Samsung Electronic

Executive Summary There are many ways specifically in innovation that Samsung is doing well. There is no doubt that they are one of the leaders in their industry. With so many products and product lines there many facets that Samsung is involved in maybe too many. There may need to be more focused. There is a large market that Samsung has but there is still more of the target group that can be reached. Green products have become more important to consumers however the approach to green technology Samsung is taking needs to be directed a different way.Samsung Distribution ChannelThe slowing of buying behavior in the U. S. and recession has made the need for entertainment important to everyone but included in this is the need to be financially savvy. This mindset is a gap that can be filled through marketing properly to the consumers sharing this mindset by purchasing Samsung electronics and staying home to save money essay writer in uk. Introduction Samsung has made many changes throu ghout the years to increase their market share and grow to be one of the top companies in electronics. There has been a growing focus on innovation and design.Samsung has done this by studying target markets in depth. They do this by study groups, creating innovative design labs and sending designers around the world to study museums and architecture. With the target market’s needs and expectations changing more focuses on green technology and the spending habits of consumers has changed. Samsung started with designing and creating simple electronics and now are in a variety of products outside of computers and televisions. This is a problem Samsung is facing is too many focuses instead of how they started in specializing in a few specific products.Samsung has done well in creating design centers across the world that can help study a specific localized target market but when you are designing for so many different target markets whose needs change based on region it can be v ery expensive. There are some generic products that can be made and sold worldwide but you are looking at a high expense for the company. Situation Analysis With the focus of Samsung products having the perfect feel and function, they are doing a great job of studying the needs and wants of the consumer.The innovation awards that have been won throughout the years show their focus and employees is spot on to where they need to be and with sales every year increasing, the current plan they is successful. The company is already aware of some problems and most are specific to products they are creating. Solar panels they are struggling with over supply and price erosion. Electronic batteries where there is such a small demand. Medical devices and biotech drugs face the same issue of having a large chance of competitors to enter the market. All of these things are associated with green technology.There problems are being created and could be avoided by focusing on making their current p roducts more â€Å"green† instead of creating new products. Reducing their carbon footprint is one way they can look at still being involved in the growing green industry. The recession has affected all businesses especially in the United States. The consumers buying entertainment items have decreased but this fact can also be an opportunity to Samsung. There is a way to focus on the costs of going out versus buying a nice 3D television or HD television and staying at home.With so many companies producing similar products the competition that Samsung faces can put a decline in market share within certain product categories. Samsung has the resources and ability to do what they want globally in every product category. The company seems to be willing to make changes and take risks despite the potential payoff or loss. With a large amount of revenue this will allow Samsung to test multiple options without it hurting their productivity and money flow. AlternativesOne alternative Samsung could do is limiting the locations of design centers. Currently the locations span the globe and for the president to be involved in every location would require traveling basically the entire time. To keep a more focused eye on productivity and keep the CEO connected and less reliant on managers and supervisors to relay information. Focus on making current product â€Å"green† from packaging to ways of transportation to export their products across the world. Some of the current products are not selling well and there is an oversupply.By taking focus away from those products this will help save money or use the current money being put in these investments to better use. Recommendations I would recommend Samsung doing a full financial and cost analysis on each product line and see what the top selling products are and make a list of all the products and their ranks in selling. I would suggest doing this annually so they are able to compare from year to year. With this information Samsung will be able to eliminate products that are wasting money and continue to improve and invest in innovation for the products that are selling well.Even taking away some the products that don’t sell well and focusing on the top sellers will help make Samsung be known for making specialized products. Instead of focusing on new green products limit the amount of new green innovation for now and focus on making the current products more â€Å"green†. In addition to narrowing focus on successful products there should be more meeting held to compare the target market research that happens at the many design centers across the world to verify similarities and differences within markets. This will help keep communication open and ideas flowing.If there is a need to continue the green technology product line there needs to be a slowing of production and very detailed account of what is selling from season to geographic location. If there is demand that start s to build then an increase of production would be suggested. In the United States, Samsung is the number one television brand. Although the country is in a recession there is still a large market and amount of money being spent on entertainment. Samsung should start a marketing campaign to show the value in making a large purchase such as a television and watching movies at home.There is no doubt that it is expensive to go to the movies. It is a reasonable idea that buying an HD television or even a 3D television can provide just as good if not better experience then going to the movies. Most of the older generations like to keep very standard electronics and do not need or desire electronics with all the bells and whistles that a younger generation would want. There is an opening to market to the baby boomer generation. These older generations have money and if their old televisions go out or they are want to keep in touch with family they will be looking for something that is sim ple and satisfies their needs.Making a simpler design that could be geared to the older generation is a market within the electronics industry that should be looked at. In addition there is a brand loyalty that is there with this older generation. Brand loyalty when it comes to electronics is becoming rarer with many consumers going with products that number one meet their cost requirement. There are so many competitors that offer similar products. Getting the consumer to keep buying your brand will continue to be a main goal for every company.

Rap Music Essay

Often times when people hear about Hip Hop/Rap music, they’ll paint a picture in their heads of black men cussing, guns, marijuana, lots of gold, and girls looking like prostitutes. Parents and teachers put an image in their kid’s head that Rap music is â€Å"bad†, and they don’t want their kids to be influenced by something that is negative. With the way Rap music is advertised in the US, I would have to agree with that looking at it from an average parent’s point of view. But what people don’t know is that Hip Hop isn’t just a type of music, it’s a culture. It’s a culture full of original elements, and it’s also a place where people can show others what they’ve got and who they are. Within this original society called Hip Hop, there are basically four main elements of MC, Break, Tag, and DJ. And each is represented by millions of people all over the globe. When the four come together, it makes Hip Hop musi c, and people live the music instead of listening to it. MC-ing is what people know as rapping. The main point of an MC is to make your crowd enjoy your music, and to send a message out to them. Unlike most of the lyrics out on the market today, Hip Hop contains meaning and it sends a message to the listeners. Although those messages might have bad words, and show images of things that are socially wrong, that’s actually what’s going on where they are from, and that’s who they are. Their music represents their area and their people, and it’s no different from a farmer singing about his cows and chickens in Idaho. Besides, â€Å"Gangster Rap† isn ’t the only type of Hip Hop music, it’s actually only a small sect of it all. Many rappers put out lyrics about what they believe in, their own philosophies, entertaining others, and although it may seem unlikely, many lyricists seem like Einstein to me. Just like all of the other geniuses like Newton, Galileo, and musically Jimi, there are MCs that are geniuses too. What makes those guys remarkable compared to others are their strength and choice of words, and their flow, or the melody, of their rhymes. I personally can’t relate to the ghetto, guns, and all of that â€Å"gangster† stuff, so I don’t listen to that genre all that much, but there are many elements people can pick up from the Hip Hop music. There is a whole Japanese Hip Hop scene that is growing bigger and bigger, and that’s what I personally live. The next element is Breaking. Breaking is a term used for dancing, and most people know it as Break Dancing. Although Breaking has become a small part of the whole dance scene in Hip Hop today, it’s the first form of Hip Hop dances. People spin on their heads, do handstands, slide with just their hands on the ground, spin on the floor with their legs spread out, and all kinds of astonishing moves. This is probably the most popular form of Hip Hop in Japan today because its so easy to begin and watch. DJs have one simple task: make people dance. Or that’s what it used to be. Before, their main goal was to have the knowledge of the music so they can make people dance according to the mood and time. Also scratching records were their performance. Now, DJs have lots more jobs and probably the toughest element of all. Most DJs team up with MCs so they can act as the rhythm section of the Hip Hop performance, and to do that and be original, they must create sounds of their own. They basically make the beats and the MCs lay the words on it. The steps to be able to make beats and tracks takes lots of time, money, and mind, so most DJs don’t/can’t take a step further into the scene. Today, more and more artists are creating their own tracks, for the money, and they tend to realize that they can’t be rapping at age 40 while its perfectly normal for a 40 year old to be playing the guitar. It ’s not wrong to say that DJs are the backbones to the Hip Hop music. The final element is Tagging, and its graffiti. This is actually a controversial issue because many people believe its wrong. But it’s a form of art to the culture, and it shows character of each artist. Its definitely not just about claiming area by the gangs, and its not just about vandalizing other people’s property. People need to admit that New York City would not have its flavor that it has today without all of those artwork, and there are many artists that put up their pieces just so they can show others what they got. It’s a way of communication in the form of Hip Hop. Many other types of music can be a culture too, and each person feels if it is a culture to them or not. If music means culture to that person, then they probably feel that uneasy sensation of going to bed without music, going on the train without your Walkman, and have that anger towards vacuum  cleaners. Music also is a form of communication when there is the kind of society where people understand one another through it. Which creates influences on others, and makes music grow.

