Back to school icebreakers Essay Example for Free

Back to school icebreakers Essay 1. OPENING-DAY LETTER. WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR STUDENTS. IN THAT LETTER, INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO STUDENTS. TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR HOPES FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR AND SOME OF THE FUN THINGS YOULL BE DOING IN CLASS. IN ADDITION, TELL STUDENTS A FEW PERSONAL THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF; FOR EXAMPLE, YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES, WHAT YOU DID OVER THE SUMMER, AND YOUR HOBBIES. ASK QUESTIONS THROUGHOUT THE LETTER. YOU MIGHT ASK WHAT THEY LIKE MOST ABOUT SCHOOL, WHAT THEY DID DURING THE SUMMER, WHAT THEIR GOALS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR ARE, OR WHAT THEY ARE REALLY GOOD AT. (IN YOUR LETTER, BE SURE TO MODEL THE CORRECT PARTS OF A FRIENDLY LETTER! ) ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, DISPLAY YOUR LETTER ON AN OVERHEAD PROJECTOR. THEN PASS EACH STUDENT A SHEET OF NICE STATIONERY. HAVE THE STUDENTS WRITE A RETURN LETTER TO YOU. IN THIS LETTER, THEY WILL NEED TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND TELL YOU ABOUT THEMSELVES. THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER IN A PERSONAL WAY! VARIATION: MAIL THE LETTER TO STUDENTS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS, AND ENCLOSE A SHEET OF STATIONERY FOR KIDS TO WRITE YOU BACK. 2. STRINGING TOGETHER CONVERSATION. CUT STRING OR YARN INTO PIECES OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS. (EACH PIECE SHOULD HAVE A MATCHING PIECE OF THE SAME LENGTH. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH PIECES SO THAT EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE ONE. ) THEN GIVE EACH STUDENT ONE PIECE OF STRING, AND CHALLENGE EACH STUDENT TO FIND THE OTHER STUDENT WHO HAS A STRING OF THE EXACT SAME LENGTH. AFTER STUDENTS HAVE FOUND THEIR MATCHES, THEY CAN TAKE TURNS INTRODUCING THEMSELVES TO EACH OTHER. YOU CAN PROVIDE A LIST OF QUESTIONS TO HELP STUDENTS BREAK THE ICE, OR STUDENTS CAN COME UP WITH THEIR OWN. YOU MIGHT EXTEND THE ACTIVITY BY HAVING EACH STUDENT INTRODUCE HIS OR HER PARTNER TO THE CLASS. 3. ANIMAL GROUPS. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, GATHER ALL THE STUDENTS FROM A GRADE LEVEL IN A LARGE COMMON AREA. GIVE EACH STUDENT A  SLIP OF PAPER WITH THE NAME OF AN ANIMAL ON IT. THEN GIVE STUDENTS INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ACTIVITY: THEY MUST LOCATE THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THEIR ANIMAL GROUP BY IMITATING THAT ANIMALS SOUND ONLY. NO TALKING IS ALLOWED. THE STUDENTS MIGHT HESITATE INITIALLY, BUT THAT HESITATION SOON GIVES WAY TO A CACOPHONY OF SOUND AS THE KIDS MOO, SNORT, AND GIGGLE THEIR WAY INTO GROUPS. THE END RESULT IS THAT STUDENTS HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY INTO THEIR HOMEROOMS OR ADVISORY GROUPS FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR, AND THE INITIAL BARRIERS TO GOOD TEAMWORK HAVE ALREADY BEEN BROKEN. 4. A TANGLED WEB. GATHER STUDENTS IN A CIRCLE SITTING AROUND YOU ON THE FLOOR. HOLD A LARGE BALL OF YARN. START BY TELLING THE STUDENTS SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF. THEN ROLL THE BALL OF YARN TO A STUDENT WITHOUT LETTING GO OF THE END OF THE YARN. THE STUDENT WHO GETS THE BALL OF YARN TELLS HIS OR HER NAME AND SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT HIMSELF OR HERSELF. THEN THE STUDENT ROLLS THE YARN TO SOMEBODY ELSE, HOLDING ON TO THE STRAND OF YARN. SOON STUDENTS HAVE CREATED A GIANT WEB. AFTER EVERYONE HAS SPOKEN, YOU AND ALL THE STUDENTS STAND UP, CONTINUING TO HOLD THE YARN. START A DISCUSSION OF HOW THIS ACTIVITY RELATES TO THE IDEA OF TEAMWORK (FOR EXAMPLE, THE STUDENTS NEED TO  WORK TOGETHER AND NOT LET OTHERS DOWN). TO DRIVE HOME YOUR POINT ABOUT TEAMWORK, HAVE ONE STUDENT DROP HIS OR HER STRAND OF YARN; THAT WILL DEMONSTRATE TO STUDENTS HOW THE WEB WEAKENS IF THE CLASS ISNT WORKING TOGETHER. 5. STUDENT DICTIONARY. WRITE FIVE QUESTIONS ON THE BOARD. QUESTIONS MIGHT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: WHAT IS YOUR NAME? WHERE WERE YOU BORN? HOW MANY BROTHERS OR SISTERS DO YOU HAVE? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? TELL STUDENTS TO WRITE THOSE QUESTIONS ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND TO ADD TO THAT PAPER FIVE MORE QUESTIONS THEY COULD ASK SOMEONE THEY DONT KNOW. PAIR STUDENTS, AND  HAVE EACH STUDENT INTERVIEW HIS OR HER PARTNER AND RECORD THE RESPONSES. THEN HAVE EACH STUDENT USE THE INTERVIEW RESPONSES TO WRITE A DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF HIS OR HER PARTNER TO INCLUDE IN A STUDENT DICTIONARY. YOU MIGHT MODEL THIS ACTIVITY BY CREATING A SAMPLE DICTIONARY DEFINITION ABOUT YOURSELF. FOR EXAMPLE: REYNOLDS, KIM. PROPER NOUN. 1. BORN IN RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA. 2. NO BROTHERS OR SISTERS. HAVE STUDENTS BRING IN SMALL PICTURES OF THEMSELVES TO PASTE NEXT TO THEIR ENTRIES IN THE STUDENT DICTIONARY. BIND THE DEFINITIONS INTO A BOOK, AND DISPLAY IT AT BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT. 6. CLASSMATE SCAVENGER HUNT. PROVIDE EACH STUDENT WITH TWO INDEX CARDS. ASK EACH STUDENT TO WRITE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HIS OR HER PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ON ONE INDEX CARD AND HIS OR HER NAME ON THE OTHER. (PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS USUALLY DO NOT INCLUDE CLOTHING, BUT IF YOU TEACH THE PRIMARY GRADES, YOU MIGHT ALLOW STUDENTS TO INCLUDE CLOTHING IN THEIR DESCRIPTIONS. ) PUT ALL THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC INDEX CARDS IN A SHOE BOX, MIX THEM UP, AND DISTRIBUTE ONE CARD TO EACH STUDENT (MAKING SURE THAT NO STUDENT GETS HIS OR HER OWN CARD). GIVE STUDENTS TEN MINUTES TO SEARCH FOR THE PERSON WHO FITS THE DESCRIPTION ON THE CARD THEY HOLD. (THERE IS NO TALKING DURING THIS ACTIVITY, BUT STUDENTS CAN WALK AROUND THE ROOM. ) AT THE END OF THE ACTIVITY, TELL STUDENTS TO WRITE ON THE CARD THE NAME OF THE STUDENT WHO BEST MATCHES THE DESCRIPTION. THEN HAVE STUDENTS SHARE THEIR RESULTS. HOW MANY STUDENTS GUESSED CORRECTLY? http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english 7. COOPERATIVE MUSICAL CHAIRS. THIS ACTIVITY IS A TAKEOFF ON THE FAMILIAR MUSICAL CHAIRS GAME. SET A CIRCLE OF CHAIRS WITH ONE LESS CHAIR THAN THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE CLASS. PLAY MUSIC AS THE STUDENTS CIRCLE AROUND THE CHAIRS. WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS, THE STUDENTS MUST SIT IN A SEAT. UNLIKE THE TRADITIONAL GAME, THE PERSON WITHOUT A SEAT IS NOT OUT. INSTEAD, SOMEONE MUST MAKE ROOM FOR THAT PERSON. THEN REMOVE ANOTHER SEAT AND START THE MUSIC AGAIN. THE KIDS END UP ON ONE ANOTHERS LAPS AND SHARING CHAIRS! YOU CAN PLAY THIS GAME OUTSIDE, AND YOU CAN END IT WHENEVER YOU WISH. AFTERWARD, STRESS THE TEAMWORK AND COOPERATION THE GAME TOOK, AND HOW STUDENTS NEEDED TO ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER TO BE SUCCESSFUL. REINFORCE THAT IDEA BY REPEATING THIS GAME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 8. HANDS-ON ACTIVITY. HAVE STUDENTS BEGIN THIS ACTIVITY BY LISTING AT LEAST 25 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE THEM AND THE THINGS THEY LIKE. (NO SENTENCES ALLOWED, JUST WORDS! ) THEN ASK EACH STUDENT TO USE A DARK PEN TO TRACE THE PATTERN OF HIS OR HER HAND WITH THE FINGERS SPREAD APART. PROVIDE ANOTHER SHEET OF PAPER THAT THE STUDENT CAN PLACE ON TOP OF THE TRACING. (SINCE THE TRACING WAS DONE WITH A DARK PEN, THE OUTLINE SHOULD BE VISIBLE ON THE SHEET BELOW. ) DIRECT STUDENTS TO USE THE OUTLINES AS GUIDES AND TO WRITE THEIR WORDS AROUND IT. PROVIDE STUDENTS A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT COLORED PENCILS OR MARKERS TO USE AS THEY WRITE. THEN INVITE STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR WORK WITH THE CLASS. THEY MIGHT CUT OUT THE HAND OUTLINES AND MOUNT THEM ON CONSTRUCTION PAPER SO YOU CAN DISPLAY THE HANDS FOR OPEN HOUSE. CHALLENGE EACH PARENT TO IDENTIFY HIS OR HER CHILDS HAND. 9. CHAIN GANG. BEGIN BY ASKING STUDENTS, WHO CAN DO SOMETHING REALLY WELL? AFTER A BRIEF DISCUSSION ABOUT SOME OF THE STUDENTS TALENTS, PASS OUT PAPER AND ASK STUDENTS TO WRITE DOWN FIVE THINGS THEY DO WELL. THEN PROVIDE