The Lightbulb Essay -- essays research papers

Among all of the inventions created in 1750 -1900, the light bulb was perhaps one of the most effective to the everyday lives of people. Its invention is credited to Thomas Alva Edison, an American inventor and businessman, who created it in 1879. The design of his light bulb was a carbonized filament inside a glass bulb with a screw base. It glowed when an electric current pass through it, possessed high electrical resistance, and lasted a lot longer than previous sources of light had. Before Thomas Edison's light bulb, gas was the best source of lighting so people turned to candles, oil lanterns, and gas lamps to light up their rooms. It would take many candles, oil lanterns, or gas lamps to fully light up a good-sized room. Not only would they burn out after a few minutes, but they were also very messy and hazardous. Gas would leave large quantities of soot everywhere, potentially causing explosions and fires. Its imaginable how hard it would be to have to keep children, fine furniture, and pets away from these dangers. The soot had t...

High Stakes Testing Essay

Tests are a very important tool for measuring achievement; therefore, they should be part of a system which provides equitable learning access to all students. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) which requires states to develop accountability systems and provide assessment of the students’ performance in order to receive federal funding accordingly has led to the necessity of implementing large-scale testing. The goal of using these types of tests can be considered praiseworthy if – the tests are designed in such a way that all students are tested on a curriculum they have had a fair opportunity to learn (especially racial and ethnic minority students or students with a disability or limited English proficiency) – the tests are scored properly, taking into account that the test scores of those students with limited English skills should be interpreted in accordance with those limitations – the tests are used appropriately. For example, a test that has been validated only for diagnosing strengths and weaknesses of individual students should not be used to evaluate the educational quality of a school. The public schools of North Carolina, for example, carry a very high-stakes accountability program known as â€Å"The New ABCs of Public Education. † which has had a major impact on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and school personnel throughout the state. The program requires: End-of-Grade Tests (3-8 and 10), End-of-Course Tests (on Algebra I, Algebra II, Biology, Chemistry, Civics & Economics, English I, Geometry, Physical Science, Physics, U. S. History, NCCLAS ), Tests of Computer Skills, Competency Tests, Writing Assessments Grades 4, 7, and 10, IDEA ® English Language Proficiency Tests. Each North Carolina school, as well as any school in any other state has to give itself an annual report card, with assessment results broken down by poverty, race, ethnicity, High Stakes Testing 2 disability, and English-language proficiency. In this way, the race for more and better information about school performance sets off. More attention should be paid to the quality of data educational authorities receive as it is a fact that there are schools which are painting a picture prettier than reality, thus misleading authorities, taxpayers and what is even worse, keeping students trapped in low quality institutions. Under NCLB, if schools fail to make adequate yearly progress on state tests for three consecutive years, students can use federal funds to transfer to higher-performing public or private schools, or to obtain supplemental education services from providers of their choice but this could not be possible if the low-quality institutions they attend remain invisible under misleading reports of pretended excellence. In many districts, raising test scores are the most important indicators of school improvement so teachers feel the pressure to ensure that test scores go up. Knowing that schools that fail for four to five consecutive years may face state takeovers, have their staffs replaced, or be bid out to private management some teachers narrow the curriculum and teach only what is covered on the test. There are many issues that should be taken into account when it comes to evaluating high stake assessment. One of them is the reliability of high stake tests which is definitely at risk when large subject domains (mathematics, language arts) are measured with relatively few questions and a narrow focus on skills and knowledge. Major decisions like getting a diploma or being promoted to the next grade require a balance of information including in-class performance, interviews, observation, projects, and class work. Perhaps the most important critical claim is that standardized tests do not measure critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and other similar important aspects of intelligence. Students who are perfectly intelligent can perform poorly in high-stakes testing, and this can have serious consequences for the student as well as his or her school. High Stakes Testing 3 In my opinion, the first of the three most important issues in high stakes testing is the type of test used. Large-scale high-stakes testing programs are primarily focused on serving the goals of norming and selection rather than student mastery of content and problem-solving (Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001). These two types of testing are almost impossible to reconcile. A second issue of great importance is assessment of learning versus assessment for learning (Stiggins, 2002) There is a distinction between high-stakes testing (assessment of learning) and the formative assessment techniques that teachers may use throughout the year to foster learning (assessment for learning). In the case of the former, the goal of the test is to measure what students know or can do. In the case of the latter, the goal of the test is to provide information that will improve student learning. The third most important issue is, in my opinion, the test / curriculum adjustment. Appropriate assessments measure the objectives set out at the classroom level and at the same time reflect curriculum (or content) that has been selected to reach the specified objectives. To sum up, any decision about a student’s continued education, such as retention, tracking, or graduation, should not be based only on the results of a single test, but should include other relevant and valid information. The classroom is the realm of the teacher. State tests do not tell teachers how to teach, they suggest what should be taught, so there is no reason why students cannot learn how to think critically, solve problems or develop their creativity. State tests are taken at the end of the year or course, so teachers have the opportunity to diagnose their students’ needs and work on their improvement so that by the time they sit for the tests they can feel confident and succeed as expected. It is only fair to use test results in high-stakes decisions when students have had a real opportunity to master the materials upon which the test is based and this cannot be achieved without an active and professional teacher.

