Instructional strategies and approaches Essay Example for Free

Instructional strategies and approaches Essay Introduction Careful monitoring of student learning is an essential component of quality education . It is a strong predictor of student achievement as well as a major differentiating factor between effective schools and teachers from the ineffective ones. Monitoring of student learning refers to the various activities pursued by responsible and competent teachers to keep track of student learning for purposes of making instructional decisions and providing feedback to students on their performance and progress in school. Strategies for Monitoring Students. Students have different learning styles which is why teachers should strive hard to find activities that will suit the needs of their students. One way of monitoring students to ensure learning is by asking them questions about the lesson presented to check if they understand it or not. Questioning is a highly effective strategy to draw students into the learning process from the very beginning of a class session until the end. It stimulates their interest in new subjects, ideas and challenges; and it encourages students to be reflective about their own beliefs, assumptions and comprehension of new topics. Questioning conveys to students what they are to learn, what they are to do, and how they are going to do it. Effective questioning involves planning and practice prior to conducting lessons. Questions, oral recitations and other means of calling upon students to demonstrate their understanding of lessons presented are some of the methods teachers used to find out if their instruction is working and effective or if it needs to be explained further or adjusted in some way to ensure learning of students. Another method of monitoring student learning and progress is by supervising their seat works. This activity involves the teacher to circulate or move around the classroom to check how well or how poorly the students are progressing in the task. This is also an opportunity for her to provide a one-to-one instruction to those who need it. Homework on the other hand can be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental depending upon the nature and the context of the homework tasks. When carefully monitored by the teacher, this activity can increase the student’s learning time, thus, may contribute to an increase in the student’s achievement. Homework also helps students gain a positive attitude towards school, toward the particular subject areas in which homework is assigned and toward the homework itself. Daily, weekly and monthly reviews can at the same time enhance the learning of new material if incorporated with questioning and other learning probes. In this manner, the teacher can identify those areas which needs re-teaching. Classroom testing also bear a positive relationship to later student achievement when administered regularly and frequently. Studies revealed that students who are tested frequently and given feedback immediately are found to have positive attitudes toward tests. They regard tests as a facilitating factor to the learning and studying process. Finally, teachers should frequently review student’s performance data to check on their performance and progress. This is conducted for the purpose of identifying who among the students are at risks, needs remediation or a one-on-one teaching. Effective Monitoring Systems Teachers should, before proceeding to the next lesson, determine first whether the students understood her lessons or not. It is very important that students should practice or perform skills in the right way first before introducing them to another lesson or sub-skill. One of the best and most effective ways of monitoring my students is by asking them questions during class discussions. This is not only to draw their attention towards the lesson presented to them, but to also to stimulate their interest to the next topic that I am about to introduce to them. Questioning accomplishes so many things in my students. First, it reinforces or corrects their understanding towards the subject being discussed to them. It also encourages them to engage in active learning. It provides them new information gained from the questions raised and it gives them an opportunity to clarify some points in the subject being discussed. Foremost, it prepares them to learn and apply new skill to new challenges, and thus, extends their way of thinking about life. Questioning does not only broaden my students’ focus on the topic presented to them but it enables me to identify their preparedness to accept new information. This learned information helps me to modify, restructure or change the lessons that I am about to introduce to them afterwards. I also believe in the importance of supervising my student’s seatwork. I see that this strategy initiates more interaction with my students than just wait for them to call me and ask for help. When necessary, I also give extension for those who need extra time to finish their tasks. This is to allow slow learners to cope with the rest of their classmates. Other than providing personalized or one-on-one instruction, time extensions is also helpful and effective as a means to ensure learning in students. When my students are through with their tasks, I always make sure to have them turned in for checking and grading purposes. Monitoring student’s homework is also a great help to ensure learning in students. To be able to reap its benefits, I always make sure that the homework I gave to them are those that are tied to the subject matter we currently studied in the classroom and are appropriate to their maturity level. I use this type of monitoring system as a means of extending student practice time with the new material presented to them. I also make sure that parents get involve in the process, and that they are aware of what needs to be done so that they themselves encourage their child to do the homework. Turned in homework are always graded, commented on and checked before being handed back to students as this would allow my students to review and correct their mistakes. Finally, to check whether my instructions were fully understood or not, I give my students a test or a short quiz to confirm their grasp of the lesson presented to them and to identify as well possible gaps in their knowledge and understanding of the subject area. This also helps me keep track of my student’s learning for the purposes of making instructional decisions and providing feedback on their performance and progress in school. All these strategies are used to be able to make adjustments in my instructions to ensure learning in my students; to determine if the methods I used in teaching them are effective or not and; to identify as well who among my students are at risks, needs remediation or a one-on-one teaching.

