New age religion and the body mind and spirit connection related to Research Paper

New age religion and the body mind and spirit connection related to traditional medicine - Research Paper Example It promotes traditional medicine from different cultures, religions and beliefs found everywhere in the world. It can also be viewed as holistic healing of illnesses and diseases (Puttick 129). According to Puttick (p. 129) New Age religion comprises of new religious movements, groups and individuals. Their main concern is personal development and spirituality. They share core beliefs and values but they do not have governing council nor leader and even a central organisation or church. New Age movement is said to be started in the Garden of Eden, wherein the serpent told Eve to eat the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:4-5). They share their beliefs, experiences and spiritual journeys through published books and articles. Some of the principles and practices they share are Yoga, Near Death Experiences, Astrology, Aura, Black and White Magic, Psychic, Reincarnation, Tai Chi, Taoism, and Tarot Cards among others (Cornell University Website 72.). The beliefs and principles of New Age religion are so vast it covers almost all the areas in human life as well as the environment. Their beliefs and principles are contradictory with each other, however, there is no right, wrong and rules. Pe ople who are involve in this religion practices what they want and believe what principles they want to believe. It has great impact on society, culture, politics, music, business, science and medicine. It is already widespread that people practicing or doing these beliefs and principles without noticing it. Some of the principles, beliefs and teachings of New Age religion involve conceptualization of mind, body and spirit as a whole and promotes wellness to mind, body and spirit as well as the power of mind. One of the principles of the New Age religion believes that the mind body and spirit are interconnected. They treat the three elements into one or what they call wholeness. â€Å"The mind and body are increasingly considered to be single

The disadvantages and advantages for study outside your country Essay

The disadvantages and advantages for study outside your country - Essay Example This paper presents an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad, experiences faced by a majority of students. There are numerous advantages associated with studying abroad. First, since learning takes place in a different environment, one interacts with people of different cultures. This is beneficial since the student is able to understand the cultures and how best to cope with it, which is very essential at workplace. As such, the student will have smooth interaction with his/her fellow workmates in future. Secondly, the student is able to gather experience, as well as practice independence, which prepares them from school life to adulthood. Thirdly, the student may be forced to learn a foreign language, which might be an added advantage in securing different assignments in future. Fourth, while studying abroad, one can work in part-time job, which raises some money meeting personal expenses and might be an opening to a better paying job, in future. There are numerous disadvantages associated with studying abroad. First, the standard of living in these countries is usually high, which makes the students spend high amounts of money in meeting their basic needs. As such, the student has to request more funds from family members as well as undertake part-time jobs. Secondly, cultural shock resulting from different food stuffs, language and custom are evident and may take long before the students adapt; thus, making them home sick. Thirdly, being in a foreign country, there are few individuals who are willing to take care of a foreign individual once s/he is sick. As such, s/he may not avail the best treatment, based on the health care issue. Fourthly, if the study period is long, students might lose their culture and adopt the new one, which might make it challenging for him/her to perform optimally once they get back to their home country. Personally, I do agree that both advantages and

The Innovation Of Fashion Designers Cultural Studies Essay

