Essay on Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care

Essay on Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care Essay on Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care Essay on Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social CareMy personal values and principles influence consistently my contribution to work in the health and social care setting.As for my personal contribution to the support of people experiencing significant life events, I would place emphasis on the fact that I still expect to make a possibly greater contribution because I have a limited experience so far. Nevertheless, I have always been concerned with the adequate fulfilment of my professional duties and the effective help and support being provided for people experiencing difficult and significant life events.My experience of contribution to the development of my professional skills and abilities but also it was a valuable personal experience. In this regard, I believe my efforts to provide patients counselling services were particularly useful and important. Often clients just needed to have someone to talk to and my listening skills have proved to be very helpful since clients could talk to me and share their problems with me that brought them relief.At the same time, my culture and experience have had a considerable impact on my support of people experiencing significant life events. For instance, I have the experience of difficult life events in my childhood, when my parents divorced, and that experience has proved to be very helpful for me since I could understand sufferings and psychological conditions of individuals experiencing similar life events.My cultural values and norms imply that we should provide the support for people in troubles and these cultural norms also contributed to my support of people experiencing significant life events.On the other hand, I found out that I was still vulnerable to certain biases, when I have just started working with clients. For instance, at first, I believed that people are responsible for their position and success in the life, but, in the course of my work with people experiencing significant li fe events has changed my attitude and views. To put it more precisely, I have eventually found out that people are not always capable to control what is going on to their life. In this respect, my experience of work with a veteran of the War in Iraq, who has suffered severe injuries and remained disabled, was particularly important for me and change of my values and views. After his return home, he slept to alcoholism, which I still believe was his personal problem to a significant extent, but what occurred to me is the fact that we are also responsible for his degradation because, upon his return back home, he has not got proper health and social care. Moreover, even when I started to work with him, I found out that he is not really confident in me and I understood why. The reason was my very formal approach to the client was my conversation with him. Once, I found him disappointed because of the loss of his favourite football team and that was my favourite team too. Then we starte d talking in a friendly manner discussing the team and talking about football at large and I immediately noticed the change in the client. He became friendly and more confident in me.In the course of my work, I found out that my cultural values and norms basically coincide with those of the health and social care environment, where I worked. First of all, I strongly believe that the client’s health and well-being should be the primary concern and the culture of the organisation, where I worked, stands on the ground of the client-centred approach.Furthermore, I believe that professionals working in the health and social care should take the full responsibility for their actions and the cultural environment, where I worked, made this belief even stronger because I found out how significant actions and decisions of professionals working in the health and social care are.At the same time, I still keep progressing and focus on my personal and professional development. I expand my knowledge and develop new skills and abilities. In such a situation, I believe new experience and my professional as well as personal development can contribute to the improvement of my professional performance and make my contribution to the support of people experiencing significant life events even larger. For instance, the development of my communication skills has increased the effectiveness of my performance and facilitated my interaction with clients. Now, I am fully aware of the cultural diversity of the organisational environment, where I work, and it helps me to stand on the tolerant ground to avoid offenses or inappropriate behaviour in relation to my clients.In this regard, I would just suggest several recommendations for improving the support available in health and social care organisations for individuals and their social networks experiencing significant life events. First, I would recommend focusing on the development of the closer interpersonal interaction and rela tions between health and social care professionals and patients. In this regard, health and social care professionals should know the cultural background of their clients, what their health problem is and what social environment they live in. Second, I would recommend enhancement of the communication and interaction between health care and social care professionals because often communication gaps between them emerge that has a negative impact on the quality of health and social care services.Task 2My work in the health and social care environment was a valuable experience for e because it contributed to my professional as well as personal development. In this regard, my role comprised elements of both health and social care, although I performed functions of a health care professional mainly. However, in the course of my work, I found out that I should not only provide my clients with basic health care services but also with their social support. For instance, some clients needed t o talk to me, even if the issues they talked about were irrelevant to their health. Therefore, they rather looked for the social support than for the immediate resolution of their health problems.My experience of working in the health and social care setting has revealed the fact that some of my skills still need consistent improvements, while those skills I have at the moment have proved to be very helpful for my professional performance and further development.On analyzing my strengths, I would single out several key strengths that have proved to be particularly helpful in the course of my work in the health and social care setting. First, I have well-developed communication skills, which have proved to be very helpful in the course of my work in the health and social care environment. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that communication skills helped me to establish positive relations with clients and provide them not only with health care but also with counselling s ervice. Second, my theoretical knowledge in health and social care were also important strengths that helped me to perform successfully. My theoretical knowledge laid the ground for the development of practical skills and experience. The enhancement of my professional skills in the course of my work was facilitated by my theoretical knowledge in the field of health and social care.Essay on Personal and Professional Development in Health and Social Care part 2

Train the SAT Essay with Real Examples

Train the SAT Essay with Real Examples SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One of the best ways to learn the SAT essay is to look at example submissions by other real students. By judging these example essays yourself, you'll understand much better what SAT graders are looking for. You'll also learn from these examples what to do and not to do. Here at PrepScholar we grade numerousessays with a real live human grader as part of our SAT preparation process. This gives us real, actual, student submissions to real College Board SAT prompt essays. We have anonymized two real actual student submissions below and shared them in hopes of helping you improve on the SAT. We have found that one of the best ways to prepare for the SAT essay is go through the excercise of reading through the essays of other real students. There are two parts to the excercise: the first part is pretending you're the grader and assigning the student a grade. This lets you get inside the head of a grader, and understand what the grader is looking for. The second part of the excercise is to notice and understand what makes a good essay good and a bad essay bad. Example SAT Essay Prompt: The following two example essays were in response to the following prompt actually given on an SAT, paraphrased: Background: An incorrect andcynical view of how people behave says that humans are mainly driven by selfish motives: wanting money, power, or fame. However, history gives us a lot of cases of people who gave up their own good for a cause or idea that they thought was more important than sometimes their own lives. Concience the strong voice from within that tells us moral right from wrong can be a more compelling force than money, power, or fame. Prompt: Is conscience a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power? The First Essay While reading the essay, and before reading our answer, note the following: - What grade would you give this essay and why? The lowest possible is 2/12, and the highest is 12/12. The essay scoring rubric is here. - What did you like most about the essay and the least? Before reading onwards, make sure you do the excercise above to the most out of this. This is essay ended up receiving a six out of twelve. The main positive points was that it had mostly correct grammar and spelling. It also used examples that were well organized. However, the lower score was due to the fact that the examples didn't strongly support the thesis. A mandate, a command, by a philosopher (Plato) hardly proves that people actually are unselfish. The example from The Shining of pathological psychology seems evasive of the main prompt, and psychopathy hardly seems to be proof that people act in accordance to their conciense. The Second Essay Again, while reading the essay, and before reading our answer, note the following: - What grade would you give this essay and why? The lowest possible is 2/12, and the highest is 12/12. The essay scoring rubric is here. - What did you like most about the essay and the least? This is essay ended up receiving a twelve out of twelve, putting it in the top percentile of essays as scored by the SAT. This essay has impeccable grammar, spelling, and is well organized. More than then first essay you saw, the examples here provided great justification for the main thesis. The examples are incredibly relevant and signifcant. The diction is tight, and phrasing well-chosen for example "cloud judgment" and "silence the whisper of consience" are great creative uses of imagry. What's Next? The college admissions process has become so competitive that it's helpful to plan well in advance for SAT/ACT prep during high school. Here are a few guides to help your thinking: Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points, or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

How the Reduced Shakespeare Company's rendition of Shakespeare plays Research Paper

