; we can declare that we will do everything in our power to stop President Roosevelt and his New Deal. As you may be aware, we have currently found two of President Roosevelt laws unconstitutional.The National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment act but unfortunately by doing this we have angered President Roosevelt who is now a great threat to us. He sees us as a group of angry old republicans who have denied democracy by throwing out the laws that he was elected to pass. Unfortunately, he has recently taken the matter so far as to ask congress to give him the power to appoint 6 more Supreme Judges who dare I say would have been more democratic and more sympathetic towards the New Deal.Thankfully, the American people caused an national outcry strongly again st Roosevelt plans as they saw him as attacking the American system of government, The rumors that we have heard also suggest that even many of his close friends were strongly opposed to what he suggested and we are known pleased to say that yes, Roosevelt has realized that Hal plan to pack the court with his own allies does make him indeed appear to be a dictator and yes, he has backed down.He obviously knew that Congress would never approve. We, the Judges of the Supreme Court have been shaken by Roosevelt actions and we will definitely be less obstructive In the future, and will definitely be more cautious in the way we Interpret our duties, so It does appear to us that Roosevelt efforts haven't all gone to waste. Although I hardly doubt he'll be trying that again with us any time soon.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Theory of ‘The Zone of Proximal Development’ and ‘Scaffolding’ The WritePass Journal

The Theory of ‘The Zone of Proximal Development’ and ‘Scaffolding’ References: The Theory of ‘The Zone of Proximal Development’ and ‘Scaffolding’ IntroductionSection 1: The Theory of ‘The Zone of Proximal Development’ and ‘Scaffolding’.Section 2: Educational examples of teaching utilising ‘ZPD’ and ‘Scaffolding’.Section 3: Implications of scaffolding on Teaching and the Teacher.References:Related Introduction Section 1: The Theory of ‘The Zone of Proximal Development’ and ‘Scaffolding’. â€Å"The zone of proximal development is the distance between what children can do by themselves and the next learning that they can be helped to achieve with competent assistance† (Raymond, 2000, p.176). Vygotskys socio-cultural theory is widely cited by educators and teachers even today, as they formulate plans on how to get the most from students, challenging them to reach their highest potential. Vygoysky believed that social interaction leads not only to increased levels of knowledge, but that it actually changes a childs thoughts and behaviours and hence develops problem solving. Since it is the goal of parents and teachers alike to help children become high achievers, taking a look at the work of Vygotsky and examining his conclusions seemed the best course for this assignment. Lev Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is what has led to the term and concept of learning through scaffolding, as introduced in 1976 by Wood, Bruner and Ross, to describe educational interaction between an adult and a child.   The idea was used to explore the nature of aid provided by a teacher for children learning how to carry out a task they could not perform alone.   Bruner’s ideas of spiral curriculum and scaffolding are related. Bruner (1960) stated that the curriculum should revisit the basic ideas for each subject, repeatedly building upon them until the pupil understands them fully (the spiral curriculum), rather than just to learn the facts. A parallel has been drawn between the notion of scaffolding and ZPD theories of Vygotsky (Hobsbaum,A., Peters,S., Sylva,K., 1996). If teachers wish to provide learning opportunities, they must assess the child’s present developmental level and estimate the ‘length’ of the ZDP. This can be achieved by using current APP grids and assessing the exact level of the pupil and what they need to achieve to reach the next level and progress further.   But, the child must be able to make use of the help of others; the learner needs the ability to benefit from the give-and-take activities and conversations with others (Bruner, 1983).   Vygotsky acknowledged the limits of the ZPD, but most psychological research has emphasized the importance of the role of the environment; including parents and other adults (teachers and care givers) who are ‘expert’ models and guides for a young learner. The full development during the ZPD depends upon full social interaction and the more the child takes advantage of an adult’s assistance, the broader their ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ is. Vygotsky defined scaffolding instruction as the â€Å"role of teachers and others in supporting the learner’s development and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level† (Raymond, 2000, p. 176). Vygotsky refers to what children can do on their own as the ‘level of actual development’. LAD in his view, it is the level of actual development that a standard IQ test measures.   Such a measure is undoubtedly important, but it is also incomplete.   Two children might have the same level of actual development, in the sense of being able to solve the same number of problems on a standardised test.   Given appropriate help from an adult, still, one child might be able to solve an additional dozen problems while the other child might be able to solve only two or three more.   What the child can do with the help is referred to as the ‘level of potential development’ (Vasta, R., Haith, M.M., Miller, S.A., 1995). Scaffolding can take the form of targeted questioning for a specific task or modeling a task, so that a teacher can individualise learning to meet the requirements of each individual student.   However this is dependent on the teacher knowing the pupils’ previous knowledge.   