If You Had a Magic Wand Ice Breaker for Adults

If You Had a Magic Wand Ice Breaker for Adults If you had a magic wand and could change anything, what would you change? This is an icebreaker that opens minds, considers possibilities, and energizes your group when the discussion is dead. Its perfect for a classroom full of adults, a corporate meeting or seminar, or any group of adults gathered to learn. Ideal Size: Up to 20, divided into larger groups. Time Needed: 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the group. Materials Needed A flip chart or whiteboard, and markers if you want to record the results, but this will depend on your topic and reason for playing. It isnt necessary. A fun wand of some kind to pass around would add to the fun. You can usually find one at a hobby shop or toy store. Look for Harry Potter or fairy princess merchandise. Instructions for Use During Introductions Give the magic wand to the first student with instructions to give his or her name, say a little something about why they chose your class, and what they would wish for regarding the topic if they had a magic wand. Example introduction: Hi, my name is Deb. I wanted to take this class because I really struggle with math. My calculator is my best friend. If I had a magic wand, Id have a calculator in my head so I could do math instantly. Instructions for Use When Discussion Dries Up When youre having trouble getting your class to participate in discussion, get the magic wand out and pass it around. Ask students to share what they would do with a magic wand. If you think your topic should be eliciting creative responses from your students, but isnt, keep the magic on the topic. If youre open to a little fun and craziness to liven things up, open the magic to anything at all. You might produce some laughter, and laughter heals almost everything. It definitely energizes. Debriefing Debrief after introductions, especially if you have a whiteboard or flip chart to refer to, by reviewing which magic wishes will be touched on in your agenda. If used as an energizer, debrief by asking the group to discuss how their magic wishes can be applied to your topic. Encourage wide open thinking. The sky is the limit. Sometimes two seemingly different ideas can be combined to create a great new thought.

Misconceptions in Maths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Misconceptions in Maths - Essay Example According to Swann (2001, p.147), â€Å"People makes mistakes for different reasons. Some may be simply due to lapses in concentration, hasty reasoning, memory overload or a failure to notice salient features of a situation. Others, however, may be symptoms of deeper misunderstandings or may not be mistakes at all – they may be result of alternative interpretations of the situations.† According to Sadi (2007, p.2), â€Å"More students have problems with decimals than with any other number concept. Difficulties with decimal numbers range from comprehending place value after the decimal to proper use of the algorithm of addition and subtraction.† Some of the most common misconceptions that children makes in decimal are identifying which decimal number is greater, placing the decimal in order from smallest to largest, subtracting and adding. This is illustrated by below examples In this case, some children may think that 3.501 is greater than 3.52 because 3.52 have three terms as compared to 3.501 that have four terms. They simply ignore the decimal when comparing two numbers. Children are taught that 35.90 is identical to 35.9. Now, some children may confuse with it and will be not able to determine exactly when zero be written and when it should be omitted. For example, dividing 1632 by 8 they will answer 24 instead of 204.In addition, children think that it gets bigger when they multiply and smaller when they divide. Therefore they seems to be inconceivable that 8 Ãâ€" 0.5 give 4, since 4 is smaller than 8. Similarly, they find it hard to accept that 20 à · 0.2 gives 100, since 100 is much bigger than 20. For many children, to make a number bigger, they have to multiply it and to make it smaller they have to divide it (Sadi 2007, p.3). According to Sadi (2007, p.5), only 26% of twelve-year old students could work out how much a pair of jeans which normally costs  £15 would cost after a 20% reduction and there ere thirty-three different answers were given to