Simple Disparaître Verb Conjugations in French

French verb conjugations can be challenging, particularly when it comes to words like  disparaà ®tre. Meaning to disappear, this is an irregular verb and that makes memorizing its many conjugates difficult. Yet, a quick lesson and some dedicated practice will help you out tremendously. Conjugating the French Verb  Disparaà ®tre In English, we use -ing and -ed endings for verb conjugations. Its more complex in French because the ending changes not only from the past to the present or future tense  but also with the number of people or things were talking about. Disparaà ®tre  is an  irregular verb  and while it is not the most common conjugation pattern, nearly all  French verbs ending in  -aà ®tre  are conjugated in the same way. While you are learning and practicing these conjugations, you may want to tackle two or three similar words to make the entire group just a little easier. Using the table, study each of the  disparaà ®tre  conjugations. Simply pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense and youre on the way to forming a complete sentence. For instance, I am disappearing is je disparaà ®s and we will disappear is nous disparaà ®trons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je disparais disparaà ®trai disparaissais tu disparais disparaà ®tras disparaissais il disparaà ®t disparaà ®tra disparaissait nous disparaissons disparaà ®trons disparaissions vous disparaissez disparaà ®trez disparaissiez ils disparaissent disparaà ®tront disparaissaient The Present Participle of  Disparaà ®tre The   present participle  of disparaà ®tre  is  disparaissant. Not only is this a verb, it can also become an adjective, gerund, or noun when needed. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © The  passà © composà ©Ã‚  is another popular way to express the past tense disappeared in French. To form it, begin by conjugating the  auxiliary verb  avoir  to fit the subject pronoun, then add the  past participle  disparu. For example, I disappeared is jai disparu  Ã‚  while we disappeared is nous avons disparu. More Simple  Disparaà ®tre  Conjugations to Learn Should you find that the action of disappearing is questionable or not guaranteed, the subjunctive verb mood can be used. In a similar fashion, the conditional verb mood implies that the action will only happen  if  something else occurs. The passà © simple is primarily found in formal French writing, so you may not use it yourself. The same can be said of the imperfect subjunctive, though it is good to be able to recognize these as forms of  disparaà ®tre. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je disparaisse disparaà ®trais disparus disparusse tu disparaisses disparaà ®trais disparus disparusses il disparaisse disparaà ®trait disparut disparà »t nous disparaissions disparaà ®trions disparà »mes disparussions vous disparaissiez disparaà ®triez disparà »tes disparussiez ils disparaissent disparaà ®traient disparurent disparussent In the imperative verb form,  disparaà ®tre  is used for short commands and requests. There is no need to include the subject pronoun here: simplify tu disparais to disparais. Imperative (tu) disparais (nous) disparaissons (vous) disparaissez