A Dirty Job Chapter 6

He’d worked up a furious appetite because breakfast was running late today. The Emperor had slept on a bench by the Maritime Museum, and during the night his arthritic knee had snaked out of his wool overcoat into the damp cold, making the walk to North Beach and the Italian bakery that gave them free day-old a slow and painful ordeal. The Emperor groaned and sat down on an empty milk crate. He was a great rolling bear of a man, his shoulders broad but a little broken from carrying the weight of the city. A white tangle of hair and beard wreathed his face like a storm cloud. As far as he could remember, he and the troops had patrolled the city streets forever, but upon further consideration, it might have just been since Wednesday. He wasn’t entirely sure. The Emperor decided to make a proclamation to the troops about the importance of compassion in the face of the rising tide of heinous fuckery and political weaselocity in the nearby kingdom of the United States. (He found his audience was most attentive to his proclamations when the meat-laced focaccia were still nuzzled in the larder of his overcoat pockets, and presently a pepperoni and Parmesan reposed fragrant in the woolly depths, so the royal hounds were rapt.) But just as he cleared his throat to begin, a cargo van came screeching around the corner, went up on two wheels as it plowed through a row of garbage cans, and slid to a stop not fifty feet away. The driver’s-side door flew open and a thin man in a suit leapt out, carrying a cane and a woman’s fur coat, and made a beeline for the back door of Asher’s. But before he got two steps the man fell to the concrete as if hit from behind, then rolled on his back and began flailing at the air with the cane an d the coat. The Emperor, who knew most everyone, recognized Charlie Asher. Bummer erupted into a fit of yapping, but the more levelheaded Lazarus growled once and took off toward Charlie. â€Å"Lazarus!† the Emperor shouted, but the retriever charged on, followed now by his bug-eyed brother in arms. Charlie was back on his feet and swinging the cane as if he was fencing with some phantom, using the coat like a shield. Living on the street, the Emperor had seen a lot of people battling with unseen demons, but Charlie Asher was apparently scoring some hits. The cane was making a thwacking noise against what appeared to be thin air – but no, there was something there, a shadow of some sort? The Emperor climbed to his feet and limped into the fray, but before he got two steps Lazarus had leapt and appeared to be attacking Charlie, but he soared over the shopkeeper and snapped at a spot above his head – then hung there, his jaws sunk into the substantial neck of thin air. Charlie took advantage of the distraction, stepped back, and swung the cane above the levitating golden retriever. There was a smack, and Lazarus let go, but now Bummer launched himself at the invisible foe. He missed whatever was there, and ended up performing a doggy swish shot into a garbage can. Charlie made for the steel door of Asher’s again, but found it locked, and as he reached for his keys, something caught him from behind. â€Å"Let go, fuckface,† the shade screeched. The fur coat Charlie was holding appeared to be swept out of his hand and was pulled straight up, over the four-story building and out of sight. Charlie turned and held the cane at ready, but whatever had been there seemed to be gone now. â€Å"Aren’t you just supposed to sit above the door and nevermore and be poetic and stuff?!† he shouted at the sky. Then, for good measure, added, â€Å"You evil fuck!† Lazarus barked, then whined. A sharp and metallic yapping rose from Bummer’s garbage can. â€Å"Well, you don’t see that every day,† said the Emperor as he limped up to Charlie. â€Å"You could see that?† â€Å"Well, no, not really. Merely a shadow, but I could see that something was there. There was something there, wasn’t there, Charlie?† Charlie nodded, trying to catch his breath. â€Å"It will be back. It followed me across the city.† He dug into his pocket for his keys. â€Å"You guys should duck into the store with me, Your Majesty.† Of course Charlie knew the Emperor. Every San Franciscan knew the Emperor. The Emperor smiled. â€Å"That’s very kind of you, but we will be perfectly safe. For now I need to free my charge from his galvanized prison.† The big man tipped the garbage can and Bummer emerged snorting and tossing his head as if ready to tear the ass out of any man or beast foolhardy enough to cross him (and he would have, as long as they were knee-high or shorter). Charlie was still having trouble with the key. He knew he should have had the lock replaced, but it worked, if you finessed it a little, so he’d never made it a priority. Who the hell thought you’d ever have to get in quick to escape a giant bird? Then he heard a screech and turned to see not one, but two huge ravens coming over the roof and diving into the alley. The dogs arfed a frantic barking salvo at the avian intruders and Charlie put so much body English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip. â€Å"They’re back. Cover me.† Charlie threw the cane to the Emperor and braced himself for the impact, but as soon as the cane touched the old man’s hand the birds were gone. You could almost hear the pop of the air replacing the space they had taken up. The dogs caught themselves in mid-ruff; Bummer whimpered. â€Å"What?† the Emperor said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They’re gone.† The Emperor looked at the sky. â€Å"You’re sure?† â€Å"For now.† â€Å"I saw two shadows. Really saw them this time,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Yes, there were two this time.† â€Å"What are they?† â€Å"I have no idea, but when you took the cane they – well, they disappeared. You really saw them?† â€Å"I’m sure of it. Like smoke with a purpose.† Finally the key turned in the lock and the door to Asher’s back room swung open. â€Å"You should come in. Rest. I’ll order something to eat.† â€Å"No, no, the men and I must be on our rounds. I’ve decided to make a proclamation this morning and we need to see the printer. You’ll be needing this.† The Emperor presented the cane to Charlie like he was turning over a sword of the realm. Charlie started to take it, then thought better of it. â€Å"Your Majesty, I think you’d better keep that. It looks as if you might be able to use it.† Charlie nodded toward the Emperor’s creaky knee. The Emperor held the cane steady. â€Å"I am not a worshiper of the material, you know?† â€Å"I understand that.† â€Å"I am a firm believer that desire is the source of most of human suffering, you’re aware, and no culprit is more heinous than desire for material gain.† â€Å"I run my business based on those very principles. Still, I insist you keep the cane – as a favor to me, if you would?† Charlie found himself affecting the Emperor’s formal speech patterns, as if somehow he had been transported to a royal court where a nobleman was distinguished by bread crumbs in his beard and the royal guard were not above licking their balls. â€Å"Well, as a favor, I will accept. It is a fine piece of craftsmanship.† â€Å"But more importantly, it will permit you to make your rounds in good time.† The Emperor now betrayed the desire in his heart as he let fly a wide grin and hugged the cane to his chest. â€Å"It is fine, indeed. Charlie, I must confess something to you, but I ask you to grant me the credulity due a man who has just shared witness, with a friend, of two giant, raven-shaped shades.† â€Å"Of course.† Charlie smiled, when even a moment before he would have thought his smile lost somewhere in the months past. â€Å"I hope you won’t think me base, but the second I touched this, I felt as if I had been waiting for it my whole life.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Charlie said, â€Å"I know.† A few minutes before, inside the store, Lily had been brooding. It wasn’t her general brood, the reaction to a world where everyone was stupid and life was meaningless and the mere act of living was futile, especially if your mother forgot to get coffee at the store. This one was a more specific brood, that had started out when she arrived at work and Ray had pointed out that it was her turn to wear the vacuuming tiara, and insisted that if she wore the tiara, she actually vacuum the store. (In fact, she liked wearing the rhinestone tiara that Charlie, in a move of blatant bourgeois sneakiness, had designated be worn by whoever did the vacuuming and sweeping each day, and no other time. It was the vacuuming and sweeping she objected to. She felt manipulated, used, and generally taken advantage of, and not in the fun way.) But today, after she’d put the tiara and the vacuum away and had finally gotten a couple of cups of coffee in her system, the brooding had gone on, bu ilding to full-scale angst, when it began to dawn on her that she was going to have to figure out this college-career thing, because despite what The Great Big Book of Death said, she had not been chosen as a dark minion of destruction. Fuck! She stood in the back room looking at all the items that Charlie had piled there the day before: shoes, lamps, umbrellas, porcelain figures, toys, a couple of books, and an old black-and-white television and a painting of a clown on black velvet. â€Å"He said this stuff was glowing?† she asked Ray, who stood in the doorway to the store. â€Å"Yes. He made me check it all with my Geiger counter.† â€Å"Ray, why the fuck do you have a Geiger counter?† â€Å"Lily, why do you have a nose stud shaped like a bat?† Lily ignored the question and picked up the ceramic frog from the night before, which now had a note taped to it that read DO NOT SELL OR DISPLAY in Charlie’s meticulous block-letter printing. â€Å"This was one of the things? This?† â€Å"That was the first one he freaked out about,† said Ray matter-of-factly. â€Å"The truant officer tried to buy it. That started it all.† Lily was shaken. She backed over to Charlie’s desk and sat in the squeaky oak swivel chair. â€Å"Do you see anything glowing or pulsating, Ray? Have you ever?† Ray shook his head. â€Å"He’s under a lot of stress, losing Rachel and taking care of the baby. I think maybe he needs to get some help. I know after I had to leave the force – † Ray paused. There was a commotion going on out in the alley, dogs barking and people shouting, then someone was working a key in the lock of the back door. A second later, Charlie came in, a little breathless, his clothes smudged here and there with grime, one sleeve of his jacket torn and bloodstained. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"You’re hurt.† She quickly vacated his chair while Ray took Charlie by the shoulders and sat him down. â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"No big deal.† â€Å"I’ll get the first-aid kit,† Ray said. â€Å"Get that jacket off of him, Lily.† â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quit talking about me like I’m not here.† â€Å"He’s delirious,† Lily said, trying to pry Charlie out of his jacket. â€Å"Do you have any painkillers, Ray?† â€Å"I don’t need painkillers,† Charlie said. â€Å"Shut up, Asher, they’re not for you,† Lily said, automatically, then she considered the book, Ray’s story, the notes on all the items in the back room, and she shuddered. It appeared that Charlie Asher might not be the hapless geek she always thought him to be. â€Å"Sorry, boss. Let us help you.† Ray came back from the front with a small plastic first-aid kit. He peeled back Charlie’s sleeve and began to clean the wounds with gauze and peroxide. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"I slipped and fell in some gravel.† â€Å"The wound’s pretty clean – no gravel in it. That must have been some fall.† â€Å"Long story.† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ouch!† â€Å"What was all the noise in the alley?† Lily asked, needing badly to go smoke, but unable to pull herself away. She just couldn’t imagine that Charlie Asher was the one. How could it be him? He was so, so, unworthy. He didn’t understand the dark underbelly of life the way she did. Yet he was the one seeing the glowing objects. He was it. She was crestfallen. â€Å"Just the Emperor’s dogs after a seagull in the Dumpster. No big deal. I fell off a porch in Pacific Heights.† â€Å"The estate,† Ray said. â€Å"How’d that go?† â€Å"Not well. The husband was grief-stricken and had a heart attack while I was there.† â€Å"You’re kidding.† â€Å"No, he just sort of became overwhelmed thinking about his wife and collapsed. I gave him CPR until the EMTs came and took him off to the hospital.† â€Å"So,† Lily said, â€Å"did you get the – uh – did you get anything special?† â€Å"What?† Charlie’s eyes went wide. â€Å"What do you mean, special? There was nothing special.† â€Å"Chill, boss, I just meant will we get the grandma’s clothes?† He’s it, Lily thought. The fucker. Charlie shook his head. â€Å"I don’t know, it’s so strange. The whole thing is so strange.† He shuddered when he said it. â€Å"Strange how?† Lily said. â€Å"Strange in a cool and dark way, or strange because you’re Asher and you’re out of it most of the time?† â€Å"Lily!† Ray snapped. â€Å"Go out front. Dust something.† â€Å"You’re not the boss of me, Ray. I’m just showing my concern.† â€Å"It’s okay, Ray.† Charlie looked like he was considering how, exactly, to define strange, and not coming up with anything that was working. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, for one thing, this woman’s estate is way out of our league. The husband said he called me because we were the first secondhand store in the phone book, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of man to do something like that.† â€Å"That’s not that strange,† Lily said. Just confess, she thought. â€Å"You said that he was grief-stricken,† Ray said, dabbing antibiotic ointment on Charlie’s cuts. â€Å"Maybe he’s doing things differently.† â€Å"Yes, and he was angry at his wife, too, for the way she died.† â€Å"How?† Lily asked. â€Å"She ate silica gel,† Charlie said. Lily looked at Ray for an explanation, because silica gel sounded techno-geeky, which was Ray’s particular field of geekdom. Ray said, â€Å"It’s the antidesiccant that they pack with electronics and other things that are sensitive to humidity.† â€Å"The ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff?!† Lily said. â€Å"Oh my God, that’s so stupid. Everyone knows you don’t eat the ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff.† Charlie said, â€Å"Mr. Mainheart was pretty broken up.† â€Å"Well, I guess so,† Lily said. â€Å"He married a complete fucktard.† Charlie cringed. â€Å"Lily, that’s not appropriate.† Lily shrugged and rolled her eyes. She hated it when Charlie dropped into Dad mode. â€Å"Okay, okay. I’m going outside to smoke.† â€Å"No!† Charlie jumped out of the chair and put himself between Lily and the back door. â€Å"Out front. From now on if you have to smoke you go out front.† â€Å"But you said that I look like a child hooker when I smoke out front.† â€Å"I’ve reassessed. You’ve matured.† Lily closed one eye to see if she could better glimpse into his soul and thus figure out his true agenda. She smoothed over her black vinyl skirt, which made a tortured, squeaking noise at the touch. â€Å"You’re trying to say I have a big butt, aren’t you?† â€Å"I absolutely am saying no such thing,† Charlie insisted. â€Å"I am simply saying that your presence in front of the store is an asset and will probably attract business from the tourists on the cable car.† â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Lily snatched her box of cloves off the desk and headed out past the counter and outside to brood, grieve really, because as much as she had hoped, she was not Death. The book was Charlie’s. That evening Charlie was watching the store, wondering why he had lied to his employees, when he saw a flash of red passing by the front window. A second later, a strikingly pale redhead came through the door. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress and black fuck-me pumps. She strode up the aisle like she was auditioning for a music video. Her hair cascaded in long curls around her shoulders and down her back like a great auburn veil. Her eyes were emerald green, and when she saw him looking, she smiled, and stopped, some ten feet away. Charlie felt an almost painful jolt that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the area of his groin, and after a second he recognized it as an autonomic lust response. He hadn’t felt anything like that since Rachel had passed, and he felt vaguely ashamed. She was examining him, looking him over like you would examine a used car. He was sure he must be blushing. â€Å"Hi,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can I help you?† The redhead smiled again, just a little, and reached into a small black bag that he hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying. â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up a silver cigarette case. Something Charlie didn’t see very often anymore, even in the secondhand business. It was glowing, pulsating like the objects in the back room. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She moved to the counter opposite Charlie and set the cigarette case down in front of him. Charlie could barely move. He stared at her, not even conscious that to avoid her eyes he was staring at her cleavage, and she appeared to be looking around his head and shoulders as if following the path of insects that were buzzing around him. â€Å"Touch me,† she said. â€Å"Huh?† He looked up, saw she was serious. She held out her hand; her nails were manicured and painted the same deep red as her lipstick. He took her hand. As soon as she touched him she pulled away. â€Å"You’re warm.† â€Å"Thanks.† In that moment he realized that she wasn’t. Her fingers had been ice-cold. â€Å"Then you’re not one of us?† He tried to think of what â€Å"us† might be? Irish? Low blood pressure? Nymphomaniac? Why did he even think that? â€Å"Us? What do you mean, ‘us’?† She backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don’t just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, ‘take’?† â€Å"You don’t even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† Charlie was getting very nervous. As a Beta Male, he found it difficult enough to function under the attention of a beautiful woman, but she was just plain spooky. â€Å"Wait. Can you see this thing glowing?† He held out the cigarette case. â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here,† she said. â€Å"What’s your name?† â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher’s.† â€Å"Well, Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don’t know exactly what you are, and it doesn’t seem like you know. You don’t, do you?† â€Å"I’ve been going through some changes,† Charlie said, wondering why he felt compelled to share this at all. The redhead nodded, as if confirming something to herself. â€Å"Okay. I know what it’s like to, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don’t have an owner’s manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what’s going on.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† But he knew what she was talking about. What he didn’t know was how she could possibly know. â€Å"You make people die, don’t you, Charlie?† She said it like she had worked up the courage to tell him that he had some spinach in his teeth. More of a service to him than an accusation. â€Å"How do you – ?† How did she – â€Å"Because it’s what I do. Not like you, but it’s what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† Charlie looked at her, then at the cigarette case, then at the redhead again, who was no longer smiling, but was stepping backward toward the door. Trying to stay in touch with normal, he focused on the cigarette case and said, â€Å"I suppose I can do an appraisal – â€Å" He heard the bell over the door jingle, and when he looked up she was gone. He didn’t see her moving by the windows on either side of the door; she was just gone. He ran to the front of the store and out the door onto the sidewalk. The Mason Street cable car was just topping the hill up by California Street and he could hear the bell, there was a thin fog coming up from the Bay that threw colorful halos around the neon signs of the other businesses, but there was no striking redhead on the street. He went to the corner and looked down Vallejo, but again no redhead, just the Emperor, sitting against the building with his dogs. â€Å"Good evening, Charlie.† â€Å"Your Majesty, did you see a redhead go by here just now?† â€Å"Oh yes. Spoke to her. I’m not sure you have a chance there, Charlie, I believe she’s spoken for. And she did warn me to stay away from you.† â€Å"Why? Did she say why?† â€Å"She said that you were Death.† â€Å"I am?† Charlie said. â€Å"Am I?† His breath caught in his throat as the day played back in his head. â€Å"What if I am?† â€Å"You know, son,† the Emperor said, â€Å"I am not an expert in dealing with the fairer sex, but you might want to save that bit of information until the third date or so, after they’ve gotten to know you a little.