A Colorful Day at the Football Stadium Case Study

A Colorful Day at the Football Stadium - Case Study Example A college football game can be the most colorful event in anyone's memory. The colors filled the parking lot. There were cars of every imaginable color. Some were the typical red and gray. There were cars that were the colors of the teams, which were green and blue. Near the entrance there were two very important looking black cars. The parking lot was also filled with banners. There was a huge green banner that proclaimed its support for the visiting team. There were several blue banners that had the name of the home team printed on them. There was even a banner on the truck from the local television station that was red, white, and blue. Along one side of the parking lot was a row of very colorful vendors. There was an orange sign that said 'French Fries' on a yellow background. There was a huge red sign that advertised 'Coca-Cola'. A purple sign was used to attract buyers to a van selling sports memorabilia. Everywhere you looked in the parking lot you would see a different color.Inside the stadium, the fans were as colorful as the parking lot. In one se ction there were over 200 people that wore green sweatshirts, the color of the visiting team. They wore hats that were gold with the team insignia. Their pants, mostly jeans, were a rainbow of various colors. A diehard fan had painted himself the color of the home team. The only clothing he wore that wasn't blue and white were his red sneakers. Many fans had banners, which announced their favorite team.

Insincerity is a Lie :: Communication Emotions Essays

Insincerity is a Lie â€Å"Aaargghhhh!! Ughh†¦. Daggonit†¦ That freakin hurts†¦. Etc, etc, etc†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Leesa the lovely roommate exclaimed. â€Å"Are you alright?† I chimed in a slow, mechanical, absolutely unfeeling response from my bedroom. You see, Leesa always has a gripe and complain. She seemed to think that her experience of putting in a nose ring qualified as yet another reason to distract the entire apartment from homework, and simply our own peaceful lives at the moment, and engage us in sympathies for her all-important life. Leesa now receives the attention of insincere roommates as to not drain us of our sanity and energies that should not be interrupted every two minutes to help her with things, and to ask her to elaborate upon her frequent gripes and complains about life. Granted, the girl has had a rough life, but the constant request for attention wears on us! The insincerity of the response in this situation arose from the fact that the situation was predictable and allowed for a mechanical reaction. The â€Å"caring† reply to Leesa’s distress cries came from someone that did not care. In this way, insincerity is a blatant lie. I did not really want to hear her elaborate upon the situation—to tell me that she was not alright and why. I knew Leesa was complaining about another of her perceived life crisis. I knew what she would say in response to â€Å"Are you alright?†. She would tell me that indeed, as she had just been yelling, something that she did to herself, perhaps bumped her knee or hit her head, hurt. The insincerity backing my words to Leesa allowed for her to do what she wanted to do. Insincere responses serve purposes well when the goal of the person eliciting the response is accomplished in the process. Leesa only wanted to speak out loud to express her importance and let her existence be known to everyone in the apartment. It let Leesa know where everyone in the apartment was located ( Laura, bedroom, Jenny, kitchen!) and perhaps what they were doing while she was putting her nose ring in. It gave Leesa control because a response would center all action in the apartment on her.

