College Education Essay Example for Free

College Education Essay Assignment: Should a college education focus on cultivating and encouraging the imagination of students or on teaching basic facts and standards so that we all share a certain amount of common knowledge? Katherine Paterson once stated in The Spying Heart, â€Å"Our fundamental task as human beings is to seek out connections—to exercise our imaginations. It follows, then, that the basic task of education is the care and feeding of the imagination. Our task as teachers and writers, artists and parents is to  nourish the imagination—our own and that of the children entrusted to our care. † This means that our goal as human beings is to build their imagination. The the job for education is to feed the imagination. An adults job is to help the children to build their imagination. A college education should focus on cultivating and encouraging the imagination of students instead of on teaching basic facts and standards so that we all share a certain amount of common knowledge. One reason why a college education should focus on building imagination is because dreams  are stronger than facts. Albert Einstien once said, â€Å"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. † Also Robert Fulghum states in his book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts On Common Things, â€Å"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death. † If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Did not dream and was based only on facts, I dont think the United States would have been the same. This is why colleges should focus on the imagination of their students and not how much they know. Some people believe that college should solely be based off facts and knowledge. Aristotle once said, â€Å"All men desire knowledge†. But is that knowledge needed to live life. The students should learn what they are majoring in, but should also use imagination to a class or two. Remember â€Å"education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world†.

Stem Cells :: essays research papers

Photo courtesy University of Wisconsin Board of Regents Microscopic 10x view of a colony of embryonic stems cells (The stem cell colonies are the rounded, dense masses of cells.) Meriam-Webster defines stem cells as: an unspecialized cell that gives rise to differentiated cells. This means the can turn into any cells the body is in need of .Their almost limitless potential has made stem cells a significant focus of medical research. Imagine having the ability to return memory to an Alzheimer’s patient, replace skin that was lost during a terrible accident or enable a wheelchair-bound person to walk again. But before scientists can use stem cells for medical purposes, they must first learn how to harness their power. They can't treat disease until they learn how to manipulate stem cells to get them to develop into specific tissues or organs. A stem cell is essentially the building block of the human body. The stem cells inside an embryo will eventually give rise to every cell, organ and tissue in the fetus's body. Unlike a regular cell, which can only replicate to create more of its own kind of cell, a stem cell is pluripotent. When it divides, it can make any one of the 220 different cells in the human body. Stem cells also have the capability to self-renew -- they can reproduce themselves many times over. There are two types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells come from an embryo -- the mass of cells in the earliest stage of human development that, if implanted in a woman's womb, will eventually grow into a fetus. When the embryo is between three and five days old, it contains stem cells, which are busily working to create the various organs and tissues that will make up the fetus. Adults also have stem cells in the heart, brain, bone marrow, lungs and other organs. They are our built-in repair kits, regenerating cells damaged by disease, injury and everyday wear and tear. Adult stem cells were once believed to be more limited than stem cells, only giving rise to the same type of tissue from which they originated. But new research suggests that adult stem cells may have the potential to generate other types of cells, as well. For example, liver cells may be coaxed to produce insulin, which is normally made by the pancreas.