† A Dirty Job Chapter 6 He’d worked up a furious appetite because breakfast was running late today. The Emperor had slept on a bench by the Maritime Museum, and during the night his arthritic knee had snaked out of his wool overcoat into the damp cold, making the walk to North Beach and the Italian bakery that gave them free day-old a slow and painful ordeal. The Emperor groaned and sat down on an empty milk crate. He was a great rolling bear of a man, his shoulders broad but a little broken from carrying the weight of the city. A white tangle of hair and beard wreathed his face like a storm cloud. As far as he could remember, he and the troops had patrolled the city streets forever, but upon further consideration, it might have just been since Wednesday. He wasn’t entirely sure. The Emperor decided to make a proclamation to the troops about the importance of compassion in the face of the rising tide of heinous fuckery and political weaselocity in the nearby kingdom of the United States. (He found his audience was most attentive to his proclamations when the meat-laced focaccia were still nuzzled in the larder of his overcoat pockets, and presently a pepperoni and Parmesan reposed fragrant in the woolly depths, so the royal hounds were rapt.) But just as he cleared his throat to begin, a cargo van came screeching around the corner, went up on two wheels as it plowed through a row of garbage cans, and slid to a stop not fifty feet away. The driver’s-side door flew open and a thin man in a suit leapt out, carrying a cane and a woman’s fur coat, and made a beeline for the back door of Asher’s. But before he got two steps the man fell to the concrete as if hit from behind, then rolled on his back and began flailing at the air with the cane an d the coat. The Emperor, who knew most everyone, recognized Charlie Asher. Bummer erupted into a fit of yapping, but the more levelheaded Lazarus growled once and took off toward Charlie. â€Å"Lazarus!† the Emperor shouted, but the retriever charged on, followed now by his bug-eyed brother in arms. Charlie was back on his feet and swinging the cane as if he was fencing with some phantom, using the coat like a shield. Living on the street, the Emperor had seen a lot of people battling with unseen demons, but Charlie Asher was apparently scoring some hits. The cane was making a thwacking noise against what appeared to be thin air – but no, there was something there, a shadow of some sort? The Emperor climbed to his feet and limped into the fray, but before he got two steps Lazarus had leapt and appeared to be attacking Charlie, but he soared over the shopkeeper and snapped at a spot above his head – then hung there, his jaws sunk into the substantial neck of thin air. Charlie took advantage of the distraction, stepped back, and swung the cane above the levitating golden retriever. There was a smack, and Lazarus let go, but now Bummer launched himself at the invisible foe. He missed whatever was there, and ended up performing a doggy swish shot into a garbage can. Charlie made for the steel door of Asher’s again, but found it locked, and as he reached for his keys, something caught him from behind. â€Å"Let go, fuckface,† the shade screeched. The fur coat Charlie was holding appeared to be swept out of his hand and was pulled straight up, over the four-story building and out of sight. Charlie turned and held the cane at ready, but whatever had been there seemed to be gone now. â€Å"Aren’t you just supposed to sit above the door and nevermore and be poetic and stuff?!† he shouted at the sky. Then, for good measure, added, â€Å"You evil fuck!† Lazarus barked, then whined. A sharp and metallic yapping rose from Bummer’s garbage can. â€Å"Well, you don’t see that every day,† said the Emperor as he limped up to Charlie. â€Å"You could see that?† â€Å"Well, no, not really. Merely a shadow, but I could see that something was there. There was something there, wasn’t there, Charlie?† Charlie nodded, trying to catch his breath. â€Å"It will be back. It followed me across the city.† He dug into his pocket for his keys. â€Å"You guys should duck into the store with me, Your Majesty.† Of course Charlie knew the Emperor. Every San Franciscan knew the Emperor. The Emperor smiled. â€Å"That’s very kind of you, but we will be perfectly safe. For now I need to free my charge from his galvanized prison.† The big man tipped the garbage can and Bummer emerged snorting and tossing his head as if ready to tear the ass out of any man or beast foolhardy enough to cross him (and he would have, as long as they were knee-high or shorter). Charlie was still having trouble with the key. He knew he should have had the lock replaced, but it worked, if you finessed it a little, so he’d never made it a priority. Who the hell thought you’d ever have to get in quick to escape a giant bird? Then he heard a screech and turned to see not one, but two huge ravens coming over the roof and diving into the alley. The dogs arfed a frantic barking salvo at the avian intruders and Charlie put so much body English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip. â€Å"They’re back. Cover me.† Charlie threw the cane to the Emperor and braced himself for the impact, but as soon as the cane touched the old man’s hand the birds were gone. You could almost hear the pop of the air replacing the space they had taken up. The dogs caught themselves in mid-ruff; Bummer whimpered. â€Å"What?† the Emperor said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They’re gone.† The Emperor looked at the sky. â€Å"You’re sure?† â€Å"For now.† â€Å"I saw two shadows. Really saw them this time,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Yes, there were two this time.† â€Å"What are they?† â€Å"I have no idea, but when you took the cane they – well, they disappeared. You really saw them?† â€Å"I’m sure of it. Like smoke with a purpose.† Finally the key turned in the lock and the door to Asher’s back room swung open. â€Å"You should come in. Rest. I’ll order something to eat.† â€Å"No, no, the men and I must be on our rounds. I’ve decided to make a proclamation this morning and we need to see the printer. You’ll be needing this.† The Emperor presented the cane to Charlie like he was turning over a sword of the realm. Charlie started to take it, then thought better of it. â€Å"Your Majesty, I think you’d better keep that. It looks as if you might be able to use it.† Charlie nodded toward the Emperor’s creaky knee. The Emperor held the cane steady. â€Å"I am not a worshiper of the material, you know?† â€Å"I understand that.† â€Å"I am a firm believer that desire is the source of most of human suffering, you’re aware, and no culprit is more heinous than desire for material gain.† â€Å"I run my business based on those very principles. Still, I insist you keep the cane – as a favor to me, if you would?† Charlie found himself affecting the Emperor’s formal speech patterns, as if somehow he had been transported to a royal court where a nobleman was distinguished by bread crumbs in his beard and the royal guard were not above licking their balls. â€Å"Well, as a favor, I will accept. It is a fine piece of craftsmanship.† â€Å"But more importantly, it will permit you to make your rounds in good time.† The Emperor now betrayed the desire in his heart as he let fly a wide grin and hugged the cane to his chest. â€Å"It is fine, indeed. Charlie, I must confess something to you, but I ask you to grant me the credulity due a man who has just shared witness, with a friend, of two giant, raven-shaped shades.† â€Å"Of course.† Charlie smiled, when even a moment before he would have thought his smile lost somewhere in the months past. â€Å"I hope you won’t think me base, but the second I touched this, I felt as if I had been waiting for it my whole life.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Charlie said, â€Å"I know.† A few minutes before, inside the store, Lily had been brooding. It wasn’t her general brood, the reaction to a world where everyone was stupid and life was meaningless and the mere act of living was futile, especially if your mother forgot to get coffee at the store. This one was a more specific brood, that had started out when she arrived at work and Ray had pointed out that it was her turn to wear the vacuuming tiara, and insisted that if she wore the tiara, she actually vacuum the store. (In fact, she liked wearing the rhinestone tiara that Charlie, in a move of blatant bourgeois sneakiness, had designated be worn by whoever did the vacuuming and sweeping each day, and no other time. It was the vacuuming and sweeping she objected to. She felt manipulated, used, and generally taken advantage of, and not in the fun way.) But today, after she’d put the tiara and the vacuum away and had finally gotten a couple of cups of coffee in her system, the brooding had gone on, bu ilding to full-scale angst, when it began to dawn on her that she was going to have to figure out this college-career thing, because despite what The Great Big Book of Death said, she had not been chosen as a dark minion of destruction. Fuck! She stood in the back room looking at all the items that Charlie had piled there the day before: shoes, lamps, umbrellas, porcelain figures, toys, a couple of books, and an old black-and-white television and a painting of a clown on black velvet. â€Å"He said this stuff was glowing?† she asked Ray, who stood in the doorway to the store. â€Å"Yes. He made me check it all with my Geiger counter.† â€Å"Ray, why the fuck do you have a Geiger counter?† â€Å"Lily, why do you have a nose stud shaped like a bat?† Lily ignored the question and picked up the ceramic frog from the night before, which now had a note taped to it that read DO NOT SELL OR DISPLAY in Charlie’s meticulous block-letter printing. â€Å"This was one of the things? This?† â€Å"That was the first one he freaked out about,† said Ray matter-of-factly. â€Å"The truant officer tried to buy it. That started it all.† Lily was shaken. She backed over to Charlie’s desk and sat in the squeaky oak swivel chair. â€Å"Do you see anything glowing or pulsating, Ray? Have you ever?† Ray shook his head. â€Å"He’s under a lot of stress, losing Rachel and taking care of the baby. I think maybe he needs to get some help. I know after I had to leave the force – † Ray paused. There was a commotion going on out in the alley, dogs barking and people shouting, then someone was working a key in the lock of the back door. A second later, Charlie came in, a little breathless, his clothes smudged here and there with grime, one sleeve of his jacket torn and bloodstained. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"You’re hurt.† She quickly vacated his chair while Ray took Charlie by the shoulders and sat him down. â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"No big deal.† â€Å"I’ll get the first-aid kit,† Ray said. â€Å"Get that jacket off of him, Lily.† â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quit talking about me like I’m not here.† â€Å"He’s delirious,† Lily said, trying to pry Charlie out of his jacket. â€Å"Do you have any painkillers, Ray?† â€Å"I don’t need painkillers,† Charlie said. â€Å"Shut up, Asher, they’re not for you,† Lily said, automatically, then she considered the book, Ray’s story, the notes on all the items in the back room, and she shuddered. It appeared that Charlie Asher might not be the hapless geek she always thought him to be. â€Å"Sorry, boss. Let us help you.† Ray came back from the front with a small plastic first-aid kit. He peeled back Charlie’s sleeve and began to clean the wounds with gauze and peroxide. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"I slipped and fell in some gravel.† â€Å"The wound’s pretty clean – no gravel in it. That must have been some fall.† â€Å"Long story.† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ouch!† â€Å"What was all the noise in the alley?† Lily asked, needing badly to go smoke, but unable to pull herself away. She just couldn’t imagine that Charlie Asher was the one. How could it be him? He was so, so, unworthy. He didn’t understand the dark underbelly of life the way she did. Yet he was the one seeing the glowing objects. He was it. She was crestfallen. â€Å"Just the Emperor’s dogs after a seagull in the Dumpster. No big deal. I fell off a porch in Pacific Heights.† â€Å"The estate,† Ray said. â€Å"How’d that go?† â€Å"Not well. The husband was grief-stricken and had a heart attack while I was there.† â€Å"You’re kidding.† â€Å"No, he just sort of became overwhelmed thinking about his wife and collapsed. I gave him CPR until the EMTs came and took him off to the hospital.† â€Å"So,† Lily said, â€Å"did you get the – uh – did you get anything special?† â€Å"What?† Charlie’s eyes went wide. â€Å"What do you mean, special? There was nothing special.† â€Å"Chill, boss, I just meant will we get the grandma’s clothes?† He’s it, Lily thought. The fucker. Charlie shook his head. â€Å"I don’t know, it’s so strange. The whole thing is so strange.† He shuddered when he said it. â€Å"Strange how?† Lily said. â€Å"Strange in a cool and dark way, or strange because you’re Asher and you’re out of it most of the time?† â€Å"Lily!† Ray snapped. â€Å"Go out front. Dust something.† â€Å"You’re not the boss of me, Ray. I’m just showing my concern.† â€Å"It’s okay, Ray.† Charlie looked like he was considering how, exactly, to define strange, and not coming up with anything that was working. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, for one thing, this woman’s estate is way out of our league. The husband said he called me because we were the first secondhand store in the phone book, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of man to do something like that.† â€Å"That’s not that strange,† Lily said. Just confess, she thought. â€Å"You said that he was grief-stricken,† Ray said, dabbing antibiotic ointment on Charlie’s cuts. â€Å"Maybe he’s doing things differently.† â€Å"Yes, and he was angry at his wife, too, for the way she died.† â€Å"How?† Lily asked. â€Å"She ate silica gel,† Charlie said. Lily looked at Ray for an explanation, because silica gel sounded techno-geeky, which was Ray’s particular field of geekdom. Ray said, â€Å"It’s the antidesiccant that they pack with electronics and other things that are sensitive to humidity.† â€Å"The ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff?!† Lily said. â€Å"Oh my God, that’s so stupid. Everyone knows you don’t eat the ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff.† Charlie said, â€Å"Mr. Mainheart was pretty broken up.† â€Å"Well, I guess so,† Lily said. â€Å"He married a complete fucktard.† Charlie cringed. â€Å"Lily, that’s not appropriate.† Lily shrugged and rolled her eyes. She hated it when Charlie dropped into Dad mode. â€Å"Okay, okay. I’m going outside to smoke.† â€Å"No!† Charlie jumped out of the chair and put himself between Lily and the back door. â€Å"Out front. From now on if you have to smoke you go out front.† â€Å"But you said that I look like a child hooker when I smoke out front.† â€Å"I’ve reassessed. You’ve matured.† Lily closed one eye to see if she could better glimpse into his soul and thus figure out his true agenda. She smoothed over her black vinyl skirt, which made a tortured, squeaking noise at the touch. â€Å"You’re trying to say I have a big butt, aren’t you?† â€Å"I absolutely am saying no such thing,† Charlie insisted. â€Å"I am simply saying that your presence in front of the store is an asset and will probably attract business from the tourists on the cable car.† â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Lily snatched her box of cloves off the desk and headed out past the counter and outside to brood, grieve really, because as much as she had hoped, she was not Death. The book was Charlie’s. That evening Charlie was watching the store, wondering why he had lied to his employees, when he saw a flash of red passing by the front window. A second later, a strikingly pale redhead came through the door. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress and black fuck-me pumps. She strode up the aisle like she was auditioning for a music video. Her hair cascaded in long curls around her shoulders and down her back like a great auburn veil. Her eyes were emerald green, and when she saw him looking, she smiled, and stopped, some ten feet away. Charlie felt an almost painful jolt that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the area of his groin, and after a second he recognized it as an autonomic lust response. He hadn’t felt anything like that since Rachel had passed, and he felt vaguely ashamed. She was examining him, looking him over like you would examine a used car. He was sure he must be blushing. â€Å"Hi,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can I help you?† The redhead smiled again, just a little, and reached into a small black bag that he hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying. â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up a silver cigarette case. Something Charlie didn’t see very often anymore, even in the secondhand business. It was glowing, pulsating like the objects in the back room. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She moved to the counter opposite Charlie and set the cigarette case down in front of him. Charlie could barely move. He stared at her, not even conscious that to avoid her eyes he was staring at her cleavage, and she appeared to be looking around his head and shoulders as if following the path of insects that were buzzing around him. â€Å"Touch me,† she said. â€Å"Huh?† He looked up, saw she was serious. She held out her hand; her nails were manicured and painted the same deep red as her lipstick. He took her hand. As soon as she touched him she pulled away. â€Å"You’re warm.† â€Å"Thanks.† In that moment he realized that she wasn’t. Her fingers had been ice-cold. â€Å"Then you’re not one of us?† He tried to think of what â€Å"us† might be? Irish? Low blood pressure? Nymphomaniac? Why did he even think that? â€Å"Us? What do you mean, ‘us’?† She backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don’t just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, ‘take’?† â€Å"You don’t even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† Charlie was getting very nervous. As a Beta Male, he found it difficult enough to function under the attention of a beautiful woman, but she was just plain spooky. â€Å"Wait. Can you see this thing glowing?† He held out the cigarette case. â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here,† she said. â€Å"What’s your name?† â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher’s.† â€Å"Well, Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don’t know exactly what you are, and it doesn’t seem like you know. You don’t, do you?† â€Å"I’ve been going through some changes,† Charlie said, wondering why he felt compelled to share this at all. The redhead nodded, as if confirming something to herself. â€Å"Okay. I know what it’s like to, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don’t have an owner’s manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what’s going on.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† But he knew what she was talking about. What he didn’t know was how she could possibly know. â€Å"You make people die, don’t you, Charlie?† She said it like she had worked up the courage to tell him that he had some spinach in his teeth. More of a service to him than an accusation. â€Å"How do you – ?† How did she – â€Å"Because it’s what I do. Not like you, but it’s what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† Charlie looked at her, then at the cigarette case, then at the redhead again, who was no longer smiling, but was stepping backward toward the door. Trying to stay in touch with normal, he focused on the cigarette case and said, â€Å"I suppose I can do an appraisal – â€Å" He heard the bell over the door jingle, and when he looked up she was gone. He didn’t see her moving by the windows on either side of the door; she was just gone. He ran to the front of the store and out the door onto the sidewalk. The Mason Street cable car was just topping the hill up by California Street and he could hear the bell, there was a thin fog coming up from the Bay that threw colorful halos around the neon signs of the other businesses, but there was no striking redhead on the street. He went to the corner and looked down Vallejo, but again no redhead, just the Emperor, sitting against the building with his dogs. â€Å"Good evening, Charlie.† â€Å"Your Majesty, did you see a redhead go by here just now?† â€Å"Oh yes. Spoke to her. I’m not sure you have a chance there, Charlie, I believe she’s spoken for. And she did warn me to stay away from you.† â€Å"Why? Did she say why?† â€Å"She said that you were Death.† â€Å"I am?† Charlie said. â€Å"Am I?† His breath caught in his throat as the day played back in his head. â€Å"What if I am?† â€Å"You know, son,† the Emperor said, â€Å"I am not an expert in dealing with the fairer sex, but you might want to save that bit of information until the third date or so, after they’ve gotten to know you a little.†

