Sunday, March 15, 2020

Leadership Analysis Napoleon Essay Example

Leadership Analysis Napoleon Essay Example Leadership Analysis Napoleon Paper Leadership Analysis Napoleon Paper But one of the retreat leaders who have marked Europe and a large part of the world Is Napoleon Bonaparte. To understand the Impact he had on the modern world you just have to look around, mainly in France. All the typical architecture of Paris was designed by the Baron Houseman originated by Napoleon himself and the main evidence of his legacy is the Napoleonic code which is still a fundamental text of the French law. Concerning his code Napoleon said: My true glory is not to have won 40 battles Waterloo will erase the memory of so many victories. But Hat will live forever is y Call Code . This code has Is still enforced In a quarter of the worlds Jurisdiction Including Europe, the Americas and Africa. HIS story still fascinates many people all around the world. Description of Napoleon Napoleons Origins Napoleon Bonaparte was born In Ciao on August 1 5th minion, Just one year after ten treaty AT Versailles wanly transporter Corsica Trot ten Repelled AT Genoa to France. He was born into a noble family, his father, Carlo Maria Bonaparte, was Corsican representative to the court of Louis XVI in 1777. Thanks to his familys injections, he was admitted to the military academy of Paris where he already showed good skills to command. His Political Career On November 19th, 1799, Napoleon, helped by his brother Lucien Bonaparte (speaker of the Council of Five Hundred), Talleyrand, Ducks and Sissies (members of the directory), organized a coup to overthrow the constitutional government. He first intended to initiate a parliamentary takeover but due to a tactless speech he was accused to be an outlaw by the Council of Five Hundred and threaten to be imprisoned. To rescue him, his brother, Lucien, called the guards pretending that embers of the Council are trying to stab Napoleon and turned, in fact, the coup into a military turnover. The French Consulate was then created and Napoleon together with Ducks and Sissies were elected provisional Consuls of France. During that time, Ducks totally supported Napoleon whereas Sissies did not want to let Napoleon have full powers but Napoleon maneuver in order to get the Constitution of the Year VIII voted which ensured Napoleon to be designated First Consul, the most powerful in France. Sissies was then relegated to simply President of the Senate. As the First Consul of France, Napoleon reformed many institutions like education, the territorial organization centralizing administration, the banking system creating the Bank of France. He also increased his power by imposing the Constitution of the Year X which first article was: The French people name and the Senate proclaims Napoleon- Bonaparte First Consul for Life . Because of that Napoleon had to face royalist and Jacobin plots but that will actually help him to become emperor. In fact, he proposed to the senate to become emperor to prevent the Bourbon family (former rulers of France) to have the possibility to gain the throne again and to preserve the principles of the French Revolution. The Senate finally accepted in 1804 and Napoleon became the first emperor of France. Now Emperor, Napoleon invaded Germany and Austria to dissolute the Holy Roman Empire and, after he won the battle at Austerity in 1805 against the Russian and Austrian armies, he created the Confederation of the Rhine which he was named its Protector. Master of War After his training at the military academy of Paris, Napoleon was sent to serve on garrison duty in Valence as second lieutenant where he gained experience to be an army leader. Then he was appointed artillery commander of the republican forces at the siege of Talon. During the siege, Napoleon drew a plan in order to capture a hill that would allow republican guns to dominate the citys harbor and force the British ships to evacuate. Napoleon succeeded to capture the city that promoted him to the rank of brigadier general. In 1795, the Royalists caused an insurrection in Paris at the Utilities Palace. Napoleon was called by Barras commander of the Interior Army to cease the insurrection. He dispersed Royalists mob a whiff of grapeshot and was remoter commander of the Interior Army, replacing Barras who became member of ten Directory, plus nee was given command AT ten Army AT Italy. As ten leader AT ten Army of Italy, Napoleon was very efficient to motivate his troops and innovated in war strategy by using, for example, artillery as mobile force support to infantry attacks which helped him to win many battles like during his Italian campaign where he defeated five Austrian armies within a year. Sent by the Directory, Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798 defeating, battles after battles, the army of the Ottoman Empire. Later Egypt returned to the Turkish and British armies because of the bubonic plague which stroke French army after Napoleon left to return to France. It was as an emperor that Napoleon won his most famous battles. On the first anniversary of his coronation, he