Development in Language Learning Essay

Language educators in mono-linguistic societies world-wide face a commonly held myth: children are only able to handle one culture and one language at a time. No doubt this is due to the fact that these perceptions are largely formed by adults who have been brought up and conditioned to think in the modes of a one-language, one-culture society. Yet research has shown that children are much more flexible in these areas than most adults would give them credit for. Children world-wide learn two, three and more languages in their early years and while there may be some short-term developmental delay the long-term benefits from learning other languages is considerable. In the great majority of cases parents are the principle teachers of one or two of these languages and as the children’s main caregivers are ideally suited for the job. Parents, the most prestigious people from a child’s perspective, are the most important factor in molding a child in the pre-school years. The purpose of this paper is to take lessons learned from bilingual homes and apply them to second language learning at preschool. The core elements discussed will be the benefits of bilingualism and pre-literacy programs in the preschool years. There is no doubt that early literacy gives a marked advantage to children entering into primary school. It follows that the advantage would be double if literacy was promoted in two languages. What this paper seeks to show is that this can be done by using methods taken from successful bilingual households and mimicking them in second language education for preschoolers. Additionally, by providing early reading and listening activities linking the home and the second language, schools can make use of the one of the most powerful factors in the learning of a second language by preschoolers, parental support. Before these activities are outlined it is essential that we summarize the benefits of pre-reading skills in bilingual households. Discussion and Summary of Research 1. Benefits of Early Reading in Diverse Languages There is no doubt that given the environment and the proper motivational tools young children show an interest in reading and being read to. Parents who incorporate the reading of stories into a preschooler’s daily activities will see the increased chance of literacy at a young age. Theorists for years have been telling us about the benefits of reading to our child. Mackler (1997) claims that the more enjoyable a child’s experience with early reading the greater is the possibility that they will read with frequency in the future. She states that, â€Å"Young children’s self-initiated interactions with print at home are important behavioral indexes of emerging motivations for reading. Shared storybook reading plays an important role in promoting reading motivations; when the socioemotional climate is positive, children are more interested in reading and more likely to view it as enjoyable† (p. 69). Andersson (1977) concludes that â€Å"Parents who read, study, and discuss interesting or important subjects in the presence of their children and who answer their children’s questions create a close relationship with their children, a relationship which older children are quick to adopt with their younger siblings. † It only follows that if reading in one language to a child is profitable to the child’s future education reading in two languages is even more profitable. Andersson (1977) claims that early reading for children and their parents is an experience that brings joy and self-esteem to a child and that this is doubly so for children who have the opportunity to enjoy literature in two languages. In his study on family reading in two languages Andersson (1977) researched the early reading process of three families. He concludes that, â€Å"far from being a double burden, learning to read in two languages is a double joy, leading to a positive self-image. † Meier (2003) adds that children being read to in two different languages tend to learn about the distinctive cultures of the two languages. She claims that â€Å"From these book reading experiences, many children acquire an extensive book-based vocabulary and absorb important cultural lessons about things like gender roles, family relationships, and the nature of friendship† (p. 242). She also claims that these early reading experiences help children adapt to the school environment by teaching them to listen quietly and attentively, raising their hand when they wish to speak and remembering their questions until the end of the story (p. 243). One study done on low-income Spanish speaking immigrants and their children showed that reading done within the family helped considerably in expanding vocabulary of Spanish at home with a group of three-year-old children (Akers, Boyce, Cook, Innocenti, Jump & Roggman, 2004, p. 371). Forty-seven mothers and their three year old children were analyzed while they shared reading time. The conclusions were that their children’s attention was expanded and that conversation and interaction within the family were enhanced (Akers, Boyce, Cook, Innocenti, Jump & Roggman, 2004, p. 383). The most significant change was that the children’s vocabulary was significantly broadened (p. 384). Yet it is important to emphasize that investigation shows that while literacy can improve upon second language learning, bilingualism does not necessarily improve upon literacy. Bialystok (2002) contends that much of the literature surrounding literacy and bilingualism in fact argues that bilingualism promotes literacy and that this is not necessarily the case. She concludes that the relation between bilingualism and literacy depends to a large extent on certain skills developed by teachers and parents and that in this sense bilingualism at the time literacy begins can result in â€Å"an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage for bilingual children. Bilingualism clearly affects children’s development of literacy, but its effect is neither simple nor unitary† (p. 159). 2. Bilingual Families: What We Can Learn Although there is a great deal of literature on the benefits of learning a second language the deep grained fear in mono-linguistic cultures is that learning two languages at the same time is trying for that child. But some theorists claim that language learning for bilingual children is in fact quite the same for monolingual children (Paneque, 2006, p. 171). What is more important for authors such as Paneque (2006) are other factors such as â€Å"who provides the language input, or when the second language is introduced† (172). She adds that while some children may start the process of becoming bilingual at birth other start in their preschool years but that â€Å"Either way, both methods of becoming bilingual can be effective† (p. 172). Other studies claim that the fear of slow development caused by bilingualism causes children to know neither of the languages well. Mclaughlin (1995) claims that, in fact, it is uncommon that both languages be in balance. He claims that, â€Å"One language typically predominates in use and exposure. When this happens, elements of the other language can quickly be lost. The child can forget vocabulary and even rules of grammar† (p. 4). The author concludes that it is only a question of time before the other language catches up and evens out the results (p. 4). Genesee, Paradis and Cargo (2004) conclude that children are more than capable of learning more