How the Reduced Shakespeare Company's rendition of Shakespeare plays is a positive influence in the world of theater - Research Paper Example The success of the RSC’s works can be gauged from the fact that three of their shows ran for nine straight years in the Criterion Theatre located in Piccadilly Circus. These shows have been recognised as London’s longest running comedies and have even superseded Andrew Lloyd Weber’s shows in the West End. (Reduced Shakespeare Company) The RSC has some typical methodologies for performing on stage and on adapting popular works. One technique is to abridge entire pieces of literature into manageable pieces of performance on stage. This ensures that the audience is involved in the performance. Another technique is the use of comedy within these works through improvisation and planning to make these performances more entertaining for the audience. Improvisation is a major facet of the way that the RSC conducts its stage performances. The acts are known to be highly varied from one performance to the other, even with the same cast because of the improvisation involved . (Utah Shakespearen Festival) This introduces another favourable aspect of the RSC’s performance style. The constant improvisation ensures that the performances presented are in sync with contemporary trends and styles. This ensures that the pieces of literature and theology presented by the RSC are relevant to audiences even today. In the words of Daniel Singer, the founder of the RSC, the work of the RSC helps modern audiences connect with classic literature. He contends that without such connections, classic literature and performances would turn into a â€Å"ghettoistic† culture. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Evolution The RSC’s most popular presence on stage, television and other forms of media has been The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. This popular piece evolved over a number of years from various experiences and experiments. The founder of the RSC, Daniel Singer and a few other young performers were trying to create a half an hour ve rsion of Shakespeare’s Hamlet for a performance at the Novato California Renaissance Pleasure Faire. The venue where the play was staged was hot, full of dust, noisy and full of distractions. It was next to impossible to keep the audience’s attention. The performance venue was frequented by â€Å"drunken hecklers, intrusive parades and backstage confusion† in the words of David Singer. Consequently, the cast was forced to improvise extensively. This improvisation improved by a large degree as the performances proceeded. (Singer) Consequently, Daniel Singer along with Adam Long and Jess Winfield began to enact various pieces of literature in rather hilarious ways. The performances were well adapted in terms of time so that the audience did not drift away. The subject material of the piece of literature was delivered using contemporary trends in the performing arts. New trends such as the use of matinee programming, hip hop etc. were also introduced with time to k eep the audience engrossed in the performance. Various works from Shakespeare were adapted including Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, Merchant of Venice, the line of dramas about England’s kings and the like. Eventually, the troupe decided to merge all of these acts into one performance. This laid the foundation for what became The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Eventually the entire lineage of Shakespeare’s work was put together and the performance was fine tuned to last a total of

Briefly outline the court system in England and Wales, and in Essay

Briefly outline the court system in England and Wales, and in particular the role of the Crown Court - Essay Example The Courts of England and wales are made up of the following different courts namely, the magistrate’s courts, the country courts, the Crown court, the High Court of justice, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which work in line with the European court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights (Clarissa, 2004). These courts are subdivided in to three main divisions namely the senior courts, the subordinate Courts and the special courts. The senior courts include the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Crown Court. The Subordinate courts include the magistrates’ court and the county courts while the special courts and tribunals include the ecclesiastical courts and the coroners’courts. These are smaller specialized courts dealing with various matters. The tribunals in England and Wales include the Employments Tribunal, Employment Appeals Tribunal and the first tier and Upper tribunals. The Employment tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal are established to hear industrial disputes. The First-Tier and Upper tribunals have taken up most of the roles and functions that have traditionally been conducted by various tribunals. Other special courts are the Coroner court and the ecclesiastical courts which date back to over 1000 years ago (Richard, Amanda &Amanda, 2011). The coroner’s courts deal with causes of death for individuals who pass away in suspicious circumstances or in foreign countries. The Ecclesiastical courts are based on the Church of England’s legal system, which is the official state church. The court has jurisdiction over marriage and divorce matters, defamation and testamentary matters. The jurisdiction of the court has however narrowed down to the clergy men of the Church of England. These are subordinate local courts established to hear mainly criminal cases and some civil matters at the first instance. These courts are staffed by

