Author: admin

William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”

Discussion

William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” is written in a subjective point of view, which makes it both personal and relatable to the reader. The poem gives insight into the way real people think and gives life to certain topics that are not often talked about. It has impacted me through the way it uses the imagery of an event that is less often discussed. The poem narrates about a man who had to bury his father and loved him dearly, but does not reflect a society where people are quick to seek out and share their feelings (Williams, 2018). The poem illustrates exactly what happens in today’s society; for example, those that grieve do not talk about the death of a loved one every day. It is also apparent in today’s society that people do not discuss feelings frequently, which is evident throughout the entire poem.

To become critical readers, it is important to practice reading actively and with a set of opinions (O’Byrne, 2018). By analyzing and interpreting text in response to one’s own thoughts, beliefs, and experiences, readers gain literacy skills that can be applied to other texts. Several strategies should be practiced to become and active and responsive reader. The key to becoming an active and responsive reader is to take notes on what is being read by creating visual notations about the main idea and supporting details. By taking notes, it’s then easier to recall the material and study it later. This also helps the reader understand what they’re reading with deeper meaning as opposed to just getting through an article (O’Byrne, 2018). This strategy is not only useful for reading articles but also for reading poems and short stories. Students can learn how to read fiction by concentrating on what they are reading in a story rather than just looking at words that have been strung together in a haphazard manner (O’Byrne, 2018). The next strategy requires to understand the primary goal for reading an article. By setting a goal, the reader is able to focus on grasping the content. The last strategy is to have a designated time for reading. By observing these strategies, the reader will be able to develop critical understanding of the literature article more so poems and essays.

Sources

Williams, W. C. (2018). The Red Wheelbarrow & Other Poems. New Directions Publishing.

O’Byrne, W. I. (2018). Empowering students as critical readers and writers in online spaces. In Best practices in teaching digital literacies. Emerald Publishing Limited. http://www.hkaect.org/jce/5(1)/JCE_5(1).pdf#page=14

Using Density to Estimate the Alcohol Content of Common Liquors

Doe 1

Using Density to Estimate the Alcohol Content of Common Liquors

John Doe

Chemistry 101 January 18, 2013 Dr. Maria Smith

Doe 2

Abstract

Commercial producers of alcoholic beverages use several methods to measure the amount of

alcohol by volume (ABV) that can be found in their products. Because the density of ethanol and water are both known, this study attempted to determine whether density could be used to approximate ABV. A series of ethanol/water solutions were prepared and weighed to create a density curve, and several commercial available liquors in varying proofs were sampled for density. Overall, the density curve created by the series was a good predictor of ABV, with the curve over predicting the whiskey, rum, and grain alcohol samples by 1.2%, 1.7%, and 1.8%, respectively. The likely cause for this small difference was likely ingredients that were added to the alcohol for flavor and which changed the density of the solution. Temperature and human error also likely played a role in the difference.

Doe 3

Introduction

Alcoholic beverages are a solution of ethanol (the psychoactive ingredient) water, and other substances, usually added for flavor. In the United States, the ethanol content of commercially available liquor is noted on the bottle as the proof, defined as being twice the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) in the solution. So a bottle of liquor that was 40% ABV would be labeled as 80 proof. This study will attempt show that density can be used as a means of measuring ABV.

Historically, the idea of alcoholic proof developed as a literal test of whether a liquid contained the claimed amount of alcohol. The test relied on the flammability of ethanol, namely that gunpowder will ignite in a mixture of ethanol and water that is greater than 57.15% ABV and will not in a solution that is less than 57.15% ABV. Eighteenth century sailors, who were paid in rum rations, would test whether their rations had been watered down by dousing gunpowder with the rum. It ignited the run was considered to have been “proved.” If the gunpowder did not ignited, the rum was considered “under proof.”1

Today, distillers use complex instruments that measure alcohol content by comparing the

density of the solution to the density of water. Density is defined as the amount of mass per unit volume. For liquids, density is measured in grams per cubic milliliter (g/mL3). Because of the expansion and contraction of liquids, density varies with temperature. At 20 degrees C, water has a density of 1.00 g/mL3, and ethanol has a density of 0.789 g/mL3. To test the labeled proof on commercially available liquors, a ABV versus density curve was created using a series of ethanol/water mixtures of known volume. The density of the purchased liquors was calculated and compared to the curve.

Materials and methods

ABV versus density curve

A volumetric pipette was to create a series of 10 mL ethanol/water solutions ranging from 35-95% ethanol in 5% increments. A 5 mL aliquot was then weighed and the density of the solution calculated. All solutions were kept at 20 degrees C. The density was then plotted against ABV and a best-fit curve calculated.

Density of commercial liquors

Representative brands were chosen for several types of liquors to represent a range of ABV: Jim Beam Original, white label, 80 proof (whiskey), Bacardi 151, 151 proof (rum), and Everclear, 190 proof (grain alcohol). 5 mL aliquots were taken from each bottle and weighed to calculate density.

Results

Doe 4

ABV versus density curve

The measurements and densities for the curve samples are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Weight and density for ethanol/water solution series.

35%40%45%50%55%60%65%

Water (mL)6.56.05.55.04.54.03.5

Ethanol (mL)3.54.04.55.05.56.06.5

Weight (g)47.4045.7544.7244.6544.3544.0143.75

Density (g/mL3)0.9480.9150.8940.8930.8870.8800.875

Table 1 (con.).

70%75%80%85%90%95%

Water (mL)3.02.52.01.51.00.05

Ethanol (mL)7.07.58.08.59.09.5

Weight (g)43.4542.7542.541.4041.0539.95

Density (g/mL3)0.8690.8550.8500.8280.8210.799

The scatter plot showed a linear relationship between ABV and density with the equation: y = -0.002x + 1.0012

The R-squared value was .9477, indicating a high correlation.

Fig. 1 ABV versus density scatter plot with best fit line.

Density of commercial liquors

The weight and density of the 5 mL aliquots of commercial liquor are in Table 2.

Table 2. Weight and density of commercial liquors.

Weight (g)Density (g/mL3)

Jim Beam (whiskey)46.320.926

Bacardi (rum)43.500.870

Everclear (grain alcohol)39.250.785

Doe 5

The difference between the sampled and predicted densities was as follows for whisky, rum, and grain alcohol, respectively: 0.011 g/mL3, 0.015 g/mL3, and 0.014 g/mL3. The percent error for each prediction was 1.2%, 1.7%, and 1.8%.

Discussion

The alcohol industry relies on indirect methods to calculate the amount of alcohol in their finished product. This experiment tested the accuracy of using density as a proxy to approximate ABV by developing an ABV versus density curve, then comparing predicted densities on commercial liquor labels.