EACH STUDENT WITH FIVE DIFFERENT COLORED PAPER STRIPS. HAVE EACH STUDENT WRITE A DIFFERENT TALENT ON SEPARATE PAPER STRIPS, THEN CREATE A MINI PAPER CHAIN WITH THE STRIPS BY  LINKING THE FIVE TALENTS TOGETHER. AS STUDENTS COMPLETE THEIR MINI CHAINS, USE EXTRA STRIPS OF PAPER TO LINK THE MINI CHAINS TOGETHER TO CREATE ONE LONG CLASS CHAIN. HAVE STUDENTS STAND AND HOLD THE GROWING CHAIN AS YOU LINK THE PIECES TOGETHER. ONCE THE ENTIRE CHAIN IS CONSTRUCTED AND LINKED, LEAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT THE CHAIN DEMONSTRATES (FOR EXAMPLE, ALL THE STUDENTS HAVE TALENTS; ALL THE STUDENTS HAVE THINGS THEY DO WELL; TOGETHER, THE STUDENTS HAVE MANY TALENTS; IF THEY WORK TOGETHER, CLASSMATES CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING; AND THE  CLASS IS STRONGER WHEN STUDENTS WORK TOGETHER THAN WHEN INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS WORK ON THEIR OWN). HANG THE CHAIN IN THE ROOM AS A CONSTANT REMINDER TO STUDENTS OF THE TALENTS THEY POSSESS AND THE BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK. 10. SILHOUETTE COLLAGE. STOCK UP ON OLD MAGAZINES. (YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARIAN MIGHT HAVE A DISCARD PILE YOU CAN DRAW FROM. ) INVITE STUDENTS TO SEARCH THROUGH THE MAGAZINES FOR PICTURES, WORDS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT MIGHT BE USED TO DESCRIBE THEM. THEN USE AN OVERHEAD PROJECTOR OR ANOTHER SOURCE OF BRIGHT LIGHT TO CREATE A SILHOUETTE OF EACH STUDENTS PROFILE; HAVE EACH STUDENT SIT IN FRONT OF THE  LIGHT SOURCE AS YOU OR ANOTHER STUDENT TRACES THE OUTLINE OF THE SILHOUETTE ON A SHEET OF 11- BY 17-INCH PAPER TAPED TO THE WALL. HAVE STUDENTS CUT OUT THEIR SILHOUETTES, THEN FILL THEM WITH A COLLAGE OF PICTURES AND WORDS THAT EXPRESS THEIR IDENTITY. THEN GIVE EACH STUDENT AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE HIS OR HER SILHOUETTE WITH THE GROUP AND TALK ABOUT WHY HE OR SHE CHOSE SOME OF THE ELEMENTS IN THE COLLAGE. POST THE SILHOUETTES TO CREATE A SENSE OF OUR HOMEROOM. 11. HEADLINES. AS PART OF THE NORMAL FIRST-DAY ROUTINE, MANY TEACHERS HAVE EACH STUDENT FILL OUT A CARD WITH SUCH INFORMATION AS NAME,  ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, PARENTS NAMES AND WORK NUMBERS, AND SO ON. YOU CAN USE SUCH CARDS TO GATHER OTHER INFORMATION TOO, SUCH AS SCHOOL SCHEDULE, WHY THE STUDENT SIGNED UP FOR THE CLASS, WHETHER THE STUDENT HAS A PART-TIME JOB, AND WHETHER HE OR SHE HAS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AT HOME. AS A FINAL BIT OF INFORMATION, ASK THE STUDENT TO WRITE A HEADLINE THAT BEST DESCRIBES HIM OR HER! THIS HEADLINE MIGHT BE A QUOTE, A FAMILIAR EXPRESSION, OR ANYTHING ELSE. WHEN STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED FILLING OUT THE CARDS, GIVE A LITTLE QUIZ. ASK STUDENTS TO NUMBER A SHEET OF PAPER FROM 1 TO __, DEPENDING ON HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE IN THE CLASS. THEN READ ALOUD THE HEADLINES ONE AT A TIME. ASK STUDENTS TO WRITE THE NAME OF THE PERSON THEY THINK EACH HEADLINE BEST DESCRIBES. WHO GOT THE HIGHEST SCORE? (BONUS! IT SEEMS AS IF PARENTS ARE CONTACTED ONLY IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH STUDENTS. AT THE END OF EACH GRADING PERIOD, USE THE HOME ADDRESS INFORMATION TO SEND A POSTCARD TO A HANDFUL OF PARENTS TO INFORM THEM ABOUT HOW WELL THEIR CHILD IS DOING. THIS MIGHT TAKE A LITTLE TIME, BUT IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! ) 12. POP QUIZ. AHEAD OF TIME, WRITE A SERIES OF GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU QUESTIONS ON SLIPS OF PAPER ONE QUESTION TO A SLIP. (YOU CAN REPEAT SOME OF THE QUESTIONS. ) THEN FOLD UP THE SLIPS, AND TUCK EACH SLIP INSIDE A DIFFERENT BALLOON. BLOW UP THE BALLOONS. GIVE EACH STUDENT A BALLOON, AND LET STUDENTS TAKE TURNS POPPING THEIR BALLOONS AND ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS INSIDE. 