had his greatest victory at Austerity over the Austrian and Russian armies (two of the best armies at this time) and for this occasion, Napoleon edified the Arc De Triumphed monument in Paris. Napoleon would say about this victory: The battle of Austerity is the finest of all I have fought. War pet going between the French empire, the United Kingdom, Russia, Prussia and Spain. From alliance with ones and betrayal from others, Napoleon and the French Empire was still victorious during the period 1804-1812 but soon the French Empire would be surrounded with enemies including Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, Sweden, Austria, Spain and Portugal which was called the war of the Sixth Coalition. Napoleons fall started when he tried to invade Russia in 1812, where had success going deep in the Russian Territory but found nothing to take as Russian used their famous scorched earth tactics. When he returned to France, the war of the Sixth Coalition started, Napoleon still had few victories at Dressed in 1813 but suffered a severe defeat in the battle of Leipzig. In 1814, the Coalition army captured Paris. Napoleon tried to counter attack but his Marshals especially Nee decided to mutiny and Napoleon was forced to abdicate. He then went into exile on the island Elba where he stayed until 1815. At this time, it could have been over but Napoleon figured out a way to escape from Elba, landed on the French Riviera and went to Greenbelt where he met the 5th regiment led by the marshal Nee, sent to intercept IM. Napoleon approached the regiment alone, dismounted his horse and shouted: Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish. The soldiers responded with: Vive L Emperor! and marched with Napoleon to Paris. Scared Louis XVIII, who took the power, fled and Napoleon regained the power for a period now called the Hundred Days. In that time, he rallied 200,000 soldiers to his cause but Great Britain, Russia, Netherlands and Prussia allied their forces to end his rule. In 181 5, they fought at the battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated for good and captured to be sent to he island of Saint Helena, where he will die in 1821. Charismatic Leadership Theory This Theory was defined by the German socialist Macmillan Weber in the sasss and developed by Robert House in 1977. Max Weber explained Charisma as a quality of an individual, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed supernatural, superhuman or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader ( How the quality in question would be ultimately league Trot an tentacle, aesthetic or toner sun pollen AT blew Is naturally In I a Torrent for the purpose of definition. To Weber charismatic leaders can be sort out in three types: Charismatic domination (sport captains). Feudal domination (kings). Bureaucracy domination (Coos). Later, Robert House described charismatic leadership with four designations: Dominant (army leaders). Strong desire to influence others (politicians). Self confident (entrepreneurs). Strong sense of ones own moral values (religious leaders). More recently, in 1998, Conger defined five behaviors for charismatic leaders:- Vision and communication. Sensitivity to the environment. Sensitivity to the needs of others. Personal risk taking. Use of unconventional strategies. Charismatic leadership is very often used in difficult times to solve critical situations. Charismatic leaders are capable to get out of difficult circumstances because they are visionary; they provide a better horizon which people will see thanks to their communication skills. They also make followers work harder simply making them feeling that they are capable and giving them confidence. Charismatic leaders inspire trust to go forward and will carry the risks. Jay Conger, in 1989, has adapted a four- step process to approach charismatic leadership. The first one is that the leader has to analyses his environment and create a vision out of it. The second step is communicating the vision by motivating followers with the use of effective vocabulary and strong arguments. For the third stage, charismatic leaders need build trust and commitment among the followers. Subordinates must be emotionally involved in the mission and support the goals; this could be done through personal risk taking, unconventional expertise and self-sacrifice. The strengths of charismatic leadership are: Group members are willingly obedient where leaders. The ability to deal efficiently with critical situation. Lead by example providing vision, unconventional strategies and huge energy. The limitations of charismatic leadership are: Strong obedience tends to attract weak followers which lead to poor delegation. People having charisma are relatively rare. Narcissism, lose of reality and insensitive to others. Depending on the personality of the leaders, charismatic leadership can tangentially turn into a cult of the leader unpredictable and dangerous. The Path- Goal Theory The Path-Goal theory was first inspired by Martin G. Evans in 1970 and developed by Robert House in 1971. House formulated that leaders can