Elementary Education Essay

Reading Comprehension -The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend grade level text; Strand: Reading Process Listening and Speaking – The student effectively applies listening and speaking strategies. Informative – The student develops and demonstrates technical writing that provides information related to real-world tasks. Benchmark: LA. 2. 1. 7. 3. The student will summarize information in text, including but not limited to main idea, supporting details, and connections between texts; LA. 2. 5. 2. 4. The student will listen politely to oral presentations by classmates. LA. 2. 3. 1. 1. The student will prewrite by generating ideas from multiple sources (e. g. , text, brainstorming, webbing, drawing, writer’s notebook, group discussion, other activities); LA. 4. 4. 2. 5. The student will write simple directions to familiar locations using cardinal directions, landmarks, and distances, and create an accompanying map. Grade Level: Grade 2 Objectives: 1. Using the book The Trumpet of the Swan, the class will understand the main idea of the story by reading, listening and students discussion. 2. Basing on the journals of Louis in the Trumpet of the Swan, the class will come up with their very own journal writing. 3. Using the given information in the book The Trumpet of the Swan, the class will make a map of the main character’s travels and adventures. Activities: Before reading: 1. Ask the class if they know what a journal is and if they have ever written one. 2. Tell the class you are going to read them a story entitle The Trumpet of the Swan. During reading: 3. Read the Trumpet of the Swan. 4. Show a map of Canada and point important spots that are mentioned in the Trumpet of the Swan. 5. Show a sample journal and explain how to write and what to write. After reading: 6. Ask the class to read Sam’s poem and summarize the text and identify the main idea of the poem (Reading). 7. Ask the class to write a journal about nature (Writing). 8. Have the class make a map of Louis’ travels and adventures including all the important spots in Canada, Montana and the Northeast (Visually Representing). 9. Have the class discuss the book by having them share their favorite part and ask questions like the following: How to behave in the woods if you want to appreciate nature, what are their stand on the ethics of Louis’ father, why is there a need for Serena to hear the beautiful song of her mate, does anyone identify with Applegate Skinner? Or have someone recite a part of Sam’s poem (Talking/Speaking). 10. Ask the class to listen when a classmate recites a poem and identify the main idea of the poem (Listening). Assessment of Writing Development: The 2 ways of assessing a student’s writing development are Rubrics and Portfolio assessment. ? â€Å"Rubrics are tools teachers and students use to evaluate and classify writing, whether individual pieces or portfolios. They identify and articulate what is being evaluated in the writing, and offer â€Å"descriptors† to classify writing into certain categories (1-5, for instance, or A-F). Narrative rubrics and chart rubrics are the two most common forms† (UNL|FLWI, 2008). ? Portfolio assessment is the collection of students’ work over time reflecting their progress, efforts and achievements and teachers based it on the following items: â€Å"students’ Projects, surveys, reports and units from reading and writing Favorite poems, songs, letters, and comments, Interesting thoughts to remember, Finished samples that illustrate wide writing, Examples of writing across the curriculum, Literature extensions, Student record of books read and attempted, Audio tape of reading, Writing responses to literary components, Writing that shows growth in usage of traits, Samples in which ideas are modified from first draft to final product, Unedited first draft, Revised first draft, Evidence of effort, Self-evaluations, Writing that illustrates evidence of topic generation† (Hurst, 2009). Assessment of Grammar Skills: You can informally assess children’s grammar skills by: ? Reviewing children’s work on relevant pages in their Student Books, handwriting sentences they copied during Daily Routines, and especially their own independent Quick Writing. ? Another method is by â€Å"formal graded assessments such as quizzes, selected homework activities, and in-class tests† (Porter and vanDommelen, 2005). Assessment of Spelling Skills: The two ways of assessing the students’ spelling skills are observation and analysis of the work samples. ? Observation can be done in the classroom by observing the students as they write and as they try to use words that are beyond their ability level. It is important that observation be supplemented later with the students’ work samples and it should be done in a systematic way. ? Analysis of the work samples is an assessment of students’ â€Å"spelling ability from examination of samples of their unaided writing† (Westwood, 2008). These â€Å"samples can be taken from students’ exercise books, test papers, and language arts portfolios† (Fiderer as cited in Westwood, 2008). THE SPELLING PATTERNS: 1. Blends: are 2 or 3 letters combined to form a distinct spelling sound. Examples are : -br- in brown and break and -fr- in fry and freeze 2. Digraph: A group of two successive letters whose phonetic value is a single sound. For example, EA in BREAD, CH in CHAT, or NG in SING. 3. Diphthong: the union of two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice; as, ea in beat, ou in sound. 4. R-controlled vowels: When a vowel is followed by an r, it makes a special sound. These are called r-controlled vowels, or r-colored vowels. Examples are /ar/ sound as in car, /er/ sound as in butter. 5. Long vowel: a sound which is the same as, or very similar to the letter name of one of the vowels. Examples are /a/ as in gate, /e/ as in need. 6. Short vowel: Are vowels of shorter duration. Examples are short /a/ as in bat, short /e/ as in bet. 7. Contraction: is a word made up from a verb and another word where an apostrophe takes the place of any letters that are left out. It can be positive contraction or negative contraction. Examples are: aren’t – are not and here’s – here is. CUING SYSTEM: 1. Semantics — the study of the development and changes of the meanings of speech forms. Semantics is also a study of the process by which meaning is derived from symbols, signs, text, and other meaning-bearing forms. 2. Syntax — the conventions and rules for assembling words into meaningful sentences; syntax varies across languages. 3. Graphophonic — Refers to the sound relationship between the orthography (symbols) and phonology (sounds) of a language. 4. Phonological awareness — The understanding that speech is composed of sub-parts — sentences are comprised of words, words are comprised of syllables, syllables are comprised of onsets and rimes, and can be further broken down to phonemes. Cuing Strategies â€Å"Used by effective readers to figure out unfamiliar words and to make meaning, cuing strategies include knowledge of syntax, semantics, words and word meaning, and graphophonics (letter/sound associations). Teachers can guide students to use cuing strategies by reminding them to ask themselves, did it sound right? Did it make sense? Did the word look right? † (Teacher Resources, 2002). References † Advice for Teachers: Assessing Student Writing. † UNL | FLWI. 2008. 03 Apr. 2009 . Porter, Patricia, and Deborah VanDommelen. â€Å"Integrating Assessment with Grammar-for-Writing Instruction. † CATESOL: California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. 2005. 03 Apr. 2009 . Hurst, Carol Otis. â€Å"Portfolio Assessment in the Reading-Writing Classroom. † Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site – Reviews and teaching ideas for kids’ books. 03 Apr. 2009 . Westwood, Peter. What Teachers Need to Know about Spelling. Aust Council for Ed Research, 2008. â€Å"Teaching Reading: Lens on Literacy. † Teacher Professional Development and Teacher Resources by Annenberg Media. 2002. .