Control cycles-a general model Essay Example for Free

Control cycles-a general model Essay A general model of organizational control includes four components that can operate in a continuous cycle and can be represented as a wheel. These elements are: 1. Setting a goal. Project goal setting goes beyond overall scope development to include setting the project baseline plan. The project baseline is predicated on an accurate. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) process. Remember that WBS establishes all the deliverables and work packages associated with the project, assigns the personnel responsible for them, and creates a visual chart of the project from highest level down through the basic task and subtask levels. The project baseline is created as each task is laid out on a network diagram and resources and time durations are assigned to it. 2. Measuring progress. Effective control systems require accurate project measurement mechanisms. Project managers must have a system in place that will allow them to measure the ongoing status of various project activities in real time. We need a measurement system that can provide information as quickly as possible. What to measure also needs to be clearly defined. Any number of devices allow us to measure one aspect of the project or another; however, the larger question is whether or not we are getting the type of information we can really use. 3. Comparing actual with planned performance. When we have some sense of the original baseline (plan) and a method for accurately measuring progress, the next step is to compare the two pieces of information. A gap analysis can be used as a basis for testing the project’s status. Gap analysis refers to any measurement process that first determines the goals and then the degree to which the actual performance lives up to those goals. The smaller the gaps between planned and actual performance, the better the outcome. In cases whe re we see obvious differences between what was planned an what was realized, we have a clear-cut warning signal. 4. Taking action. Once we detect significant deviations from the project plan, it becomes necessary to engage in some form of corrective action to minimize or remove the deviation. The process of taking corrective action is generally straightforward. Corrective action can either be relatively minor or may involve significant remedial steps. At its most extreme, corrective action may even involve scuttling a nonperforming project. After corrective action, the monitoring and control cycle begins again. The control cycle is continuous. As we create a plan, we begin measurement efforts to chart progress and compare stages against the baseline plan. Any indications of significant deviations from the plan should immediately trigger an appropriate response, leading to a reconfiguration of the plan, reassessment of progress, and so on. Project monitoring is continuous, full-time cycle of target setting, measuring, correcting, improving, and remeasuring. MONITORING PROJECT PERFORMANCE As we discovered in the chapters on project budgeting and resource management, once we have established a project baseline budget, one of the most important methods for indicating the ongoing status of the project is to evaluate it against the original budget projections. For project monitoring and control, both individual task budgets and the cumulative project budget are relevant. The cumulative budget can be broken down by time over the project’s projected duration. The Project S-Curve: A Basic Tool As a basis for evaluating project control techniques, let us consider a simple example. Assume a project (Project Sierra) with four work packages (Design, Engineering, Installation, and Testing), a budget to complete of $80,000, and an anticipated duration of 45 weeks. To determine project performance and status, a straightforward time/cost analysis is often our first choice. Here the project’s status is evaluated as a function of the accumulated costs and labor hours or quantities plotted against time for both budgeted and actual amounts. We can see that time (shown on the x, or horizontal, axis) is compared with money expended (shown on the y, or vertical, axis). The classic project S-curve represents the typical form of such a relationship. Budget expenditures are initially low and ramp up rapidly during the major project execution stage, before starting to level off again as the project gets nearer to its completion. Cumulative budget projections for Project Sierra have been plotted against the project’s schedule. The S-curve figure represents the project budget baseline against which budget expenditures are evaluated. Monitoring the status of a project using S-curves becomes a simple tracking problem. At the conclusion of each given time period (week, month, or quarter), we simply total the cumulative project budget expenditures to date and compare them with the anticipated spending patterns. Any significant deviations between actual and planned budget spent reveal a potential problem area. Simplicity is the key benefit of S-curve analysis. Because the projected project baseline is established in advance, the only additional data shown are the actual project budget expenditures. The S-curve also provides real-time tracking information in that budget expenditures can be constantly updated and the new values plotted on the graph. Project information can be visualized immediately and updated continuously, so S-curves offer an easy-to-read evaluation of the project’s status in a timely manner. (The information is not necessarily easily interpreted, however, as we shall see later.) Our Project Sierra example can also be used to illustrate how S-curve analysis is employed. Suppose that by week 21 in the project, the original budget projected expenditures of $50,000. However, our actual project expenditures totaled only $40,000. In effect, there is a $10,000 budget shortfall, or negative variance between the cumulative budgeted cost of the project and its cumulative actual cost. In the table it shows the track of budgeted expenditures with actual project costs, including identifying the negative variance shown at week 21. In this illustration, we see the value of S-curve analysis as a good visual method for linking project costs (both budgeted and actual) over the project’s schedule. S-CURVE DRAWBACKS When project teams consider using S-curves, they need to take the curve’s significant drawbacks into consideration as well as their strengths. S-curves can identify positive and negative variance (budget expenditures above or below projections), but they do not allow us to make reasonable interpretations as to the cause of variance. Consider the S-curve shown. The actual budget expenditures have been plotted to suggest that the project team has not spent the total planned budget money to date (there is negative   variance). However, the question is how to interpret this finding. The link between accumulated project costs and time is not always easily resolved. Is the project team behind schedule (given that they have not spent sufficient budget to date) or might there be alternative reasons for the negative variance? Assume that your organization tracks project costs employing an S-curve approach and uses that information to assess the status of an ongoing project. Also assume that the project is to be completed in 12 months and has a budget of $150,000. At the six-month checkup, you discover that the project S-curve shows significant shortfall; you have spent far less on the project to date than was originally budgeted. Is this good or bad news? On the surface, we might suppose that this is a sign of poor performance; we are lagging far behind in bringing the project along and the smaller the amount we have spent to date is evidence that our project is behind schedule. On the other hand, there are any number of reasons why this circumstance actually might be positive. For example, suppose that in running the project, you found a cost-effective method for doing some component of the work or came across a new technology that significantly cut down on expenses. In that case, the time/cost metric may not only be misused, but might lead to dramatically inaccurate conclusions. Likewise, positive variance is not always a sign of project progress. In fact, a team may have a serious problem with overexpenditures that could be interpreted as strong progress on the project when in reality it signals nothing more than their inefficient use of project capital resources. The bottom line is this: Simply evaluating a project’s status according to its performance on time versus budget expenditures may easily lead us into making inaccurate assumptions about project performance. Milestone Analysis Another method for monitoring project progress is milestone analysis. A milestone is an event or stage of the project that represents a significant accomplishment on the road to the project’s completion. Completion of a deliverable (a combination of multiple project tasks), an important activity on the project’s critical path, or even a calendar date can all be milestones. In effect, milestones are road markers that we observe on our travels along the project’s life cycle. There are several benefits to using milestones as a form of project control. 1. Milestones signal the completion of important project steps. A project’s milestones are an important indicator of the current status of the project under development. They give the project team a common language to use in discussing the ongoing status of the project. 2. Milestones can motivate the project team. In large projects lasting several years, motivation can flag as team members begin to have difficul ty seeing how the project is proceeding overall, what their specific contribution has been and continues to be, and how much longer the project is likely to take. Focusing attention on milestones helps team members become more aware of the project’s successes as well as its status, and they can begin to develop greater task identity regarding their work on the project. 3. Milestones offer points at which to reevaluate client needs and any potential change requests. A common problem with many types of projects is the nature of repetitive and constant change requests from clients. Using project review milestones as formal â€Å"stop points,† both the project team and the clients are clear on when they will take midcourse reviews of the project and how change requests will be handled. When clients are aware of these formal project review points, they are better able to present reasonable and well-considered feedback (and specification change requests) to the team. 4. Milestones help coordinate schedules with vendors and suppliers. Creating delivery dates that do not delay project activities is a common challenge in scheduling delivery of key project components. From a resource perspective, the project team needs to receive supplies before they are needed but not so far in advance that space limitations, holding and inventory costs, and in some cases spoilage are problems. Hence, to balance delays of late shipments against the costs associated with holding early deliveries, a well-considered system of milestones creates a scheduling and coordinating mechanism that identifies the key dates when supplies will be needed. 5. Milestones identify key project review gates. For many complex projects, a series of midterm project reviews are mandatory. For example, many proj ects that are developed for the U.S. government require periodic evaluation as a precondition to the project firm receiving some percentage of the contract award. Milestones allow for appropriate points for these review. Sometimes the logic behind when to hold such reviews is based on nothing more than the passage of time (â€Å"It is time for July 1 review†). For other projects, the review gates are determined based on completion of a series of key project steps (such as the evaluation of software results from the beta sites). 6. Milestones signal other team members when their participation is expected to begin. Many times projects require contributions from personnel who are not part of the project team. For example, a quality assurance individual may be needed to conduct systems tests or quality inspection and evaluations of work done to date. The quality supervisor needs to know when to assign a person to our project, or we may find when we reach that milestone that no on e’s available to help us. Because the QA person is not part of the project team, we need to coordinate his or her involvement in order to minimize disruption to the project schedule. 7. Milestones can delineate the various deliverables developed in the work breakdown structure and therefore enable the project team to develop a better overall view of the project. You then are able to refocus efforts and function-specific resources toward the deliverables that show signs of trouble, rather than simply allocating resources in a general manner. For example, indications that the initial project software programming milestone has been missed allows the project manager to specifically request additional programmers downstream, in order to make up time later in the project’s development. Problems with Milestones Milestones, in one form or another, are probably the simplest and most widely used of all project control devices. Their benefits lie in their clarity; it is usually easy for all project team members to relate to the idea of milestones as a project performance metric. The problem with them is that they are a reactive control system. You must first engage in project activities and then evaluate them relative to your goal. If you significantly underperform your work to that point, you are faced with having to correct what has already transpired. Imagine, for example, that a project team misses a milestone by a large margin. Not having received any progress reports up until the point that the bad news becomes public, the project manager is probably not in a position to craft an immediate remedy for the shortfall. Now, the problems compound. Due to delays in receiving the bad news, remedial steps are themselves delayed, pushing the project farther behind. EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT An increasingly popular method used in project monitoring and control consists of a mechanism that has become known as Earned Value Management (EVM). The origins of EVM date to the late 1960s when U.S. government contracting agencies began to question the ability of contractors to accurately track their costs across the like of various projects. As a result, after 1967, the Department of Defense imposed 35 Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria that suggested, in effect, that any future projects procured by the U.S. government in which the risk of cost growth was to be retained by the government must satisfy these 35 criteria. In the more than 30 years since its origin, EVM has been practiced in multiple settings, by agencies from governments as diverse as Australia, Canada, and Sweden, as well as a host of project-based firms in numerous industries. Unlike previous project tracking approaches, EVM recognize that it is necessary to jointly consider the impact of time, cost, and project performance on any analysis of current project status. Put another way: Any monitoring system that only compares actual against budgeted cost numbers ignores the fact that the client is spending that money to accomplish something-create a project. Therefore, EVM reintroduces and stresses the importance of analyzing the time element in project status updates. Time is important because it becomes the basis for determining how much work should be accomplished at certain milestone points. EVM also allows the project team to make future projections of project status based on its current state. At any point in the project’s development we are able to calculate both schedule and budget efficiency factors (the efficiency with which budget is being used relative to the value that is being created) and use those values to make future projections about the estimated cost and schedule to project completion. We can illustrate the advance in the project control process that Earned Value represents by comparing it to the other project tracking mechanisms. If we consider the key metrics of project performance as those success criteria discussed in Chapter 1 (scheduling, budget, and performance), most project evaluation approaches tend to isolate some subset of the overall success measure. For example, project S-curve analysis directly links budget expenditures with the project schedule. Again, the obvious disadvantage to this approach is that it ignores the project performance linkage. Project control charts such as tracking Gantt charts link project performance with schedule but may give budget expenditures short shrift. The essence of a tracking approach to project status us to emphasize project performance over time. While the argument could be made that budget is implicitly assumed to be spent in some preconceived fashion, this metric does not directly apply a link between the use of time and performance factors with project cost. Earned value, on the other hand, directly links all three primary project success metrics (cost, schedule, and performance). This methodology is extremely valuable because it allows for regular updating of a time-phased budget to determine schedule and cost variances, as identified by the regular measurement of project performance. Terminology for Earned Value Following are some key concepts that allow us to calculate Earned Value and use its figures to make future project performance projections. PVPlanned value. A cost estimate of the budgeted resources scheduled across the project’s life cycle (cumulative baseline). EVEarned value. This is the real budgeted cost, or â€Å"value,† of the work that has actually been performed to date. ACActual cost of work performed. The cumulative total costs incurred in accomplishing the various project work packages. SPISchedule Performance Index. The earned value to date divided by the planned value of work scheduled to be performed (EV/PV). This value allows us to calculate the projected schedule of the project to completion. CPICost Performance Index. The earned value divided by the actual, cumulative cost of the work performed to date (EV/AC). This value allows us to calculate the projected budget to completion. BACBudgeted cost at completion. This represents the total budget for a project. Creating Project Baselines The first step in developing an accurate control process is to create the project baselines against which progress can be measured. Baseline information is critical regardless of the control process we employ, but baselines are elemental when performing EVM. The first piece of information necessary for performing earned value is the planned value; that is, the project baseline. The PV should comprise all relevant project costs, the most important of which are personnel costs, equipment and materials, and project overhead, sometimes referred to as level of effort. Overhead costs (level of effort) can include a variety of fixed costs that must be included in the project budget, including administrative or technical support, computer work, and other staff expertise use (such as legal advice or marketing). The actual steps in establishing the project baseline are fairly straightforward and require two pieces of data: the Work Breakdown Structure and a time-phased project budget. 1. The W ork Breakdown Structure identified the individual work packages and tasks necessary to accomplish the project. As such, the WBS allowed us to first identify the individual tasks that would need to be performed. It also gave us some understanding of the hierarchy of tasks needed to set up work packages and identify personnel needs (human resources) in order to match the task requirements to the correct individuals capable of performing them. 2. The time-phased budget takes the WBS one step further: It allows us to identify the correct sequencing of tasks, but more importantly, it enables the project team to determine the points in the project when budget money is likely to be spent in pursuit of those tasks. Say, for example, that our project team determines that one project activity, Data Entry, will require a budget of $20,000 to be completed, and further, that the task is estimated to require 2 months to completion, with the majority of the work being done in the first month. A ti me-phased budget for this activity might resemble the following: Activity| Jan| Feb| †¦| Dec| Total| Data Entry| $14,000| $6,000| | -0-| $20,000| Once we have collected the WBS and applied a time-phased budget breakdown, we can create the project baseline. The result is an important component of earned value because it represents the standard against which we are going to compare all project performance, cost, and schedule data as we attempt to assess the viability of an ongoing project. This baseline, then, represents our best understanding of how the project should progress. How the project is actually doing, however, is, of course, another matter. Why Use Earned Value? Assume that it is now week 30 of the project and we are attempting to assess the project’s status. Also assume that there is no difference between the projected project costs and actual expenditures; that is, the project budget is being spent within the correct time frame. However, upon examination, suppose we were to discover that Installation was only half-completed and Project Testing had not yet begun. This example illustrates both a problem with S-curve analysis and the strength of EVM. Project status assessment is only relevant when some measure of performance is considered in addition to budget and elapsed schedule. Consider the revised data for Project Sierra. Note that as of week 30, work packages related to Design and Engineering have been totally completed, whereas the Installation is only 50% done, and Testing has not yet begun. These percentage values are given based on the project team or key individual’s assessment of the current status of work package completion. The question now is: What is the earned value of the project work done to date? As of week 30, what is the status of this project in terms of budget, schedule, and performance? Calculating the earned value for these work packages is a relatively straightforward process. We can modify the previous table to focus exclusively on the relevant information for determining earned value. The planned budget for each work package is multiplied by the percentage completed in order to determine the earned value to date for the work packages, as well as for the overall project. In this case, the earned value at the 30-week point is $51,000. We can compare the planned budget against the actual earned value using the original project budget baseline. This process allows us to assess a more realistic determination of the status of the project when the earned value is plotted against the budget baseline. Compare this figure with the alternative method, in which negative variance is calculated, with no supporting explanation as to the cause or any indication about whether this figure is meaningful or not. Recall that by the end of week 30, our original budget projections suggested that $68,000 should have been spent. Instead, we are projecting a shortfall of $17,000. In other words, we are not only showing a negative variance in terms of money spent on the project, but also in terms of value created (performance) of the project to date. Unlike the standard S-curve evaluation, EVM variance is meaningful because it is based not simply on budget spent, but value earned. A negative variance of $10,000 in budget expenditures may or may not signal cause for concern; however, a $17,000 shortfall in value earned on the project to date represents a variance of serious consequences. Steps in Earned Value Management There are five steps in Earned Value Management (EVM): 1. Clearly define each activity or task that will be performed on the project, including its resource needs as well as a detailed budget.As we demonstrated earlier, the Work Breakdown Structure allows project teams to identify all necessary project tasks. It further allows for each task to be assigned its own project resources, including equipment and materials costs, as well as personnel assignments. Finally, coupled with the task breakdown and resource assignments, it is possible to create the budget figure or cost estimate for each project task. 2. Create the activity and resource usage schedules. These will identify the proportion of the total budget allocated to each task across a project calendar. Determine how much of an activity’s budget is to be spent each month (or other appropriate time period) across the project’s projected development cycle. Coupled with the development of a project budget should be its direct linkage to the project schedule. The determination of how much budget money is to be allocated to project tasks is important. Equally important is the understanding of when the resources are to be employed across the project’s development cycle. 3. Develop a â€Å"time-phased† budget that shows expenditures across the projects life.The total (cumulative) amount of the budget becomes the project baseline and is referred to as the planned value (PV). In real terms, PV just means that we can identify the cumulative budget expenditures planned at any stage in the project’s life. The PV, as a cumulative value, is derived from addin g the planned budget expenditures for each preceding time period. 4. Total the actual costs of doing each task to arrive at the actual cost of work performed (AC).We can also compute the budgeted values for the tasks on which work is being performed. This is referred to as the earned value (EV) and is the origin of the term for this control process. 5. Calculate both a project’s budget variance and schedule variance while it is still in process.Once we have collected the three key pieces of data (PV, EV, and AC), it is possible to make these calculations. The schedule variance is calculated by the simple equation: SV = EV – PV, or the difference between the earned value to date minus the planned value of the work scheduled to be performed to date. The budget, or cost, variance is calculated as: CV = EV – AC, or the earned value minus the actual cost of work performed. USING EARNED VALUE TO MANAGE A PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS Earned Value Management can work at the portfolio level as well as with individual projects. The process simply involves the aggregation of all earned value measures across the firm’s entire project portfolio in order to give an indication as to the efficiency with which a company is managing its projects. Other useful information contained in the Portfolio Earned Value Management table includes the total positive variances for both budget and schedule, as well as determination of the relative schedule and cost variances as a percentage of the total project portfolio. The use of Earned Value Management for portfolio tracking and control offers top management an excellent window into the firm’s ability to efficiently run projects, allows for comparisons across all projects currently in development, and isolates both the positive and negative variances as they occur. All of this is useful information for top-level management of multiple projects.