affect performance, satisfaction and motivation of group by using those means:- Offering rewards for achieving performance goals. Clarifying paths towards these goals. Removing costless to performance. To do so leaders can adopt different styles of leadership: Directive leadership where the leader has to give specific instruction to subordinates for performance. Supportive leadership, leaders need be warmth and friendly to motivate and involve followers. Participative leadership where leaders consult the group member and take into account their suggestions. Achievement- orientated leadership, the leader sets high-level performance goals and expects the best from his subordinates. The choice of the style of leadership depends on the situation. According to House there the situational factors of the Path-Goal theory are: Subordinates personality: Locus of control. A participative leader is suitable for subordinates with internal coco of control; a directive leader is suitable for subordinates with external locus of control. Self-perceived ability. Subordinates that believe they have a high ability themselves do not like directive leadership. Characteristics of the environment: When a group is working on a task that has a high structure, directive leadership is redundant and less effective. When a highly formal authority system is in place, directive leadership can reduce workers satisfaction. When subordinates are in a team environment offering great social support, the supportive leadership style becomes less necessary. Napoleon Leadership Analysis Napoleons Charismatic leadership Concerning the three types of Weepers charismatic leadership Napoleon was probably in between charismatic and feudal domination. Feudal domination, simply because he created the French Empire and charismatic because even when he lost, or he had not, his emperor status he impressed many people. Regarding the four Houses designations of charismatic leadership, Napoleon was clearly a dominant. He was the one who conquered Italy, Germany, Spain, etc And during all his reign he kept on trying to invade the United Kingdom and Russia. He was willing influence people to reach his goals, he convinced the Senate to set up his Empire which was obviously not in the interest of the Senate. Napoleon had confidence in himself like no other; he was not afraid to challenge two to six nations at one time and even when he was sent into exile, he returned and took the power again with a small amount of soldiers. Even if Napoleon set up an Empire, he was a strong believer in the principles of the French Revolution and that showed that he believed hard in his values. As a general, he was an unorthodox leader using unconventional strategies. But his charisma led him to the dark side of the theory he had all the negative behavior of the theory. This was during his last years of reign, he became narcissistic and lost his sense of reality, he wanted to invade Russia even if all his Marshals advised him not to. This move cost his empire and the lives of thousands of soldiers. He did not trust anybody anymore, he sent spies to his Marshals afraid of a conspiracy. Path-Goal theory Robert Houses Path-Goal theory helps us to understand how Napoleon succeeded to motivate and get the best out of his soldier. By instituting the LÂ ©goon denouncer which was a substitute for the old royalist decorations, Napoleon intended to encourage Cleveland Ana military assessments During Tattles, nee 010 not insolate to do the things that were the responsibilities of the lieutenants or the generals below him. Throughout his reign, we can notice that Napoleon used different type of leadership relating to the Path-Goal theory. He was a directive leader as a general of the army in his early career and as the Emperor. He was a supportive leader his soldiers when he had regain the throne after his first exile. In 1805, when he decided o stop the invasion of the United Kingdom, he consulted all his Marshals to take this decision. Napoleon was very demanding to his soldiers and Marshals, he expected them to give their best on the battle field even if death is required and this was the absolute achievement-orientated leadership. Ever since Napoleon had any amount of power while he was a lieutenant or an emperor, he always wisely adapted his leadership style to the situation. Conclusion In the public opinion Napoleon is seen as a charismatic leader and looking at the Charismatic leadership theory, he was the perfect type of a leader with great harms. The theory admits that charismatic leadership useful in difficult times and when Napoleon arrived to power he transformed France from a fuzzy period post revolution to the greatest empire that the country had never known. The Path-Goal theory allows us to understand how so much people Joined his vision, even against their own interest, and why he was so convincing to politicians, to soldiers and to the people. References Leadership, 2nd Asia-Pacific edition, Dublin, Dahlias, Miller. http://en. Wisped. Org/ wick/Napoleon_l_of_France http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/Leadership http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/path-goal_theory Napoleon-series. Org/research/napoleon/c_Generalizing. http:// www. Potentialities. Com/Napoleonbonaparteleadership. Manage. Com/methods_Weber_charismatic_leadership. http:// homeworks. About. Com/odd/sisterhoods/as/leadership_4. Manage. Com/methods_path_goal_theory. http://changings. Org/disciplines/leadership/styles/path_goal_leadership. Valetudinarianism. Net/methods_path_goal_theory. http:// www. Dooryard. Com/miscellaneous/path_goal_theory. HTML