The Innovation Of Fashion Designers Cultural Studies Essay Vivienne Westwood has been an innovative and provocative fashion designer. She has been influenced primarily by the Punk movement and that is one of the reasons I chose to research her fashion collections. This essay is going to investigate the importance of the relationship between Vivienne Westwood and the Punk movement to the fashion society. Westwood established the background for the punk movement in the United Kingdom which affected a lot the fashion styles and until today many clothes are designed according to the Punk fashion style, for example the skinny jeans. I believe that this investigation will provide an insight on sociocultural facts and events that are memorable for the world of fashion. What attracted me to it was that Westwood who hadnt done any studies on fashion, met Malcolm McLaren and together with their clothes, they were influenced by the British culture so much and they started working at the time when Punk movement was established. This made me think that when one has a gift and wants to become a successful person, eventually he will achieve his goals. Vivienne Westwood has had a successful career for more than 40 years. The essay will focus on the first eight years of her career from 1970 to 1978. During this period the punk movement appeared all over the world. Punk was actually a music genre that developed during this period in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, which is the homeland of Westwood, Punk appeared as an alternative political movement, which expressed rebellion, but also appeared as a music scene which brought to the spotlight many punk music groups like the Sex Pistols etc. It also appeared as a fashion style. British adolescents have long created stylish subcultures in order to express all manner of rebellions  [1]  . The punk style is the connection between Vivienne Westwood and Punk. Therefore, the research question formed is; How Vivienne Westwoods collections were affected by the punk movement? The essay will start the biography of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren and I will refer to the definition and the characteristics of the punk movement in the United Kingdom. I will followins also write about the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls which are both Punk music groups and wore clothes of Vivienne Westwood. Following I will move into comparing in chronological order collections of Vivienne Westwood with particular punk music groups. The collections I will look into are; Let it Rock 1970, Too fast to live Too young to die, 1972, Sex, 1974 and Seditionaries, 1976. This procedure will lead into the conclusion and my findings on Vivienne Westwoods influences from the Punk movement MAIN BODY Biography The punk movement appeared as a rock music genre which developed in the decade of the 70s in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. They created hard-edged music, characterized by short songs, stripped-down instrumentation and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. In Britain, the Punk movement was politically active and their main concern was the economy of the country. Many people were unemployed because the economy in the United Kingdom in the 1970s was in a recession. Early Punks played a role in politics and protest, and they wanted to express themselves as anticapitalists, antihippies, anarchists and fascists. They portrayed themselves as political radicals by drawing on themes of Marxism, fascism etc. Beyond the fact that punk started out as a music-based subculture, there is a debate about its geographic origins, its ideologies, its membership etc. Most published accounts of punk focus on the origins and flourishing of punk subculture from late 1960s to lat e 1970s.  [2]  Punk may have originated in the United States, but punk as a subculture gelled in mid-1970s Britain.  [3]  . Punk appeared also as a fashion style. The basic male uniform consisted of combat boots, leather jacket, torn jeans, shaved head and most girls tried to adopt this male uniform completely. The ways in which the punk girls combined their punkness and their gender is very unique. They combined female items with punk elements. The influence of the Punk style on music groups is remarkable. The Sex Pistols and New York Dolls are English bands which formed in 1975 in London and their manager was McLaren who was born in 1946 and is a performer and former manager of the two groups. Music, fashion, the Punk Movement was something that attracted him when he was in a Fine Arts college. Malcolm was a friend of Vivienne Westwoods brother and thats how they met. Vivienne Westwood was born in Glossop, Derbyshire on 8 April 1941. She is as much of a symbol of England a s the Queen and the black cab.  [4]  She always liked fashion and a quote of her is that Fashion became her baby, she picked it up and never put it down.  [5]  In 1965 she met Malcolm McLaren and a relationship began. Together they established the foundation of the punk movement by opening shops and creating clothes related to rebellion and punk. Westwoods career in fashion was galvanized by her partner, Malcolm.  [6]  Their working relationship lasted from 1970 until 1983, and as is referred to above launched Punk. In 1971 Vivienne thought they should set up a clothes shop, because Malcolm was certainly fascinated by clothes. Thereby, Malcolm found a place at Kings Road which was named Paradise Garage and the couple made an agreement to own part of the shop. Let It Rock was the name of Viviennes first collection and the name of the shop too. Her first collection included pieces of drape jackets, leather ties with plastic sleeves, drainpipe trousers, ruffled shirt, day-glo socks, bootlace tie etc. Her favorite fabric was leather, she used a lot of zippers and slogans in order to decorate her clothes. They were interested in that era and they wanted to approach the Teddy boys who were into rebellion and could things stir up. Vivienne sourced authentic buttons, cloth and linings and informed by research in Teddy Boy clubs, copied and recoloured the look.  [7]  Vivienne began making trousers and more and more people were coming to the shop to try on their day-glo jackets, the special blue and silver trousers etc. At that period of time Vivienne and Malcolm went to a big music concert and were inspired in order to make their own T-shirt, Viva la Rock n Roll. Malcolm described rock n roll as the jungle beat that threatened white civilization.  [8]  It is a fact that in the collection Let It Rock of Vivienne Westwood we dont see a big influence of the punk movement. This can be explained by the fact that at the period of time that Let It Rock was launched, it only the foundations of the punk movement had been established. Despite this fact we can find characteristics of the pun k style in specific clothes of Let It Rock. Let It Rock Collection Figure 2. Sid Vicious, Let It Rock, 1970-1972 Figure 1. Vivienne Westwood, Let It Rock, 1970-1972Punks and members of music groups wore clothes that were ripped because in this way they were expressing rebellion through their style. In Figure 1 we see a T-shirt of Let It Rock which shows the influence of punk. Punk style was characterized by clothes with zippers, with holes, slogans, pins, pockets etc. The T-shirt in Figure 1 is ripped like all the clothes of Punks and it has many zippers and pockets and slogans that Vivienne used a lot. A characteristic example is Sid Vicious (Figure 2) who is wearing a ripped T-shirt of the Westwood Let It Rock collection and skinny jeans.. Moreover the slogans for her T-shirts were often lyrics of Sex Pistols songs. A characteristic example we see in Figure 3, in which Westwood is wearing her T-shirt with a photo of the Queen and the title of the Sex Pistols song God save the Queen on top. Figure 3. Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, Let It Rock 1970-1972 Figure 4. Destroy T-shirt, Let It Rock 1970-1972Another example of a T-shirt with a slogan is shown in Figure 4, in which Vivienne wants to get the message across that Nazis should not exist. She was against all this racism against the Jewish people etc and she wanted to make something in order to express her disappointment about the Nazis and maybe she thought that she could change something. Thats why she thought to make a T-shirt with the swastika and the work Destroy on top. An example for leather gear is Sid Vicious again (figure 5) who is wearing a leather jacket at a Sex Pistol concert in Notre Dame Hall. Also, Vivienne, who is promoting her style and her clothes by wearing a leather outfit herself. Figure 5. Sid Vicious and Vivienne Westwood, Let It Rock 1970-1972 Although the Let It Rock collection and shop were very successful, Vivienne and Malcolm were searching for something new because the trend of the Teddy Boys had started to elapse. The Teddy Boys werent such rebels after all and because the couple wanted to express rebellion they needed something new. They started experimenting with rockers and a bike boys look and a tougher leather look which was accompanied with punk style. So, in the spring of 1973, they renamed the shop into Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die and Vivienne started a new collection. Malcolm started buying fabrics such as velvet and Lurex and he thought that they should sell second-hand jeans, customized leather, pegged trousers, double-breast Zoot suits with padded shoulders etc. Because some striped and plain black T-shirts were left over from Let It Rock collection, Vivienne decided against throwing these clothing items away and chose to alter them by ripping them, knotting, cutting holes, rolling and stitching sl eeves together. Thereby, Westwood made a series of extraordinary