Effective Management of Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Effective Management of Research - Essay Example that helps little in the meaningful scholastic development of students. Most research models, in effect, send out students with a shopping cart who go scooping up all the data they can find about the subject assigned to them - a state, a province, a foreign country, an historic battle, a famous person, a scientific issue. Most of the information collected in this manner is available in encyclopedias or books, such that it precludes diligence, care or the need to work "again." This kind of research puts students in the role of information consumers instead of information producers as befit a researcher in the true sense of the word. The implications are that this research, ending up as information consumption, demands little thought, imagination or skill on the part of the students. Working as information producers, on the other hand, the student researchers are encouraged to make up their own minds, create their own answers to the research questions and show independence and judgment. With all kinds of new information technologies around, the "cut-and-paste" method inherent to the topical approach to school research is proving more and more untenable. A new approach has thus emerged enshrining the rule that students cannot embark on a research project without an ideal research model selected for them by a search team composed of teachers, librarians and the school administrators. This team assists the student researchers in analyzing different models then settle for one that matches the projected needs and preferences of the project. The other method synthesizes the best features of all available models to go into the building of a new one. (Assiniboine SSD) Ideally, a research topic is considered worth the students' effort if it is controversial, has attracted much interest and debate, a first-of-its-kind process or product, involves innovative or new techniques, and has value in other disciplines. The work of an eminent researcher is another interesting subject for research, as well as any individual who has achieved prominence the hard way. In the new approach, the students are not only asked to turn in a paper on, let us say, the atrocities ordered by Hitler. They are also required to put together a template of questions that would shed light on many interrelated issues, such as why Hitler behaved the way he did, the history of both the Jews and the Aryan race, the lessons learned from the Holocaust, etc. There is a primary questions accompanied by a set of subsidiary questions to get to the bottom and all angles of the subject. (McKenzie, 2000) In this new perspective, research is a process in repetition (Olin Uris Libraries). The earlier phases of the research influence the later stages, while the later stages have some bearing on the earlier phases. Going back and forth is necessary to ensure the reliability and validity of the research, which can be done only through constant review and revision. Remember that at the end of your journey, your research will be subjected to

APush History Term Paper Essay Example for Free

APush History Term Paper Essay Robert La Follette, the son of a small farmer, was born in Dane County, Wisconsin, on 14th June, 1855. He worked as a farm labourer before entering the University of Wisconsin in 1875. In 1876 La Follette met Robert G. Ingersoll. He later recalled: Ingersoll had a tremendous influence upon me, as indeed he had upon many young men at the time. It was not that he changed my beliefs, but he liberated my mind. Freedom was what preached: he wanted the shackles off everywhere. He wanted men to think boldly about all things: he demanded intellectual and moral courage. After graduating in 1879 he set up as a lawyer and the following year became District Attorney of Dane County. Elected to Congress as a Republican, La Follette was extremely critical of the behaviour of some of the party bosses. In 1891, La Follette announced that the state Republican boss, Senator Philetus Sawyer, had offered him a bribe to fix a court case. Over the next six years La Follette built up a loyal following within the Republican Party in opposition to the power of the official leadership. Proposing a programme of tax reform, corporation regulation and an extension of political democracy, La Follette was elected governor of Wisconsin in 1900. Once in power La Follette employed the academic staff of the University of Wisconsin to draft bills and administer the laws that he introduced. He later recalled: I made it a policy, in order to bring all the reserves of knowledge and inspiration of the university more to the service of the people, to appoint experts from the university wherever possible upon the important boards of the state the civil service commission, the railroad commission and so on a relationship which the university has always encouraged and by which the state has greatly profited. La Follette was also successful in persuading the federal government to introduce much needed reforms. This included the regulation of the railway industry and equalized tax assessment. In 1906 La Follette was elected to the Senate and over the next few years argued that his main role was to protect the people from the selfish interests. He claimed that the nations economy was dominated by fewer than 100 industrialists. He went on to argue that these men then used this power to control the political process. La Follette supported the growth of trade unions as he saw them as a check on the power of large corporations. In 1909 La Follette and his wife, the feminist, Belle La Follette founded the La Follettes Weekly Magazine. The journal campaigned for womens suffrage, racial equality and other progressive causes. Lincoln Steffens argued: La Follette is the opposite of a demagogue. Capable of fierce invective, his oratory is impersonal; passionate and emotional himself, his speeches are temperate. Some of them are so loaded with facts and such closely knit arguments that they demand careful reading, and their effect is traced to his delivery, which is forceful, emphatic, and fascinating. Art Young, The Masses (1917) La Follette supported Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election and approved his social justice legislation. However, he complained that he was under the control of big business and was totally opposed to Wilsons decision to enter the First World War. Once war was declared La Follette opposed conscription and the passing of the Espionage Act. La Follette was accused of treason but was a popular hero with the anti-war movement. Lincoln Steffens was a great supporter of La Follette: Governor La Follette was a powerful man, who, short but solid, swift and willful in motion, in speech, in decision, gave the impression of a tall, a big man what I saw at my first sight of him was a sincere, ardent man who, whether standing, sitting, or in motion, but the grace of trained strength, both physical and mental Rather short in stature, but broad and strong, he had the gift of muscled, nervous power, he kept himself in training all his life. His sincerity, his integrity, his complete devotion to his ideal, were indubitable; no one who heard could suspect his singleness of purpose or his courage. La Follette became the candidate of the Progressive Party in the 1924 presidential election. Although he gained support from trade unions, individuals like Fiorello La Guardia and Vito Marcantonio, the Socialist Party and the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, La Follette and his running partner, Burton K. Wheeler, only won one-sixth of the votes. Robert La Follette died on 18th June, 1925.

