Sunday, May 24, 2020

Things Your Tween Should Do Before Middle School Ends

It​ may seem like your tween began  middle school  just a few months ago, but time has a way of passing us by. If your kids middle school experience is coming to an end, there are a few ways you can help them remember their time and  prepare for the high school experience. It will be here before you know it, so make sure your tween gets everything done before the final day of middle school. Attend a Middle School Dance If your child has avoided dances or other social gatherings while in middle school, now is the chance to attend one before the year is out. Encourage your kid to go to a school dance, carnival, concert, or other school function. If they are shy about going alone, have them  gather a group of friends  to attend together. Take pictures and give them suggestions on making it through the event if they feel awkward or out of place.   Take Pictures Your tween thinks that theyll remember everything from middle school forever, but that isnt the case. Encourage your kid to take photos of the school, friends, and even teachers. Have them go through their locker and binders for notes, handouts, or other items that would be fun to keep for later. If your tween is creative, they can combine photos and other items into a fun scrapbook to enjoy for years to come. If your family budget allows, purchase a yearbook so your child can have friends sign it to keep as a forever reminder. Thank Their Teachers Chances are your child had a few teachers during the middle school years that they liked and who had a positive impact. As the end of the year approaches, nows the time to thank them for all they did. Your kid can write personal thank you notes for their special teachers, or just leave a simple Thank You on the teachers whiteboard as a surprise. If your child wants to do something special, they could bake brownies or pick out a special gift to show their gratitude. Make a List of Top Memories When your tween is older, they will have fun looking back on the middle school experience. Encourage your child to make lists of events, friends, teachers, classes, inside jokes, and special moments. They could even get friends involved by asking them for a list of favorite experiences. Tuck the lists away in their yearbook to enjoy reading later.   Visit Your New High School When middle school days are numbered, high school is just around the corner. See if your kid can visit the new school or attend a school orientation. Exploring a new campus will help your tween get excited about entering high school and it might even give them ideas about which activities to join or try. Also, encourage your kid to visit the high school website to learn more about classes, clubs, and other school events. Plan a Graduation Party If youre up for it, throw a party! Allow your tween to have a gathering of friends to bid farewell to middle school and say hello to high school. You could invite a few close friends, or make it a large shindig. Either way, food, music and a slideshow of pictures highlighting the previous years best moments will help the children appreciate the past and prepare for the future.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Destalinization in Soviet Russia

Destalinization was the process begun by Nikita Khrushchev, following the death of former Russian dictator Joseph Stalin in March 1953, of first discrediting Stalin and then reforming Soviet Russia leading to large numbers being released from imprisonment in Gulags, a temporary thaw in the Cold War, a slight relaxation in censorship and an increase in consumer goods, an era dubbed as ‘The Thaw’ or ‘Khrushchev’s Thaw’. Stalin’s Monolithic Rule In 1917 the Tsarist government of Russia was removed by a series of revolutions, which climaxed at the end of the year with Lenin and his followers in charge. They preached soviets, committees, groups to govern, but when Lenin died a man of bureaucratic genius called Stalin managed to warp the entire system of Soviet Russia around his personal rule. Stalin showed political cunning, but no apparent compassion or morality, and he instituted a period of terror, as every level of society and seemingly every person in the USSR was under suspicion, and millions were sent to Gulag work camps, often to die. Stalin managed to hold on and then win the Second World War because he had industrialized the USSR at vast human cost, and the system was so enshrined around him that when dying his guards daren’t go and see what was wrong with him out of fear. Khrushchev Takes Power Stalin’s system left no clear successor, the result of Stalin actively removing any rivals to power. Even the Soviet Union’s great general of WW2, Zhukov, was shunted into obscurity so Stalin could rule alone. This meant a struggle for power, one which former Commissar Nikita Khrushchev won, with no small amount of political skill himself. The U-Turn: Destroying Stalin Khrushchev didn’t want to continue Stalin’s policy of purge and murder, and this new direction—Destalinization—was announced by Khrushchev in a speech to the Twentieth Party Congress of the CPSU on February 25th , 1956 entitled ‘On the Personality Cult and its Consequences’ in which he attacked Stalin, his tyrannical rule and the crimes of that era against the party. The U-turn shocked those present. The speech was a calculated risk by Khrushchev, who had been prominent in Stalin’s later government, that he could attack and undermine Stalin, allowing non-Stalinist policies to be introduced, without damning himself by association. As everyone high up in Russia’s ruling party also owed their positions to Stalin, there was no one who could attack Khrushchev without sharing the same guilt. Khrushchev had gambled on this, and the turn away from the cult of Stalin to something relatively freer, and with Khrushchev remaining in power, was able to go ahead. Limits There was disappointment, especially in the West, that Destalinization did not lead to greater liberalization in Russia: everything is relative, and we are still talking about an ordered and controlled society where communism was sharply different to the original concept. The process was also reduced with Khrushchev’s removal from power in 1964. Modern commentators are worried by Putin’s Russia and the way Stalin seems to be in a process of rehabilitation.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Classroom Culture Of Respect - 940 Words