clothes and especially T-shirts collaged with feathers, nipple-revealing zippers, studs, chains, potato prints, hand-stencilled garments and odd objects. She also put glitter on clothes and the whole work turned into something more creative and fun for her. Together with the punk style they also wanted to search for motorbike wear because the couple was interested in rubber, leather and fetishism. This collection of Westwood had the characteristic that, it was a point at which elements of sex imagery, cult fashion and politics met. This characteristic was sometimes a disadvantage because they were sometimes prosecuted under the obscenity of law for exposing to public view an independent exhibition . One characteristic example is that one of their T-shirts showed two naked cowboys which was thought to be unethical, unacceptable and inappropriate by society at large. Vivienne explained, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ my job is to confront the Establishment to try to find out where the freedom lies and what you can do: the most obvious way I did that was through the porn T-shirts  [9]  . Actually she always wanted to express sex somehow. Even when she put zippers on her clothes above all there were all sort of other sexy associations with the zippers  [10]  . All these characteristics like for example the zippers, leather, chains etc made her clothes surreal and somehow controversial. Also some of the clothes were characterized as rough and deliberately confrontational. To Fast To Live To Young To Die Collection In comparison with Let It Rock collection, here in the TFTLTYTD collection the influence of punk plays a bigger role and we can find characteristics of the punk movement in many clothes of Westwood. Figure 6. Venus T-shirt, TFTLTYTD 1972-1974In Figure 6 we can see Simon Barker wearing the famous hand-made Venus T-shirt which had armholes edged with sections of bike tyres and trimmed with horse hair. For this T-shirt Vivienne was inspired from motorbike wear and the punk movement. Generally, she used also many clues in order to express sexuality. Regarding to the punk style as I have referred to above, the clothes have chains, slogans, pins, leather etc.. So, here in this T-shirt we have as elements taken from punk such as lots of pins, chains and of course the slogan Venus. Also we see that Simon Barker is wearing leather trousers and army boots that Punks quite often wore. Figure 7. Vivienne Westwood, TFTLTYTD 1972-1974Moreover, as I referred to above, Vivienne wanted to express sex through her clothes, so most of the times she made and wore clothes with which she wanted to show that she was against all taboos. A characteristic example is in Figure 7, in which we see Vivienne wearing a shirt, a jacket and underwear from the TFTLTYTD collection without wearing jeans, or trousers above etc. By appearing in public like this she wanted to get the message across that she hated Puritanism and that people should not had taboos and prejudices regarding sex and the expression of the human body. The above opinion is also supported by Figure 8 in which we see Malcolm wearing the T-shirt Two Naked Cowboys of the TFTLTYTD collection. This is one of the T-shirts that had the couple prosecuted under the obscenity of law for exposing to public view an independent exhibition  [11]  . Vivienne didnt want to be limited in her designs regarding to ethical implications but sometimes she was obligated to be limited because of the authorities. Figure 8. Two naked cowboys, TFTLTYTD 1972-1974 Figure 9. McLaren and Westwood, TFTLTYTD 1972-1974 In addition, Vivienne herself wore the clothes she designed and by doing so she aimed at promoting the clothes and the punk style also. A characteristic example is Figure 9 in which we see Vivienne with Malcolm in a Photo shout. Vivienne is wearing leather jeans and a blouse with a zipper that could be characterized as conservative. In this photo shooting she wanted to wear something conservative but still in leather so we continue to see the effect of punk on her. She wanted to provoke and show that she is different, that she can be conservative through Punk too. As time passed McLaren set the scene for Punk via the next venture into a field that he knew would provoke still more outrage. He said characteristically in an interview of Elle magazine in November of 1985; It started with an interest in any form of youth revolt, so that it involved Teddy Boys and Rockers. Then we brought the sex element into it.  [12]  So, in 1974 they renamed their shop to SEX written with pink letters again. At that time they started selling bondage gear such as rubber body suits, rubber masks, leather mini skirts, leather underwear, shirts with chains, padlocks, fishnets, fetishistic lace-up boots and they also sold stilettos. At that time their slogan was Rubber wear for the office. The couple wanted to prove that they didnt care about taboos and prejudices and thats why in this collection they marketed clothes related to sadomasochism, fascism, pornography etc. Her clothes continued to shock society if we consider that this collection was selling sex more than the previous ones. Vivienne explains, all the clothes that I wore that people would regard as shocking, I wore them because I just thought I looked like a princess from another planet, I just thought I looked incredible in these clothes.  [13]  . The influence of Punk in SEX is more than in the previous collections because SEX clothes were mostly made of leather, chains etc which are basic elements of punk style. Punk was a cross-fertilization of SEX clothes  [14]  . Some people believe that punk was an eruption in the streets. But what it was infact was a fashion e vent from the start, like the creation of a historical painting based on a revolution; because that is what it actually was, a revolution. Sex Collection A characteristic example of this sexual revolution that Vivienne wanted to express through fashion is the T-shirt Tits in figure 10. It is a T-shirt from SEX and it was worn by both men and women but it was preferred by men because they wanted to shock by expressing the idea of homosexuality; Figure 10. Tits T-shirt, SEX 1974-1976 Figure 10. Tits T-shirt, SEX 1974-1976 Moreover as it was referred to above, punk influenced SEX in such a way Vivienne used their elements and their main fabric, leather in making her clothes. In Figure 11 we observe how punk influenced SEX. In this picture we see Jordan, shop girl of 1974, wearing a leather outfit of SEX. In the foreground it is shown a body suit made of leather belts and in the background we can find rubber clothes hanging on racks. Figure 11. Jordan, SEX 1974-1976 We can find another example of Punk influence on SEX in Figure 12, in which we see Johnny Rotten wearing a black leather bondage suit. This piece of clothing shows the combination of punk and sexuality because leather is the fabric of punks and when we talk about bondage suits we relate them to sadomasochism and generally sex. Figure 12. John Rotten, SEX 1974-1976 Furthermore in Figure 13 it can be detected Vivienne wearing a total black outfit made of rubber and leather. It has some pins on top and Vivienne is also holding some leather straps attached to other leather objects. Malcolm and Vivienne had gone all the way by making a public display of the leather and rubber stuff that fetishists succumbed to in private. Figure 13. Vivienne Westwood, SEX 1974-1976 What SEX was and generally what all Westwood collections were was a complex amalgam of various stylish influences, in which Punk had its roots in the streets of London and the music scenes of New York. As time went by the New York Dolls made their own decadent outfits to which Westwood added elements from the torn clothes of the pin-ups in Let it Rock, chains, zips, rubber wear and bondage garments of SEX. Consequently, in 1977 the shop and the collection changed its name yet again into Seditionaries under the slogan Clothes for heroes. The word Seditionaries was Viviennes concoction and was based on the fact that someone needed to seduce people in order to revolt. This moment was the peak of all this punk madness. In this collection the zips and straps of obscure sexual fetishism were transformed into fashion. Malcolm and Vivienne continued selling SEX T-shirts and fetish gear but everything was much smarter, less underground and less provincially British  [15]  . They made some T-shirts with photos, slogans on top and again they borrowed elements from the Punk movement. Savage wrote that Seditionaries brought the modern look in the 1970s but also Seditionaries clothes unleashed a more violent reaction combined with punk elements than SEX clothes. If the first Punks had thrown up every youth style since the war and then stuck it together with safety pins and panache, Seditionaries avoided retro yet caught the confusion: the look both in the original and the imitations spread thoughout the world  [16]  . This collection included again bondage trousers and clothes with straps and zips. Westwood in this collection used wool, mohair and leather for fabric which were elements of Punk movement. Westwood also made trousers based on military wear but even then she added her own elements based on sado-masochistic and fetishist gear. The Punks at that time had their own army uniform. The clothes were accessorized with pins, razor blades and