College Candy Making Success That Much Sweeter Essay -- Drugs

As the saying goes, â€Å"Desperate times call for desperate measures.† American college students of the 21st century have been forcefully subjected to highly competitive environments due to a multitude of external factors. As of late, the prescription drug, Adderall has become the drug of choice for ambitious college students, and has earned the title of being today’s college candy and academic steroid. First introduced and approved by the U.S. FDA, Adderall became the common treatment for those suffering from ADHD and narcolepsy. The drug is considered a schedule II stimulant, falling in the same category as cocaine and codeine due to its addictive nature (Tran). Nicknamed â€Å"addy† by college students, Adderall and its effects have been proven to be advantageous to many seeking to maximize work productivity; the drug keeps students energized and engaged in their studies for hours on end (N.S.). As reported by the U.S. Department of Human Health and Human Se rvices, â€Å"among persons aged 18 to 22, full-time college students were twice as likely to use Adderall non-medically in the past year as those who had not been in college at all or were only part-time students† (U.S.). What essentially persuades a college student to take Adderall non-medically? A student’s competitive environment may be an influential factor. The issue of Adderall abuse among college campuses is concerning due to the dangerous short and long term effects in which many of its users are unaware of. An analysis of Adderall usage among college students will be performed in order to determine what can be done to prevent Adderall abuse in college students. Upon examination, it was found that the competitive nature of college campuses in California is resultant of both ec... ...Health and Human Services, 7 Apr. 2009. Print. 02 Dec. 2011. Anonymous. â€Å"Adderall Abuse on College Campuses.† Personal Interview. 22 Nov. 2011. Tranh, Pharmacist Lam. â€Å"Adderall Abuse on College Campuses.† E-mail Interview. 19 Nov. 2011. Mai, Cassandra. "Adderall Abuse on College Campuses." Personal interview. 19 Nov. 2011. Moore, Elaine A. The Amphetamine Debate: the Use of Adderall, Ritalin, and Related Drugs for Behavior Modification, Neuroenhancement, and Anti-aging Purposes. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2011. Print. N.S. "Prescription Stimulants Are Big on Campus." Science News.169.21 (2006): 334. JSTOR. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. Rampell, Catherine. "Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling." New York Times [New York] 18 May 2011. Print. "U.S. Approval for Adderall XR to Treat Adults† - MedNews. 18 Aug. 2011. JSTOR. Web. 01 Dec. 2011.