Comparing and Contrasting Clinton and Connerlys Speeches...

Comparing and Contrasting Clinton and Connerly s Speeches on Affirmative Action Bill Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States. Elected in 1992 and again in 1996, Clinton served as President until January of 2001, when George W. Bush became the 43rd President. Ward Connerly is the founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute. He has gained national attention as an outspoken advocate of equal opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race, sex, or ethnic background. In this paper, I will discuss the position of these two politicians from affirmative action, I will highlight how each of them thinks about affirmative action, whether he sees it beneficial or harmful to the American society, and how he argues to†¦show more content†¦He blamed this divisiveness on those who believe that skin color and gender should entitle certain groups of people to some benefits while denying them from other for no reason but racial preferences: Do we not believe it was divisive when those from an earlier period said slavery was immoral? Was it not divisive when our nation s people fought among themselves over this very issue? Was it not divisive when we sent troops into Montgomery and Selma, Alabama to protect the rights of people like Rosa Parks and James Meredith to ensure their right to sit wherever they wanted on a bus and to attend a college that wasn t segregated? Yes, those were divisive times. But the seeds of division are not planted by those of us who seek to eliminate racial and ethnic preferences; they are planted by those who believe that our skin color and gender and how we spell our last names should entitle us to the harvest of diversity ― college admission, government employment, and contracts. (Connerly 5) Clinton began to give many examples of discrimination practices that used to happen as early as 1960s. He explained how blacks was denied attending segregated schools and universities, how the streets in black neighborhood weren t paved, and how the restrooms were marked WHITE and COLORED even in courthouse squares. Most of the powerful positions and even decent jobs were limited to white men: Thirty years ago in this city, you didn