French Stressed Pronouns Quiz

Women s Rights Of Women Essay - 1710 Words

Equality is something America prides itself on having, equality of rights between every race and ethnicity, because as we were so told, â€Å"All men are created equal.† We’ve assumed that they implied all humans, not simply the male gender when speaking that truth. However, women only gained their rights within the last 100 years and that famous quote was spoken centuries ago. So does this famous quote only apply to the male gender of our society? It seemed that for the longest time it did until women supposedly gained equal rights. Even though we have the right to vote, and have been making our way into male-dominated worlds such as sports, there are still aspects of the world in which women are unfairly treated compared to men. The injustice here is one that should not continue for many reasons, women as an equal gender to men deserve to be treated as such. To provide for their families, and themselves, women have the equal talent and skills to be compensated for. Wh ose fault might is it that women today in our modern society still don’t receive equal pay? Laws should be in place to prevent such prejudice from occurring. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 that should’ve made it impossible for employers to remain prejudice against women by paying them less. Except there is still a wage gap, some would like to disagree, however, even the white house addresses this as a valid issue. In fact, according to the White House government website, â€Å"On average, full-time working women earn just 78Show MoreRelatedWomen s Rights Of Women Essay1455 Words   |  6 Pagesa myriad of women have expressed through outlets such as public assemblies, literature, and speeches. There have been three waves of the women’s movement, each targeting a variety of issues within each era. The third wave was in 1995, where Hillary Clinton spoke in Beijing, China, claiming that women’s rights were the same as human rights, that every aspiring girl deserved the civil liberties that every man was given around the world. Moreover, the movement had shifted towards women in developingRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1265 Words   |  6 Pagesstands in the way of women being equal to men? Journalist Carlin Flora suggests the following, â€Å"While not all claims to humanity are universal and no one context, culture or continent can truly represent all peoples, the following three examples from very different contexts, cultures and continents show that some violations of women’s human rights are universal. In particular, it is still the case the world over that a woman’s reproductive rights, which impact on her right to life, are still seenRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women881 Words   |  4 PagesTwenty –first century ladies are discovering it a daunting task to keep up both sexual orientation parts as an aftereffect of the women s activist development. They are presently assuming liability for both the supplier and the nurturer, battling like never before to acquire and keep a superior personal satisfaction. Woman s rights has supported in equivalent vocation opportunity, bat tling to get ladies acknowledged into the employment advertise, and what initially began as ladies strengtheningRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women Essay1647 Words   |  7 Pagesthe early 1920’s, women thought they had achieved the unachievable. They could finally work, keep their earned wages, marry whomever they please, and even vote. After reaching their goal and fighting vigorously, women could taste equality and the freedom they deserved. While women still have the right to work in today’s society, women are not exactly treated equal in the workplace. Regardless of the past and the extreme measures taken to ensure equal opportunities for both men and women, there are manyRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1590 Words   |  7 Pagesthe 1920s, women were ignored in every aspect of their life. From politics, to social situations, women were constantly looked at as lesser. The 20s was a decade of women ready to fight for their rights. From gaining social freedoms, to get ting political rights, the 20s was the first decade of feminism. Many women played key roles in the fight for women s rights through speeches, marches, and much more. The women that fought for their rights in the 1920s completely changed how women live their livesRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1230 Words   |  5 PagesWomen’s suffrage has stretched from the 1800’s to present day, as women have struggled to have the same civil and constitutional rights as men in politics and be appreciated as equals in the workforce. Groups of women known as suffragists questioned the customary views of women’s roles. Eventually our nation has evolved and realized that male-controlled societies suppress women’s rights. From the beginning steps taken in 1850 to 2013 with women earning combat roles in the military, women’s rolesRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1206 Words   |  5 Pagesto speak of women and the role of women in this election, the subject of wome n is tiresome but necessary in a world where gender is still existent as an obstacle for most. I cannot identify what woman is. I am basing my definition from our modern understanding of woman, our general view, and the popular experience. People are using younger women voting for Bernie Sanders as proof of gender’s irrelevant in this election, that women have achieved their rights. Even if women ‘have rights now’ it doesRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1393 Words   |  6 Pages Women all over the world are being treated different than men. Iran is one of the places that women are being treated the worst. From restrictions to punishments, women in Iran are being treated with no respect, and that is not okay. Women’s rights activists have tried to get it to change, and have traveled to many places to try and get more people to join their movement. There are many issues with women not having the same rights as men. One of the main problems is that they are treated lessRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1272 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout history, women have fought a strenuous battle for equal rights. Many men, and even some women, all over the world believe that women do not share the same value and importance to society as men do. On September 5, 1995, Hillary Clinton spoke at the 4th World Conference on Women, on behalf of women all over the world. Clinton raised awareness on how women s rights are being violated and why it is important to recognize women s rights as equal to everyone else’s rights. Even today, in 2016Read MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1052 Words   |  5 PagesThe family has traditionally been the basic unit of Chinese society where women have long been charged with upholding society s values in their roles as wives and mothers. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, women were required to balance society s i deals with the reality of raising a family and maintaining a household. Throughout the imperial period and into the beginning of the twentieth century, the relationship among family members was prescribed by Confucian teachings. The revered philosopher