Jews Christians and Muslims Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Jews Christians and Muslims - Essay Example Thus, wealth and/or influence may not be utilized under Jewish Law, to provide an advantage prior to judgements. Jews refer to Leviticus 19:15 for the right way to judge any case. (Spiro, K. 2012) Even the king is not above the law. A king should be a good example for the fulfilment of the law. 1.2 For Christians From the point of view of Catholics (Knight, Kevin 2009), charity is a supernatural virtue given by God for the soul seen whenever a person gives to the poor or needy believing in the Words of Jesus who said in Matthew 25:40 â€Å"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.† For those who have never heard of these biblical words or who do not know Jesus and his teachings, the act is recognized as natural charity. For other Christians, charity can simply mean love or compassion for the poor, and the calling to show the way taught by Jesus Christ, through acts of kindness and generosity (All About God 20 12) Justice, to many Christians, is the obligation of the church to inform the people about the proper criteria for judgements based on â€Å"the divine standards to which man and society must conform if civilization is to endure† (Mouw, R.J. 2010, p.3). For the individual, however, justice is taking the right stand based on the understanding about church teachings and the laws. There are times when man’s justice will not conform with God’s justice, in which case, divine retribution will follow at an unknown time. 1.3 Muslim Charity and Justice Benevolence of Muslims to others by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and educating the ignorant constitutes charity of â€Å"zakat†. With reference to the Koran, giving a part of a person’s wealth to specific persons is a way to cleanse one’s self. Ibrahim, R. (2009) cites Koran 9:103 to defend this statement. However, the giving should be to fellow Muslims in order to be called â€Å"zakatâ⠂¬ . There has been a question of funding to terrorists who were identified as jihadists. Will that constitute a qualified â€Å"zakat†? This is presently being clarified to the Muslim world as misguided charity, because the Koran does not promote terrorism. Baig, K.(2002) teaches that prophets were sent precisely to â€Å"establish justice† and to end injustice. He even states justice as â€Å"the sole purpose of sending the prophets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  For Muslims, justice is simply giving whatever is due each person or group of people based on what is right and wrong, fair and unfair, characterized by no hatred or favouritism for relatives, loved ones, or neighbours. Justice, in Islam, requires retribution calling for the eye of the evildoer for the eye of the victim. Judgements should be based on the truth even if the truth favors the enemy. 1.4 Differences Of Ideas In Each Tradition For the Muslims, charity involves giving to fellow Muslims, whereas for Jews and Chris tians, charity refers to any poor and needy regardless of religion or no religion. Justice is based on the truth for all three religious traditions. Impartiality is also a common factor for all three. The difference in defining justice is in a very narrow interpretation understood by Muslims by their belief that the only solution or right thing to do to establish justice is to practice the tradition of retribution—â€Å"an eye for an eye†. Christians believe in forgiving although the law should be enforced and the corresponding punishments should be imposed. Jews also believe in the