The Meat Industry Essay -- Food Cattle Environmental Health Essays

The Meat Industry The cattle industry produces vast amounts of strain in the environment. It is energy inefficient, pollutes water, occupies many acres of land, and deteriorates the health of the people who abuse its consumption. The government subsidizes this industry. Therefore, the price paid for meat doesn’t reflect the environmental hazards involved in the process. In order to protect our health and the health of the environment we should pay close attention to our food choices and make sure we don’t support industries that degrade it. The energy return ratio (as food energy per fossil energy expended) of the most energy efficient factory farming of meat is 34.5%, while that of the least energy efficient plant food is 328%. Fossil energy is utilized from before a cow is raised until it is eaten. This account for the necessary energy to clear land from its original vegetation, to grow cow feed, to operate slaughterhouses and transportation. Forty pounds of soybeans are produced by the same amount of fossil fuels required to produce one pound of meat. All these factors indicate the inverse relationship between meat production and fossil energy savings. The meat industry consumes over half of all water used for all purposes in the United States. Most of this water is used to irrigate cattle feedlots. Water utilized to produce 1 pound of meat amounts to 2,500 gallons. In comparison, the water utilized to produce 1 pound of wheat amounts to 25 gallons. In Texas, a quarter of the groundwater has already been used to grow crops for the expanding cattle feedlots and wells are drying up across the northern part of the state. Also, cattle contribute to water pollution. Cows are routinely washed and the runoff containing manu... ...en to be energy inefficient because of the quantity of fossil fuels required for its production. It causes deforestation, topsoil erosion, extensive water usage and pollution, along with numerous health hazards. Many of our tax dollars are directed towards this cause through government subsidies. Among the possible solutions to this problem would be to implement laws to halt deforestation for cattle production, to stop subsidizing water for cow feed, to control cattle population and to increase standards for manure management. Also to, implement mandatory education measures in hospitals for patients suffering from cardiovascular disorders and other health problems related to meat consumption. At the personal level, it is necessary for us to take responsibility for our actions, by paying attention to every bite and being aware of how our decisions affect the planet.