The ethanol/water solution series resulted in a density curve with a high R-squared value,

indicating a strong correlation between ABV and density. This curve consistently over predicted the calculated density of the commercial liquors, meaning that the bottle contained a higher volume of alcohol than was predicted by the curve. However, the percent error in the predictions was consistent, suggesting that the curve was precise if not accurate and that the difference was due to factors that stretched across all three brands.

There are several possible reasons for this difference. The first is the presence of outliers that

can be seen in Figure 1. The outside data points, at 35% and 95%, do not fit the curve, and most likely skewed the curve. These outliers may be the result of human error in measurement or may indicate that the curve is less reliable at the highest and lowest ABV values.

Another possible reason for the consistent difference between the predicted and sampled ABV valued is that commercial alcohols often contain ingredients other than ethanol and water. Most important among these are likely to be ingredients added for flavor. For example, both the sampled whiskey and rum liquors were aged in barrels so that they would pick up flavor from the wood.2,3 However, the grain alcohol sample indicates that added ingredients may not be the main cause of the discrepancy, because Everclear is unflavored.

The last factor that may account for the discrepancy is the effect of temperature on density. This experiment was done at 20 degrees C, but it’s possible that proof alcohol for commercial labels is calculated at a different temperature. It’s also possible that the temperatures, and hence the densities, of the solutions changed after they were prepared and allowed to rest at room temperature.

Overall, however, it should be noted the percent error between the predicted and sampled ABV was small. The curve proved to be a very reliable predictor of relative ABV, meaning that the curve could be used to accurately predict the difference between ABV in an ethanol/water solution. The curve was also a somewhat reliable predictor of ABV.

Doe 6

Works Cited

1. Gately, I. Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol; Gotham: New York, 2009.

2. Pacult, F.P. American Still Life: The Jim Beam Story and the Making of the World’s #1 Bourbon; Wiley: New York, 2003.

3. Gjelten, T. Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause; Viking: New York, 2008.

laws_with_domestic_dispute

DOMESTIC DISPUTE REPORT FOR POLICY MAKING

Students Name

Professors Name

Institution

Course

Date

Domestic Dispute Report for Policy Making

Domestic violence laws

Laws dealing with domestic violence

Domestic violence is an increasing phenomenon in today’s society considering the aggregative nature of life. According to a study it showed that many people accredit their violent outbursts to either work or social stress. The state of Connecticut has a variety of laws to guide and protect the victim and ensure that the perpetrator is justly dealt with. Family and domestic violence laws are the constitutional laws that ensure that despite gender, age and even race are protected from this vice.

In all walks of life it has been declared that it is illegal for anyone to physically assault another person. Even with close kinship ties assault is punishable by law. With this in mind family violence and domestic dispute is described as an incidence that results in bodily harm or injury. In addition it can also be defined as an act or threat that makes one fear for his safety CITATION Lin05 l 1033 (McKie, 2005).

In the constitution a family is described to constitute any or all of the following persons

Spouse or former spouse. In this case Sarah and her boyfriend are considered spouses considering their relations.

Parents or their children

Persons related by blood

Persons who live together regardless of the fact that they are not bound by blood or marriage. For example roommates.

Persons who are currently in or were previously in a dating relationship. This is also another qualification for the case of Sarah and her boyfriend.

If any form of violence occurs between any of the above named persons there are both civil and criminal laws that offer reprieve to the offended. Criminal laws ensure that the offender is prosecuted according to state laws. On the other hand civil laws ensure that the offended gets relief and compensation for any damages suffered due to the acts of the offender.

For criminal law there are several forms of abuse in that of criminal convictions for assault, stalking or threatening. Sentences can g to as large as 99 years. Other laws include those that allow persons to take up restraining orders. Also there are the laws that protect victims of such disputes. In the state there is also a provision of forming groups and societies that help such persons CITATION Mar08 l 1033 (Mccue, 2008).

Personal crimes and property crimes and how they apply to domestic disputes

Personal crimes are those that are perpetrated against an individual this is the case for such instances as rape homicide and kidnapping. There are also various level and categories of these crimes. Taking as an example homicide can be categorized into first and second degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and even vehicle homicide. In all these cases only the victim gets affected. On the other hand property crimes are those that affect the wealth of a person or the state and mostly involve damage of material wealth. Forgery, embezzlement, theft, arson and false pretenses are some of the crimes that fall in the category of property crimes. There is a difference between robbery and theft. Robbery involves stealing using force and a weapon while theft just involves taking someone else’s item without consent with the intention of claiming possession CITATION EGK02 l 1033 (Krug, 2002).

This brings in the fact that regardless of the major divisions some crimes can fall both into the personal and property crimes subdivision. For instance in the case of robbery both property and an individual can be affected. This thus shows that there is a very thin line between the two parts.

Domestic violence can be an instance of where property and an individual are harmed. Assault is where a person physically injures another person when it happens between persons falling in the category mentioned above it becomes a domestic dispute. On the other hand in the heat of the arguments that precede a domestic dispute situation property may be destroyed. This includes the property within the residence that may be damage CITATION Zor92 l 1033 (J, 1992).

Rights of persons involved in domestic disputes

Domestic violence is a traumatic time in the life of any individual. It causes not only physical but also psychological torment. The first right that an individual has right over is that of seeking medical attention if and when needed. Most people have nasty and even life threatening injuries. Most harm increases in intensity as the cases of domestic violence goes unreported. For instance in the case of Sarah at first it was only a bloody mouth then it escalated to a broken arm. She feared to go to hospital as it would lead to a lot of complications. Such victims also require counseling to enable them to accept their predicaments and to move on.

All human beings are entitled to a safe and life conserving environment. Victims of domestic violence usually do not feel safe and they are entitled to police protection. Most take restraining orders and thus the police system ensures that they feel protected CITATION Mar08 l 1033 (Mccue, 2008).

Another right entitled is that of justice. This ensures that disputes within the house are not taken lightly by the police force. All people in such unfortunate situations deserve prompt and fair aid.

It is not just for the sake of philanthropy but also the principle of humanity that all persons should report cases of violence. Many persons in such situations are fearful of what might happen to them if they report such cases thus it is the duty of the society to help them. As a bystander or third party do not meddle in others affairs but just report and give as much advice to the victim as is possible.

Criminal behavior of domestic violence

Crimes such as assault, murder and destruction of property come very close to domestic violence. Assault occurs when there is intense or even minor injury caused to another person due to the acts of another individual. Sarah had a broken arm showing that she had been injured by her boyfriend. In other cases there might be use of a weapon such as throwing a knife at someone. This might cause serious injury or death. When it comes to the case of death then murder is the next charge in the large plate of criminal offences that come as a result of domestic dispute. Destruction of the residence of an individual is a form of property crime. In the heat of the moment also of things can be broken without one actually realizing what is happening. Lack of knowledge is no defense to any crimes committed.