The scaffolds facilitate a student’s ability to build on their prior knowledge and interpret new data or information. The activities provided in scaffolding instruction are at the next learning level beyond the LAD or what the learner can do alone (Olson Pratt, 2000).   The teacher provides the scaffolds so that the learner can accomplish with assistance – the tasks that he or she could otherwise not complete, thus helping the learner through the ZPD (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000). Section 2: Educational examples of teaching utilising ‘ZPD’ and ‘Scaffolding’. If we first review Assignment 2 (appendix one) we can see that the two pupils have considerably differing LAD’s. Pupil Two working at a Level 3C and Pupil One working at Level 2B. This was evident with the amount of scaffolding that each pupil required throughout the task. Pupil Two was able to complete the task with limited scaffolding, as her ‘level of actual development’ was high and through questioning to ensure that she followed a sequence she completed the task. However with Pupil One, a large amount of modelling and leading questions were required to allow her to complete the task because her LAD was at a lower level and her previous experiences of problem solving were limited so she was therefore limited to the experiences she could recall. â€Å"Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).† (Vygotsky, 1978). However approximately four weeks later during my first teaching practice I finished a numeracy unit with a similar problem with a lower ability group. Pupil One who had required a large amount of scaffolding was able to approach the task as she had the experience and the tools to approach this task (appendix two) and complete it with limited support and therefore show that previous experience is vital and that if the pupil is actively listening during the process that it will assist. This is supported by Vygotsky (1978) as he believed that the internalisation of these tools led to higher thinking skills. During assignment four (appendix four, p5-7) we can again see that Pupil One, who is read to at home, using more advanced books, but also regularly reads with a supporting adult. Helped by their parents when they first start learning to speak, young children are provided with instinctive structures to learn a language. Bed-time stories and read alouds are classic examples (Daniels, 1994). She has a higher reading age and has far more reading strategies to ensure that she is a fluent reader, but also through her social background as stated by Vygotsky (1978) she has a greater understanding of the text and the ability to discuss the text. Pupil Two however, reads mainly on her own and is therefore unable to discuss any issues within the text with a more able adult. This restricts her to only one type of strategy, therefore she is working at a whole level behind Pupil One. In assignment three, (appendix three) we can see that this task was an open task to see how problem solving could be developed within ‘Gifted’ and ‘Talented’ literacy pupils. They were asked to create a way of showing next year’s Year 3 pupils what performance poetry is. Therefore the pupils did not have any teacher input apart from giving the seven pupils the objective and explain that they would be filmed to allow observation. By watching the video back we can see that the pupils had to explain and support each other through the task by acting as peer tutors. â€Å"Children also learn from each other by collaborative learning, involving children who are at similar levels of competence working together in pairs or in groups and also peer tutoring, involving a more knowledgeable child providing guidance to another child in order to bring him up to a higher level of competence in a task. Research has shown that this not only benefits the child who is receiving the guidance; it also promotes learning in the child expert.† Maynard 2006. By reviewing the results and the video evidence it is possible to see that an individual pupil would not have achieved a complete task, as they had to discuss and talk through how they were going to choose the poetry, a location and the structure of the film. Each pupil had their own input and they worked together to produce the final film. Section 3: Implications of scaffolding on Teaching and the Teacher. Before discussing the implications of scaffolding, we have to realise that these examples are taken from pupils either individually or in small groups and from a controlled environment, where they do not have any external social factors effecting them. In society today educators need to take into account and realise that teaching in a class of 30, there will be individuals with issues that can be beyond their control and that before teaching we have to take into account the five factors of ‘Every Child Matters’ that if a child has one of these missing they will not be able to focus and learn. One of the primary benefits of scaffolding instruction is that it engages the learner.   The learner does not passively listen to information presented but instead through teacher questioning and prompting, the learner builds on prior knowledge and forms new knowledge.   In working with students who have low self-esteem and learning disabilities, it provides an opportunity to give positive feedback to the students by saying things like â€Å"†¦see what you have achieved so far!†Ã‚   This gives them more of a can do attitude, compared to a; I can’t do this attitude.   This leads into another advantage of scaffolding in that if done properly, scaffolding instruction motivates the student so that they want to learn.   However the significance of the ZPD is that it determines the lower and upper bounds of the zone within which instruction should be pitched. This requires an experienced teacher who understands the current educational level of every pupil. Theref ore Instruction is only useful when it moves ahead of development (Vygotsky 1978 p. 212), leading the child to carry out activities that force him to rise above himself (Vygotshy 1978 p. 213). Therefore, this indicates that working with a class of thirty children means that a teacher would have to take into account thirty LAD’s and ZPD’s. The difficulties of this are self-evident but proficient teachers are able to at least maximise this understanding. Another benefit of this type of instruction is that it can minimise the level of frustration of the learner.   