What Is the Ozone Hype Anyway? :: Free Essay Writer

What Is the Ozone Hype Anyway? â€Å"The ozone is a pale bluish form of oxygen gas with an odor like chlorine, formed by an electrical discharge in the air† (Webster 185). The first time that I thought about this research narrative was the first time that I read the syllabus for class. My immediate reaction was that I could not believe that we were actually going to write a ten-page narrative. I was never expected to write a paper of this length before and I was unsure if I were going to be able to do so. However, it turned out that it was not that bad, although I did go through many frustrations along the way. First, I had to come up with a topic. I think that this was the hardest part. In our class, we used one of our textbooks to help with this part of the process for our papers. In exercise 1.1, Ballenger suggests that you make a list under a number of different topics (23). Therefore, I made a list of at least twenty things under each topic that I thought might be a possible topic for my paper. My list ranged from pets all the way to relationships and back to health problems. However, after talking to my professor and my friends, and taking Ballenger’s advice on how to eliminate topics, I decided to go with the ozone layer (25). I had a few different reasons for making this choice. One of them was that this was something that I did not know very much about. In addition, the topic was something that I did want to know more about. Consequently, due to the fact that I did not know much, I would not do my research with a bias and more importantly, I would do the research w ell because I wanted to know more. Next, I had to come up with a question that I wanted to know the answer to. Again, Ballenger came with help. In exercise 2.1, Ballenger suggests that you make a list of questions and then have peers add questions also. During this process, I went through so many questions. Why was the ozone layer depleting? What could we do to help? How long has this been going on?