In policy making the laws should allow for prompt action to be taken in the case of such disputes. This is because as time passes the intensity of the crimes committed enlarge and more damage is created. Policies created to this effect should be more preventive than curative for this reason CITATION EGK02 l 1033 (Krug, 2002).

Reference

BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 J, Z. (1992, june 23). Criminal Law of Domestic Violence. Journal of Criminal Law, pp. 12-15.

Krug, E. (2002). The World Report on Violence. The Lancet, 45.

Mccue, M. L. (2008). Domestic Violence: A Refernce Handbook. Chicago: ABC-Clio.

McKie, L. (2005). Families, Violence and Social Change. NewYork: Open University Press.

RoRob-Internet

Dot-com Bubble

August 3

2014

Rise and Fall of The Internet

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc394850380 h 3INTERNET BUBBLE HISTORY: A SAGA FROM BEGINNING TO END PAGEREF _Toc394850381 h 3World Wide Web: At a Glance PAGEREF _Toc394850382 h 3Dot-com Bubble PAGEREF _Toc394850383 h 4The Bubble Growth: PAGEREF _Toc394850384 h 51. Spending Lavishly: PAGEREF _Toc394850385 h 52. Rising Stocks: PAGEREF _Toc394850386 h 6The Bubble Bust: PAGEREF _Toc394850387 h 6Companies That Lost In Dot-com Bubble PAGEREF _Toc394850388 h 7Pets.com PAGEREF _Toc394850389 h 7Webvan.com PAGEREF _Toc394850390 h 8eToys.com PAGEREF _Toc394850391 h 8InfoSpace PAGEREF _Toc394850392 h 8GeoCities PAGEREF _Toc394850393 h 8Companies That Survived the Dot-com Bubble: PAGEREF _Toc394850394 h 8Amazon.com PAGEREF _Toc394850395 h 8Shutterfly PAGEREF _Toc394850396 h 9eBay PAGEREF _Toc394850397 h 9Coupens.com (privately held) PAGEREF _Toc394850398 h 9The Aftermath PAGEREF _Toc394850399 h 9SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION PAGEREF _Toc394850400 h 10REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc394850401 h 11

INTRODUCTIONThe rise of the internet has led to many technological changes in the present world and what marked the rise of the internet was the advent of the World Wide Web in the year 1993 when a man named Tim Berners Lee invented World Wide Web. With this invention came the era in which the online industry boomed like never before. The investors all around the world found the internet and World Wide Web as the new future for gaining profit and then began huge amounts of investing in newly launched internet companies from 1993 to 2000. This period is known as the World Wide Web bubble or the dot-com bubble. The history of this bubble is an important source to know how it all began and how many companies rose and perished in the due course to reach what we have today. The readers of this paper will get insights into the history of the bubble and how it affected the internet arena. This research paper will lead to identify various events of that time and what could have been done to avoid the failures that many companies faced.

INTERNET BUBBLE HISTORY: A SAGA FROM BEGINNING TO ENDWorld Wide Web: At a GlanceBy the early 1990’s computers were already in use for various purposes and at various places like offices, homes and schools. But they were mainly used for playing games, writing, accounting and business applications. Computers were rarely used for shopping, communicating or research as today. A man named Tim Berners-Lee in 1993, a software engineer at CERN in physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland changed the whole concept of computer usage by introducing a multimedia layer to the internet called World Wide Web (www).

World Wide Web is often misunderstood for internet but is actually different from internet. World Wide Web is a kind of service which operates over the internet like e-mail (Craig, 2003). It’s a global space where people can connect with each other all across the globe, can share information and can read and write through computers connected to the internet. Internet is a series of computer networks through which computers connect and communicate with each other globally. A series of different languages with the help of which information is shared between computers are called protocols. World Wide Web is a kind of layer over the internet and it uses three protocols:

HTML (Hypertext markup language)

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

URLS (Uniform resource locator).

Dot-com BubbleBubble is a term given to a sudden rise of stock prices of an industry for a certain period of time due to various direct and indirect factors. The buying of stocks in the time of a bubble rapidly increases as there is a potential of huge profits due to future rise in the stock prices. Consumers buy these stocks at a very high price under the belief that another consumer will buy from them at still greater price than that. Eventually such markets run out. Similar thing happened with the World Wide Web market in the period of 1995-2001 and has been categorically defined as “dot-com bubble”.

With the evolution of a novel idea of World Wide Web with high potential, web became a focus of the businesses. There was a sudden rise of economy and high growth rates in the internet sector. Investors found it a completely new and untapped market and companies who had never ever made revenues were pushed on to stock exchange and started investing at extremely high values. Already existing businesses realized the need of their visibility/presence on the internet to conduct marketing and for sharing information. Online business became a hot topic and led many entrepreneurs to pop up and take advantage of the e-commerce possibilities. Young and underemployed individuals realized that business models in future would be based on e-commerce possibilities so they wanted to be the first to benefit from this .They came to be known as start- ups. The investors started putting money into whatever was related to the web or .com due to the wrong judgment of low costs of conducting businesses in this new arena. Further interest rates were very low in 1998-1999 which helped the start-up capital amounts to increase. They overlooked the basic fundamentals and real world; instead they started making huge investments in the hope of reaping benefits in the long run with the confidence of advancements in technology. Among the start- ups of the dot-com bubble, most popular were Monster, Amazon, HotJobs, eToys, eBay, and WebMD.

The startups began to increase in number and the investors started investing in such start-ups that didn’t even have a clear business plan. Huge expenditures were on advertisement, offices and marketing. Then came the time when the artificial accounts were set up on papers to show the profits earned by the investors which further boomed the bubble. The buzz around was of only one thing “Get big quickly or get out”.

The Bubble Growth:The growth of the bubble depended on the following aspects:

1. Spending Lavishly:An internet company can survive and grow only if there is rapid expansion of its customers else it is bound to get doomed. Most of the companies which invested in the dot-com bubble era spent huge amounts internally also. Some employees of such companies became millionaires due to such high rise in stock prices. Moreover, these companies spent lavishly in expanding their business facilities because confidence in the “new growing economy” was very high. The internet service providers and the mobile network operators saw it as an opportunity to invest to develop their network infrastructure so as to cope up with the future rise of internet. This led to the companies in taking huge amounts of loans and was in high debts for the advancement in technology.