than one language, either at the same time or one after the other. While many people focus completely on teaching methodologies authors such as Walqui hold that the psychological side of second language learning is in fact just as important. Stresses and fears brought out in the home and school environment can result in problems for the bilingual child. Walqui claims that, â€Å"While many discussions about learning a second language focus on teaching methodologies, little emphasis is given to the contextual factors—individual, social, and societal—that affect students’ learning. There is no doubt that the success with which bilingual children develop both languages depends largely on two factors: school support and home support. While at home a child may speak one language at school they may speak another. In order for them to become proficient in the home language they must have the support of their family. Walqui (2000) claims that support from family is essential to second language learning. She states that â€Å"Some educators believe that parents of English language learners should speak only English in the home. However, far more important than speaking English is that parents value both the native language and English, [and] communicate with their children in whichever language is most comfortable. † There are a couple of important conclusions to make on the research done up until this time. The first is that the literature has shown us that the natural process of becoming bilingual can lead to inequalities in the learning of one language or the other at certain times. The second conclusion is that given the right support by the family and education institutions children can learn both languages to the satisfaction of both. The third is that communication through conversation and shared reading can greatly enhance a child’s vocabulary in either language. What we can take from these three points of bilingualism in preschoolers is that if the same circumstances of sharing and reading with bilingual children are applied to children learning a second language out of the home the possibilities of success would be enhanced. Application of Research Activities That Use the School and the Home to Promote a Second Language Playschool support, home support and shared reading are the three elements of the program this work will propose to use to develop the second language abilities of preschoolers at an age in which they may learn the basics of literacy in their second language at the same time they do so with their first language. Although there is debate on the language learning window and when it closes Paneque (2006) concludes that early childhood does seem to be the optimal time for language learning. She claims that it is â€Å"when the child’s mind is still open and flexible, and not cluttered with all sorts of other learning, not to mention the society’s views on which languages are ‘prestige’ languages, and which ones are regarded by the society as of little or no importance† (p. 171). Before we go into the particulars of the proposed program first we should mention that it works around the presumption that the first priority to the family of a second language learner is to push their maternal language and excellence in that language. Indeed, Fortune (2003) states of English speaking students in immersion programs that parents must provided an atmosphere which will enhance their development of the English language. She claims that principally they should read and play games with them that will develop their literacy and vocabulary in English. She concludes that â€Å"Research shows that the stronger the development of the native language, the greater the proficiency in the immersion language, so children who enter an immersion program with a strong base in English will succeed more easily than those whose English skills are not as strong. † What is proposed here is that parents simply use one of the tools of promoting that language, pre-reading skills, to incite their preschoolers to open their mind to another language. So how can pre-reading be incorporated into a family that may not even understand the basics of the language being learned by the preschooler? This can be done by organizing a pre-reading program which connects the home and the preschool. Throughout the year teachers will choose a variety of simple word books that incorporate vocabulary the children have already learned in class. The teacher will read the story to the children and attempt to encourage their participation on discussing its characters, ideas and plot. Over the course of time they will do various activities that will work with the stories vocabulary and plot. These types of activity will obviously be dependent on the age group the teachers are working with. When the teacher is finished working with the story they will send the project on to its second stage – home discussion. The story will go home with the preschooler where it will be incorporated into family reading but it will not be the parents reading the story but rather the preschooler. The preschooler will be required to re-tell the story or act out the story as they remember it but by translating it into the families language. The family will be encouraged by the school to ask the child to instruct them on new vocabulary in the outside language. It is through activities like this that parents can help to support the second language by showing pride and accomplishment in what their child has learned up until that moment. Preschoolers in particular will be pleased that they have the opportunity to â€Å"teach their family. Bilingual books may be used to further help the parents with the activity. Meier (2003) also provides an outline for choosing and presenting the chosen books that would help preschool and kindergarten teachers gain more interest from their students. She recommends that first and foremost a teacher choose a book that â€Å"relates to children’s lives† (p. 248). Secondly she recommends that teachers ask â€Å"creative and open ended questions† to stimulate interest in the story (p. 248). Lastly Meier believes that if a teacher makes a book come a live by using props it will garner a far greater interest in the story (p. 248). Summary It is through pre-reading programs like this that playschool teachers teaching a second language might harness the most powerful factor in a young child’s life, parental support, without disrupting the important mode of communication that is the maternal language. It is undeniable that both the reading and the acquisition of languages are of great educational importance. By combining the two and providing the right support at preschool and at home teachers and parents may be creating an atmosphere where these young children can take advantage of the flexibility their young minds allow them in language learning. References Akers, J. F. , Boyce, L. K. , Cook, G. A, Innocenti, M. S. , Jump, J. F. & Roggman, L. A. (2004). Sharing Books and Learning Language: What do Latina Mothers and Their Young Children Do? Early Education and Development, 15 (4), 371-386. Andersson, T. (1977). A Guide to Family Reading in Two Languages The University of Texas at Austin Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center, California State University, Los Angeles, http://www. ncela. gwu. edu/pubs/classics/preschool/iii. htm Bialystok, E. (2002). Acquisition of Literacy in Bilingual Children: A Framework for Research Language Learning, 52 (1), 159–199.