13. FACT OR FIB? THIS IS A GOOD ACTIVITY FOR DETERMINING YOUR STUDENTS NOTE-TAKING ABILITIES. TELL STUDENTS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SHARE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF. THEYLL LEARN ABOUT SOME OF YOUR BACKGROUND, HOBBIES, AND INTERESTS FROM THE 60-SECOND ORAL BIOGRAPHY THAT YOU WILL PRESENT. SUGGEST THAT STUDENTS TAKE NOTES; AS YOU SPEAK, THEY SHOULD RECORD WHAT THEY THINK ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS YOU SHARE. WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR PRESENTATION, TELL STUDENTS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL FIVE THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF. FOUR OF YOUR STATEMENTS SHOULD TELL THINGS THAT ARE TRUE AND THAT WERE PART OF YOUR PRESENTATION; ONE OF THE FIVE STATEMENTS IS A TOTAL FIB. (THIS ACTIVITY IS MOST FUN IF SOME OF THE TRUE FACTS ARE SOME OF THE MOST SURPRISING THINGS ABOUT YOU AND IF THE FIB SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT COULD VERY WELL BE TRUE. ) TELL STUDENTS THEY MAY REFER TO THEIR NOTES TO TELL WHICH STATEMENT IS THE FIB. NEXT, INVITE EACH STUDENT TO CREATE A BIOGRAPHY AND A LIST OF FIVE STATEMENTS FOUR FACTS AND ONE FIB ABOUT HIMSELF OR HERSELF. THEN PROVIDE EACH STUDENT A CHANCE TO PRESENT THE 60-SECOND ORAL BIOGRAPHY AND TO TEST THE OTHERS NOTE-TAKING ABILITIES BY PRESENTING HIS OR HER OWN FACT OR FIB QUIZ. YOU CAN HAVE STUDENTS DO THIS PART OF THE ACTIVITY IN SMALL GROUPS. 14. CIRCULAR FACT OR FIB? HERES A VARIATION ON THE PREVIOUS ACTIVITY: DIVIDE THE CLASS INTO TWO GROUPS OF EQUAL SIZE. ONE GROUP FORMS A http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english CIRCLE EQUALLY SPACED AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE CLASSROOM. (THERE WILL BE QUITE A BIT OF SPACE BETWEEN STUDENTS. ) THE OTHER GROUP OF STUDENTS FORMS A CIRCLE INSIDE THE FIRST CIRCLE; EACH STUDENT FACES ONE OF THE STUDENTS IN THE FIRST GROUP. GIVE THE FACING PAIRS OF STUDENTS TWO MINUTES TO SHARE THEIR 60-SECOND ORAL BIOGRAPHIES. WHILE EACH STUDENT IS TALKING, THE PARTNER TAKES NOTES. AFTER EACH PAIR COMPLETES THE ACTIVITY, THE STUDENTS ON THE INSIDE CIRCLE MOVE CLOCKWISE TO FACE THE NEXT STUDENT IN THE OUTER CIRCLE. (STUDENTS IN THE  OUTER CIRCLE REMAIN STATIONARY THROUGHOUT THE ACTIVITY. ) WHEN ALL STUDENTS HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THEIR BIOGRAPHIES WITH ONE ANOTHER, ASK STUDENTS TO TAKE TURNS EACH SHARING HIS OR HER FACTS AND FIB WITH THE CLASS. THE OTHER STUDENTS REFER TO THEIR NOTES OR TRY TO RECALL WHICH FACT IS REALLY A FIB. 15. PEOPLE POEMS. HAVE EACH CHILD USE THE LETTERS IN HIS OR HER NAME TO CREATE AN ACROSTIC POEM. FOR EXAMPLE, BILL COULD TAKE HIS NAME AND WRITE BIG INTELLIGENT LAUGHING LOVING. TELL STUDENTS THEY MUST INCLUDE WORDS THAT TELL SOMETHING ABOUT THEMSELVES FOR EXAMPLE, SOMETHING THEY LIKE TO DO OR A PERSONALITY  OR PHYSICAL TRAIT. INVITE STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR POEMS WITH THE CLASS. THIS ACTIVITY IS A FUN ONE THAT ENABLES YOU TO LEARN HOW YOUR STUDENTS VIEW THEMSELVES. ALLOW OLDER STUDENTS TO USE A DICTIONARY OR THESAURUS. YOU MIGHT ALSO VARY THE NUMBER OF WORDS FOR EACH LETTER, ACCORDING TO THE STUDENTS GRADE LEVELS. 16. ANOTHER POETIC INTRODUCTION. ASK STUDENTS TO USE THE FORM BELOW TO CREATE POEMS THAT DESCRIBE THEM. NAME ______________________ TITLE (OF POEM)_______________ I WILL NEVER _______________; I WILL NEVER ________________; AND I WILL NEVER ______________. BUT I WILL ALWAYS ______________. THIS ACTIVITY IS ANOTHER THAT LENDS ITSELF TO BEING DONE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR AND AGAIN AT THE END OF THE YEAR. YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS WILL HAVE FUN COMPARING THEIR RESPONSES AND SEEING HOW THE STUDENTS AND THE RESPONSES HAVE CHANGED. 17. FOOD FOR THOUGHT. TO GET TO KNOW STUDENTS AND TO HELP THEM GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER, HAVE EACH STUDENT STATE HIS OR HER NAME AND A FAVORITE FOOD THAT BEGINS WITH THE SAME FIRST LETTER AS THE NAME. FOR EXAMPLE: HI, MY NAME IS LATRECE, AND I LIKE LIVER. AS EACH STUDENT INTRODUCES HIMSELF OR HERSELF, HE OR SHE MUST REPEAT THE NAMES AND FAVORITE FOODS OF THE STUDENTS WHO CAME BEFORE. WATCH OUT; IT GETS TRICKY FOR THE LAST PERSON WHO HAS TO RECITE ALL THE NAMES AND FOODS! 