2. Rising Stocks:During the period of dot-com bubble, the stocks were rising at a rapid pace and the stock markets were on the high that has never been seen before. All around the world companies started investing in the ventures of World Wide Web and the internet. Every company that entered into the arena of World Wide Web saw huge increase in their stock prices just in a week from the launch of their IPO’s. Every new company or as they are called as start-ups were craving to benefit more and more from this boom, even more investing was done which further increased the stock prices. Even if the companies were not having much profit the boom made it as a potential profit maker in the future. This led to the further bubble expansion and in no time it was advent that the bubble is reaching its ultimate peak.

The Bubble Bust:The dot-com bubble reached the maximum height in January 2000 Super Bowl, when almost 20 dot-com companies paid more than $2 million each for the prime advertising spots. Thus the concept of the “New Economy” was a complete hit till the “dot.com” bubble busted in early 2000. Every bubble reaches a time when it busts and for the dot-com bubble the fate was sealed officially in the year 2000 on March 10th. On this day NASDAQ (The internet stock exchange) reached its peak of all time to 5,048.62 which was a huge rise of almost double the value that it had on the same date of previous year (Doms, 2004). After this peak followed the downfall, the NASDAQ started falling rapidly and by the end of 2002 it fall to one fifth of the peak value of year 2000. The fall was not due to one reason but a combination of reasons that led the stock prices to fall below any expectations. As on 10th March, 2002 the NASDAQ reached its peak, the selling orders for the stock increased rapidly and increased that much that it started feeding on itself and the stock prices started getting down and at the end of the day of 10th march the value came down by 200 points and kept decreasing. (Kraay & Ventura, 2007). Another point that can be accounted is that after spending so much for all these years in equipping with the technology, companies felt that no more spending is required and hence, investors stopped further funding and sat back to reap the fruit. Another reason was the increase of interest rates almost six times the prevalent rate of interest by the Federal Reserve. On April 3rd, 2000 in the case of United States v/s Microsoft Federal Court declared Microsoft as a Monopoly which spread the news all around the world that the future of their stocks are on stake and due to this NASDAQ fell from 4,283 points to a low of 3,649 points on April 4th. The NASDAQ rebounded for a while though but it was not near any recovery. It kept on falling and the investors realized the companies they have invested in are now loss making companies and soon those companies became bankrupt creating chaos in the World Wide Web arena.

Companies That Lost In Dot-com BubblePets.com – It has become synonymous with the dot-com bust. The pet company of food and supplies is perhaps the most recognized flop from the dot.com bubble due to its popular marketing campaign. In the first nine months of 2000, the company lost $147 million (Ofek, Richardson, 2003). It failed to secure more cash from investors. In February 2000, when Pets.com went public its stock started at $11 a share and rose to $14. But the stock of Pets.com fell quickly below $1 and stayed there until its demise. The company of about 3000 employees winded up in November 2000.

Webvan.com – Webvan.com was another company that lost its everything in the bubble. Investment of $1 billion was all in vain. With initial profits the companies stocks at the end fell to 6 cents a share.

eToys.com – This online toy retailer was founded in 1997 and soon became one of the most visited Web sites for holiday shopping. It spent millions of dollars on campaigns of marketing. But, it had not enough cash by March 31, 2000. It later itself filed for bankruptcy.

InfoSpace – Another company who saw immense rise in its share with the peak price of $1,305 per share in March, 2000 to even bigger a fall to just $22 a share in one year. In March 2000, its stock reached at a height of $1,305 per share, but by April 2001 the price had crashed down to $22 a share. (Goodnight & Green, 2010).

GeoCities – There were 19 million unique visitors per month on this site and it soon became the third-most visited site on the Web behind AOL and Yahoo in 1998. Yahoo bought GeoCities for $3.6 billion in January 199. But, with the advent of Facebook, Myspace, GeoCitie, Gotl ost. GeoCities was closed by Yahoo on Oct. 26.

Apart from above, other sites which became victims to the dot-com bubble bust were theGlobe.com, Go.com, Flooz.com, Drkoop.com, Kozmo.com, Garden.com, Broadcaste.com, Freeinternet.com, ovWorks.com, Lastminute.com etc.

Companies That Survived the Dot-com Bubble:Amazon.com – Amazon.com that is still one of the topmost companies in the world was one of the biggest survivors of the dot-com bubble. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon is the largest online retailer company in the world today (McAleer, Suen & Wong, 2013). The Amazon had a sure shot business plan and focused on the recognition of its brand rather than income. Till 2002 it had no significant profit but after that it rose to heights that surpassed all.

Shutterfly – It was founded in 1999. It allows users to create cards, prints, photo books, calendars, stationery and photo sharing websites. Today it trades its shares above $500.

Priceline.com – It was founded in 1998. It is related to travel and it helps users to find discount rates on hotels, fares, car rentals and vacation packages.

eBay – Another online Giant eBay was one of the survivors of the dot-com bubble. Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 its business plan revolutionized the online retailing. Today the company has a business of more than $9 billion and still rising with its employee base of 17,000 employees all over the world.

Coupens.com (privately held) – It was founded by Steve Boal in 1998. Today, its value is of $1 billion.

The AftermathThe dot-com bubble kept on deflating at a rapid pace till the year 2001 and the companies that lost everything in the bubble were either bankrupt or were liquidated quickly. The companies burned their venture capitals and then ceased their trading. The domain names were swapped by various competitors of the loosing firms. There were various companies that were charged for fraud and taken down by the Federal Court and fines of millions of dollars were imposed on them for misleading the investors (Mills, 2003). There were companies who never made even a little profit and lost a fortune and there were some companies who survived and now emerged as the largest .com companies that the world has ever seen. The bubble can be marked as the litmus test for the companies for success. The ones who passed this test are successful beyond expectations and the ones who failed no more exist and are lost in the sands of time.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONThe dot-com bubble was the biggest turmoil in the history of the internet and the World Wide Web and has given the companies a lesson that without a perfect business plan failure in the bubble is inevitable. A few .com companies like Google, Amazon, eBay etc. managed to survive the bubble with their nicely executed plans and less greed for initial profits. With the end of the bubble bust arose a new era of internet where internet went to half of the household in the USA and many parts of the world. The internet bubble was something that in a way opened the path for the Information Technology Boom and the world that we live in today. Without the bubble the world might not have seen such a rapid change in the technology that we are experiencing today. There could have been a number of ways that this large amount of failures could have been avoided. One way could have been by creating business plans that were actually profit making and not the plans to just enter the arena. The other way could have been not to invest blindly in any company with a World Wide Web tag or the .com tag. But, it can only be argued or discussed what should have been done and what was done had the consequences for some companies and a few of them are having a future brighter than sun.