Describe your understanding of student centred learning and how your Essay

Describe your understanding of student centred learning and how your skills development at university can improve your curriculu - Essay Example 1). To direct the path towards the accomplishment of this mission, CCCU envisioned â€Å"provide a comprehensive range of corporate information services that meet the current and future needs of the CCCU community. These services will combine well understood and definitive sources of corporate information, powerful reporting tools, specific applications and integration and automation platforms to form a corporate information â€Å"engine† driving a multitude of business processes† (CCCU: Vision, 2009, pars. 1 & 2). Concurrent with the university’s mission and vision, my understanding of their holistic and multidimensional approach in teaching is supportive of the student centered learning approach. O’Neill and McMahon (2005) cited Kember (1997) as defining student centered learning as â€Å"knowledge is constructed by students and that the lecturer is a facilitator of learning rather than a presenter of information† (p. 255). A precondition to this approach was qualified by Rogers  (1983, p. 188) who averred that â€Å"... ... learning approach by specifically and explicitly stating the aims, learning outcomes, and the module programmes, in conjunction with an identified module leader and seminar tutors. The module programmes are structured in a clear and well designed manner that indicates schedules in week number, dates, topics and required readings. By providing the overall theoretical framework, module leaders envision to provide directions and guidelines towards structured presentation of topics that could be absorbed and understood at the given time frame. As student learning gives opportunities for students to enhance learning skills at their own discretion, under the governance and guidance of mentors and tutors, students must become aware that the scope and depth of learning depends on their personal commitment for personal and professional growth. In this regard, to expand my personal understanding of student centered learning, I gained the following inputs to be shared in this discourse, to wit: Lea et  al.  (2003, p.322) â€Å"summarises some of the literature on student-centred learning to include the followings tenets: (1) the reliance on active rather than passive learning; (2) an emphasis on deep learning and understanding; (3) increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student; (4) an increased sense of autonomy in the learner; (5) an interdependence between teacher and learner; (6) mutual respect within the learner teacher relationship; and (7) and a reflexive approach to the teaching and learning process on the part of both teacher and learner† (cited by O’Neill & McMahon, 2005). The increased proactive stance, responsibility and accountability placed in the hands of the students differentiate this approach from the traditional teacher centered