18. I AM NOT! HERES A CHALLENGING ACTIVITY THAT MIGHT HELP HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS LEARN ABOUT STUDENTS ABILITIES TO THINK CRITICALLY. SEND STUDENTS INTO THE SCHOOL HALLWAYS OR SCHOOLYARD, AND ASK EACH TO FIND SOMETHING THAT IS COMPLETELY THE OPPOSITE OF YOURSELF. (OPTION: TO WIDEN THE AREA TO BE EXPLORED, PROVIDE THIS ACTIVITY AS HOMEWORK ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF SCHOOL. ) WHEN STUDENTS BRING THEIR ITEMS BACK TO CLASS, ASK EACH TO DESCRIBE WHY THE ITEM IS NOT LIKE HE OR SHE. YOULL GET A LOT OF FLOWERS, OF COURSE, AND STUDENTS WILL  DESCRIBE HOW THOSE FLOWERS ARE FRAGRANT OR SOFT (OR OTHERWISE UNLIKE THEMSELVES). BUT YOU MIGHT ALSO GET SOME CLEVER RESPONSES SUCH AS THE ONE FROM A YOUNG MAN WHO BROUGHT IN THE FLIP-TOP FROM A DISCARDED CAN; HE TALKED ABOUT ITS DECAYING OUTWARD APPEARANCE AND ITS INABILITY TO SERVE A PURPOSE WITHOUT BEING MANIPULATED BY SOME OTHER FORCE (AND HOW HE WAS ABLE TO SERVE A PURPOSE ON HIS OWN). 19. PERSONAL BOXES. IN THIS ACTIVITY, EACH STUDENT SELECTS A CONTAINER OF A REASONABLE SIZE THAT REPRESENTS SOME ASPECT OF HIS OR HER PERSONALITY OR PERSONAL INTERESTS (SUCH AS A FOOTBALL HELMET OR A SAUCEPAN). ASK STUDENTS TO FILL THAT OBJECT WITH OTHER ITEMS THAT REPRESENT THEMSELVES FOR EXAMPLE, FAMILY PHOTOS, CDS, DIRTY SOCKS (BECAUSE THEIR ROOM AT HOME IS ALWAYS A MESS), OR A BALLET SHOE AND BRING THEIR CONTAINERS BACK TO SCHOOL. STUDENTS CAN USE THE OBJECTS IN THE CONTAINERS AS PROPS AS THEY GIVE A THREE-MINUTE PRESENTATION ABOUT THEMSELVES. (THE TEACHER WHO PROVIDED THIS IDEA SUGGESTS THAT YOU MODEL THE ACTIVITY AND ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY BY GOING FIRST ITS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO SEE YOU AS HUMAN TOO! SHE INCLUDED IN HER CONTAINER A WOODEN SPOON BECAUSE SHE LOVES TO  COOK, A JAR OF DIRT BECAUSE SHE LOVES TO GARDEN, HER SONS FIRST COWBOY BOOT, A POEM SHE WROTE, A ROCK FROM ITALY BECAUSE SHE LOVES TO TRAVEL, AND SO ON. ) YOULL LEARN MUCH ABOUT EACH STUDENT WITH THIS ACTIVITY, AND IT WILL CREATE A BOND AMONG STUDENTS. AS EACH STUDENT GIVES THE PRESENTATION, YOU MIGHT WRITE A BRIEF THANK-YOU NOTE THAT MENTIONS SOMETHING SPECIFIC ABOUT THE PRESENTATION SO THAT EACH http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english STUDENT CAN TAKE HOME A SPECIAL NOTE TO SHARE WITH PARENTS. IT MIGHT TAKE A FEW DAYS TO GIVE EVERY STUDENT THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE. 20. FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS. HOW WELL DO YOUR STUDENTS FOLLOW DIRECTIONS? PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOLDING A DRINKING CUP FROM A PIECE OF PAPER, AND SEE HOW MANY STUDENTS CAN MAKE A CUP. YOU CAN USE THE PRINTABLE TEMPLATE AND INSTRUCTIONS AT THE ORIGAMI JAPANESE PAPER FOLDING WEB PAGE. FILL EACH COMPLETE CUP WITH APPLE JUICE TO SEE HOW MANY STUDENTS CORRECTLY FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS! (YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONDUCT THIS PARTICULAR ASSESSMENT ON THE PLAYGROUND, HOWEVER! ) 21. LEARNING STYLES SURVEY. HOW DO THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS LEARN BEST? DO THEY LEARN BY SEEING, HEARING, OR DOING? INVITE STUDENTS TO DISCOVER THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL LEARNING STRATEGIES BY TAKING THE MODALITY QUESTIONNAIRE PROVIDED BY THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING AT OHIOS MUSKINGUM COLLEGE. 22. A WORLD OF CHANGE. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH AN 11-INCH BY 17-INCH PIECE OF DRAWING PAPER. CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO DRAW A MAP OF THE WORLD AND LABEL AS MANY COUNTRIES AND BODIES OF WATER AS THEY CAN. COLLECT THE MAPS AND PUT THEM AWAY. AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, REPEAT THE ACTIVITY. HAS A YEAR OF LESSONS FOCUSED ON WORLD GEOGRAPHY AND CURRENT EVENTS INCREASED YOUR  STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD? (IF THIS ACTIVITY ISNT APPROPRIATE FOR YOU, WHY NOT SHARE IT WITH A SOCIAL STUDIES OR HISTORY TEACHER IN YOUR SCHOOL? ) 23. TIME CAPSULE. TURN EMPTY PRINGLES CANS OR PAPER TOWEL TUBES INTO MINIATURE TIME CAPSULES. ASK EACH CHILD TO CREATE A TIME CAPSULE THAT INCLUDES SUCH ITEMS AS A HANDWRITING SAMPLE, A HAND TRACING, A SELF PORTRAIT, AND SO ON. AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, COMPARE SAMPLES FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WITH NEW SAMPLES. 