When Is It Ok to Break Confidentiality Free Essays

When is it OK to Break Confidentiality? Confidentiality is central to trust between doctors, medical team and patients. Patients have a right to expect that information about them will be held in confidence. The birth of the Hippocratic Oath in the fourth century started the responsibility of physicians to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of their patients. We will write a custom essay sample on When Is It Ok to Break Confidentiality? or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the provisions of the Oath lays the ethical foundation for the physician’s duty of confidentiality even beyond the circumstances of medical care. The Florence Nightingale Pledge, which was composed in 1893, was a modification of the â€Å"Hippocratic Oath,† a statement of the ethics and principles of the nursing profession. Included in the pledge is to hold in confidence all personal matters. Today we have the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which was passed by Congress in 1996. One of the regulations requires protection and confidential handling of protected health information. We also have the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) who takes an active role against potential violations in patient confidentiality (Oram M. , 2008). This paper will consider the ethical implication of a breach of confidentiality with ethical principles. An alternative will be to address the dilemma in a clinical setting. Lastly, the author will address how an ethics committee might approach the dilemma using ethical principles, theories, and a team effort to ethical decision-making. Respecting and protecting our patients medical, personal and private information is a great responsibility. At times it can be very challenging and there are times in healthcare where specific issues are encountered and personal and private information must be shared. It is the position of this author that preserving confidentiality is of the up most importance. Confidentiality is defined as preserving the privacy of the persons that you are caring for. This would include all information verbal or from the patients medical records to be used by the medical team to care for the patient (Oram M. 2008). It is important to retain trust in the nurse patient relationship and maintain confidentiality unless disclosure can be justified. The personal Nightingale Pledge taken upon graduation supports this author’s belief. The Nursing Code of Ethics also guides this author, which states the importance of nurses upholding their duty to maintain patient information in confidence regardless of who they are (American Nurses Association, 2013). This author also adheres to the HIPAA laws and JCAHO. Confidentiality is at the heart of the code of ethics for healthcare. Dealing with confidentiality can be very confusing at times, like in the example of the NBC ER episode 2000, called â€Å"Betraying Trust or Providing Good Care. † The healthcare professional at any given time may have to ask themselves to breach confidentiality or not to breach? Another question that the healthcare professional may ask is do I provide good care or betray my patient and their trust? The good new is there are ethical codes to guide and help the health care professional. In the ER episode the nurse Hathaway was faced with an ethical dilemma of breaking confidentiality or keep her fidelity. Hathaway had promised to help a 14-year-old patient, Andrea, and swore confidentiality in order to gain the girl’s trust. Sadly, Andrea was diagnosed with Human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease which led to cervical cancer. Andrea was also involved in risky sexual behavior with classmates. However, if Hathaway contacts the parents or speaks to the school officials this decision would come at a cost of betraying her patient—a breach of confidentiality. To keep the promise to Andrea was concerning because Andrea would need the consent from her parents for medical treatment for the cervical cancer because she was under age. Hathaway’s concern is that Andrea gets the medical care she needs. There also was the concern for Andrea’s classmates who should be screened for HPV or other sexual transmitted disease. As already stated, it is vital that healthcare workers keep their patents confidentiality, although there are those times when the healthcare team will come to the conclusion that they need to breach their patients confidentiality. According to the American Medical Association (AMA, 2013) and the ethical principles of fidelity, veracity and autonomy nurses or physicians should let the patient know about the restrictions of confidentiality protection and after disclosure have them sign a release record form to authorize the disclosure of the information given (AMA, 2013)). There are circumstances when keeping your patients confidentiality might cause more harm then revealing the information (Edwards, 2008). Such is the case in the ER episode where it was explained to Andrea why her parents and authorities had to know what was going on. There would be more harm done to patient and classmates if her secret was kept. Hathaway has the obligation to tell Andrea’s parents of her health condition and break confidentiality. Hathaway should first encourage Andrea to tell her parents herself and if she is unable or refuses then Hathaway needs to step in and tell the parents. The author believes that breaching confidentiality and telling Andrea’s parents was the right thing to do. It could be said that Hathaway did breach confidentiality when giving the information about Andrea and the â€Å"sex parties† to the school authorities. The information could have been shared with no names mentioned. There was no benefit to Andrea but harm because after she found out that the school knew she tried to commit suicide. When the medical team or individual is faced with an ethical dilemma there is an ethical committee that can be consulted. The committee is a group of people who will collaborate and are specially qualified and trained in laws and theories. The members will have diversified outlook about the dilemma based on ethical principles, beliefs and values. Utilizing the ethical committee will help guide the medical team to the right action. However, the ethical committee is not always authoritative but should be used as a guide. Hathaway should have notified the ethics committee before notifying the school. Most likely Hathaway would not know the legalities about which diseases are reportable. Had Hathaway checked and learned that HPV need not be reported, it would have saved Andrea a lot of pain and emotional trauma. It is the author’s belief that no names should have been mentioned when talking to the school. Confidentiality is at the heart of the code of ethics for healthcare. Dealing with confidentiality can be very confusing at times. Reviewing the episode of ER helps to examine the ethical dilemma with breach of confidentiality. It is important as a nurse to have knowledge about ethical principles and theories so as to know if you are breaching confidentiality or not. A nurse also must be aware of who she can go to talk to about ethical dilemmas. While this will be an ongoing challenge during a nurse’s career, it is important that she is aware of both the importance of confidentiality and to whom she can rely on in a ethically difficult situation. References American Medical Association. Confidentiality. Retrieved from http://www. ama-assn. org/ama/pub/physician-resources/legal-topics/patient-physicians-relationship-topics/patient-confidentiality. page Edwards, K. A. (2008). Confidentiality. Ethical in Medicine: University of Washington School of Medicine. Retrieved from http://depts. washington. edu/bioethx/topics/confiden. html Oram M. 2008. Maintaining Confidentiality Course 117. Retrieved from www. jcaho. org/confidentiallyHerb How to cite When Is It Ok to Break Confidentiality?, Essay examples