The Crusades as a Religious Endeavor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Crusades as a Religious Endeavor - Essay Example Islam not only posed the threat of a rival religion, they also posed the threat of a rival culture (Rosenthal, 2005). Cultural and political influence must therefore be considered necessary additions to religion as factors in the ensuing power struggle. A thousand years after the Crusades, little has changed, with Christianity, Islam and Judaism vying for control throughout, not just the area of the Byzantine Empire, but the world. Again, culture and politics must be considered as well as religion. In the name of democracy, President George W. Bush considers the war in Iraq a quest for freedom, but a large contingent in the Middle East are followers of Islam, and in this respect consider the effort by Western nations to change their culture and religion in the name of democracy to be unacceptable. Great Britain's Tony Blair has remained committed to Bush's actions in Iraq, but the people of Great Britain are more realistic than the Americans as to the economic, political and cultural aspects involved in the Iraqi War. Perhaps, by studying the results of the Crusades, its effect on different populations might be an indicator of the importance of world cultural studies. A study of the Crusades might offer a different viewpoint of the present wars in which religion happens to play a major role. Pope Urban II as a Catalyst Pope Urban II has been credited with initiating the Crusades. He was elected as Pope in 1088 but did not take the papal throne until six years later, having been in exile on the Island of St. Bartholomew. Political issues kept the Byzantine Empire in a state of flux, and Urban was faced with many difficulties. The timing of his ascension, however, was in his favor. Not only was he a truly religious person with a focus on sharing Christianity throughout the world, he was also charismatic, and when he broached the idea of a Crusade against the enemies of the Christian faith at a council meeting in Clermont in 1095, it turned out to be a matter of good timing and use of imagination on his part. He strongly appealed to the general public, and the Crusades became a major undertaking, encompassing several countries (Butler, 2003). Appeals were sent out all through Europe urging people to take the cross. It must be noted, however, that one benefit of the Pope's appeal was to offset the pro pensity for violence within the Byzantine Empire__with individuals acting from personal and political motives__and the desire for economic expansion (Sloan, 2000). The Crusades gave society a common goal, and after a life of exile, upheaval and poverty, Pope Urban II finally was able to carry out his providence. The so-called "People's Crusade" was successful initially, but success was followed by failure, and a new crusade was begin in 1100, the second of eight formal crusades, and this army too was destroyed in 1101. For almost two hundred years, the Crusades affected a broad geographical and cultural area which carries through into the

Interprofessional in Nursing (Mental Health Nursing) Essay

Interprofessional in Nursing (Mental Health Nursing) - Essay Example It is evident that interactions that occur on every day basis must understand the complexities that are associated not only dealing with their colleagues but patients also. Clearly, new initiatives must be taken to understand the gravity of dealing with patients and explores other ideas that can facilitate patient’s recovery and perception about their health. A model that should be developed for nursing students should be simple in order to facilitate the process. It should consist of peer collaboration, discussion, research and testing along with shadowing a medical professional. These steps are vital because they solidify the foundation of core competencies along with remedying deficiencies. Education in health begins with the young generations being more involved in mentoring rather than filling in the blanks of a test. This theory is supported by many scholars as more effective as it enables students to gain a better understanding of the overall approach that occurs. The i ssue of quality in providing these services is just not a mere innovative concept but should be embedded on every medical facility. This methodology itself serves to define and embody the whole depiction of the hospital. In medicine, quality has become a crucial aspect is at enhances the outcomes that are appealing for any individual (Buttell, Hendler, & Daley, 2007, p. 63). Quality is an element that must be prevalent not through lip service but through actions and should be a testament through patient care. The traditional approach that is embedded in delivering customer relations through doctors is under heavy scrutiny. Conducive research proves that social workers, midwives and nurses tend to excel on interpersonal skills while doctors must strive to make a better effort. In a hospital setting, it is clear that Doctors are perceived to have strong leadership along with collaboration skills that makes them highly competent at their profession (Buttell, Hendler, & Daley, 2007, PP. 64-66). Thus, many authors suggest that the difference of knowledge and expertise that doctors possess from their colleagues create a formulation of diverse opinions that are prevalent in their actions. Since each individual has their own set of responsibilities, they also tend to have different notions on how to approach different problems (Buttell, Hendler, & Daley, 2007, p. 65). Since quality tends to be the prevailing matter in all institutions, various elements have been examined to understand this critical issue. First and foremost element that is associated with healthcare is hygiene, Hygiene safety is a crucial element that all doctors practice due to the fact that it dynamically can impact patient’s heath. In many scenarios, it is evident that the patients is injured even though the doctors possess no ill intentions. One can argue that these medical errors are because of medical errors that contribute to this cause in their respective facilities (Buttell, Hendler, & Daley, 2007, pp. 64). Although hygiene safety can be learned through methodology, it is crucial that they acquired safety skills through experience. Applying an ointment or not wrapping the bandage in a precise manner can lead to neglect which in long-run can be detrimental to patient’s health. It is clear that in order for quality to be prevalent in any given facility,

New Tack in Teacher Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

New Tack in Teacher Education - Essay Example Once a would-be teacher passed this set of criteria in the old days, a normal school, or a university offering the regular 4-year teacher education courses, proceeded to use these basic attributes as building blocks toward making the student teacher attain proficiency in the subjects considered as fountainheads of knowledge on teacher preparations: psychology, sociology and general education. In the traditional approach, that was all there was to teacher education. The assumption was that tutelage in psychology and sociology would sufficiently prepare student teachers for the tasks of reaching out to young people from diverse social classes with different beliefs, behaviors and mental constructs. General education, for its part, is the euphemism for the nitty-gritty, and more taxing part, of teaching - preparing lesson plans, checking test papers, evaluating pupils' performance, what to do with a difficult and rowdy class, handling slow learners. Under this assumption, teacher education hardly counted as a field of specialized study and as object of academic research. Teacher educators were not even asked to participate in research into their work (Korthagen, F., Loughran, J. & Russell, T., 2006). Only lately did policy makers, lawmakers and academic researchers begin to question the old notions of an effective teacher education program when confronted by repeated year-to-year reports of poor academic performance across the school systems. Something must be wrong in teacher preparations indeed when respectable publications like the US News and World Report play up stories like: as of 2000, 75 million American adults or 2 out of 3 Americans can't read adequately. It looks worse in less developed countries, such as one in Asia where it was reported that only one of five elementary graduates showed a passable competency in the five basic subjects of science, mathematics, English and writing. Bullough & Gitlin (2001), as cited in Korthagen, et al. (2006), confirmed that the traditional approach to teacher education was among the features of the educational system that needed an overhaul when the two academic researchers were asked to develop a new teacher education program from the old one. The research duo noted that the old TEP model they worked on was "disjointed, fragmented and confusing." The theory-to-practice view, the research team added, suffers from many limitations and inadequacies and is thus counterproductive. Another instructive indictment: the standard TEP model is irrelevant to the reality of everyday practice in schools. From these observations, the search for new ways of preparing teachers emerged. One of the persistent concepts that developed operates on the principle that knowledge (theory) should relate to experience and emotion (practice). This means that immersion in theory, on which traditional TEPs are focused, is not altogether bad so long as an equal emphasis is placed on practice. In other words, the more ideal approach is for theory and practice to go hand in hand so that when student teachers go out to practice their profession they know how to handle the problems of everyday teaching through theory-guided actions. This new tack in teacher education is reflected in TEPs that set aside rote recall in favor of understanding and application, giving due

Direct Manipulation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Direct Manipulation - Assignment Example Video game is one of the best applications where the techniques of direct manipulation are very successful. At the present, the use of video games is increasing because of its entertainment and easy to recognize operations. In fact, people are able to build a variety of skills by playing video games. Additionally, the physical gestures of video games are straightforward and mistakes can be easily corrected depending on their severity; therefore error messages are needless. Similarly, these standards can also be implemented to office automation and personal computing and other arrangements (Huang, Miwa, & Cayabyab, 2013; Hundhausen, Farley, & Brown, 2009). The research has shown that the principles of direct manipulation can be used in video game controls for example game users always want to use games that are easy to use, system with better availability of feedback and much easier to learn than use. In addition, the principles of direct manipulation can also be employed for differing ones that lead to certainty as well as sense of control that system user needs much more. Moreover, another example of principles of direct manipulation is to have simple and intuitive action specification in video games (Sanderson, 1998; Shneiderman, Direct Manipulation A Step Beyond Programming Languages, 1983; Shneiderman, Direct Manipulation for Comprehensible, Predictable and Controllable User Interfaces, 1997). Interface design is believed to be one of the most difficult aspects of game development for that reason that it requires transferring huge data and instructions to the player as well as there is small screen space which has to be utilized for completing all these tasks that to do it. Hence, when the interface is less effectively designed, a good game idea can be minimized to an annoying user experience (Dev Mag, 2011). It is an admitted fact that with the passage of time and advancement of technology the real life applications are becoming easy to

Scope of branding and current trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Scope of branding and current trends - Essay Example Interestingly brands in the field of marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods. Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. These factories, generating mass-produced goods, needed to sell their products to a wider market, to a customer base familiar only with local goods. So the packaged goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we now know as branding. Since their origin, brands have come a long way in technique, sophistication and reach. Many traditional â€Å"rules† of branding have been tossed aside over the years with the advent of the internet, cutting edge branding techniques and complex ventures. Branding has also conquered new terrains su ch as law firms, countries or even local produce. In this paper, we will attempt to identify and expand on some of the latest trends in branding and their scope. We will also attempt to demonstrate how these changes in branding concepts are a reflection of our times and a natural progressive reaction to external factors that has driven its rapid and powerful evolution. But, before we delve into that, we first take a look at the various issues that influence responsible branding to really comprehend the magnitude of a strong brand influence and also its constraints.