silver phalluses. They tended to throw together sado-masochistic bondage paraphernalia and clothing associated with the hospital or the mental asylums so that they produced a surreal commentary on the anarchic tendencies of the sartorial display. Again with this collection Vivienne wanted to reveal taboos and mess with the normative class coding. One of the most significant factors of Punk at that moment was that it gave license for women to dress assertively. Vivienne said characteristically that Punk was what made her think of herself as a designer. Actually what Punk was both for her and society was a fashionable expression of a revolution. In fact, fashion itself became a revolution. Seditionaries Collection In Figure 14 we can identify that Vivienne made such shirts like in this Figure which has an image of Karl Marx in the top left hand in order to express revolution. Punks wanted to mess with everything and break the rules and norms. Marx symbolized revolution and was against the system as were the Punks. And this is the reason why her clothes appealed to Punks. Figure 14. Punk shirt, Seditionaries 1977 Figure 15. Blue cotton shirt, Seditionaries 1976-1980In Figure 15 we observe a Seditionaries blue cotton parachute shirt with strap harness, printed with situationist slogans such as Only Anarchists are Pretty. Regarding the Seditionaries clothes, they had borrowed elements from the Punk movement and also elements from the SEX collection. All these straps and slogans were characteristic of the Punk style and the whole parachute thing reminds us of the SEX bondage gear. In the 16th and last Figure we detect a few clothes of the Seditionaries worn by a number of Punks. The woolen sweaters that are shown in the figure and all these parachute jackets have been borrowed from the Punk style. In addition the jackets also have elements from SEX bondage and sado-masochistic gear which exists also in Seditionaries collection. Figure 16. Punk clothes, Seditionaries 1977 Conclusion Manifests are always written after an event. In retrospect, the manifest of the Punk movement allowed a person to express himself, to succeed or even fail in extravagant way. The music, fashion and of course the Punk movement were a huge art festival which was born from the life and the experiences that Malcolm McLaren gained in the school of Arts. He inspired Vivienne to create this vast business in the world of fashion based on the Punk movement. This was the new fashion, the new way of thinking. The couple started from a small shop in Kings Road and step by step they created their own rules for life, their own norms, their own identity. In other words they set the foundation for an alternative society. Of course all these things were based on the Punk movement and primarily on their ideology. Vivienne not only used the elements of the Punk movement but also their ideology. Through her fashion, she wanted to make rebellion and go against mainstream society, just like the Punks. Tha ts why she used symbols related to Punks and rebellion in her clothes like for example Karl Marx, or the swastika with the word Destroy on top etc. Combining irony and the ideology of Punks she wanted to break taboos like the issue of homosexuality or nudity etc. Actually McLaren and Westwoods aim was to create something new, totally fashionable while they were using symbolism to convey their ideas. And that was the point where they needed Punk, as inspiration and influence. Vivienne characteristically says about Punk Im proud to have been part of it. It was heroic at the time  [17]  . But as it is known, fashion is like a circle and the trends change every now and then, so the whole issue with the influence of the Punk movement in Viviennes career stopped at the beginning of the 80s. From the 80s there on, she introduced a startling and highly influential new vocabulary about fashion which was characterized as nostalgia for the future. In spite of this she never forgot her orig ins. Vivienne never created something conservative despite the fact that their future collections dont have elements from the Punk movement. Viviennes career was built on punk. Whenever she gives an interview she refers to the influence that Punk had on her work and life, saying characteristically that Punk and McLaren were the two factors that encouraged her to make fashion and to be who she is now. The punk period helped her develop creatively. Having created the Sex Pistols look he gained more self-confidence and realized her vast creative abilities. Fortunately, Punk helped Westwood expand her abilities, and identify her talent. Westwood was determined to leave her mark on international fashion which she certainly did.