Failing Successfully free essay sample

My day in the sun had arrived – my magnum opus would be revealed. I had just delivered a memorized speech that I had labored over for weeks, and I was about to learn how the panel judged my performance. The polite but sparse audience leaned forward in their folding chairs. A hush fell across the room. The drum rolled (in my mind, anyway). The contest organizer announced the third-place winner. Alas, the name was not mine. Then he read the second-place winner, and once again it was not me. At last, the moment of truth came.  ­Either I was about to bask in the warmth of victory or rue the last several months spent preparing. While neither of these came to pass, my heart felt closer to the latter. Losing is a part of life, and I have dealt with the emotional baggage that travels shotgun with it on more than one occasion. We will write a custom essay sample on Failing Successfully or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, it was an indescribably underwhelming feeling to drive 200 miles round trip, get up obscenely early on a freezing Saturday morning, and yet still finish fourth out of four contestants. After Lincoln lost the 1858 Illinois Senate race, he reportedly said, â€Å"I felt like the 12-year-old boy who stubbed his toe. I was too big to cry and it hurt too bad to laugh.† Oh yeah, I could relate. I had spent many hours in front of a computer and in libraries doing research for the Lincoln Bicentennial Speech Contest. As I pored over several biographies, one notion stood out: Lincoln was handed many sound defeats, but he never allowed them to (permanently) hinder his spirit or ambition. While I believe many history lessons can be applied to modern life, I hadn’t considered â€Å"the agony of defeat† as a historically valuable learning experience. I never dreamed I could relate to Lincoln! A president no less, and the greatest at that. I thought â€Å"failing  ­successfully† was a very appropriate topic, given the many letdowns Lincoln experienced, and so this became the title of my speech. After not placing in the first year of the speech contest, I really wanted to compete again. Lincoln had been the epitome of persistence, so I was not going to give up on a contest about a historic individual who did not give up! I reworked my speech for the following year, and while I did not come in last, again I did not place. Some days you’re the dog, and some days you’re the hydrant, and this was  ­definitely a hydrant day that brought me down for a while. I couldn’t accept the fact that I had failed twice in something that I had worked so hard on, until I contemplated the individual whom I’d spent so much time learning about. Never mind the lost prize money (ouch, major) and praise (ouch, minor) – I had learned, really learned, about a great man who had experienced failure and disappointment, and had many chances to give up. We remember Lincoln because he didn’t take this route; he didn’t throw lavish pity-parties, and he persevered to  ­become, according to many, the greatest American president. While I did not earn monetary awards as a result of this contest, I did gain a new perspective. Through learning about Lincoln, I discovered that I can fail successfully, and that it is possible to glean applicable wisdom from the lives of those who have come before us. Now, whenever I’m faced with a setback, I remember what Lincoln said after his unsuccessful 1854 Senate race: â€Å"The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, ‘It’s a slip and not a fall.’†