REFERENCESKraay, A., & Ventura, J. (2007). The dot-com bubble, the Bush deficits, and the US current account.University Of Chicago Press, 457–496.Goodnight, G., & Green, S. (2010). Rhetoric, risk, and markets: The dot-com bubble. Quarterly Journal Of Speech, 96(2), 115–140.

Craig, B. (2003). Bubble, toil, and trouble. Federal Reserve Bank Of Cleveland.

 Doms, M. (2004). The Boom and the Bust in Information Technology Investment. ECONOMIC REVIEW-FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO, 19–34.Ofek, Richardson (2003), “DotComMania: The Rise and Fall of Internet Stock Prices”, retrieved from http://people.stern.nyu.edu/eofek/DotComMania_JF_Final.pdfMcAleer, M., Suen, J., & Wong, W. (2013). Profiteering from the Dot-com Bubble, Sub-Prime Crisis and Asian Financial Crisis.

Mills (2001), “Who’s to Blame for the Bubble?”, retrieved from http://hbr.org/2001/05/whos-to-blame-for-the-bubble/ar/1

Literary Analysis Research Paper

Dr. Antiwan Walker

English 1102

Summer 2014

Literary Analysis Research Paper

The purpose of this assignment is to write a Literary Analysis essay that clearly illustrates an investigation into and interpretation of one or more literary works discussed in class. For example, you may wish to show the importance of symbols in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”; you may wish to detail the significance of domestic abuse in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple; or you may want to address the role of patriarchy in a number of the works we have examined. Remember, these are only options. Also keep in mind that you will need a purpose. Why should your reader care that you are writing about symbols in Walker’s novel? What would he or she take away from your essay by the time he or she finishes with it?

What is your critical goal? To refute other writers’ interpretations, revise/rethink their analyses and reveal some aspect that they may have overlooked, or simply to discuss a particular literary element you see pertinent to the overall understanding of a text? In short, make sure you choose an ANGLE. (I will go over these angles in class.) In addition, consider your audience. Who are you addressing? Your instructor? Your peers? Oprah Winfrey? Toni Morrison?

Here are the expectations: Firstly, I am looking for a five to seven (5-7) page paper. (I will deduct a letter grade for each page you are short of the requirement.) Secondly, the essay should include an introduction (that begins generally and then narrows to a strong, clear thesis statement with a purpose); fully-developed paragraphs that delineate (spell out) your points (remember, paragraphs usually go like this: topic sentence, summary or explanation of the situation, example(s), and analysis); and a solid conclusion that restates/rephrases your thesis statement, summarizes your major points, and ends with an objective reflection. Thirdly, you must have at least four (4) outside sources (other than your primary source) and only two sources can be an internet source; none can be from Wikipedia!

I expect your paper headings to look like this: (In the upper left-hand side on the first page) your name, the name of the class, the instructor’s name, and the date. Beginning on page two, in the upper right-hand side, your subsequent pages should include your last name and the page number: “Jackson 2” or “Colleton 3.” PLEASE, NO TITLE PAGES!! Also, do not use any first-person accounts like “I, me, my, we, us, our,” etc., unless you are quoting. Do not use “you” or “your” unless you are quoting, and avoid pronoun-antecedent errors like “If anyone comes to the door, then they will just have to knock.” In addition, do not contract: write “cannot” instead of “can’t” wherever possible. Finally, there should be no unnecessary spaces, especially between your paragraphs, and I am looking for a flawless Works Cited page. I will deduct two (2) points for every infraction I see listed above. Good Luck!

This assignment is based on the assignment that we did before

Due day 1/6/22 at 11:59pm

This assignment is based on the assignment that we did before

. GOALS

You will provide a set of instruction according to the needs/Rhetorical Situation (Links to an external site.) of a specific audience of your choosing. We are interested in developing a document that is specially tailored to an audience.

II.  REQUIREMENTS

1.  Reflection (1-page, single-spaced minimum):

Describe your general approach to the assignment and how/why you edited the document following peer review (include both your peer reviewers’ names (first & last) and describe exactly what they suggested and how you addressed those issues in your subsequent drafts.

Also describe the feedback you received from your instructor and how you addressed it.

Whether or not you chose to address all suggestions offered by your peer reviewers and instructors, explain why.

Finally, describe what you learned about your own writing/approach to the assignment by reviewing your peers’ work. 

2.  Audience Analysis (100-150 words): Please identify a specific professional, organizational audience who will benefit somehow from the set of instructions you are providing.

Ideally, you will choose an audience with which you have personal experience, like a previous employer that might appear on your resume.

This audience analysis is for you, the writer, so that you start by choosing who it is you are writing to and why they need the information (rather than the other way around).

Knowing more about your audience will allow you to better tailor your document. In your audience analysis, prove:

a) the name of the company/organization/committee/etc and what they do;

b) your title within the company/organization/committee/etc and your role/responsibilities; and

c) a summary of the specific people and their roles within the company/organization/committee that need the instructions.

d) a description of why these people need these instructions.

3. Instructions (Minimum of 10 steps, graphics required, some/all of which might have sub-steps and additional information)

As described in more detail at the link here (Links to an external site.), your instruction set should include the following:

a) Detailed Title – The title should be the most direct and succinct summary of the instruction set, identifying exactly who the instructions are for and what the instructions show how to do.

b) Introduction – Building on some of the detail you gathered in the Audience Analysis, in the introduction you are writing to your intended user, explaining who they are, what the instructions are, and why they need them and/or will benefit from them.

c) Warnings/Caution – While some warnings might relate to physical harm (fire, chemicals, etc), other warnings might relate to common mistakes that can be made while conducting the procedure or issues with materials used. Other issues might relate to personal data and other privacy issues that might be relevant. In some cases, the issues might be very minor, though you can still discuss them in this section.

d) Technical Background – This section should clearly detail everything the user needs to know, and background they should have, before starting the instructions. If they should already possess these things, identify exactly what they are. If your intended readers may not already have this background/experience, but they need it to complete the instructions, provide them with what they need in this section.

e) Materials – What specific items do users need? A specific computer or operating system? A specific version of software? Certain tools or hardware? List everything with as much detail as possible, ideally providing visuals.

e) Steps (10+, must include graphics)

Instructions contain lots of information: action (or steps), sub-steps, explanation, warning, results, explanatory information, etc. Be sure to differentiate all of these various types of information somehow. For example, rather than providing a paragraph for each step, break up accordingly into bullet points, or use other formatting techniques to differentiate the various types of information you are providing.

Recruitment Plan

Each student will write a Recruitment Plan for a position within the Baltimore City Government. The paper should be 10-15 pages, 12-point font, and double spaced. A Recruitment Plan maps out the strategy for attracting and hiring the best qualified candidate and helps to ensure an applicant pool which includes women and underrepresented groups including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

 

Everyone is expected to write their Recruitment Plan as if they are a consulting company hired by Baltimore City Government to present their Recruitment Plan to the Mayoral Team.