Twelfth Night – Feste’s self

Feste is an observer. He sees through people. Though he's a kind of entertainer, who will only perform for money, what he chooses to sing to people is intentionally relevant and disturbing to them. People find the truth very hard to deal with, for example, ‘Peace, you rogue†¦here comes my lady'. This story shows people avoiding the truth at every level. Especially since they are being called ‘fools' or ‘clowns', and not really taken seriously. For example, the fool in King Lear was constantly being threatened with hangings and beatings, but this was only as he was a ‘witty fool'. Again with Feste in Twelfth Night, who also is threatened with hangings, due to his absence. But Feste does not fear this threat, and in fact makes a joke of it; mocking Maria and using a sexual pun at the same time. This confidence comes from the fact that it wasn't their job to simply provide amusement, but also to make critical comments and provide advice, as Olivia asks him: ‘What's a drunken man like, fool?'. And because he is an ‘allowed fool' he was able to say what he thinks, without fear of punishment, ‘there's no slander in an allowed fool'. Since the only relationship that involves Feste, is that between Olivia's family, he has the ability to mediate between the whole cast. He is regarded as a close friend to Olivia, ‘What is a drunken man like, fool?', as well as Sir Toby, by engaging in their ‘folly' and songs. But he also has the ability to distance himself from everyone when needs be. Because he is constantly mocking people with puns and soliloquy, the audience gets the feeling that he doesn't really feel close to them. A well as being incredibly comic, Feste is probably the most perceptive character in the play. He comments on people in ways other people over look, whether be their appearance or their ‘mind'. For example, in Act ii: iv, he point blank tells Orsino what he thinks of him, saying his ‘mind is very opal' and ‘the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta' (a silk which changes colour). The joke here is Feste telling Orsino that he is very fickle and has a very changeable mood, so changeable that he should have matching clothes. He then goes on to say that he is so changeable that he would sail around the world to justify purposeless busyness. Feste hardly knows Orsino, who in turn scarcely knows Feste, but for Feste to cast this view shows his perceptiveness. This view is so accurate, that it leads Orsino to make Cesario go to Olivia's and tell her that his love is ‘more noble than the world'. Furthermore, he also suspiciously notices Viola, and is the only one start suspecting her, ‘send thee a beard' he says, hinting that he knows of her ‘such disguise'. Feste's perception was depicted in Trevor Nunn's production of Twelfth Night, where he has Feste give Viola a necklace. A necklace that she abandoned in Act 1 scene 2, on the seacoast, showing that he has always known of Viola's situation. This interpretation of Feste means that throughout the play, Feste has always known of Viola's situation and was always playing along, again showing his nature. Feste's Language: Feste has a very sophisticated way of speaking that allows him to climb up and down the social ladders of Illyria and be able to talk with Lord Orsino, Sir Toby and Fabian. This becomes significant when he is able to get himself out of situations or even to make other people react, which may otherwise be tricky and use his language skills to make mockery. Such as the ‘the more fool, Madonna, to mourn for your brothers soul†¦' a. This is the first scene that he is present in and he immediately proves Olivia to be a ‘fool'. This kind of humour was taken kindly by Olivia and an Elizabethan audience would of enjoyed it more. However, Feste has proved two things here, the first is that he is not ‘dry' and the second that he can provide the humour if is someone does ‘minister occasion to him' or invites him to ‘make that good'. By getting set up for this comedy, or getting invited, the audience would get ready and find the punch line slightly more comical. Another key figure of Feste's language, are his uses of Latin. He talks and refers a few times in Latin, and all times, he is either talking to Olivia or Orsino. This again proves his versatility talking appropriately with people and it also shows the audiences his education. All his Latin sayings convey messages. For example, the first, to Olivia, ‘cucullus non facit monachum', which refers to an overriding theme in the play; don't judge by outward appearances, as if preparing her for his foolery. The last Latin reference is to Orisino in Act 5. ‘Primo, secundo, terito is a good play†¦', here simply begging for a third coin. Feste's songs do hold a dramatic function, and depending on the scene, the dramatic function changes. One of the most dramatic things, are the songs that he sings. The are not just for entertainment, but they hold meaning and are sung for a reason. Such as when Feste asks ‘would you have a love song or a song of good life'. He feels as though he has to please; it's his duty as a fool, and his song will reflect the audience's mood at this current moment in the play. Or as he said in his final song at the end of the play ‘†¦And we'll strive to please you every day.' The meanings of Feste's songs, are always significant. They are either used to create dramatic effects or represent/ echo his feelings about a situation or a scene. In Act 2, Feste sings ‘Come away, Come away, death†¦', a melancholy song to Orsino about a lover who dies for love, which echoes Orsino's mood and his situation. The listener can read into this as Orsino being the lover and Olivia being the ‘maid', making sense as the lover is ‘slain'. The words that are used mirror what Orsino has already said, such as ‘My part†¦share it' hold similar meaning to that in ‘If music be the food of love†¦'. Orsino then immediately acts on the song and tells Viola/ Cesario to go to Olivia's. This is one example of the role of Feste; do we value what he says or laugh at what he says? Here, Orsino values what he says, we know this as he sends Viola to go to Olivia and tell her ‘that nature pranks her in attracts my soul' not her money. However, after the song is sung, Feste then casts a point blank opinion, face-to-face of Orsino. This creates a lot of tension, especially with the use of words like ‘pain' and ‘..bones shall be thrown'. Here is a good example of the dramatic significance of Feste; as this scene ends in tension. This is the part where Viola nearly reveals of her true love for Orsino, and the audience think that Viola might reveal who she really is, so the audience are anticipating and waiting for Viola's next words . And the next scene starts in comic humour. The drama in each scene seems heightened due to the massive contrast. At the end of the play, Shakespeare provides what seems to be an epilogue, like other plays, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and All's Well That Ends Well. However, unlike these, Feste sings it. The song is about Feste growing up, about being tolerating in childhood, rejected in adult hood, unsuccessful in marriage and drunk in old age†¦but nothing really matters, the actors will always try an please. Although this song is about Feste, the overall meaning of it reflects the whole play. For example, he talks about himself growing up with bad experiences, his life circle from childhood to being an old man. This is a slight re-iteration of a song he sang earlier: ‘What is love†¦youth's a stuff will not endure', This song is telling the audience that we should enjoy the present because nobody can know what the future holds, it could be good e.g. Viola-Orsino and Sebastian-Olivia, or it could be terrible e.g. Malvolio. Feste uses word play frequently throughout this play. These word plays, or puns, can make the audience laugh or even add to the tension so far. A good example is in Feste's first scene: ‘he that is well hanged in this world needs to fear no colours'. The first interpretation of this pun, is the word ‘colours' which can mean enemy or war. So, logically, someone who is already dead, can't fear. However, an Elizabethan audience could of heard it as ‘collars' (meaning noose or hangmen's nooses) so they don't fear them. The Elizabethans enjoyed such punning jokes, and the pun itself would relax the mood. With Maria threatening Feste with death, and then Feste making the whole audience laugh. This is an example of the dramatic significance of Feste. The role of Feste: Feste's appearance in the play is held off until the fifth scene of act I. In this scene the reader is introduced to the clown through a conversation with Maria. In this scene his contribution to the play is revealed through: â€Å"Wit, an't be thy will, put me in good fooling! Those wits that think they have thee, do very oft prove fools, and I that am sure lack thee may pass for a wise man†¦better a witty fool than a foolish wit†. These lines indicate that Feste's presence is not merely comic relief through foolish acts and show that the role of the fool requires much intelligence, or being a ‘wise man'. Feste's contribution to the exposure of underlying themes of love is essential to the understanding of the play's messages. The clown's most profound comments often take the form of song: ‘O mistress mine, where are you roaming?†¦Youth's a stuff will not endure.' It's in this song where we could possibly see Feste uncovering viola, ‘Trip no further, pretty sweeting;', where the ‘pretty sweeting' may be Viola, and the ‘wise man's son' is Feste. If this is so, then it suggests that Viola-Orsino may end up as ‘lovers'. This song is performed due to the requests of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew for a â€Å"love-song.† The song plays on the events of Twelfth Night itself. The song echoes the cheerfulness of this play and how the uncertainty of ‘what's to come' shouldn't be a negative prospect as ‘there lies no plenty'. Feste also foresees events that will occur later in the play. When he speaks of journeys ending â€Å"in lovers meeting,† he hints at the resolution in which several characters are married. Feste's intuition is comparable only to the perception of Viola. Because both characters are the only ones who are involved in both houses, Orsino's and Olivia's, they rival each other in their knowledge and putting their wits against each other. Namely act3:i, where, they both delight in using word play, ‘a sentence is but a cheveril glove to a good wit-‘ and later Viola saying ‘I understand you sir', as if showing him that she is clever. Apparently, Viola is the only character who recognises Feste's true intelligence: â€Å"This fellow is wise enough to play the fool, and to do that craves a kind of wit†¦but wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit†. This shows Viola's awareness of Feste and his ability to read people in order to say the right thing at the right time. Through this keen observation by Viola, she is perhaps acknowledging that the clown might even have the ability to see through her own disguise. Although Feste never openly claims to know of Viola's deceptive dress, it is indicated that he might be on to her: â€Å"Now Jove in his next commodity of hair send thee a beard†. He's used to change the audience; if Shakespeare wanted to portray thoughts or morals, he would do so with the puns and songs Feste tells the audience. For example, Act 1:v, he says: â€Å"many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage† communicates as if you are well ‘hung' then you need not love. And if we look back, to Act 1, the Latin quote refers directly to how Shakespeare felt. So, it is possible that Feste was the voice of Shakespeare, and if Shakespeare wanted to make the audience happy, for dramatic effect or other, then he might use Feste to sing a song. And when Feste says lines 359-354 in act5:i, he quotes the things that Malvolio has said, and a feeling of ‘what goes around comes around'. This putting down of Malvolio would of been particularly enjoyed by the audience, because of his puritan nature. So by Feste putting down and mocking of Malvolio's nature would of caused great humour. I detected this in act 2:iv, where we are faced with a melancholy ending about love and ‘passion' then straight after, we see the trap that is set for Malvolio. This comic scene gets enhanced because the mood of the preceding scene was sorrowful and sad, but the beginning of this one is very jovial. The plot in Twelfth Night is very convoluted. This is why fools might of been used in such plays as ‘King Lear', ‘All's well that ends well' and ‘Two gentlemen of Verona'; to underline and reinforce important parts of the plot to the audience, and make their songs and folly draw parallels to the play. For example, in Twelfth Night, Feste sings to Malvolio ‘†¦She loves another'. As if, Feste has seen through Malvolio and knows of his affection for Olivia, and crudely tells him there is no likelihood for him, moreover, he already must know of Olivia's affections for Viola. With the indictment of Malvolio and other happy endings in the form of marriages, the future seems delightfully optimistic, Feste's final song lessens the hope of a completely happy ending. The refrain of this song, which states â€Å"the rain it raineth every day,† insinuates that at any time the happiness that now occupies the characters in Illyria could at any time be swept away. The song as a whole seems to show maturation from innocence to experience and through this development was a continuum of â€Å"the wind and the rain.† With this song, Feste seems to suggest that even as a person goes through life, with its ups and downs, he or she must remember that at any time one can end up in an unfamiliar place with a completely different life, exactly like Sebastian and Viola. There will always be unpredictability, as long as there is ‘wind and the rain'. Ironically, Feste is the only person not to be seen as the fool. Olivia is the fool, as she has fallen in love with a woman, Orisino is seen the fool, because his Viola has tricked him into thinking she is a man. Sir Andrew comes across as the fool because of his foolish remarks, like taking the word ‘ass' literally and believing ‘Pigrogromitus'! This irony will add humour and dramatic irony to the audience and again make Feste look the cleverest by default. By acting the ‘fool' he comes across as the wise man he is. The ‘Twelfth Night' was know as the â€Å"Feast Of Fools†, which is very similar to â€Å"Feste the Fool†. This seems extremely significant, due to the similarity, as the Feast of Fools always appointed a â€Å"Lord Of Ridicule†. It is possible the an Elizabethan audience would of got this (intentional) similarity and therefore see Feste as this Lord Of Ridicule. If Feste was this lord, then he would become the master of the household, for this short holiday period, and organise dances, folly, pranks and deceptions, in order to entertain the rest of the household. If this case, it would then explain Feste's songs, drunkenness, writing of letters to Malvolio and of course dressing up as Sir Topas.