Male and Female Relationships in Generation Y Essay -- Sex Abstinence

Male and Female Relationships in Generation Y Sexual relationships among teenagers today involve not only dating and sexual activity, but also health and lifestyle issues such as sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Today’s teens are more informed and willing to practice safe sex than previous generations. As a whole, trends like body piercing for sexual pleasure all the way to strict abstinence have been adopted by Generation Y youth (Codrington). Where did it all begin? Heterosexual relationships have existed from the beginning of time, when the God of Christianity created Adam and Eve. Since that time relationships among heterosexual partners have continued to evolve. Instead of fathers arranging to give away their daughters to deserving men, people in America today now chose who they want to have relationships with. Dating and the Attractive Partner Sexual relationships usually begin with dating. Dating is the time when two people get to know each other and a time when they start to consider if they can have a long-term relationship. For today’s teens the new trend in dating is dating in groups of four, six, or even ten people (Stapinski). Even with this new trend however, the men are still asking the woman out. According to Leland Elliott and Cynthia Brantley, authors of Sex on Campus, 77 % of college boys still ask for the first date, while a mere 16 % of college woman take charge (49). Also, most college students (76 %) date only one person at a time. What do both men and woman look for in the opposite sex? If a woman were to answer for a man, most would probably list physical attributes such as eyes, smile, butt, and breasts, but the truth is that the number one thing a man l... ...girls in Jeopardy.† Human Ecology Forum Summer 1997:12+. * Pseudonym, to protect privacy 1 â€Å"Founded in 1916, world’s largest and oldest voluntary family planning organization. It is dedicated to the principles that every individual has a fundamental right to decide when or whether to have a child and that every child should be loved.† (www.plannedparenthood.com) 2 The condom concept dates back to 1350 B.C. when ancient Egyptians figured covering the penis might prevent pregnancy†¦Vulcanized rubber made an appearance as condom material in the mid 1800s. ( Sex on Campus 1997). â€Å"The Trojan brand has been a leader in providing videos and teaching guides for use in high school health education classes across the United States.† (Vogel 33). 3 HIV is an abbreviation for â€Å"Human Immunodeficiency Virus.† This virus is what causes AIDS ( Sex on Campus 1997).

Philosophy of reading Essay

â€Å"Just simply teaching a child to read is not enough; we must provide them something that is worth reading. Material that will make their imaginations grow – materials that will help them to understand their own lives and push them towards interacting with others who’s lives are completely different than there own† (Paterson). As elementary educators it is our privilege and responsibility to expose young people to knowledge. By making this introduction a fun one, it allows for the child to have a positive attitude about school and learning that they will take with them through out their entire educational career. Many children have a excited and happy attitude about starting school. Every student also feels like they are ready and prepared, no matter what their entry level literacy skills may be. It is common knowledge that not every child will enter the school system with the same levels of literacy. That is why it is up to us, as educators, to teach them how to read by using appropriately developed strategies and individualized instructions. When I was a little girl growing up I was one of a family of sixteen children, so beginning from a very young age once the school days were done we were left with our  older siblings while mom and dad worked hard to earn us a living. My mother would frequently read to me out of story books or simply stories she made up on her own. Since there were so many of us, by the time i was born we had a pretty good assortment of books to choose from. My first memory I have of reading in the classroom setting was in the fourth grade. My teacher was Ms. Bartrum, she was such a lovely woman who was the first to instill in me the joys of reading through accelerated reading programs and book fairs. I was a goal of mine to be the first one to finish one  book and move on to another one on the list, this is a case where a little competition was a healthy thing. Mrs. Bartrum was really good at picking out books that would challenge us but also capture our interests which made reading them a lot less challenging. Cunningham and Allington research has shown that those children who learned to read and write with ease had a lot of different experiences in reading and writing, which allowed them to benefit from the literacy experiences they had in school (Cunningham & Allington). Teaching students to read is not simply picking the right  reading program, and one specific program will not work with for every single student. As a teacher I feel that it is my job to be the spark for the love to read, by using an effective and balanced learning approach. It is of the upmost importance that the curriculum is designed so that it engages the students in the content, while allowing the students to use their own learning styles and accompanying to their developmental needs. The teaching method called â€Å"Best Practice† uses the idea that by using teaching methods and strategies within the classroom will create an individualized environment for learning. I continuously make an effort to use the best practices method in my everyday classroom instruction. Students