Policing Domestic Violence Essay Example for Free

Policing Domestic Violence Essay Domestic violence can be considered to be an act of violence which has been observed to occur in every socio-economic class as well as within all cultures. Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of coercive control that one individual intermittently exerts over another by means of spiritual, emotional, sexual, physical or economic abuse (http://www. dvvap. org/i). This form of exploitation has victimized mostly the women and children and men in much fewer cases and it continues to be perpetrated all over the world. In some regions or nations of the world, domestic violence has become a daily occurrence. Domestic violence leads to very drastic effects on the family, especially if perpetrated on both women and children. When this form of violence is done through physical harm, it results to injury, disability or even death in victims. Mental problems that may also occur usually make the victims feel unloved, lonely and have low self-esteem. Depression occurs in many victims of psychological abuse, which in turn may cause severe isolation of the victims from family and friends. Sexual violence and incest are other forms of domestic violence. In some regions of the world, domestic violence causes continue to rise due to patriarchal, cultural and religious traditions, (Human Rights Watch, 2005. , pp 12). All over the world, different governments handle domestic violence in many ways due to differing views on violence Different proposals have been presented to encourage the governments to have certain views on this form of violence. According to Lisa, domestic violence should be treated as a political and public problem. It should also be viewed as a breach of the human rights. It is a violation of human rights which every individual is entitled to. Those who perpetrate actions of violence against the others should be stopped, (Lisa, H. 78-79). Policing domestic violence refers to a scientifically developed application that aims at solving the domestic violence problem. In the past, it has involved testing of hypothesis in relation to the classification, prediction and the domestic violence prevention. Policing domestic violence policing as a tool of solving domestic violence also experiences several challenges as a crime prevention strategy (Hoctor, M. 53). In order to identify more effective policing strategies for domestic violence prevention and control, a culture of science is very necessary where the strategy integrates trial and error as a norm in crime prevention. The domestic violence policing programs aim at offering support to victims of domestic violence while at the same time preventing domestic violence. However, the public has raised concern about the domestic violence public policy. Lawrence et al states that in the past, the public has been concerned about the domestic violence policy. This is because it is sometimes based on ideology and it lacks evidence based on science. The public advocates for an effective domestic violence policing which should be practical and also be implemented appropriately. This would be a very good measure in preventing domestic violence (Lawrence S. et al, 24). In the last decade, police response to domestic violence has been criticized with a claim that the police did not take violence incidents seriously. However, effective measures to curb domestic violence are being developed and implemented through better policing. In this paper, the domestic violence policing issue will be discussed. The ethical stance of domestic violence in policing will be looked at, as well as the police departments’ responsibility of policing. The past system and current issues arising due to violence will be evaluated. Discussion For effective policing in domestic violence, a cultural evolution in policing needs to be developed in order to support the scientific revolution in order to solve the domestic violence problem. The cultural evolution rapid movement requires a growing partnership between the police and criminologists, public health community officers and professional scientists. Coherence of approach by the different police units to domestic violence is promoted by policy statements or documents where the Police officers introduce the policy documents with varying extent and content. With the increasing reports of domestic violence to the police, the police service has been required to utilize their limited resources to improve domestic violence service delivery to the people. Domestic violence is a great concern for the community where the police intervene in many cases. Whenever the police receive an initial call for assistance, it is their responsibility to provide immediate protection to the victim due to the fact that the police have certain powers which allow them to respond to domestic violence incidents. Whether the victims feel confident in contacting the police departments later in future will depend on how the police perform their tasks when the victim makes the initial contact (Lawrence, S. 126). The police have a major role in arresting criminals or offenders with the perpetrators of domestic violence considered as criminals because they undermine the human rights of the victims. The suspects are usually arrested and charged if there is enough evidence of violence against the victim. However, law enforcement officers should ensure that the suspect’s rights are not violated until the truth is established much later as one of the requirement in the police departmental policy. The police forces have domestic violence policy documents which contain written aims and priorities that are expected to assist them either solve, prevent or reduce domestic violence incidents. The policy documents normally contain the domestic violence definition, its implications, as well as guidance about the various police response components. The responsibility to implement domestic violence policies is something that is shared across a range of the police roles. The policies are very vital in protecting domestic violence victims against actions of exploitation such as domestic violence involving withholding of economic resources from a victim. Some children are even denied education through this form of abuse, as well partners who do not work. This denies the victims their basic needs, which is considered unethical and unacceptable. Domestic violence policing prevents this form of exploitation and instead promotes ethical practices in the society. Through policing, public safety problems are defined, analyzed and effective solutions to the problems addressed. Though the society is responsible for propagating ethics, it sometimes undermines the ethics if it allows domestic violence to occur without taking any action. For instance, in patriarchal societies, men are sometimes allowed to completely dominate over women. This had led to lack of knowledge and empowerment in women to speak out against violence, whereby the victims lack the ability to express their views and opinions with those who do not adhere to this being severely punished through domestic violence. Domestic violence policies have been developed to address such cultural practices with the police ensuring that law enforcement in relation to such policies is carried out. The police department should have the responsibility of policing domestic violence in the community because they are law enforcers who are responsible for ensuring law and order is maintained in the society and the human rights are well protected. Preventing and reducing domestic violence is one of the ways in which the human rights of everyone in the community are protected. For instance in Australia, police powers and procedures are well set out in the Crimes Act 1990(Policing Domestic Violence in New South Wales NSW, 1999). In addition, the police powers can be found in the police guidelines, referred to as Domestic Violence Standard Operating Procedures. Another example can be seen in the US, where the police department has adopted mandatory arrest policy for domestic violence cases. For spousal violence cases, arrest based on probable cause could be done where the Police officers were allowed to arrest suspects without a warrant as long as the officers had probable cause whether he/she had witnessed the incident or not. This was happening in 23 states of the United States of America by the year 2005 (Hoctor, M. 007) Another reason why the police should participate in domestic violence policing is that, the legislation that protects people from domestic violence in most cases directs the police to intervene in protecting the victims of domestic violence. The police have the power to exercise arrest of criminals or offenders when need be. In policing domestic violence, domestic violence incidents should be stopped as soon as possible making the arrest of offenders by the police an effective means of stopping domestic abuse. This therefore makes it their vital responsibility in policing domestic violence with the responsibility aiming at stopping the conflict, as well as protecting and ensuring the immediate safety for the victims. As law enforcers, the police have a responsibility to ensure criminals are charged in court which mitigates future abuse. The police department receives reports on domestic violence from the community members and then investigates the cases to establish the cause of the abuse, the effects and the victim or offender. After establishing the facts about a case, offenders are charged in court. For instance policies allow police officers to apply for an apprehended violence order (AVO), which guides the judicial process (Lawrence, S. 101). Good police service initiatives in the police departments that enhance awareness in people about violence and service delivery show that they should have a good responsibility in domestic violence policing. The police departments in many nations have instituted the initiatives as a result of their recognition that a high percentage of people in our community are now aware that domestic violence is a crime. These initiatives include, public awareness through advertising campaigns, placement of domestic violence liaison officers (DVLO), specialized training for officers, working with the Attorney General and the development of COPS (Computerized Operational Policing system) to produce statistics relevant to the development of effective domestic violence prevention measures. The initiatives are a good indication of how effective the police department can be in domestic violence policing. The domestic violence issue has attracted widespread public concern, in the past and also in the current world. However, the past system differs with the current system in relation to how policing in domestic violence was/is handled. In the past, the number of domestic violence cases that were reported was fewer than the current number of the cases reported to the police. The continued increase of the reported cases in turn has necessitated the development of measures that will curb the violence effectively. This has led to the development of new measures/policies to address this problem. However, in the past, this problem was not handled with much seriousness as it is now which made the past system less effective in domestic violence policing. Cultural beliefs and practices in the past contributed to continued domestic abuse, because the victims were sometimes convinced that they deserved to be abused. Different societies have changed their beliefs towards domestic violence over time with people become more aware of domestic violence as a crime currently, which has greatly assisted in effective domestic violence policing. People are more willing to speak out about this issue in the modern world as compared to the past years. Modern police service initiatives have enhanced better domestic violence policing as compared to the past system of policing. For instance placement of domestic violence liaison officers (DVLO) in the local areas as a modern initiative has made it easy for people to report violence cases. In addition, offenders are easily apprehended and charged for their offences. In the past, lack of awareness in some victims and the community as a whole in policing encouraged continued abuse because the offender had no action taken against them. Current systems have developed specialized training for officers, which involves training of officers in response to domestic violence and other issues that surround domestic violence. On the other hand, the past systems did not have such training programs. The standard operating procedures (SOP) launching together with the development of computerized operational policing system (COPS) have been very instrumental in adoption of effective domestic violence policing measures in the modern systems (Policing Domestic Violence in New South Wales NSW,1999). The domestic violence policing have also experienced several problems. The policing may lack inadequate support which may in turn undermine how effective the policing can be in solving domestic violence. The police officers who handle domestic violence cases have been accused of not providing the involved parties with enough information and sometimes they have an inappropriate attitude towards the victims. In addition, they have shown unsympathetic, rude and indifferent behavior towards the victims. Nevertheless, solutions to these problems have been integrated in domestic violence policing programs to ensure domestic violence is prevented. Though domestic violence prevention measures were present in the past, current measures have been developed to improve on the past strategies

Individual Assignment Final Examination Essay Example for Free

Individual Assignment Final Examination Essay Write a 700-1000 word response to the following questions:  · How would you identify and characterize the roles of incentives, training, and education in promoting innovation in your organization? (250 words max.)  ·Ã‚   What is the role of leadership in creating, managing, and sustaining innovation in your organization? (250 words max.)  ·Ã‚   What are the ethical implications of an individual reward system? Support your answer. (250 words max.) Would you describe your organization as innovative or non-innovative? Why? Explain your answer. Do your best to get enough sleep and to eat regularly. Its easy to neglect these things when theres so much to do and when you are living on your own for the first time, but if you dont take care of yourself youre going to get sick and/or do poorly in your classes.