Friday, February 28, 2020

Discussion question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discussion question - Essay Example Effectiveness will determine the success of organizational performance, but efficiency only contributes to that success and does not play a direct role in performance outcomes. An organization may be extremely efficient and what they do, but if they are not effective then the short term and long-term goals and objectives will not likely be met. It is possible to simultaneously manage effectiveness and efficiency because these two concepts are linked to each other. However, effectiveness should be focused on first because if an organization is not effective then it will not matter how efficient it is. It is up to managers to put ideas into place that can assist in the efficiency of organizational performance. Efficiency can always be improved on later but effectiveness must be put into practice first because it will set the right tone throughout a work organization. Effectiveness concerns the board members and investors because they do not get to see the day to day operations of a bus iness, while efficiency is something that managers must be focused on because that will affect the effectiveness of organizational performance. ... Management theories must always take societal forces into account and also predict future changes in society that will have an effect on the workplace. For example, 100 years ago women were not common in the workplace, especially after they had a child. Because many women choose to pursue a career first instead of starting a family, management practices need to allow for the fact that most women do want to have a baby at some point. By taking this into account, managers can plan for the absence of a female employee, assist them in some way while they take time off, and help to reintegrate them back into the workplace after they have given birth. Another area that has changed over the last few decades is in terms of working hours. Previously most people would work a 9 to 5 job with very little room for flexibility, but nowadays it is commonplace for employees to allow their workers to adjust their working hours based on their own individual needs. New management techniques are a respo nse to these forces because managers are always going to want their workers to be efficient, and changing management techniques are inevitable to make this possible. 3- Based in your experience at work or school, describe some ways in which the principles of scientific management and bureaucracy are still used in organizations. Do you believe these characteristics will ever cease to be a part of organizational life? Discuss I do not really have any personal experiences with principles of scientific management, but I do think that Frederick Taylor's principles are still used through many workplaces and schools today. Although scientific management was first

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Porters Six Forces on Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Porters Six Forces on Business - Research Paper Example One of the routes to success for this business is its ability to understand its rivals’ actions and marketing techniques. The extent to which competition exists among rivals varies between sectors and the market sectors in them. The food industry and specifically the retail segment is very competitive (Mollona, 2010:27). Considering that this business is in the food retail sector, it must recognize the presence of an extent of competition in the industry. There are a lot of companies and their products are tailored to outmatch each other (Wetherley & Otter, 2011:37). As a result, this business must know what it faces and might face in its operations. Failure to do this will probably contribute to its downfall before the six-month window closes. However, regardless of the number of rivals, this business faces it is important for its durability that it understands the differences between its competitors. This information is vital when designing its strategy and it cannot be acco mplished by simply employing two indices, e.g. the company size and market share, or sales income and market capitalization (French, 2009:12). The business should use two indices to gauge its competitive edge and those of its competitors: HHI (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index)This is more sophisticated than the CRx. It measures the size of firms in relation to the sector and shows the level of competition amongst these firms (Boone, 2012:39). The HHI also provides more weighting to large firms.