learn based upon their own individual needs or interests. It is important to help students to gain their own craving for knowledge, it is critical to their academic success. By creating a learning environment that allows the students to feel safe, will in turn make it easier for them to trust you which will make the learning experience much easier. An environment that is encouraging, positive, actively engaging, and allows for social interactions will harbor the best practice learning method. The way that a classroom is arranged can have an effect on the students and how they learn as well. My personal classroom is arranged so that they students’ desks are arranged in a U-shape with my desk in the middle, this allows me to have a view of each student and to be able to get to them easier. My classroom is also full to the gill with reading materials, every which way the students turn they are greeted by books. Our reading corner is focused around our interactive word board, it holds our library with is full of many different forms of reading materials from chart books to decoding books. Also posted throughout the classroom is the alphabet, picture cards, and letter cards with a corresponding word being used in a sentence. Morning messages and charts are placed within easy access for the students so that they can review and practice whenever they want. Also made available within the classroom is environmental prints, these help the students with their writing, studies have shown that they are an effective way of aiding in emergent literacy (Jalongo, 2010). Each day there is an hour set aside to work on reading in small groups. Even though throughout the day several books are  read, this one hour period during the day is when individual reading levels are really focused on within each group. Groups are used during these lessons because studies have shown that students within the early grade levels learn more when a portion of their reading lessons are given in small groups, with regularly tested progress, and ample amount of time to understand the lesson is given (Taylor, 2005). â€Å"Reading is fundamental†, this saying is used to demonstrate the how important reading is to our youth. Having the skills to read and write is not only fundamental in an individual’s success in the academic sense but also in life itself. Reading and writing skills are a continued development throughout a person’s entire lifetime, however they early years, from birth to the age of eight, are the most crucial time frame for developing literacy skills (IRA and NAEYC, 2009). Reading has an undeniable importance because of the basic tools it provides an individual. It is the building block for the nation’s educational system. One must have adequate reading skills to be able to master any other subjects such as math or science, this is why it is the most crucial of all subjects to master. Despite it being such a simple concept, if it weren’t for reading our culture  wouldn’t be as advanced as it is today. By simply saying that â€Å"reading is fundamental† lacks emphasis, because without the ability to read our lives would be extremely different in many ways. References: Reading Rockets. Interview with Katherine Paterson. On-line. Accessed on December 5, 2014 at http:// www. readingrockets. org/books/interviews/paterson Hall, D. P. & Williams, E. (2000). Teachers Guide to Building Blocks: A Developmentally Appropriate, Multilevel Framework for Kindergarten. Greensboro, NC: Carlos-Dellosa Publishing Company Inc. International Reading Association (IRA) & National Association for the Education of  Young Children (NAEYC). (2009). Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children. NAEYC: Washington, DC. Jalongo, M. R. (2007). Early Childhood Language Arts. (4th Ed). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Taylor, B. , Pearson, P. , Clark, K. , & Walpole, S. (2005). Beating the Odds in Teaching All Children to Read. CIERA Report #2-006. University of Michigan: Ann Arbor.

Hi Essay

I. m. s. a Essay My two favorite subjects are math and science! One reason is because I have fun learning and experimenting with each subject. Another reason I would enjoy the program is because I know science and math are going to be a big part of my future. I would really appreciate being part of this program because I know I will be furthering my education and having fun doing it. Having fun learning math and science is something I always enjoyed. I find every aspect in math and science to be interesting. I find this interesting because I like being challenged in subjects I enjoy.The imsa fusion program seems very educational and very enjoyable. I think the imsa fusion will help me gain more knowledge experimenting with math and science. I believe joining this program will help me further my education and help me achieve some of my future goals! Being that this is my first year at the magnet academy joining the imsa fusion will also help me make new friends along the way that shar e the same interest as me. I plan on learning new things and have new experiences from this club that will help me understand more about these subjects.I have never had an opportunity like this to be in a club where I can learn more about these incredible subjects. I am also happy to join this after school program because I like to keep myself occupied. But most of all I know in the long run this program will help me jumpstart my path to success. So If I am chosen for this program I promise to work hard and try my best in each lesson given to my peers and I, because not only do I work well with others I will also help them if needed. Choosing me to be a part of this program will not only keep me motivated in reaching my goals, but I will be having fun learning something I really enjoy!