Pina Bausch

Dance is an expressive art form, it gives the choreographer and dancers a chance to be able to release and engage their ideas through physical practice. Not all pieces have a meaning but may have an aesthetic level of semiotic content. As an audience we recognise and interpret movement, sometimes this is not conscious as this is an analysing tool that we all use to read situations in everyday life. This essay studies the piece The Rite of Spring (1974) by Pina Bausch (1940-2009). Bausch was a German modern dance choreographer who rebelled against ballet and made her own twist on dance. The rite of spring was one of her many frantic pieces. Bausch uses emotion, costume and staging to make this piece individual and unforgettable. Bausch uses a mix of responsive gestures and powerful unison movement; she goes into great depth and detail to portray the subject of human sacrifice. The choreography has been carefully thought out and you can see this by watching the piece, it has a phatic semiotic level. The music accompanying the piece is composed by Igor Stravinsky (1882- 1971) the piece has three sections: (Introduction, Omens of Spring–Dances of the Youths and Maidens, Ritual of Abduction). There are many instruments used helping the piece explore different pitches and tempos giving more scope to play with as a choreographer. Some of the instruments used : piccolos, flutes, English horn, clarinets, bass clarinets, bassoons, contrabassoons, French horns, piccolo trumpet, trombones, tubas, timpani, bass drum, triangle, and strings. Phrase one – Female solo explosion. Performer| Movement| Space| Sound| 1 vulnerable woman wearing a red dress. Her role is being sacrificed. She is trained dancer, her facial expression shows distress. Stillness, explosive movement, drops and falls, repetition of the motif of the head falling towards the floor and being flung back up again. | The spatial view was of one female and then the rest of the group huddled together in a staggered clump. Whilst dancing the women doesn’t travel far but covers a space and keeps moving within it. | The music used is very intense and dramatic, its use of tempo and pitch add to the nature of th e piece and adds effect to the dynamics in the choreographed movement. In this phrase the female performer wears a see through red dress exposing one of her breasts, this shows her vulnerability and is referential to the fact that red can mean ‘dying’. The piece has a phatic semiotic level as the stage has been set in a certain way which draws attention to the female, as the other performers are set in a staggered clump giving the impression of a group relationship. Whilst the woman explodes into dance the rest of the company stand watching in fear as she jerks herself to death. The choreography used is very repetitive as she collapses to the floor and back up again, the strength and ability shown through her movement is very believable as you see the tension moving through her body. The way the performer repeats the motif of her head swinging to the floor this could be a metalinguistic level as we associate this kind of movement with stress and frustration. Phrase two – circle sacrifice Performer | Movement| Space| Sound| A mix of male and female dancers. Males have just trousers on and women just chiffon dresses. They are all trained dancers, and their facial expressions in this phrase are neutral. Starts with slow walks and repetition of the same motif of the head being swung towards the floor. As the phrase goes on the movement turns jerky and more energy is put into the phrase as the movement is developed. | The whole of the stage is covered as the dancers create a spacious circle. Highlighting the main focus of the red dress that is in the centr e of the circle. | The music starts slow and quiet as the movement starts to pick up the music complements it as the tempo gets faster. There is a loud explosion of music twice in this phrase. | This phrase consists of many different devices such as unison work, canon, motif development and partner work. They start the phrase in a spacious circle, and the red dress is left in the centre this indicates the power of the dress and shows that they are all in fear of being the one chosen to be sacrificed. Again the as the dress is red in colour it is referential to the fact red could mean ‘dying’. There is a motif that is repeated throughout the piece but is more apparent in this phrase as they all dance it in unison and then it develops further; it is the motif of them swinging their head towards the floor and back up again. This could be metalinguistic as we associate this movement with frustration, aggravation and disturbance. As the motif is developed it gives the audience trace level signs as it is embedded in the work and creates the idea of the aggravation and frustration excelling further. As stated above there is also an element of partner work used the proxemics suggest an intimate relationship and the movement used suggests vulnerability from the women. The music starts quiet and gradually picks up as the movement and motif develops; this makes the audience feel the emotion and state that all the performers are in as it does not take the emphasis away from the movement content. In the phrase all the performers collapse to the floor, this sudden fall is accompanied by a loud explosion of music; it adds such effect and shows the phatic level of semiotics as it was obviously rehearsed that way to make the dynamic stand out. Bausch has put so much detail into the choreography, staging and costumes; the overall effect is the meaning and depth of the piece. The two phrases that are analysed above use similar choreography although both are unique in different ways. Phrase one – female solo explosion, the attention is drawn to the one female dancer that is dancing her solo. The impression that comes across is the thought of her being alone as the other performers are all stood together watching on. In comparison phrase two- the circle sacrifice, the feeling and staging makes the group seem as a whole and that they are all equal; this is because they all move the same in unison and no one is singled out. In phrase one the movement content is jerky, energetic and extremely emotional for the one female dancer; whilst the rest of the group are swaying gently this implies that the feeling that the female is experiencing is most defiantly not of which the group are. Phrase two on the other hand shows that the group are together and are dancing as a whole. The contrast between phrase one and two are not that different as they are both following the same theme of sacrifice making the choreography through the piece restricted into what style and practice is used. The Rite of Spring is an exceptionally meaningful piece that shows the difference between the royal ballet and modern dance. The twist widens the restrictions and enables people to dance without having all the Ballet technique. The two phrases above certainly stand out in the piece and add to the story telling ability. To conclude the analysis of this piece has been very intriguing to watch the performance in a different light, it helps you understand and helps you see the nature of the piece and how it was made. Bibliography

Difficulties of Colonisation of Mars Using the Shoemakers Ark

There are many reasons that Mars’ colonisation using Shoemakers Ark is a good idea, however, there are also many contradictory arguments that may also make Mars uninhabitable. Understandably, Mars’ colonisation seems like a fantastic idea to preserve the human race from extinction, but have leading scientist and powerful governments considered the small details of this seemingly impossible venture? Firstly, Mars’ temperatures are far too unstable for human colonisation to exist. Currently, Mars functions at -127 degrees to 27 degrees Celsius which is far outside human comfort. However, as discussed in question 4, modern technologies can prevail over this complex issue through climate control measures for example. These measures can easily replicate Earth’s comfortable temperature and also regulate humidity. Compounds like these already exist in high altitude areas such as the Himalayas. Thus, scientists could easily create ‘Climate Control Compounds’ using similar techniques and construction methods. Therefore, with a simple adaptation to our already existent technology, we can be one step closer to creating Shoemakers Ark. On the other hand, the colonisation in these Climate Control Compounds will be restricting and uncomfortable for the majority of civilians. Lack of Leisure resources and â€Å"open spaces† may result in conflict inside the Colonisation. This conflict does not provide any positive productiveness in the advancement of the human race. Strict rules,