Road to Mecca

The Road to Mecca examines the bio-psycho-social systems and issues that are part of the aging process. There are many issues introduced that are useful in understanding the social workers role in evaluating and developing a plan of care for young adults through late adulthood development. Since the passing of her husband, Helen has devoted her time to creating and transforming her home into her own â€Å"Mecca† of beauty and freedom. The dozens of sculptures of wise men, mermaids and other figures inside and outside of her home has secluded Helen from her neighbors who are very rigid white Calvinists.Her neighbors are trying to get rid of Helen by encouraging her to move into a local old folk’s home because of her eccentric work of art surrounding her home and because they fear for Helen’s safety living alone, now that she is in late adulthood and recently almost burnt her house down. Elsa is a young career minded woman who has befriended Helen and the only pers on that respects and accepts Helen’s work and interest. Throughout this play there are many psychoanalytic themes such as love, abandonment, dependency and loss to name a few.Both Helen and Elsa appeared to have grown up with a sense of abandonment and lack of trust from their families and others. Before the death of Helen’s husband, she lived as a conventional member of society. After becoming a widow, she began expressing herself in an artistic way and displaying her creativity throughout her house. Now that she is in late adulthood and becoming gradually unable to manage on her own as she use to, her sense of creativity seems at an end and she finds herself faced with a sense of darkness and hopelessness that at times overwhelms her.Helen discusses that when she was a child her mother would take away her candle at night; to be in pure darkness as a child was frightening for her and when her mother took away the candle, she took away Helen’s only source of com fort. That fear of darkness transformed into a feeling of abandonment for Helen which has caused her to search for intimacy and trust in her life that she fears she will not find before she dies. Helen’s darkness that she once saw on the outside when the candles were blown out is now darkness she feels on the inside; candles can no longer help this kind of darkness.This darkness symbolizes Helen’s depression. She is frightened that old age is over taking her and affecting her ability to continue creating her Mecca, take care of herself and find the true intimacy in her life that she needs. When Helen meets Elsa and their friendship blossoms, she becomes Helen’s only source of light. The day Helen met Elsa is the day she felt like her true self. Elsa didn’t judge Helen because of her statues and mermaids, she accepted her and after this, Helen felt she could trust Elsa. Elsa revived Helen’s life by accepting her true self.Elsa has extreme trust issu es which are exposed throughout this play. All trust is lost and feelings of abandonment resurface after Elsa’s married boyfriend leaves her and chooses his wife and child. Shame and guilt arise when Elsa has an abortion and when her plan to live happily ever after with a married man goes sour. The relationship with the married man opened her up to life and love, she felt like a woman for the first time. Her heart was wide open to someone that ended up betraying her. Now she feels as though she can’t trust at all and will think twice before she trusts again.Elsa feels you can love someone without trusting them, she is stuck in a mind set of all you need is love. This situation brings up feelings from the past for Elsa. It’s apparent that Elsa never learned trust as a child and trusting another is what she fears most. â€Å"Trust is more dangerous because that’s when you drop your defenses, lay yourself wide open, and if you’ve made a mistake, youà ¢â‚¬â„¢re in big, big trouble. And it hurts like hell. † Helen and Elsa’s fear of abandonment, trust and feelings of possible rejection also emerge when they both hide secrets from each other.Helen lies to Elsa about her suicidal attempt when the house almost burnt down and Elsa hesitates to tell Helen about the abortion and the married boyfriend. The two women have found love in each other and trust; they have had too much rejection in the past and fear their friendship will end badly if their secrets are revealed. Both women are very desperate to see if their friendship will survive their struggles. When Helen explains to Elsa about Marius and the rest of the community encouraging her to move into an old people’s home, Elsa becomes furious with Helen for not standing up for herself.Elsa becomes so angry about this issue, she needs Helen to stand up for herself and fight because Helen is the only one that lives her life the way she wants. If Helen goes into the old people’s home, Elsa will feel a sense of abandonment. Helen serves as a source of inspiration for her and her reaction to Helen’s inability to cope is tied to her need for Helen to remain a strong role model. There are many instances where both women provide a mirroring experience for each other in their lives. Elsa understands Helen’s life of expressing herself through her statues and she allows Helen to see how special she is.Elsa represents the good enough mother for Helen. She provides a holding environment for her. Especially after Elsa receives Helen’s letter of despair and comes to her side for support. Helen is able to challenge Elsa, to be herself and nobody has ever done that. This is what a mother would provide for her child. Both have a fear that if one is in darkness how will the other survive. Helen and Elsa need each other to take away their darkness inside. Miss Helen and Elsa develop a twinship with one another.Both allow themselves t o be vulnerable with each other, Miss Helen even states she allows the little girl inside of her come out to play when she is around Elsa. They both provide a sense of belonging and acceptance for each other. A mother holds the key to her child’s development. Helen and Elsa are on a journey of self discovery and both are at two different developmental stages in their lives. They are both stuck in two areas of the life cycle, trust and abandonment. The mirroring experience Miss Helen and Elsa have, allows a social worker to assess that both women are searching for the mother they never had.These two women were each other’s therapist. A therapist in many cases acts as the â€Å"mother† or â€Å"caretaker† for their clients. Therapists provide a safe holding place for their clients to be able to fall apart in. Therapists also mirror back strengths and uniqueness of a client that typically a good enough mother would provide. With support for each other Miss H elen and Elsa were able to move on with life. At the end of the play, Elsa helps Helen gain confidence when she stands up to Marius about not moving into the retirement home.Helen was able to explain to Marius that her home is the only place where she feels real. After Helen is able to stand her ground against Marius and the rest of the town, Helen and Elsa’s bond deepens. Elsa is able to admit that her choice of abortion has caused some depression. Helen is able to understand the pain that Elsa feels just like Elsa is able to understand Helen’s unconventional art work. The understanding that Helen has for Elsa’s troubles helps Elsa recognize the special role that Helen plays in her life.In the first act of the play when Elsa was very mean and disrespectful to Helen, she was displacing her anger and grief about her married ex-boyfriend and aborted child onto Helen. Elsa is even able to trust again by the end of the play, which is evident in the closing line, â⠂¬Å"Open your arms and catch me, I’m going to jump. † At the end of Act two, Helen is also able to move on with her life by allowing her candles to be blown out which symbolizes she is accepting her development in late adulthood and the completion of her Mecca.The childhood background of a person plays a major part in their adulthood life. When one has a healthy family typically the experience of abandonment and trust issues do not occur. Elsa felt trapped in her early adulthood; she had a job as a teacher in a â€Å"colored† school and ultimately had to conceal her true self to keep her job. Her heart was broken by the man she loved and opened her heart to and she experienced guilt and shame for terminating her pregnancy. Helen was also feeling trapped in her life.Creating her Mecca allowed her to create her own freedom and show her true self instead of complying with Cape Town’s religious ways of living. Both women were able to find a way out of their tr apped lives by finding trust and true intimacy with each other. This play shows the development of a great friendship and how having true intimacy in your life means showing all your faults and rawness without rejection. Helen and Elsa’s characters show that you can continue to grow until the end of life.