Friday, January 31, 2020

Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay Example for Free

Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, many different prejudices are revealed. The most prominent being the racial prejudice between the white people and black people in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. However, there are many more subtle and discreet prejudices against other people in Maycomb, also. One of the first prejudices to become known is against the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams are a very poor farming family who were hit hard by the Great Depression. The Cunninghams never took anything they cant pay back no church baskets and no scrimp stamps. They never took anything off anybody, they get along on what they have. They dont have much, but they get along on it. Scout explains to Miss Caroline, their first grade teacher, on page 20. The Cunninghams were hit hardest by the Depression and because of their level of poverty the Cunninghams are discriminated against. The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but hell never be like Jem. Aunt Alexandra explains to Scout on page 224. Aunt Alexandra does not want Scout associating with Walter Cunningham simply because of his class. Aunt Alexandra is discriminating against the Cunninghams because they are below the Finches on the social strata. Probably the most prominent prejudice in the novel is the racial prejudice. Tom Robinson was a black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl. When Tom was put in jail awaiting trial, Atticus, his lawyer, went down one night and sat outside the jailhouse. A mob showed up that night with the intent to beat Tom Robinson but with Atticus there, the mob was stalled and eventually left. This mob was consumed with racial prejudice against the black people. Even Calpurnia, the black housekeeper for the Finches, is discriminated against. Although Calpurnia is treated fairly, it is obvious Calpurnia is considered to be on a lower social level than the Finches. Calpurnia calls Scout maam and Jem sir, although these are titles usually reserved for elders. An example of this is on page 207. Calpurnia addresses Jem after they have been missing at the trial all day with Hush your mouth, sir! When you oughta be hangin your head in shame you go along laughin. If Mr. Finch dont wear you out, I will get in that house, sir! Though it seems that the blacks are the ones who are prejudiced against, when Jem and Scout are taken to Calpurnias church, (their black house-keeper) the black people show hostility towards Jem and Scout. Lula, a black woman at the church confronts Calpurnia on page 119. You aint got no business bringin white chillun herethey got their church, we got ourn. Because the whites shun the blacks the blacks are prejudiced in return. Another prejudice that comes to light is the prejudice against Dolphus Raymond. Dolphus is a wealthy white man but is a victim of isolation because of his relationship with a woman who is black. When Scout meets Mr. Dolphus Raymond during the trial Scout becomes aware that Dolphus is a victim of prejudice and has become an outcast. Dolphus pretended to be a drunk so he didnt have to explain the fact that he was simply in love with a black woman. The alcohol, Dolphus said, gave the people an excuse to say that Dolphus didnt know what he was doing. On page 200, Dolphus says to Dill and Scout When I come to this town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymonds in the clutches of whiskythats why he wont change his ways. He cant help himself, thats why he lives like he does. The people of Maycomb are intolerant of the way Dolphus chooses to live. Dolphus is discriminated against because he lives his life with a black woman. This is thought to be wrong in society in Maycomb. Yet another prejudice in Maycomb was that against Arthur Radley. Arthur Radley could see the segregation of the people of Maycomb and the prejudice. Therefore Arthur isolated himself; Arthur didnt want to be a part of Maycombs intolerance. By doing this Arthur became one of the outsiders and was still a victim of the prejudice, as Arthur was different. There were wild rumors circulating the town and the children made up stories and games about Arthur. Because he was virtually unknown, Arthur Radley was discriminated against. The theme of prejudice is explored many ways throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The different kinds of prejudice explore how deep peoples  hatred of each other can go. It gives the reader good insight as to what makes people intolerant and why people shouldnt be prejudiced just because others are different. From discriminating against the poor to racial prejudice to silly rumors fueling intolerance, very few realize that everyone is different but also equal.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Revolution Girl Style: Fifty Years of Women in Rock and Roll Essay