 The position you are writing about is a Human Resource Generalist

Required Components of a Recruitment Plan

 

Executive Summary

Recruitment Goals

Competency Models

Job Description

People Finding Strategy

Interviewing Strategy

Selection Technique

Conclusion

 

Papers should discuss topical information beyond that presented in the textbook and in class. As a result, it is expected that you gather references on your topic from external, library based sources. In general, I would like to see at least four (4) references cited within your paper. References should be cited in accordance with the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines. It is also recommended to use peer reviewed journals as references.

 

Papers will be graded in terms of content and style. In terms of content, papers should include an Executive Summary placed after the title page. The Executive Summary needs to be at least 100 words and is a stand-alone document that serves as a high level overview of your research and findings. It may also include any recommendations. Papers should be structured in the following format: Title page, Executive Summary, Recruitment Goals, Competency Model, Job Description, People Finding Strategy, Interviewing Strategy, Selection Technique, Conclusion, and References (you may also want to include tables, figures, and graphs to main points). The page limit will not include the title page, executive summary, references, tables, figures, or graphs. In regards to style, papers should be well written such that they are concise, clear, organized, adequately referenced, and free of grammatical errors. Cite your references accordingly and do not plagiarize an author’s work. University policy regarding plagiarism will apply to this assignment.

Understating pollinator-plan networks

Ecology Experiment

Name

Institution Affiliation

Understating pollinator-plan networks

The hummingbird is one of the smallest birds in the world and is mostly found in the Americas. Interestingly, it is the only bird that can fly backward. The name humming is derived from the humming sound it makes with its wings as they flap at very high speed sometimes between 12 to 90 times per second. However, this is dependent on the species and the size of an individual bird. These birds have a very short lifespan, with most of them not able to survive a year after they are born with many dying after three to four years.

Hummingbirds feed on nectar from plants and usually live in the western hemisphere. They are specifically found in Canada and Alaska to Terra del Fuego. They live in families made up of about 340 species and have an extraordinarily diverse morphology, behavior, and ecology (Biddick & Burns, 2018). Almost all their diet is based on nectar, which is a dilute solution found in plant flowers containing various types of sugars. These sugars are easily converted into energy through the process of digestion and fulfill the carbohydrate requirements of the hummingbird (Carvalheiro et al. 2013). The other 10 percent of the hummingbird diet includes arthropods that act like protein, vitamin, and fat supplements.

Plants that are visited by hummingbirds are mostly herbaceous undergrowth plants, which are founding in numerous similar species and variably distributed. A good example is those of the genus Helicon and Costus. These plants produce flowers that only last day and release most of their nectar before opening at sunrise to reduce the damage by nectar feeders.

Hummingbirds have shared a complex ecological network with plants, which is most beneficial for both organisms. These mutual interactions can be credited for the generation of the earth’s diversity. It is important to create an understanding of the patterns in hummingbird grouping and an extensive analysis of the main factors leading to patterns of interactions in this humming bird-plant network. The most central concept, however, is whether specific morphological traits have any influence on the patterns of interactions in this mutual interdependences.

The experiment applies several methods to assess the importance of morphological traits for configuring the interaction between plants and hummingbirds. The first approach is the analysis of the effect of avian morphological features and plenty on the ecological specialization of humming-birds. The second approach is considering if the plants and the hummingbird have matching traits that suggested the interaction strength in these mutual co-dependences. The third systematic approach is evaluating where matching traits were connected to feeding times by hummingbird species. MacArthur and Pianka (1996), in their foraging theory, believe that hummingbirds tend to feed more on those flowers that match well with their bill morphology because this association is connected to an increased proficiency of resource use.

Methods

Fieldwork conducted in the local woods because a tropical forest is far and cannot be easily accessed. The chosen areas must first be scouted for samples. The area should be considerably diverse in terms of species with at least 1000 different species of plants, at least 300 species of trees and more than 350 species of birds.

Sampling will include the collection of data on profusions and functional features of nectar, which is the resources and hummingbirds. Pollen loads carried by hummingbirds will also be sampled to know how the hummingbirds interact with the plants at individual levels as well as species level. To understand the kind of forage preferred by certain hummingbird species, an experiment will be conducted using artificial feeders and flowers.

Analysis

Experimental and observational data will be used to evaluate the feeding preferences of hummingbird species on the artificial as well as the natural flowers while looking at morphology. The visits made by the birds to artificial feeders and those visiting the artificial flowers will show what kind of flowers they prefer. The results collected will suggest the different processes and mechanisms fundamental to the functionality of the plant-humming bird mutualistic coexistence.

The use of analyses that are based on traits alongside experimental and observational methods as crucial for a wide-ranging understanding of the evolutionary and ecological dictating of how plants and pollinator networks operate. These bases are important for and provide huge value for the understanding of the systematic bases of community muster and system structure in other types of collaboration networks.

Conclusion

Looking at the feeding preferences of nectar feeders or pollinators, in general, helps with the comprehension of factors that define the interactions of these species and the factors that influence the split among nectar feeders and pollinators. A better understanding of what traits hinders some species from nectar resources and whether birds have to get these resources for flowers that match their morphology. The experiment will check what other factors beyond this would influence how hummingbirds or pollinators interact with plans.

References

Biddick, M., & Burns, K. C. (2018). Phenotypic trait matching predicts the topology of an insular plant–bird pollination network. Integrative zoology, 13(3), 339-347.

Carvalheiro, L. G., Kunin, W. E., Keil, P., Aguirre‐Gutiérrez, J., Ellis, W. N., Fox, R., … & Van de Meutter, F. (2013). Species richness declines and biotic homogenisation have slowed down for NW‐European pollinators and plants. Ecology letters, 16(7), 870-878.

JJJ_economics

Economics

Student’s name

Affiliation

Course

Date

 What are the differences between accounting and economic definition of profit? 

An accounting profit is the business income surplus more than the business expenses. A business makes money after it sells its goods or services. When the money made is more than the money they spend when making the goods and services, then it is said that that business has made an accounting profit. When the total cost is deducted from the total income made by a business, in case the remaining amount is positive then it is regarded as accounting profit. An accounting profit is therefore the excess of accounting income over accounting expenses.Accounting Profit = Total Income – Total Expenses

Economic profit includes opportunity cost of the firm that is used for production. The opportunity costs are the implicit costs. whenever a firm’s total revenue surpass all its economic costs both implicit and explicit the remaining goes to the entrepreneur is known as economic or pure profit. Economic profit is calculated as total revenue less all opportunity lost costs (explicit & implicit) (Copeland& Shastri, 2004).