Case Study- Clover Valley Dairy Company

Case Study: Clover Valley Dairy Company Rebeca Aquino DeVry University Case Study: Clover Valley Dairy Company Statement of the Problem(s) The main issue in this case study is the reluctance of the salespeople to comply with the implementation of the new Fist-Plus plan. As a consequence the sales department over the Des Moines office is not meeting the monthly quota. Summary of the FactsFrom the moment Doug Bloom got to the new office over at Des Moines it was clear that it would be a struggle to get the salespeople to accept and put in action the new First-Plus plan that was forced upon everyone directly from corporate. Doug tried to talk to all the salespeople in a group and individually as well with the intension of helping them understand the importance of following through with this new plan. After reviewing the negative first’s month results where the department had failed to meet their quota.Doug took immediate action and fired a memo to all salespeople requesting a wri tten weekly schedule of their activities. This was with the intention of reviewing the way salespeople were managing their time and find ways to help them improve their time managing and this way close more accounts and meet the monthly quota. The sales reps did not like when told how to best manage their time and one of the employees took it even further and took it personal, got really offended and even resigned his job.When the results of the second month came up negative again, Doug decided to take over some of the most promising accounts that some of the sales reps had failed to close. The sales reps did not like this and complained to Doug about it. Even after Doug explained to them that he was going to do the closing of the accounts but that they would be returned to them as soon as the closing had occurred and they would be benefitting from the commissions of these accounts the sales reps were still not satisfied.This entire struggle had Doug considering quitting his job bef ore corporate decided fired him. All the efforts Doug seem to make did not seem to be enough to get through his sales reps. Analysis The group of sales reps Dough was assigned to manage are very reluctant to change. First of all because they do not consider this new plan to be a good idea due to the fact that most of their sales come from small business and this new plan is specifically focused on big companies which is a game changer for them.How to make them see that they do not need to drop or stop pursuing small accounts instead what they need to do is add additional large accounts. Would selecting some sales reps to pursue this new plan and leave the sales reps that bring in large business from smaller accounts continue the way they have being doing successful sales? Would new rival issues and work un-satisfaction arise from this decision? How can Doug deal with this new issue? If Doug selects some of the sales reps that appear to be more open to the idea and that are also prom ising sales reps.He can work with them more closely and help them acquire new big customers. This way he would not have to deal with all the sales reps and he would have more time for this group dedicated to target big customers. If he does that the other sales rep can focus on what they do best and would ensure that the monthly quota is reached. If the plan works out and new big customers start purchasing insurance from this selected group it will not be long before the rest of the sales reps will want in to the new plan, after all they all work for commissions.Bigger companies more business for the company and more commission for the sales reps. Recommendations It would be recommended that Dough select a quarter of sales reps to carry-on the new plan implemented by corporate. The selection of these sales reps would be based on their abilities and also on the amount of business they bring in to the company. Their productivity should be significant but not definitive to the departme nt’s quota. Leave the salespeople that bring in a lot of business continue the way they have being working for the time being.I also recommend to get rid of sales reps that do show good results and that are also reluctant to cooperate with Doug’s leadership ideas. He does not need to clean house but he needs to set an example that he means business. Conclusion When dealing with salespeople afraid of change there is always a way to make them see the bigger picture. It is not always easy and most of the times managers need to be creative to achieve the goals set for the department. However, it can be done when the right person is in charge.