Revolution Girl Style: Fifty Years of Women in Rock and Roll Rock and roll was born of a black man's soul and a white man's...well, his whiteness; his wallet and radio station. Rock is the white man's version of black man's music; it's full of rebellion and rawness and soul, a style of music that captured America's youth and the fire and brimstone of the clergy's private hell. Elvis heard Big Mama Thornton's throaty and soulful "Hound Dog" and the rest is history; unquestionable talent aside, it was his white skin that allowed certain DJs to play him on the radio in the midst of the rigid segregation of the nineteen-fifties. Ever since then, rock has constantly walked the line between trendsetters and trendfollowers; those who innovate and those who capitalize. It is, perhaps, a natural occurance when you combine rebellion with big business. An innovative band or artist does something raw and passionate; other artists or labels take it and water it down just enough to make it marketable. As such, rock also has to keep reinventing itself, for t oday's innovation will quickly become tomorrow's tripe. The rawness of rock either frightens people or attracts them; its ability to shock and offend is legendary and vital to the survival of the genre. "Rock has always professed (although many times hypothetically) to ally itself with rebellion and to the dismantling of the status quo." (Juno 4) In the 1960s, racial tensions far surpassed gender ones; the Supremes encountered far more prejudice because of their black skins than Janis Joplin did because of her gender. But in the late sixties and early seventies, the faultlines that held together America's illusions of bliss fractured, and out of the cracks came people fighting for sel... ... Juno Books, 1996. Laven, Anna. Telephone interview. 11 April 2004. McDonnell, Evelyn and Ann Powers, ed. rock she wrote: women write about rock, pop, and rap. New York: Copper Square Press, 1995. Morgan, Joan. When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip Hop Feminist Breaks It Down. New York: Touchstone Books, 1999. O ¹Dair, Barbara, ed. Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. New York: Random House, 1997. O ¹Hara, Craig. The Philosophy of Punk. San Francisco: AK Press, 1999. Sinker, Dan. Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews. New York: Adeline Press, 2003. Sinker, Dan.  ³Venus. ² Punk Planet July-Aug 2002: 64-67. Swirling, Ross. Telephone interview. 11 April 2004. Turner, Chà ©rie. Everything You Need to Know about the Riot Grrrl Movement: The Feminism of a New Generation. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2001.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Helping Children with Learning Disabilities Essay

Children with learning disabilities are smart or smarter than their peers, but may have difficulty with things like reading, writing, reasoning, and organizing information by themselves. A learning disability is a lifelong issue that cannot be cured or fixed with a snap of the fingers. Children who have the right support and intervention can succeed in school. Then later they will be able to go and be successful later in life. Children with learning disabilities need the support of parents, school and their community to be successful. Parents need to be able to encourage children with their strengths, know what their weaknesses are, and be able to understand the educational system to be able to work with professionals. Learning Disabilities cannot be categorized into one diagnosis. Learning disabilities are caused by biological factors that are caused by differences in the structure and functioning of the nervous system. Many people, both in the local and professional community, use the terms handicap and disability interchangeably, but they are not. A learning disability means that preschoolers are unable to complete tasks in a certain way. Children with learning disabilities have a hard time functioning in areas such as sensory, physical, cognitive, and other areas. Handicap means that preschoolers are unable to function and cope in their environment. These children have impairments such as cerebral palsy or down syndrome. In 1991, the federal government amended the disabilities label to â€Å"Individuals with Disabilities Act† (PL 102-119). This act allowed states to be able to not identify with one of the thirteen federal disability labels, but to classify preschoolers with special needs. (Kilgo, pg 27) With the new changes professionals were able to use new terms like developmentally delayed and at risk when identifying children. Developmentally delayed is determined on the basis of various developmental assessments and/or an informed clinical opinion. Children starting at the age of three years old can now be identified for services. Delays can be expressed in a difference between a child’s chronological age and his/her performance levels. Delays occur when a child does not reach his/her developmental milestones at the expected age level or time. If a child is slightly behind it is not considered a delay until he/she are lagging in two