Economic Profit = Total Income – Total Expenses – Opportunity Lost Cost

 When one compares accounting profit and economic profit of an investment, it is clear that an economic profit in the at the end will quite often be less than the accounting profit, since the additional deliberation of opportunity lost cost. However, the other investment makes a loss.

From an economic perspective which capital budgeting technique is the only one that is consistent with maximizing shareholders wealth? 

In an economic view, the appropriate capital budgeting technique that is responsible for maximizing a shareholders wealth is the net present value. When one deducts today’s cash outflow so as to make an investment, the remaining difference can be an increase or decrease in one’s wealth and it is known as net present value (Copeland& Shastri, 2004).

The net present value (NPV) is the current cost of all anticipated cash flows.  Therefore one can refer to the net present value as the differentiation between present value of cash inflows and present value of cash outflows.

The NPV method is reliable when it comes to owners’ wealth maximization regardless of capital rationing or mutually exclusive projects.

How do capital markets benefit society?

Capital markets are vital for a society since it allow individuals to borrow funds against their expected future income (endowments). This helps the individuals to yield higher productivity growth in their businesses. The individuals borrow from others who lend surplus current income (endowments) and issue positive interest rates. This creates employment opportunities since there is growth in businesses. Capital markets guides to a competent allocation of resources to investment projects within the society.

What are the differences between CAPM and APT?

The Capital Asset Pricing Model is a unique case of the Arbitrage Pricing Model (APT) such that CAPM uses a single factor known beta as sensitivity to market price changes while the APT has various factors that does not consist of the CAPM beta. CAPM applies on the demand side’ in that it is usually based on the market’s aggregation of individual investors’ effectiveness maximization curves. APT applies on the supply side in that it normally takes account of macroeconomic factors. CAPM regard s only in a single factor while APT regards multi-factors; CAPM depends on the historical data while APT is futuristic; CAPM is more consistent as the probability may fail; CAPM is very simple to calculate while APT is difficult to calculate.

What do you believe are the weaknesses in ‘capital market efficiency’ theory what are its strengths?

Capital market efficiency theory states that market efficiency does not mean having no improbability about the future, but it is an overview of the world which might not constantly hold true, and that the market is basically resourceful for investment reasons for most individuals. The theory states it is not possible to challenge market efficiency. The future prices may not be foretold through past price analysis (Drake, 2002).

Define EVA?

Economic Value Added (EVA) is a firm’s estimation of economic profits to be the surplus formed cost of a company’s investor’s essential return. It is calculated as the net profits following taxes deduct capital charge. A company that has a positive EVA is said to have produced wealth while the one with a negative EVA is said to have consumed capital. The key strength of the EVA is that it presents a sign of wealth formation that supports the goals of separation managers to the common business goals. However, its limitations, are viewed when it comes to financial orientation, size differences, short-term orientation and outcome orientation.

How has the role of the CFO changed over the last 25 to 50 years?

The role of the CFO has noticeably changed in the last 25 to 50 years with CFO’s moving from the occupation of reporting outcomes to being active in the operations in order to comprehend the financial impact of decisions. In addition, holistic financial and solid strategy takes into account market conditions and potential risks in the long term. Observance of the highest standards of internal and governance controls has become a critical aspect of a CFO’s role (Drake, 2002).

References

Copeland, T& K. Shastri (2004). FINANCIAL THEORY AND CORPORATE POLICY, FOURTH EDITION (4th Ed.). United States: Paper back

Drake, P., & Fabozzi, F. (2002). Capital budgeting: Theory and practice. New York, NY: Wiley

Thesis Purpose Statement

Effective Behavior Management Strategies to Support Special Needs StudentsDereka L. Holland

Texas A&M Commerce

Abstract

Will be completed by due date.

Thesis/ Purpose Statement

This paper examines the behavior interventions and supports used in the classroom by teachers with special needs students to help manage or change behavior school wide. My aim was to explore different research-based strategies and measure how well they were effective with my students in the classroom and across the school campus. With these effective behavior strategies, I hope that they can support teachers in helping decrease the negative behaviors in the classroom with students of disabilities.

Literature Review

Behavior management is vital to the learning environment and can be a major distraction if it is not controlled or managed. According to Lavay, French and Henderson (2007) behavior management means more than controlling students to make them behave. It can be a little different with students who are disabled. Their misbehavior can be triggered and completely out of their control. The teacher must think effectively about the best way to manage students who face these behavior challenges. The goal of this literature review is to compare how other authors view behavior management and the best way to manage it with students who are disabled. In Building Classroom Management by C.M Charles and Karen Cole, the authors explain the teacher’s role in managing the classroom starting with developing management skills. They discussed how important effective communication in a classroom management system is for teachers and students. While reading I noticed that some of the recommended behavior strategies for the general population were different than students with disabilities. The authors stated that these students have difficulty controlling their own behavior. (Charles and Cole, pg.297) Some suggestions were to remain calm, use pictorial/visual cue cards, use a nonconfrontational and unemotional tone.

Behavior Intervention Plan

In the article, A Practical Plan for Managing the behavior of students with disabilities in General Physical Education by Barry Lavay, Ron French and Hester Henderson stated that behavior management is grouped into three categories described as behavior, psychodynamic and biophysical. Lavay et al stated that, no one specific behavior management approach will work all the time with all students. The authors mentioned this because some educators are comfortable repeating the same approach that they are comfortable with based on their experiences. In this article the authors mentioned the difference between a behavior management plan and a behavior intervention plan which is developed by a team of professionals such as the ARD committee for a student with a disability who has severe behavior problems. The behavior intervention plan is created and implemented in the students IEP. Lavay et al suggested using the behavior management eclectic and ecological model when creating a behavior intervention plan or behavior management plan. The model consists of designing a plan, identifying the behavior, develop and implement the behavior intervention plan, observe, and evaluate. (LaVay et al. 2007)

Time Outs

With experience I noticed that many teachers use time-out corners but now have been given a new name such as cool down spots. According to Costenbader & Reading-Brown (1995) timeouts should only be used when less restrictive interventions have not been successful. The authors stated that many educators make an exception for this rule when the student is extremely acting out and it is a safety concern for others.

Self-Advocacy Strategy

In the article, Behavior Management through Self-Advocacy: A Strategy for Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities by Ronen Sebag (2010) suggests implementing a behavior management model that focuses on self- determination and self-advocacy to improve the students understanding of themselves and their strengths and weaknesses to support their ability to create strategies and goals for behavior improvement. The author believes that no single strategy will solve all situations like the reading of Barry Lavay, Ron French, and Hester Henderson. The author describes the self- advocacy behavior model as a model that is student centered, student directed, and student driven. It is different from models like a behavior management plan or behavior intervention plan because the educators are the creators, and they implement this strategy. The self-advocacy behavior model allows the student to identity the problem behavior, create a strategy to improve this negative behavior, reflect on how well the strategy was effective and make the necessary adjustments if needed.