Pedagogical Principles of Teaching

Pedagogical Principles of Teaching Developing Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Education and Training 1.1 Analyse the application of pedagogical principles in own area of specialism. Pedagogical Model: Understanding by Design (UbD) is an academic framework for designing curriculum units, performance assessments and instruction that evolve a deeper and better understanding amongst the learners. It facilitates the process of learning by setting achievable goals and objectives. Designed by Grant Wiggins and Jay Mc Tighe, the model scrutinises the traditional methods and suggests more coherent, versatile and conductive ways related to planning, teaching and assessing. The essence of the model lies in to begin with the end in mind. It simply implies to keep the destination in mind before taking the first leap thereby taking steps in the right direction. The process of learning in human beings is constantly under research and tight scrutiny. Over a period of time, many researchers of this field have concluded that human ability to learn is greatly affected by the interaction of ideas. The exchange of meaningful learning experiences in progressive and conducive environments assists in discovering and exploiting our potentials to their optimum levels. The learning experiences are very often used by the teachers to motivate the quest of learning amongst the students. The sharing of poor ideas helps us to interact and foment a climate of understanding thereby developing new learning scenarios. This meaningful interaction puts great influence on the process of learning as a whole. We also learn to interpret new experiences and modify our own conceptions through the dialogue. In order to make best utilization of this concept, we need to create meaningful activity and relate it to our perceptions of life. In light of this research, new processes and learning methodologies are being evolved to help learners and teachers in making its best utilization. Grant Wiggins and Jay Mc Tighe are the pioneers in implementing the concept on ground by designing a new methodology of learning called the Backward Design. The use of Backward Design model as part of the concept of Understanding by Design has proved to be an extremely effective tool in addressing the learning needs of human beings (Hammond, 2005). The Backward Design model provides a new approach to teachers and learners by focusing on keeping the goals and objectives in mind. This design puts less emphasis on the specific activities of and rather involves paying attention to the strategic intents and outcomes of their curriculum. The model starts with defining what students want to achieve or know and then framing curriculum which guides to the desired objective. Although the Backward Design does not totally oppose the traditional methods, however it objects to the routine collection of facts that one often tends to forget after the test (Pankratz Petrosko, 2000). Unless it has been decided as what the students should understand (objectives), plans cannot be made to substantiate the effort required to be put in to achieve those goals. Once the curriculum designer knows what students should understand, consideration moves to how to capture and document this understanding. The enduring understanding is the hallmark of the Backward Design. All the planning perimeters and curriculum designing are of little use until the principles of backward design are kept in mind. The sole purpose is to progressively achieve those levels of understanding which human mind has never experienced before. The efficacy of this model can be best visualised from the fact that at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the most efficient model of learning being prescribed and pursued is the Teaching for Understanding which in many ways goes in line with the concept of Understanding by Design (Wiske, 2005). 1.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of use of creative and innovative approaches in own area of specialism. Principles of Teaching and Learning in Teaching Maths: Students learn maths through the experiences that teachers provide. Teachers must know and understand deeply the maths they are teaching and understand and be committed to their students as learners of maths and as human beings. There is no one right way to teach. Nevertheless, much is known about effective maths teaching. Selecting and using suitable curricula materials, using appropriate instructional tools and techniques to support learning and pursuing a continuous self-improvement are actions good teachers take every day. The teacher is responsible for creating an intellectual environment in the classroom where serious engagement in mathematical thinking is the norm. Effective teaching requires deciding what aspects of a task to highlight, how to organise and orchestrate the work of students, what questions to ask the students having varied level of expertise and how to support students without taking over the process of thinking for them. Effective thinking requires continuing effort to learn and improve. Teachers need to increase their knowledge about maths and pedagogy, learn from their students and colleagues, and engage in professional development and self-reflection. Collaborating with others paring an experienced teacher with a new teacher or forming a community of teachers to observe, analyse and discuss teaching and students thinking is a powerful, yet neglected form of professional development. Teachers need ample opportunities to engage in this kind of continual learning. The working lives of teachers must be structured to allow and support different models of professional development that benefit them and their students. Features of effective learning and teaching in maths: From the early stages onwards, children and young people should experience success in maths and develop the confidence to take risks, asks questions and explore alternative solutions without fear of being wrong. They will enjoy exploring and applying mathematical concepts to understand and solve problems, explaining their thinking and presenting their solutions to others in a variety of ways. At all stages, an emphasis on collaborative learning will encourage children to reason logically and creatively through discussion of mathematical ideas and concepts. The experiences and outcomes encourage learning and teaching approaches that challenge and stimulate children and young people and promote their enjoyment of maths. To achieve this, teachers will use a skilful mix of approaches, including: planned active learning which provides opportunities to observe, explore, investigate, experiment, play, discuss and reflect modelling and scaffolding the development of mathematical thinking skills; learning collaboratively and independently; opportunities for discussion; communication and explanation of thinking; developing mental agility; using relevant contexts and experiences familiar to young people; making links across the curriculum to show how mathematical concepts are applied in a wide range of contexts, such as those provided by sciences and social sciences using technology in appropriate and effective ways; building on the principles of assessment for learning; ensuring that young people understand young people understand the purpose an d relevance of what they are learning; developing problem-solving capabilities and critical thinking skills. Teachers need to understand and be committed to their students as learners of maths and as human beings and be skilful in choosing from and using a variety of pedagogical and assessment strategies (National Commission on Teaching and Americas Future1996). In addition, effective teaching requires reflection and continual efforts to seek improvement. Teachers need to understand the big ideas of maths and be able to represent maths as a coherent and connected enterprise (Schifter 1999; Ma 1999). Teachers also need to understand different representations of an idea, the relative strengths and weaknesses of each, and how they are related to one another (Wilson, Shulman and Richert 1987) As a maths teacher, I apply the following teaching approaches: Individual Work: I still believe that individual work has the most significant and effective influence on students. Individual work facilitates one on one interaction among students and teachers. I still believe that individual work has the most significant and effective influence on students. Individual work facilitates one on one interaction among students and teachers. Some limitations include: While individual work will enable the students to improve their performance level, and teachers to individually assess the students. However it does not facilitate any team work or collaboration between the students, and the students would feel isolated. It would also restrict the students from learning and obtaining effective experiences and knowledge from other students. Group Work: I believe that group work is essential to develop team work and facilitate collaboration between students. As a religious studies teacher I believe that it is essential to promote social harmony and facilitate collaborative work between culturally diverse individuals and groups of individuals. Group work facilitates effective participation and communication, and also builds up leadership skills among students. It is perceived by many experts that group work provides a basis for effective team work, leadership, communication and collaboration (Wurdinger Carlson, 2009). Limitations include: Even though group work is an effective learning tool, the resources required for group work is high. Group work requires a significant amount of time, materials and space. If the teacher is not able to provide these resources to students, the group work will not be effective. Furthermore group work can also have many disputes which would hinder the main objective of undertaking group wo rk. Also there is the limitation of all students not participating equally for group work. Presentations: Presentations are considered to be the most effective tool of visual learning. Presentations are utilized by teachers to increase the interest and concentration level of students. Earlier students were provided with study notes and the teacher followed the provided material. There was a clear limitation in this method, as the students lost concentration and interest in this method. Especially I have experienced that utilizing presentations for a subject such as religious studies, helps to attract the students and maintain their interest. Experts believe that presentations are more effective and accurate than utilizing printed material. I agree with this statement and believe in utilizing effective presentation during my teaching sessions (Wilson, 2009). Limitations include: Presentation require a high level of software and hardware equipment. Personally I have experienced difficulties due to the limitations of resources, and I have been unable to effectively present th e study material effectively. Both teachers and students have faced hardships due to these limitations and few study sessions have been wasted due to these restrictions. Online Learning and Group Discussions: I promote online learning among my students as I believe that online learning provides a great way for the students to obtain timely and relevant information related to the subject matter. It would also enable the students to obtain information regarding the most recent developments. Online discussion also helps students to interact and share their knowledge with others and also obtain support from the teacher outside classroom hours. I agree with the experts that online learning has a plethora of advantages, which facilitate a more effective knowledge sharing and learning culture among the students (Bender, 2003). Limitations include: the lack of resources. There are many students who do not have access to web sources and have no proper ICT knowledge. Also depending too much on online resources would sometimes be inaccurate and also deviate students from their primary objective. Tutorials: In addition to my lessons, I always ensure to hold a considerable number of tutorial sessions for my students. With experience I have realized that tutorials help the students to obtain a better understanding about the subject matter and apply the theoretical knowledge obtained during the study sessions. Limitation include: I have observed that at times tutorials tend to make students follow the lesson mechanically, instead of obtaining an in-depth understanding about the subject matter. References Bender, T. (2003), Discussion-based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning, Stylus Publishing, United States. Wilson, L. (2009) Practical Teaching: A guide to PTLLS DTLLS, London: Cengage Learning EMEA Wilson, S. M., Shulman, L. S. Richert, A. E. (1987). 150 Different Ways of Knowing: Representations of Knowledge in Teaching. In J. Calderhead (Ed.), Exploring Teachers Thinking (pp.104-124). London: Cassell. Wiggins, G., McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding by Design guide to creating high-quality units. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Wurdinger, S. D. and Carlson, J. A. (2009), Teaching for Experimental Learning, Rowman and Littlefield Education, United State. Schifter, D. (1999). Reasoning about operations: Early algebraic thinking, grades K through 6. (pp 62-81). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: Teachers understanding of fundamental mathematics in China and the United States. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.