24. A VIDEO KEEPSAKE. AT THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, OR BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS, IF POSSIBLE, PROVIDE PARENTS WITH A LIST OF SUPPLIES TO SEND TO SCHOOL WITH THEIR CHILDREN. INCLUDE ON THE LIST A BLANK VIDEOTAPE FOR EACH STUDENT. AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH, INVITE A PARENT VOLUNTEER TO COME IN AND VIDEOTAPE EACH STUDENT READING ALOUD FROM A FAVORITE BOOK. SEND THE VIDEOTAPES HOME AT THE END OF THE YEAR AS A MEMENTO AND AS A REMINDER OF THE READING GROWTH THAT HAPPENED DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. 25. STICKS AND STONES THIS SIMPLE ACTIVITY HAS BEEN MAKING THE ROUNDS OF MAILING LISTS RECENTLY: PROVIDE EACH STUDENT WITH A SMALL PAPER CUTOUT IN THE SHAPE OF A HUMAN, OR HAVE STUDENTS CUT OUT THEIR OWN PAPER FIGURES. ASK EACH STUDENT TO WRITE HIS OR HER NAME ON THE CUTOUT. HAVE STUDENTS FORM A CIRCLE. THEN TELL STUDENTS TO PASS THE CUTOUTS TO THE PERSON ON THEIR RIGHT. AS THE CUTOUTS ARE PASSED AROUND THE CIRCLE, HAVE EACH PERSON MAKE A SMALL CRUMPLE OR TEAR IN THE CUTOUT OR ADD A PENCIL MARK. WHEN THE CUTOUTS HAVE MADE THEIR WAY AROUND THE ENTIRE CIRCLE, HAVE STUDENTS TRY TO REPAIR THEIR OWN CUTOUTS BY FLATTENING, ERASING, OR TAPING. AFTER THE CUTOUTS ARE REPAIRED, DISCUSS THE ACTIVITY. TALK ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF UNKIND WORDS AND HURT FEELINGS. YOU MIGHT DISPLAY THE CUTOUTS ON A CLASSROOM BULLETIN BOARD AS A CONSTANT REMINDER OF THE EFFECTS OF HURTFUL ACTIONS. 26. ILLUSTRATED STUDENT REFLECTIONS. STUDENTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND ABOVE CAN REFLECT ON THEIR DREAMS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH THIS FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ACTIVITY PROVIDED BY AN INDIANA TEACHER. A SIMPLE ILLUSTRATION PROVIDES A BACKDROP STUDENTS CAN USE TO SHARE THEIR DREAMS, THEIR INTERESTS, AND THE HIGH AND LOW POINTS IN THEIR LIVES. THE ACTIVITY CAN PROVIDE TEACHERS WITH IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT STUDENTS INTERESTS, CONCERNS, AND GOALS; TEACHERS CAN USE THE INFORMATION TO DETERMINE HOW BEST TO DIRECT STUDENTS AND PROVIDE FOR THEIR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. I Wish I Were a Butterfly. Students across the grades will enjoy this book, written by James Howe and illustrated by Ed Young. A CRICKET LONGS TO BE A PRETTY BUTTERFLY UNTIL A SPIDER TEACHES HER THAT ALL FRIENDS ARE BEAUTIFUL. READ THE BOOK ALOUD, AND THEN DISCUSS THE STORYS MESSAGE. 27. SURVEYS AND GRAPHS. START THE YEAR WITH A SURVEY ACTIVITY IN WHICH STUDENTS GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER AS THEY CREATE SIMPLE BAR OR PICTURE GRAPHS. STUDENTS WORK IN PAIRS OR SMALL GROUPS TO COLLECT RESPONSES TO A CLASS SURVEY, AND THEN THEY GRAPH THE RESULTS. OLDER STUDENTS CAN DEVELOP THEIR OWN SURVEY QUESTIONS; YOUNGER STUDENTS MIGHT COLLECT DATA IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS PROVIDED BY THE TEACHER. QUESTIONS MIGHT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: †¢ WHEN YOU BRING LUNCH TO SCHOOL, HOW DO YOU CARRY IT? †¢ IF YOU WERE TO CARRY A THERMOS BOTTLE TO SCHOOL, WHAT WOULD BE IN IT? †¢ WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SANDWICH? †¢ HOW DO YOU GET TO SCHOOL MOST DAYS? †¢ WHAT IS YOUR BEST SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? †¢ HOW MANY MILES DO YOU LIVE FROM SCHOOL? †¢ WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SNACK? http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english †¢ WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER MOVIE? AFTER STUDENTS COLLECT THE DATA, THEY CREATE A SIMPLE GRAPH TO DISPLAY THE RESULTS OF THEIR SURVEY. ONE STUDENT IN EACH PAIR OR GROUP CAN THEN REPORT THE FINDINGS WHILE ANOTHER EXPLAINS THE GRAPH. DISPLAY THE GRAPHS ON A BULLETIN BOARD FOR ALL TO SEE! 28. AN AVERAGE DAY. CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO COMPUTE CLASS AVERAGES. HAVE STUDENTS WORK IN PAIRS OR SMALL GROUPS TO COLLECT, CALCULATE, AND REPORT ON THE AVERAGE AGE, SHOE SIZE, HEIGHT, FAMILY SIZE (AND SO ON! ) OF THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS. 29. PERSONALIZED CLASSROOM CALENDAR. EVERY CLASSROOM HAS A CALENDAR. WHY NOT PERSONALIZE YOUR CLASSROOM CALENDAR WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUR STUDENTS? FIRST, MAKE A CALENDAR POCKET CHART WITH SEVEN COLUMNS (ONE FOR EACH DAY OF THE WEEK) AND FIVE ROWS  (SO THE CHART CAN HANDLE MONTHS WITH FIVE WEEKS). THEN HAVE STUDENTS MAKE SIGNS WITH THE NUMBERS 1 TO 31 ON THEM. THE NUMBERS SHOULD BE LARGE ENOUGH TO BE CLEARLY SEEN FROM A DISTANCE. USE A DISPOSABLE CAMERA TO TAKE A PICTURE OF EACH STUDENT HOLDING ONE OF THE NUMBERED SIGNS. SLIP THE PHOTOGRAPHS INTO THE POCKETS ON THE CALENDAR. CHANGE THE CALENDAR EACH MONTH! BACK-TO-SCHOOL ABC BOOK. THIS IS AN ACTIVITY THAT CAN BE DONE ACROSS THE GRADES! SHARE WITH STUDENTS SOME ABC BOOKS FROM THE SCHOOL OR TOWN LIBRARY AND TELL THEM THAT THEY WILL BE WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A BACK-TO-SCHOOL ABC BOOK. ASSIGN A LETTER OF THE ALPHABET TO EACH STUDENT. BRAINSTORM WITH STUDENTS POSSIBLE WORDS FOR EACH LETTER OR ALLOW EACH STUDENT TO CHOOSE HIS OR HER OWN WORD. EXPLAIN THAT THE WORDS MUST BE RELATED TO ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH SCHOOL. OF COURSE, THE DIFFICULTY OF THE WORDS WILL VARY, DEPENDING ON THE GRADE LEVEL OF THE STUDENTS. FOR EXAMPLE, A MIGHT BE REPRESENTED BY THE WORDS ART, ABACUS, ATTENDANCE, ALGEBRA, ADDITION, ADVISOR, ATHLETICS, AUDITORIUM, ALPHABET, ANSWER KEY, APPLE, ARITHMETIC, ANNOUNCEMENT, AWARD, A-V, AIDE, OR ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL. FINALLY, HAVE EACH STUDENT ILLUSTRATE HIS OR HER WORD. COMBINE THE PICTURES TO CREATE A BOOK. DISPLAY THE BOOK IN THE CLASSROOM OR SCHOOL LIBRARY. AS AN EXTRA CHALLENGE, YOU MIGHT LIMIT OLDER STUDENTS TO CHOOSING ADJECTIVES; NO NOUNS ALLOWED! BACK-TO-SCHOOL WORD SEARCH. PRINT A BACK-TO-SCHOOL WORD SEARCH AND CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO FIND THE SCHOOL-RELATED WORDS HIDDEN IN THE PUZZLE. OR CREATE YOUR OWN WORD SEARCH PUZZLE CONTAINING THE FIRST NAMES OF ALL THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS. GO TO PUZZLEMAKER. COMS WORD SEARCH PUZZLEMAKER TO CREATE YOUR PUZZLE. 30. Making An Important Book ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL I READ THE IMPORTANT BOOK BY MARGARET WISE BROWN. I REVIEW PARAGRAPH WRITING AND INSTRUCT THEM TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH FOLLOWING THE SAME FORMAT AS THE BOOK ABOUT THEMSELVES. I ALSO DO THE SAME. AFTER THE ROUGH DRAFTS ARE WRITTEN THEY ARE TO DO A FINAL DRAFT AND ATTACH IT TO A WHITE PIECE OF PAPER, WHERE THEY ADD AN ILLUSTRATION. ALL THE PAGES ARE LAMINATED AND BOUND INTO A BOOK. STUDENTS REREAD THIS BOOK THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. IT EASILY BECOMES A FAVORITE. STUDENTS ALSO ENJOY READING THE BOOK FROM THE PREVIOUS YEARS CLASSES. 31. Names Word Search IN ORDER FOR MY STUDENTS TO GET TO KNOW THEIR CLASSMATES, I CREATE A WORD SEARCH WITH THE NAMES OF MY STUDENTS. AFTER ALL THE NAMES ARE FOUND THE REMAINING LETTERS REVEAL THE HIDDEN MESSAGE WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL. THIS WEBSITE IS GREAT FOR CREATING VARIOUS TYPES OF PUZZLES HTTP://WWW. PUZZLEMAKER. COM 32. Me Puppets ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (UNLIKE THE REMAINING DAYS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR), THE CHILDREN ARE USUALLY RELUCTANT TO TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES. WE MAKE ME PUPPETS USING PAPER PLATES FOR THE HEAD, YARN FOR THE HAIR, AND CONSTRUCTION PAPER FACIAL FEATURES, WITH A POPSCICLE STICK FOR A HANDLE. UPON COMPLETION, WE STAGE A PUPPET SHOW. THE CHILDREN HIDE THEIR FACES WITH THE PUPPETS AND TELL THEIR CLASSMATES ALL  ABOUT THEIR FAMILIES, HOBBIES, PETS, ETC. 33. First Day Name Puzzle ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, I LIKE TO MAKE A NAME PUZZLE WITH MY STUDENTS. I TAKE A LARGE PIECE OF POSTER BOARD, AND MARK OUT LINES THAT CAN BE CUT INTO PIECES. MAKE SURE THAT THE PUZZLE WILL HAVE ENOUGH PIECES FOR EACH STUDENT TO HAVE ONE. WE ALL GATHER ON THE FLOOR TO WRITE OUR NAME ON THE BLANK SIDE OF THE POSTER BOARD. I WRITE MY NAME IN THE MIDDLE, AND THE STUDENTS WRITE THEIR NAME IN ALL DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. WHEN I HAVE FREE TIME, I CUT THE BOARD INTO PUZZLE PIECES. AS A CLASS WE EACH FIND THE SPOT WHERE OUR PUZZLE PIECE BELONGS. TAPE THE PUZZLE TOGETHER AFTER SCHOOL, AND POST IT ON THE WALL IN THE CLASSROOM. WHEN THE STUDENTS RETURN THE NEXT DAY, THE WILL BE EXCITED TO SEE THE PUZZLE, AND TO SHOW OFF THEIR NAME. MY KIDS HAVE FUN TALKING AND, WORKING TO PUT THE PUZZLE TOGETHER. 