This is extremely important with many special needs students, who can become frustrated very easily then shut down and refuse to participate in further learning during that particular setting. Scaffold instruction is individualised so it can benefit each learner.   However, this is also the biggest disadvantage for the teacher since developing the supports and scaffolded lessons to meet the needs of each individual would be extremely time-consuming. Implementation of individualised scaffolds in a classroom with a large number of students would be challenging, therefore pupils can become grouped within their current ability and LAD that they are currently working at. However as we have previously seen, pupils working as a group can scaffold each other and therefore develop their skills collaboratively. These groups would then benefit from being mixed ability as the higher ability pupil would be able to act as the expert. This would also help to motivate all pupils on task and provide responsibility. Reciprocal scaffolding, a method first coined by Holton and Thomas, is a method that involves a group of two or more collaboratively working together, as we see in assignment three. In this situation, the group can learn from each others experiences and knowledge. The scaffolding is shared by each member and changes constantly as the group works on a task (Holton and Clarke, 2006). According to Vygotsky, students develop higher-level thinking skills when scaffolding occurs with an adult expert or with a peer of higher capabilities (Stone, 1998). This is completely opposed to Paiget’s theory. Another disadvantage is that unless properly trained, a teacher may not properly implement scaffolding instruction and therefore not see the full effect.   Scaffolding also requires that the teacher give up some of the control and allow the students to make errors.   This may be difficult for teachers to do, as teachers are required to plan their lessons and meet specific objectives, the lesson could progress in a completely different direction and therefore not meet that specific objective. So timing of the teacher’s imput is vital, to ensure children do not go too far off track. Although there are some drawbacks to the use of scaffolding as a teaching strategy, I believe that the positive impact it has on the development of pupils, and therefore the success of the lesson, is vital to consider when planning. References: Applebee, A. N. and J. A. Langer, 1983. Instructional scaffolding: Reading and writing as natural language activities. Language Arts, 60/2. Bransford, J., Brown, A., Cocking, R.   (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, and Experience School.   Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Bruner, J. (1960). The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. 1978. The role of dialogue in language acquisition In A. Sinclair, R., J. Jarvelle, and W. J. M. Levelt (eds.) The Childs Concept of Language. New York: Springer-Verlag. Daniels, H. (1994). Literature Circles: Voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. Markham: Pembroke Publishers Ltd Hobsbaum, A., Peters, S., Sylva, K. (1996). Scaffolding in Reading Recovery. Oxford Review of Education, 22, 17-35 Holton, Derek, and Clark, David (2006). Scaffolding and metacognition. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 37, 127-143. Maynard, S. (2006). Vygotsky and the Child Apprentice. teachingexpertise.com/articles/vygotsky-and-the-child-apprentice-1428 5/04/2011. Olson, J. and Platt, J. (2000).   The Instructional Cycle.   Teaching Children and Adolescents with Special Needs (pp. 170-197).   Upper Saddle River, NJ:   Prentice-Hall, Inc. Raymond, E. (2000). Cognitive Characteristics.   Learners with Mild Disabilities (pp. 169-201). Needham Heights, MA:   Allyn Bacon, A Pearson Education Company. Stone, C. A. (1998). The metaphor of scaffolding: Its utility for the field of learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31(4), 344–364. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Penny Press Creator Benjamin Day Changed Journalism

Penny Press Creator Benjamin Day Changed Journalism Benjamin Day was a printer from New England who started a trend in American journalism when he founded a New York City newspaper, The Sun, which sold for a penny. Reasoning that a growing working-class audience would respond to a newspaper that was affordable, his invention of the Penny Press was a genuine milestone in American journalism history. While Day’s newspaper proved successful, he was not particularly suited to being a newspaper editor. After about five years of operating The Sun, he sold it to his brother in law at the very low price of $40,000. The newspaper continued to publish for decades. Day later dabbled with publishing magazines and with other business endeavors. By the 1860s he was essentially retired. He lived on his investments until his death in 1889. Despite his relatively short tenure in the American newspaper business, Day is remembered as a revolutionary figure who proved that newspapers could be marketed to a mass audience. Early Life of Benjamin Day Benjamin Day was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on April 10, 1810. His family had deep roots in New England going back to the 1830s. While in his teens Day was apprenticed to a printer, and at the age of 20 he moved to New York City and began working in print shops and newspaper offices. He saved enough money to start his own printing business, which nearly failed when the cholera epidemic of 1832 sent a panic through the city. Trying to salvage his business, he decided to start a newspaper. Founding