The Character of Slim Essay Essay Example

The Character of Slim Essay Essay Example The Character of Slim Essay Essay The Character of Slim Essay Essay Essay Topic: Equus During the fresh Slim is respected and trusted by his fellow spread workers and even has Curley following his orders. Slim advises George and becomes George’s intimate. As he acts as George’s intimate he later becomes the moral supreme authority of the drama. he is the chief character who can acknowledge things from right and incorrect. Slim is a particular character because he speaks to everyone from Crooks to Candy and even Curley’s married woman. In the novel the thought of hierarchy is of import. as Slim is trusted by the whole spread he is the 1 who is at the top. this is shown in the novel with his authorization. However during the drama he is the character who represents the baronial spread worker. Slim represents a sympathetic influence in the otherwise hostile nature of mundane life on the spread. When the reader first meets Slim in the novel he is presented as being high in the hierarchy in the novel. Slim is presented as a respectable adult male which is why the other spread workers trust him. this accordingly leads him to going the adult male who George can confide in approximately Lennie. as Slim realizes that Lennie has the outlook of a kid. This shows how Slim is presented as a adult male who is really wise which leads people to swearing him. This is shown when it says. â€Å"his tone was friendly. It invited assurance without demanding it. † This illustrates how people can swear because of Slim’s soft nature. The ranch workers are shown in to esteem because of the hierarchy and because he is the baronial spread worker when it says. â€Å"they precede him. † This shows his authorization within the spread as they respect him and because of his place in the hierarchy of the spread. As Slim is portion of the hierarchy of the spread he described as when traveling â€Å"with a stateliness merely achieved by royalty. † This is shown to stress his place within the spread hierarchy and this presents the thought that he is like the prince of the spread. As slim is skilled he is called a â€Å"Jerkline skinner† which shows he is really baronial. This gives the feeling that as he has great skille d and a great deepness of perceptual experience he about emanates unagitated and understanding. In the fresh Slim is shown to hold a personality which is really alone compared to the other workers on the spread. Slim is described as holding a â€Å"hatchet face† which is â€Å"ageless. † This gives the feeling that Slim has a sense of immortality around him. which is described as being extraordinary. This illustrates how Slender as he is ageless is about like a piece of furniture for the spread as he is high up in the hierarchy which farther enforces the fact that Slim is a baronial spread worker who is trusted by the work forces. Steinbeck uses slims â€Å"ageless† and â€Å"hatchet face† to use the usage of similes to demo the character of Slim. He employs similes when Steinbeck writes that Slim’s custodies are â€Å"delicate† and are â€Å"those of a temple terpsichorean. † Steinbeck uses similes to demo Slim’s elegance within the novel. which besides represents his character as a character who is able to state right fr om right from incorrect which is a accomplishment in itself. This is besides illustrates how he has great accomplishment with his custodies. Furthermore. Slim is a character who is â€Å"capable of killing a fly on the wheeler’s butt with a bull whip without touching the mule. † This shows how Slim is trusted among the workers ; this besides emphasizes how Slim is character who is really powerful but controlled. Steinbeck presents Slim in the novel as a character who is about like a father-figure for the other ranch workers. This is shown when Steinbeck wrote that Slim has a â€Å"understanding beyond idea. † This illustrates how Slim is the male parent figure as he is the wise adult male of the spread and is the individual who is besides really perceptive. This shows that his mensural manner of life gave great hope to the other ranch work forces and gave them inspiration and a friend who they could speak to. Steinbeck uses positive adverbs to demo his kindness towards Lennie and George. As Slim is wise and really clever he realizes that Lennie has a head of a kid. This is shown when he uses the adverbs â€Å"kindly† and â€Å"Gently. † This shows how he has a caring attitude towards them as George has about looked after Lennie his whole life. In this manner he is about sympathetic towards George because he realizes how much George has had to cover with because of Lennie. which is why Slim becomes the intimate of George. Steinbeck makes the character of Slim become the intimate of George. He uses this so Steinbeck can associate back to the original narrative of George and Lennie. This is shown when it said. â€Å"Slim neither encouraged nor discouraged him. He merely sat back quiet and receptive. † This illustrates how Slim gained the trust of George because of his soft nature and because he is the male parent figure. This shows how he is in touch with other ranchmen although harmonizing to the hierarchy he is much higher than them. this shows how he is a really baronial and wise adult male because he considers himself as one of the common work forces. So he is able to listen to them with their jobs like they are the same his. As Slim becomes the intimate of George. in the conversation with George he says that Lennie is â€Å"a nice fella† and that â€Å"He ain’t mean† This shows how Slim has a different attitude towards Lennie as if he is looking after him every bit good as George. This is why the reader becomes sympathetic because Slim is sympathetic towards Lennie which encourages the reader to go sympathetic. This creates a cardinal function for Slim because without Slim the reader would non hold been encouraged to go as sympathetic to Lennie. Slim is polar towards the intervention Crooks because he is one of the lone people in the spread to handle Crooks with the regard he deserves. This is shown when he says. â€Å"He’s enough good. † This illustrates how Slim is just and compassionate because it shows how he knows the difference between right and incorrect which shows how he is impartial. This is because during the 1930s it was normal for black people to be treated really severely because to many people they were still known as slaves. which is shown through the isolation in which crooks lives. This is farther enforced when Slim is the really first character to turn to Crooks by his existent name alternatively of the name â€Å"nigger† which is a black slave or â€Å"stable vaulting horse. † This shows how he treats him with more regard than the other charac ters do. This gives the feeling that Slim clearly seems to hold a scruples during the novel. this shows why work forces swear his judgement. Through this it gives the feeling that Slim could be the metaphorical voice of Steinbeck showing his positions on bias and the manner people are treated and how they should be treated. During the novel the pragmatism of Slim is shown when he acts like a leader and usher because the Canis familiaris has been shot. This is shown when he says â€Å"Take a shovel. † to Carlson. The usage of an imperative shows Slim’s commanding nature and authorization. Furthermore as he is commanding. he is besides a realist which is why he understands that the Canis familiaris needs to be shot for the better of the Canis familiaris. The short sentence structure creates an consequence because it shows Slim’s dominating nature. Slim has a really dominating nature which is why Slim is the moral supreme authority during the novel and which is why he knows that Candy’s Canis familiaris has to decease. This is shown when â€Å"Candy looked impotently at him. for Slim’s sentiments were jurisprudence. † This enforces the thought of Slim being the moral supreme authority because it shows how it is an emphasized thought which is strengthened by the fac t that it is a statement. In the novel Slim has a batch of power and different characters to his character. As he is sort to many characters. non many ranchmen know what he truly would make. This is shown when it says. â€Å"Nobody don’t know what Slim can make. † This illustrates how Slim does hold a bad side which known wants to acquire on the bad side with. This thought that no one’s what he can make implies that Slim is capable of great force. This is shown when he â€Å"drowned four of mutton quads right off. † This is because his â€Å"bitch† could non feed them which shows that he will merely make force if it is necessary and so for the better non the worse. this emphasizes his overpowering power Slim has. Slim’s place in the hierarchy is high because he is able to do Curley halt what he is making. This shows his assertiveness when he says. â€Å"you ballad offa me. † This implies that due to the hierarchy and Curley’s fright of Slim. he is prepared to make what Slim tells him to. However when Lennie is acquiring beaten up by Curley. it shows how Slim is really peaceable but at the same clip endangering and ever looking out for people who are non in the incorrect. This is shown when â€Å"Slim jumped up. † this shows how Slim is protective over Lenny which makes the reader feels sympathetic towards Lennie. On the other manus his aggression is shown when says. â€Å"get um myself. † This illustrates how Slim has a concealed strength. and about Acts of the Apostless like a baronial dark Equus caballus. When Curley’s married woman dies. the character of Slim reveals that he did care about Curley’s married woman which is why he is respectful and caring during her decease. This is shown when Slim tells Curley â€Å"stay here with your married woman. † Slim uses an imperative to demo how he knows that Curley needs to remain at that place for his ain benefit but for Lennie’s every bit good. But. as the state of affairs escalates Slim realizes that â€Å"we got ta get im. † As he takes control of the state of affairs he does non make because he wants to kill Lennie but because he wants them to travel easy on Lennie and non ache him. This is because Curley wants to. â€Å"strap him down and set him in a coop. † This illustrates how Slender attentions for Lennie and does non desire him to decease. When Lennie dies he has to move as a intimate where he goes to George and non the opposite manner unit of ammunition because he has to reassure him because otherwise he knows that George will be feeling really bad after. He uses his realistic expression on life to demo how in life that is a rough life. this is shown when he says. â€Å"A cat got to sometimes. † This illustrates how he has to maintain George unagitated and does this by the usage of repeat. which is shown when he says. â€Å"you hadda George. I swear you hadda. † He is acquiting George so that he feels better which is further implemented when Slim â€Å"twitched George’s cubitus. † So Slender utilizations positive encouragement to hearten up George. This is in contrast to when Slim had to hearten confect up for when they killed his Canis familiaris. it is like Lennie is George’s whelp and so Slim has to now hearten up George. While facing George about killing Lennie Slim says to him to sit down and so â€Å"sat down beside him. sat really near to him. † The repeat of the word â€Å"sat† shows how he Is once more utilizing the thought of repeat to quiet him as they are friends and Slim is the male parent figure for George. the manner George was for Lennie. This creates a physical propinquity which is created by the appeasement and repe at. The writer uses Darwin’s theory to show a subject to the reader that merely the strongest can last in the universe and the weak must decease. which is why Lennie must decease. This is because Lennie is like the ill whelp because it would be â€Å"cruel to maintain him alive† like Carlson said. Overall Slim is presented in â€Å"Of mice and men† as the male parent figure of the spread and so the leader to whom everyone respects and can speak to in times of demand. As he is the father figure of the spread he is really baronial and sees himself as one of the common workers. this is why he is the moral supreme authority during the drama who voices the sentiment of Steinbeck. As George neer truly had anyone talk to. Slim becomes the intimate for George assisting him through George’s heartache when he kills Lennie. Slim provides a polar function in the Novel because he is the character who is impartial and is one of the common work forces who is high in the hier archy.

Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles

Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles Not far from the iconic Hollywood sign, on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood, stands Los Angeles other famous landmark: the Griffith Observatory. This popular movie locale is actually one of the largest observatories in the world open for public viewing and one of a selection of great space-themed places to visit in the U.S. Every year, more than a million and a half visitors look through its massive telescopes, learn from its exhibits, and experience planetarium shows. Fast Facts: Griffith Observatory Location: Griffith Observatory is located in Griffith Park in Los Feliz, Los Angeles.Altitude: 1,134 feet above sea levelMain Attractions: Zeiss telescopes (composed of a twelve-inch and a nine and a half-inch refracting telescopes), Coelostat and solar telescopes, planetarium, exhibits, and free-standing telescopes for public use.Griffith Observatory receives well over 1.5 million visitors a year.Admission to the observatory is free; fees apply for parking and tickets to see the planetarium show. Griffith Observatory is unique because its purely a public observatory and prides itself on providing a chance for anyone to look through a telescope. Its theme and main goal are to turn visitors into observers.  This makes it a very different type of observatory than its research siblings, which focus entirely on professional astronomy observing. An aerial view of Griffith Observatory in 2006.   Griffith Observatory, used by permission.   History of the Griffith Observatory The observatory began as the dream of financier, mining magnate, and real estate developer Griffith J. Griffith. He came to southern California from Wales in the 1860s and eventually acquired the land where the observatory and park now sit. Griffith was fascinated by the great parks he saw in Europe and envisioned one for Los Angeles. Eventually, he donated his property to the city for that purpose.   In 1904, Griffith visited nearby Mount Wilson Observatory (where astronomer Edwin P. Hubble made his discoveries) and fell in love with astronomy. He wrote: If all mankind could look through that telescope, it would change the world.  Based on that visit, Griffith decided to offer money to the city to build an observatory on top of Mount Hollywood. He wanted to make sure that the public would have access to a telescope to carry out his vision. It took some time to get the building approved, and it wasnt until 1933 (14 years after Griffiths death) that ground was broken. The observatory was conceived as a monument to science, would always be open to the public, and had to withstand all but the strongest earthquakes. The final floorplan design for the Griffith Observatory in 1933.   Griffith Observatory, used by permission. The observatorys planning team included scientists from Caltech and Mount Wilson, along with engineers who created plans for the observatory and its Foucault Pendulum, a 38-foot-diameter model of a section of the Moon sculpted by artist Roger Hayward, and a three-in-one coelostat so visitors could study the Sun. For public viewing, the teams selected a 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope as the best commercially available instrument. That instrument remains in place, and visitors can view planets, the Moon, and selected deep-sky objects through it. In addition, they can watch the Sun during the day through the coelostat.   The original plans for Griffith included a cinema. In 1923, after the invention of the planetarium instrument, designers for the observatory approached the Griffith family to see if they would permit a planetarium theater to be built in its place. They agreed to the planetarium, which featured a Zeiss planetarium instrument from Germany.   Griffith Observatory: Continuing Astronomy Access The Griffith Observatory opened its doors to the public on May 14, 1935, and was transferred to the citys department of parks and recreation. The parks also work with a support group called Friends of the Observatory (FOTO), in a unique public-private partnership to secure funding and other support for the observatorys ongoing mission. Tens of millions of visitors have passed through its doors, including hundreds of thousands of local school students who visit via a program funded by FOTO. The planetarium also produces unique programs that showcase the exploration of the universe.   Former director Cleminshaw working with Apollo astronauts during their training in 1967. Griffith Observatory, used by permission. Throughout its history, Griffith has served as the training ground for budding astronomers as well as astronauts. During World War II, the park hosted soldiers, and the planetarium helped train aviators in navigation. In the early 1960s, it continued that tradition by offering celestial navigation classes to 26 Apollo astronauts, including some who flew to the Moon. Over the years, the facility has broadened its access and modernized.  Four directors have guided the institution: Dr. Dinsmore Alter, Dr. Clarence Cleminshaw, Dr. William J. Kaufmann II, and currently Dr. E.C. Krupp. Expansion and Renovation The Griffith Observatory was so beloved that, in the words of its staff, it was being loved to death. Millions of visitors trekking through, air pollution effects, and other building problems led to a renovation. In 2002, the observatory closed and commenced a four-year rehab of the building, its exhibits, and the newly christened Samuel Oschin Planetarium. The renovation cost just over $92 million and left the observatory with much-needed modernization, exhibits, and a new planetarium instrument. It reopened to the public on November 3, 2006. Today, Griffith offers free access to the building and telescopes, with a small admission charge required to see the planetarium show. It hosts public star parties once a month, as well as other astronomy-related events.  Ã‚   Events such as lunar eclipses (shown here imaged through the Observatorys 12-inc telescope draw crowds of visitors to Griffith Observatory. Griffith Observatory, shot by Tony Cook. Used by permission.  Ã‚   On September 21, 2012, it welcomed thousands of visitors to witness the historic flyover of space shuttle Endeavor as it flew to its final stop in Los Angeles on the way to the California Science Center. From eclipses to stargazing, the observatory is well known as the place to be for cosmic events throughout Southern California.   Thousands gathered at Griffith for the last flyover of space shuttle Endeavour before it was delivered to the California Science Center in September 2012.   NASA Griffiths Exhibits and Lecture Offerings The observatory has a number of well-known exhibits, including a Tesla coil and an image called The Big Picture. This image, which represents a tiny portion of the sky in the Virgo Cluster (a cluster of galaxies) that can be covered by holding ones finger out at arms length, shows visitors the immensity of the universe and the objects it contains. The exhibits are intended to spark imagination and inquiry among visitors, through a sustained visit to the universe. They cover everything from the solar system and Earth to the most distant reaches of the observable cosmos.   In addition to exhibits, the observatory offers lectures each month in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon theater. This special space is named in honor of the late Star Trek actor who portrayed the Vulcan character of Mr. Spock in Star Trek. Nimoy was a big supporter of the planetarium and was active in the effort to secure funding for its renovation. The observatory offers live-streaming access to talks in the Nimoy as well as other events. It also creates a weekly sky report and offers news archives online.   One part of the exhibition at Griffith, which spans from stargazing to astronomy research. This section includes The Edge of Space and Depths of Space. Griffith Observatory, used by permission   Hollywood and Griffith Observatory Given its prominent location on Mount Hollywood, where it can be seen from throughout much of the Los Angeles basin, Griffith Observatory is a natural locale for movies. It has many connections to the entertainment industry, ranging from the Hugo Ballin (a Hollywood set designer) murals in its main rotunda to the late James Dean Rebel without a Cause statue outside the building. Many movies have been shot at Griffith since its opening. This includes scenes from Rebel as well as more recent films such as The Terminator, Transformers, The Rocketeer, and La La Land. A Must See Experience Griffith Observatory is iconic and legendary, and its place on Mount Hollywood has earned it the nickname The Hood Ornament of Los Angeles from its long-time director, Dr. E.C. Krupp. Its a familiar part of the skyline, accessible to all. It continues to provide a glimpse of the cosmos for those who make the trek up the mountain.   Sources griffithobservatory.org/Griffith Observatory TV, https://livestream.com/GriffithObservatoryTVhttps://www.pcmag.com/feature/347200/7-cool-things-to-see-at-la-s-griffith-observatory  http://thespacewriter.com/wp/2015/05/14/griffith-observatory-turns-80/https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/8-films-where-las-griffith-observatory-plays-a-pivotal-role/

Professional Resources Essay Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional Development of Teacher - Literature review Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Lefrancois’ book has detailed information on how to improve the behavior of the children within and outside of the classroom. His description of behaviorism, as well as the social learning theory, is rather explicit. Thus, these elements of reward and punishment and the effect of learning on the child’s self-esteem will greatly enhance my teaching technique and strategies.   In terms of my decision making, Lefrancois highlighted a number of key elements within the classroom environment which would warrant the need to make decisions on a timely basis. One such incident is the idea of multiculturalism within the classroom. The author highlights the fact that different cultures require different approaches in teaching and the understanding of the central concepts of the various cultures within my classroom would allow me to make better decisions for the overall improvement of each individual within the class. Lefrancois in t he organization of the text constantly points to vignettes of teachers within the field. In addition, he supplies Internet activities which may be used not only to improve pedagogical techniques but professional development as well. The second resource represents the work done by a professional in the field, a professor of a University, Stephen Davis. Davis (2007) highlights the â€Å"gap† between the work produced by researchers and its authentic impact within the walls of the classroom and the education system. He suggests a number of concerns he held with regard to teachers’ wholesale adoption of these research-based programs within their classroom context. He insists that â€Å"Good research is a road map and rarely a destination† (14). In terms of my professional development as well as my day to day teaching Davis suggestions of becoming skillful in the understanding and use of research, rudiments is a major consideration. He insists that as teachers one sh ould not wholly trust the research material because the producers of these materials may have â€Å"lost touch† (3) with the day to day functioning of a classroom. Thus, in making a decision about which research-based content to use the teacher must be thorough in investigating the source and publication of the content as well as the background of the researchers. Davis’ article contains relevant advice which would affect my teaching, decision making, and professional development, he states â€Å"one size rarely fits all† (9) thus, as a teacher I must thoroughly assess the research before attempting to utilize it within the classroom.