or more areas of motor, language, social or thinking skills. Developmental delays are usually diagnosed by a doctor or medical professional based on strict guidelines and take more than one visit to diagnose. Parents or childcare providers are usually the first to notice children not progressing at the same rate as other children. Testing will help to gauge a child’s developmental level. At risk describes children with exposure to certain adverse conditions and circumstances known to have a high probability of resulting in learning and development difficulties? (Kilgo, pg 28) These children have not been identified as having a disability, but as children who may be developing conditions that will limit their success in school or lead to disabilities. There are three factors that can result in a child’s environment. The first is established risk/genetic. This could be where a child is born with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, or spinal bifida. Biological risk means that a child has a history of pre- or post- natal conditions that heighten the chance of development. These could be conditions such as premature births, infants with low birth weights, maternal diabetes, and bacterial infections like meningitis or HIV. Environmental risks are considered biologically typical, meaning they are environmental conditions that are limiting or threating to the child’s development. All three at risk factors can result in cognitive, social, affective, and physical problems. (Kim, pg. 4) Some signs of learning disabilities in young children are: †¢ A toddler may reach developmental milestones quite slowly. †¢ The child may have trouble understanding the concept of time. Is the child confused by the use of words like â€Å"tomorrow†, â€Å"today†, and â€Å"yesterday†? †¢ Young children have a lot of energy, but some have an excessive amount of kinetic energy, known as hyperactivity. †¢ A child that has difficulty distinguishing right from left may have difficulty identifying words. †¢ A child with a learning disability often masters several areas, while failing in two or more areas. A child that is perceived as disobedient may actually have difficulty understanding and following instructions. Once a child has been identified as having a possible learning disability, assessments need to be completed. An assessment is the process of gathering information for the purpose of making a decision about children with known or suspected disabilities in the area of screening, diagnosis, eligibility, program planning, and/or process monitoring and evaluation. (Kilo, pg. 90) During the assessment, evaluations should be accomplished with the e goal of identifying developmentally ppropriate goals, identifying unique styles and strengths, looking at parent goals and outcomes for their children, reinforcing family’s competence and worth, and creating a sense of shared commitment between families, schools, and professionals. Families possess a wealth of information and should play a very active role in the decision making, planning, and evaluations of their children. Schools are required to foster a child’s education, offering and supporting the needs of each child through a series of individualized instructions and interventions. School districts must provide documentation stating that the student has received the required instruction by qualified personnel. These interventions help teachers and staff to educate and foster the needs of children with learning disabilities. Assessments are an ongoing process. The initial assessment should be used to screen, diagnose, and check for eligibility for services. Ongoing assessments are to focus on a child’s skill level, needs, background, experiences, and interests, as well as the family’s preferences and priorities. Over the years practice has shown that there is a link between assessments and curriculum to provide for the needs of the child. It is important to keep records of a child’s progress. A very useful way is through portfolio assessments. These portfolios can be considered a looking glass into a child’s growth. Portfolios also help teachers and team members to keep observations and comments about a child’s activities and behaviors. The information collected can help meet many of the required criteria for planning and monitoring. An important responsibility of an educator is to have an environment that will both nurture and foster learning. When designing an environment childcare providers should use best practice guidelines from places like National Association of Education of Young Child (NAEYC) and National Association of Family Childcare (NAFCC). Environments should look at available space, age of children, visual appeal, safety and health, and organization. (Perri Klass, pg. 46) Always remember that environments exert powerful influences on children and help to play a vital role in children’s lives. Activity areas should include gross- motor, quiet/calm, discover, dramatic, therapeutic, and arts and crafts areas. Rooms should not