of The Sun Day was aware that other low-cost newspapers had been tried elsewhere in America, but in New York City the price of a newspaper was generally six cents. Reasoning that working-class New Yorkers, including newly arrived immigrants, would read a newspaper if they could afford it, Day launched The Sun on September 3, 1833. At the outset, Day put the newspaper together by repackaging the news from out of town newspapers. And to stay competitive he hired a reporter, George Wisner, who ferreted out news and wrote articles. Day also introduced another innovation, newsboys who hawked the newspaper on street corners. The combination of a cheap newspaper that was easily available was successful, and before long Day was making a good living publishing The Sun. And his success inspired a competitor with far more journalism experience, James Gordon Bennett, to launch The Herald, another penny newspaper in New York, in 1835. An era of newspaper competition was born. When Horace Greeley founded the New York Tribune in 1841 it was also initially priced at one cent. At some point, Day lost interest in the day-to-day work of publishing a newspaper, and he sold The Sun to his brother in law, Moses Yale Beach, in 1838. But during the short time he was involved in newspapers he had successfully disrupted the industry. Day’s Later Life Day later launched another newspaper, which he sold after a few months. And he started a magazine called Brother Jonathan (named for the common symbol for America before Uncle Sam became popular). During the Civil War Day retired for good. He admitted at one point that he had not been a great newspaper editor, but had managed to transform the business â€Å"more by accident than design.† He died in New York City on December 21, 1889, at the age of 79.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Mental health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mental health - Essay Example Herein, this essay will discuss who the First Nations people really are, how they got a reputation that has inspired fear and unease, and what should be done to help the people so that they are effective, healthy members of our society – and on some of their own terms – so that children can grow up and have a less difficult time assimilating than their parents have had. Although every source gives a varying number, it seems that there are more than 1.5 million First Nations people living in the Canadian area. There is also much debate about how long they’ve been there, and what their rights actually are. For starters, First Nations people have long-since claimed that their territories are being encroached upon by Canadian development, with no compensation given to them for land that that they believe is rightfully theirs. Over the years, many types of council have been developed to aid them. The Congress of Aboriginal People, Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) are three organizations designed to defend First Nations rights. As well, The Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 also afforded rights to First Nations individuals. Still, in the 1990s, newspapers were rife with information about the lack of assimilation of the First Nations people. It was decided that the First Nations children should attend formal schools, receive standard immunizations, and, in effect, become more like â€Å"regular† Canadian people. Mothers claimed that when they refused, their children were taken away from them and put into foster homes. A lot of First Nations people saw this as retaliation for their refusal to move off of their land, or refusal to give their land away to Canadians for little or no monetary compensation. As recently as May 2008, AFN Chief Phil Fontaine wrote, â€Å"Aboriginal people in Canada are not getting their rights fully recognized† (Fiddler, 2008). Fiddler’s news article discussed the decision made

Friday, November 1, 2019

Key leadership principles, 5 Levels of listening, 4 developmental Essay

Key leadership principles, 5 Levels of listening, 4 developmental stages of empathic listening - Essay Example Going through the section on habit five, Covey asserts that even though individuals are always taken through other aspects of communication such as reading, writing and speaking, listening is similarly of great significance. According to Covey, any communication process involves five levels of listening. The first level is ignoring, which is characterized by not really paying attention to the perceptions of the other party, and that the practice of pretending is the second level of listening. Covey emphasizes that the aspect of hearing only a few positions, which is known as selective listening is the third level of listening and that attentive listening that is characterized by taking note of one’s energy on the words being said is the fourth level. The author strongly believes that in as much as people are able to make sense of the perceptions of others when they go through the four levels of listening highlighted above, there is need to practice emphatic listening, which is essentially skill based and truncated from both character and the relationship that exists between the parties at hand. Emphatic listening is of great significance in communication because it focuses on listening with intent to understand rather than concentrating on the how to reply, control and manipulate the conversation (Covey 248). Similarly, Covey holds the opinion that emphatic listening is far-reaching in communication, as it enables the parties involved to look inside their frames of reference and see through the worlds of each other, thereby understanding how each party feels instead of exhibiting sympathy. The author recommends that emphatic listening should make use of the ears, eyes and the heart and though it has often been put forward that s uch an approach makes individuals more susceptible to manipulation, it is important, as it provides accurate data to work with. To demonstrate how productive emphatic listening is during