I endeavor to establish and maintain rapport with my students, and among my students, with the goal of creating an environment of respect in my classroom. This classroom culture of respect is essential to an effective learning environment. One of the ways I build this rapport is to issue a short survey the first week of class. An example of a survey is the attached artifact 4b_Student_Survey. In a survey, I ask the students to tell me something about themselves – what name they prefer, what they want to do in the future, their hobbies, interests, favorite color, etc. I then peruse the completed surveys and create name tents for my students. I incorporate pictures or symbols on the individual name tents to reflect some of the personal information the students have revealed. The attached artifact, 4b_Name_Tents, shows a sample of some of the name tents I produced for my students, as well as my own name tent. I read the class roster prior to the first class for the sake of learni ng my students names in advance, and then I use the name tents to help me put the names with the faces. I use the pictures on the name tents to aid my establishment of a personal connection to each student. For example, the name tents in artifact 4b_Name_Tents clearly show that Rod is interested in all sports and wants to be a coach, while Julysa likes to play volleyball and aspires to be a teacher. Knowing these facts gives me the insight into each student that allows me to make personalShow MoreRelatedI Didn t Be Racist?828 Words   |  4 Pagestheir students differences, and learn to value and respect these differences in the classroom. Educators must model positive behavior by respecting and valuing where their students come from. When educators value differences in the classroom, it creates a culture in which everyone can be himself or herself. 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When enacted in a culturally responsive way, classroom management extends to consider how a student’s culture influences their motivations and behaviors. Calloway indicates, â€Å"a positive relationship was found to exist between classroom management and cultural teaching† (Calloway, n.d, p. 5). Responsive teachingRead MoreDiversity in the Classroom Essay888 Words   |  4 PagesDiversity in classrooms can open stu dent’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students gaining a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably than a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has broad ranges of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Social and Psychological Effects of Domestic Violence