have furniture that is used to separate centers or activities but should use things like lower lightening, parachutes hanging from the ceiling and area rugs to help children understand the use of different centers. The main goal of childcare providers and educators is to provide the best possible services for children with learning disabilities by providing services â€Å"as early and comprehensively as possible in the least restrictive setting†. Services and interventions should be supported in the most natural environments that will include the child’s primary care giver. Individual Education Plans (IEP) plays a large role in the education process of children with learning disabilities. These IEP’s require professionals, parents, and caregivers to work together as a team. They hold teams to accountability standards for the care of children with disabilities. A child’s IEP helps to furnish an instructional direction, sort of like a blueprint of care, to measure the effectiveness and progress of children. If an IEP is carefully written and appropriate goals are set, it will provide special education services to a child that will be reflected throughout his/her life. In the field of early childhood education, the definition of special needs has drastically changed for children with learning disabilities over the years. We live in a very diverse society of languages, foods, music, values and religious beliefs that brings us the strengths of our nation. Every day the makeup of our society changes and so does the needs of our children, especially those of children with learning disabilities. Our community is seeing a growing need for services for children with learning disabilities. Young children with learning disabilities need to receive services at the earliest age possible. Parents need to remember that learning disabilities do not go away overnight and for some children it takes years of recognizing, expressing, thinking, and problem solving to succeed at being the young adult that they are meant to be.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Amounts, Percents, and Bases of Percent Problems

In early mathematics, students come to understand percents as an amount of the base sum of an item, but the term per cent simply means per hundred, so it can be interpreted  as a portion out of 100, including fractions and sometimes numbers higher than 100. In percent problems in mathematics assignments and examples, students are often asked to identify the three core parts of the problem—the amount, the percent, and the base—wherein the amount is the number taken out of the base by being reduced by a certain percentage. The percent symbol is read twenty-five percent and simply means 25 out of 100. It is useful to be able to understand that a percent can be converted to a fraction and a decimal, meaning that 25 percent can also mean 25 over 100 which can be reduced to 1 over 4 and 0.25 when written as a decimal. Practical Uses of Percentage Problems Percentages may be the most useful tool of early mathematics education for adult life, especially when you consider that every mall has 15 percent off and half off sales to entice shoppers to purchase their wares. As a result, its critical for young students to grasp the concepts of calculating the amount reduced if they take a percentage away from of a base. Imagine youre planning a trip to Hawaii with you and a loved one, and have a coupon thats only valid for the off-season of travel but guarantees 50 percent off the ticket price. On the other hand, you and your loved one can travel during the busy season and really experience the island life, but you can only find 30 percent discounts on those tickets. If the off-season tickets cost $1295 and the on-season tickets cost $695 before applying the coupons, which would be the better deal? Based on the on-season tickets being reduced by 30 percent (208), the final total cost would be 487 (rounded up) while the cost for the off-season, being reduced by 50 percent (647), would cost 648 (rounded up). In this case, the marketing team probably expected people would jump at the half-off deal and not research deals for a time when people want to travel out to Hawaii the most. As a result, some people wind up paying more for a worse time to fly! Other Everyday Percent Problems Percents occur almost as frequently as simple addition and subtraction in everyday life, from calculating the appropriate tip to leave at a restaurant to calculating gains and losses in recent months. People who work on commission  often get around 10 to 15 percent of the value of the sale they made for a company, so a cars salesman who sells a one hundred thousand dollar car would get between ten and fifteen thousand dollars in commission from his sale. Similarly, those who save a portion of their salary for paying insurance and government taxes, or wish to dedicate part of their earnings to a savings account, must determine which percentage of their gross income they want to divest to these different investments.