Using Rewards

Using a reward system to encourage positive behavior has been a go to for many teachers and administrators in the classroom and school wide to motivate and teach students the expectations. The authors Witzel and Mercer (2003) stated that in special education dealing with student behavior is important for minimizing distractions and having students focus. According to Witzel and Mercer, students with learning disabilities have indicated that their feeling competence tie directly into self-esteem. Based on the readings, it is best to infer that self-advocacy, self-esteem and motivation are key factors in behavior for students with disabilities. The authors believe that educators should determine the problem and work to reduce the problem and improve student performance which involves teaching adaptive skills to the student’s environment in and outside the classroom. Then motivate the student to want to behave such as reward. They argue that rewards do not always bring a positive reinforcement. Witzel and Mercer stated, “how the delivery of the reward is received affects the possible long-term motivational effects of the reward. During research the findings appear to be unclear because the researchers had differences against the use of tangible rewards. Instead, research suggest that educators use a proposed motivational model which can help teachers develop positive behavior interventions.

Behavior Analysis Technique

In the book, Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems by Charles H. Wolfgang (2009), the author suggests using the behavior analysis technique when dealing with misbehavior. When using this technique, it requires the teacher to collect data and establish a behavioral objective that identifies the learner, the antecedent condition, or the occasion when the behavior occurs and identify the criteria for acceptable performance. Data can be collected by event recording, graphing the total number of disruptive events for each school day or an anecdotal report. In my classroom I collect data on my most problematic behaviors and meet with ARD committee and/or parents to create a behavior plan. Data is the most efficient tool a teacher can have because it supports as evidence. We will never be able to fully control a student’s behavior, but we can manage it to have a successful learning environment and positive climate and culture classroom.

Methodology

The research was conducted at a public school, Dr. Billy E. Dade Middle School which is in a high-poverty area. The population of students is about 800. Of the 800 students, 150 of them are identified as special needs and/or 504 students. These students’ disabilities consist of a learning disability (LD), emotional disturbance (ED), autism spectrum disorder (AUT), intellectual disability (ID), other health impairment (OHI) such as ADHD, speech or language impairment, visual impairment, and deafness. The research was particularly based on my seventh-grade special education unit class that consists of ten students who have one or more of the disabilities mentioned. The class consist of three girls and seven boys. These students may receive special services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, or adaptive physical education in the classroom. The students receive 70% of their instruction inside the classroom and 30% in the school cafeteria and elective classes. Each student has an individualized education plan that is put in place with individualized goals and objectives pertaining to that student. Inside the classroom, I am the teacher of record and I also have one teacher assistant inside the classroom. For this action research paper, I chose to focus on the behavior problems that are severe in my classroom so that I can improve and help other special education teachers.

Data Collection

My data collection consisted of observing three other special education teachers besides my class to observe behavior problems and the interventions teachers used when a negative behavior occurred. This allowed me to observe the behavior management methods that teachers are using. While observing the other teachers, I conducted a short interview with them about the behaviors that I saw. The teachers were given a quick survey towards the end of my study. In one class, the teacher was able to recognize a student getting ready to misbehave before he did it, based on his body language. After observing and noting some behaviors in other classes, I started collecting data on my own class. I created an anecdotal note form that included the date/time, location, what happened before and what happened after. Data was collected for two to three weeks. I reviewed each students red folder which has all confidential information such as medical records and individualized education plan pertaining to the student. My data collection would begin after 8:20 which is when the instructional day begins. I interviewed my teacher assistant to receive her viewpoint on the strategies being used in the classroom and how we can improve the behavior management strategies that are in place. To help promote positive behavior, I use ClassDojo as a communication tool with parents and as a point system for behavior. Students and parents can see the point system and the notes about their behavior each day.

Data Findings

The findings from the teacher observations showed that we were all using the same behavior intervention strategies. With the behavior strategies that I recommended to those teachers, some students responded positively to them, and a few didn’t. In my class, I found that it was easier to intervene and implement the behavior strategies with the girls quicker than the boys. Before the beginning of class every day, we reviewed the classroom expectations and consequences verbally and using visual/pictorial cues. I noticed when I start the class with setting the expectation that reduced the negative behaviors in the morning. I know that repetition is important for special education students, so it’s important that I continue repeating the behavior expectation. When a negative behavior occurred, I resulted to using positive reinforcement, time-out or thirty minutes of the cool down spot, and student-teacher conference to review the behavior, why it happened and what can be done differently. I found that using time-outs does not guarantee the behavior will be corrected, the student improved for the moment just to return to his desk. After learning and using the ClassDojo system, it helped to improve behavior. Students were able to recognize when they received points for negative or positive behavior. Parents began to establish effective communication with me in how I can support their child and provided techniques that were used at home to manage behavior issues. By the end of the two weeks, my behavior problems decreased from the whole class having a bad day to about two or three students a day. At the end of my study, I reviewed the surveys that were given to the three special education teachers. All three of the teachers agreed that classroom behavior is the main challenge that they have and that more training is needed campus-wide on how to manage behavior issues of students with disabilities. Two of the three believed that the time-out method was an effective behavior management strategy to help promote positive behavior. All three teachers agreed that it was important to for the teacher to model and set the expectation of classroom behavior. One teacher stated that providing the students with immediate feedback can relive some of negative behaviors and can help correct it. As a result of my findings from the survey, all three teachers commented it’s important for special education teachers to continue to take training and educate themselves on ways to improve behavior management with special education students.

Survey given to teachers.

Introduction

Will be completed by due date.

References

Charles, C. M., & Cole, K. M. (2018). Building Classroom Management: Methods and Models. Pearson.

Costenbader, V., & Reading-Brown, M. (1995). Isolation timeout used with students with emotional disturbance. Exceptional Children, 61(4), 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440299506100404

Lavay, B., French, R., & Henderson, H. (2007). A practical plan for managing the behavior of students with disabilities in general physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 78(2), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2007.10597973

Sebag, R. (2010). Behavior Management through Self-Advocacy: A Strategy for Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities.

Shagoury, R., & Power, B. M. (2012). Living the questions: A guide for teacher-researchers. Stenhouse Publishers.

 Witzel, B. S., & Mercer, C. D. (2003). Using rewards to teach students with disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 24(2), 88–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325030240020401

Wolfgang, C. H. (2009). Solving discipline and classroom management problems: Methods and models for today’s teachers. Wiley.