Question: Write an Essay about the psychological and sociological effect on he victim of domestic violence. should relate to theories. Answer: Introduction In this paper a case scenario of intimate partners Anne and John and their family has been described and discussed. Since a year, they have shifted to Annes mothers (Gretas) house and since then there have been incidences of domestic violence due to social and psychological reasons. These incidences have had significant impact socially and psychologically on the couple and their kids. As Anne is the only child of Greta, both Anne and Greta feel that it is Annes duty to care for her dependent mother. Anne has quit her job to shift with Greta. The incidences of violence have led Anne into depression as she is feeling down about her life and her role in the family. She has started feeling guilty for all that is going wrong with her family to the extent that she feels herself responsible and guilty for Jessicas asthma also. She feels if they wont have shifted, these problems could have been avoided. Anne is also grieving her loss of employment because of the relocation as this had given her an outlet and a sense of independence. Over the time, Anne has become introvert, has explosive bursts at children and outside people, and nagging John. Anne is now not socializing with friends as she is ashamed of what theyll think of her. John who is suffering from occupation related back injury, is not working at present, has become an alcoholic and has started being violent with Anne. The reason for Johns explosive outbursts, erratic, angry, and anxious behavior is that he does not approve of Anne spending all her time caring for Greta, the kids, and money. Annes daughter, Jessica, has been suffering from asthma triggered by change of weather. Her son, Dylan, has become introvert and avoids interaction with her. This paper tries to analyze the causes leading to such behavior of the family members by interpreting the situation and justifying their actions. The social and psychological causes and their impact being faced by the family have been discussed. It tries to assess the reason for this behavior of the members and how it is affecting their health and highlights the need for immediate actions to prevent further deterioration of the condition. Psychological causes and impact According to Albert Banduras social learning theory (1977), observational learning facilitates behavior learning from the environment and there exist mediating processes between stimuli and responses. In this case the children are observing the parents (as models) behavior which is having an impact on them. This is the reason for Dylans changed and unsocial behavior. Though according to John the reason for Dylans introvert behavior is adolescence, Anne is quite right in thinking that there are other things responsible for this (Margolin Vickerman 2011). The second part says that there are mediating processes between stimuli and response. This can be seen in Johns case, where he is feeling left out and frustrated over time and this has made him aggressive towards Anne, acting as a mediating process between the stimulus of Anne talking of the Booze and his violent response (Nathan et al. 2011). According to Bronfenbrenners ecological system theory (1979), the different types of ecosystems influence the development of an individual. In the microsystem, i.e., the family environment of the kids, they are experiencing the domestic violence going on at home. This is having significant psychological impact on Dylan and Jessica (Jun et al. 2011, Howell 2011). According to Sarafino, 2012, the cause of stress is the discrepancy perceived by an individual between the physical and psychological demands of a situation and the biological, psychological or social systems available at that point of time. The cause of stress for Anne in this situation is that she is feeling too stretched with her responsibilities both physically and psychologically. On the other hand, John is also stressed out due to his physical condition and dependency. To cope with this stress one may use either an emotion-focused approach or a problem-focused approach (McLeod, 2015). The emotion-focused approach in this case is being used by Anne as she has turned to eating in order to comfort herself, is distracting herself by staying busy, and is writing all her emotions in her diary to precipitate those emotions, though this has led to her weight gain. Similarly, John has also taken up to the same approach as he has started boozing to cope with his stress. To improve the si tuation both should opt for the problem-focused coping technique by seeking social support in this case. People have different approaches to cope with the grief of loss according to the theory of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (Van Vliet, 2014). The five stages that they undergo are mostly: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Different individuals pass through these stages at different paces. Anne has reached the fourth stage. Her grief at her loss of her job, aka, her independence and outlet and her mother being unwell and dependent has crossed the first four stages in this scenario. She is stuck at the fourth stage along with John. Social causes and impact According to the gender socialization theory the environment provides forms the basis for the childs outlooks and awareness of sex-typed behavior from which the consequences are drawn (Fagot et al, 2012). The parent effect perspective addresses of gender socialization tries to show how the different styles, activities, and temperaments of parents socialize traits and behavior in children. The child effects perspective focuses on how children socialize parents by examining how the presence of a child forces parents to adopt new identities for bringing up the children. The reciprocal effect also exists according to this theory (Carter, 2014). In this case, Anne is subject to this gender socialization as she cant leave John because she doesnt want the children to be without their father. The children have become distant from the parents after going through all this. The social determinants of health include the economic stability, education, health and health care, and neighborhood and environment. The economic instable condition of the family, changing schools of the children, changing health and healthcare facilities, the changing neighborhood, friends and in-home environment are having effect on Dylans behavior and Jessicas health. Also, Johns and Annes friend circle has changed in the new place indicating the impact that social factors at personal, family, and community level have on the health of adolescents and adults alike (Viner et al. 2012). Initially, it was John who convinced Anne for the shifting by saying that it will be an opportunity for a fresh start and Anne also thought that it will prove beneficial for convalescing John and Jessica. Though shifting of the family has had positive effects on the family like Jessica is getting treatment from the asthma nurse at home and also at the local clinic, and making it stable in the past year, this seems to be ignored by Anne and John. John being jobless does not mean that he is free to drink and cannot assist Anne in looking after Greta and the kids. He is following the patriarchal philosophy that highlights the need to dominate and control unruly females and the unruly wilderness. Instead of helping, he is putting up new for questions Anne. Ecofeminism (Sturgeon 2016) is a theory believes that patriarchal philosophies are harmful to women, children, and other living things. In this case, this theory finds relevance with regard to John. Annes job was her outlet to her independence. Since she left her job now John is questioning her about her whereabouts, this is against the individualist feminist theory (Donovan 2012) which has its primary focus in an individuals autonomy, rights, liberty, independence and diversity. As per this Anne has liberty to go anywhere she wants. She is being restricted to the house anyways due to her concern for Greta. If she leaves for household or pharmacy work, its wrong for John to interfere as he is not assisting her in this, whereas, he should. Conclusion As there are long-term effects of domestic violence on the behavior of adults and children alike and they also lead to health problems both physically, psychologically, and socially. Thus, there is need of early interventions to prevent the problems from aggravating further. The family needs to assess these social and psychological impacts and work on improving their condition by working on it. Especially, the kids need to be taken much care of (Kagan 2014). References Carter, M. J., 2014. Gender Socialization and Identity Theory. Social Sciences, 3, 242263; doi:10.3390/socsci3020242. Donovan, J., 2012. Feminist Theory, Fourth Edition: The Intellectual Traditions, Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Fagot, B. I., Rodgers, C. S., Leinbach, M. D., 2012. Theories of gender socialization. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA. Howell, K.H., 2011. Resilience and psychopathology in children exposed to family violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(6), pp.562569. Jun, H.-J. et al., 2011. Growing up in a domestic violence environment: relationship with developmental trajectories of body mass index during adolescence into young adulthood. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, p.jech.2010.110932. Kagan, R., 2014. Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children: Healing from Losses, Violence, Abuse, and Neglect, Routledge. Margolin, G. Vickerman, K.A., 2011. Posttraumatic stress in children and adolescents exposed to family violence: I. Overview and issues. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 1(S), pp.6373. McLeod, S. A., 2009. Emotion Focused Coping. Published in 2015. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/stress-management.html#em Nathan, C., Anderson, C.A. Bushman, B.J., 2011. The general aggression model: Theoretical extensions to violence. Psychology of Violence, 1(3), pp.245258. Sarafino, E. P. (2012). Health Psychology: Biopsychosocial Interactions. 7th Ed. Asia: Wiley. Sturgeon, N., 2016. Ecofeminist Natures: Race, Gender, Feminist Theory and Political Action, Routledge.