How to Get Learning Accommodations at School

Some students struggle in school and need more support than is typically found in the traditional classroom, but that extra support isnt always easy to come by. For college students, typically the institution will require that the student provide documentation and request accommodations in a timely manner, and most will have the resources available to meet the students needs. However, the same isnt always true at secondary schools or middle/elementary schools. For schools who dont have robust academic support programs, students may be  forced into special education classrooms or they may be required to stumble along without accommodations in the traditional classroom.   However, there are options for students struggling in school, and one of those options is a private school. Unlike public schools, parochial and private schools do not have to grant students with learning disabilities accommodations. This ruling falls under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act  and is a direct result of the fact that private schools dont receive public funding. These private schools also have a pass when it comes to the need to follow the regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), which states that public schools must grant students with disabilities a free appropriate public education. In addition, unlike public schools, private schools do not offer students with disabilities IEPs, or Individual Educational Plans. Private Schools: Varying Resources and Accommodations Because they do not have to adhere to these federal laws governing the education of students with disabilities, private schools vary in the support they grant to students with learning and other disabilities. While years ago, private schools often said that they did not accept students with learning issues, today, most schools accept students who have diagnosed learning issues, such as dyslexia and ADHD, and other issues such as autistic spectrum disorder,  recognizing that these issues are actually common, even among very bright students. There are even a number of private schools who cater to the needs of students with learning differences. Some private schools for learning differences were founded specifically for students whose learning challenges  dont allow them to enter the mainstream classroom. The goal is often to support students and teach them to understand their issues and develop coping mechanisms that allow them to enter the mainstream classroom, but some students remain in these specialized schools for their entire high school careers.   Dedicated Learning Specialists In addition, many private schools have psychologists and learning specialists on staff who can help students with learning issues organize their work and refine their study skills.  As such, a number of mainstream private schools even offer academic support program, ranging from basic tutoring to more comprehensive academic support curriculums that provide students with a personal educational expert to help them better learn how they learn and understand the challenges they have. While tutoring is common, some schools go beyond that and offer organizational structure, time management skill development, study tips, and even provide advice on working with teachers, classmates and handling workloads.   Private schools also may be able to grant accommodations to help students in school, including the following: extra time on testsuse of a computer or tablet for writing in-class essays and assignmentshelp from a learning specialist to learn how to prepare for tests, study, organize study materialsuse of a private room for testing or work If youre thinking of private school and either know or suspect that your child may need extra assistances, consider these steps you might pursue to determine if the school can meet your childs needs: Get Started with Professional Evaluations If you havent already, make sure to have your child evaluated by a licensed professional. You may be able to have the evaluation conducted by the local school board, or you may ask your private school for the names of private evaluators. The evaluation should document the nature of your childs disabilities and the required or suggested accommodations. Remember, that while private schools arent required to grant accommodations, many offer basic, reasonable accommodations, such as extended time on tests, for students with documented learning issues. Meet with Professionals at the School before you apply Yes, even if youre just applying to the school, you can request meetings with the academic specialists at the school. Assuming you have the testing results available, you may set up appointments. You would likely coordinate these meetings through the admission office, and they can often be combined with a school visit or sometimes even an Open House, if you provide advance notice. This allows both you and the school to assess whether or not your childs needs can be properly met by the school. Meet with Professionals at the School after youre accepted Once youre accepted, you should schedule a time to meet with your childs teachers and learning specialist or psychologist to begin developing a plan for success. You can discuss the results of the evaluation, the proper accommodations for your child and what this means in terms of your childs schedule. Here are more strategies about how to advocate for your child with learning issues. Article edited by Stacy Jagodowski.