Near The School For Handicapped Children Essay Essay

In the poem, ‘near the school for handicapped children’ by Thomas Shapcott a man and his daughter are passing by a local school for handicapped children and come across a handicapped boy from a distance. In stanza one, the poet (Thomas Shapcott) describes the boy physically. In stanza two and three, he is still describing the boy, but also telling us how he feels about seeing him and how he compares himself to the boy while watching him. In the final stanza, he describes how the boy is happy and leaves the people who are watching him behind. Within the first stanza, as stated before, the Poet describes the handicapped boy physically. In the line â€Å"his shirt jerks at his body† the author uses an affective idea of personification, giving the boy’s shirt human characteristics. By using this structure, the poem becomes more descriptive and hooks the reader in; making them want to read more. By writing the physical properties of the boy, the poet has written this stanza in third person, for example; his hat, his shirt and his feet. In the second stanza, the writer is still describing the boy, but leading his appearance back to himself, and using his own physical properties in comparison to the boy’s. We can see this in the lines; â€Å"his limbs remind me of how straight/is my own spine and that I take/my fingers for granted† he then says â€Å"he is waiting for the green light† this is the first direct action that the Poet gives us. The other actions he has used previously have all been impressions, where he has given us clues to puzzle together ourselves, to make a vivid image in our mind. Whereas in this line, he tells us what the boy is doing directly. Stanza three is a little different to stanzas 1 and 2 because it is written in first person. This is recognized because of the way the writer has written â€Å"MY fingers, I am hurt, I fear MY, I’M, grasps ME† These are all examples of first person the author has used. Another big factor of this stanza is the emotion and technical vocabulary â€Å"I am hurt by my wholeness† is a great example because it makes you feel sympathetic towards the boy’s disadvantages. Another great example within the text is â€Å"his struggle rasps me like a whisper† Stanza four has a complete change in the whole poem. It is nothing alike to the other stanzas, and the poet tries to show you how the handicapped boy is still happy, no matter how different he is or how many problems his world has, he dances and skips away, no matter how many people stare or what anybody else thinks. A good strategy the author has used here is repetition. In the line â€Å"he skips he dances and skips† he uses the word skips over and over again for affect. He also uses a simile for a finish. â€Å"Like a skimming tambourine brittle with music† Overall, the descriptive poem â€Å"Near the school for handicapped children† By Thomas Shapcott has been written informatively and gives you a real impression on real life issues for some people. I highly recommend this poem to anyone who will enjoy it, as I really did. By Bo Jacobsen