34. First day (or week) of schoolFamily Wreath I COLLECTED FAMILY PICTURES OF EACH OF MY STUDENTS DURING OUR INTRODUCTION DAY. I TOLD THE FAMILY I WOULD PROBABLY NOT RETURN THESE PICTURES. I THEN TOOK THE PICTURES AND MADE A FAMILY WREATH, FOR THE LONELY DAYS OR WHEN THE STUDENTS JUST MISSED HOME. THIS WAS A  HUGE HIT WITH ALL THE FAMILIES AND THE CHILDREN. I PLACED THE WREATH IN THE HOME LIVING AREA, AND WAS AMAZED TO SEE THE STUDENTS, ALL YEAR http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German: http://www. allemandfacile. com/english LONG, GO OVER TO THE WREATH AND TAKE TIME TO ADMIRE IT AND THEIR FAMILY. (SOME FAMILIES INCLUDED PET PICTURES TO PUT ON THE WREATH). ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL I AUCTIONED IT OFF TO A FAMILY AND BOUGHT SUPPLIES FOR THE CLASS ROOM. ALL MY PARENTS WANTED THIS KEEPSAKE. 35. Getting Acquainted.. I LIKE TO HAVE SOME GET ACQUAINTED PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS. ONE THING I DO IS WHEN I SEND MY PARENTS A WELCOMING LETTER, I ASK THAT THE CHILDREN BRING IN A SMALL BAG OF PICTURES AND OTHER SMALL OBJECTS THAT COULD BE PART OF A ME COLLAGE. THESE COLLAGES ARE A GOOD SPRINGBOARD FOR THE CHILDREN TO DISCUSS THEIR UNIQUE QUALITIES, AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR, THEY ENJOY SEEING HOW THEY HAVE CHANGED. WE ALSO MAKE SCHOOLHOUSE PICTURE FRAMES FOR THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PHOTOS. I CUT SCHOOLHOUSES OUT OF OAKTAG, AND THE CHILDREN GLUE PASTA ON THE FRAMES. I SPRAY PAINT THE PASTA FRAMES GOLD. THE PARENTS LOVE HAVING THIS MEMENTO OF THEIR CHILDS FIRST DAY WHEN I GIVE IT TO THEM ON BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT. 36. Getting to Know Each Other .. ON THE FIRAT DAY OF SCHOOL DO AN ACTIVITY TO BRING THE CLASS TOGETHER SUCH AS A CLASSROOM SURVEY. THE STUDENTS WALK AROUND AND TALK TO THE OTHER STUDENTS AND FILL OUT A QUESTIONAIRRE. AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER. 37. Fun First Day Activity .. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL I HAVE PLENTY OF PRE-CUT LETTERS IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS ON A TABLE. AS THE CHILDREN COME IN THEY FIND THE LETTERS TO SPELL THEIR NAMES AND GLUE THEM TOGETHER. I HANG THESE FROM THE CEILING! THEY REALLY BRIGHTEN UP THE ROOM AND LOOK GREAT FOR OPEN HOUSE! USUALLY THIS IS THE FIRST THING THEY POINT OUT TO THEIR PARENTS. 38. What are your expectations? ASK FOR THEIR EXPECTATIONS. TELL THEM YOURE INTERESTED IN THEIR OPINIONS AND YOURE ASKING THEM THESE QUESTIONS AS A WAY OF FINDING OUT ABOUT THEIR LEARNING STYLES AND PREFERENCES. ASK THEM TO WRITE, USING AS MUCH DETAIL AS POSSIBLE, THEIR RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS, SUCH AS †¢ NOW THAT IVE TOLD YOU MY EXPECTATIONS OF A GOOD STUDENT, WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF A GOOD TEACHER? †¢ TELL ME ABOUT THE BEST TEACHER YOUVE EVER HAD. WHAT MADE THAT PERSON SUCH A GOOD TEACHER? †¢ NOW THAT IVE TOLD YOU SOME OF MY IDEAS ABOUT HOW WE WILL GO ABOUT LEARNING THIS YEARS MATERIAL, TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU LEARN BEST. GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF A PROJECT OR UNIT WHERE YOU LEARNED A LOT. DESCRIBE THE PROJECT IN DETAIL. 39. TIME CAPSULES: A TIME-PROVEN YEAR OPENER I GIVE EACH STUDENT A SHEET WITH QUESTIONS SUCH AS WHATS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? WHATS YOUR FAVORITE SONG? AND WHATS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK? ON IT. THERES A SPACE FOR STUDENTS TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR AND ANOTHER SPACE FOR THEM TO ANSWER THE SAME QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE YEAR. AFTER STUDENTS PUT THEIR ANSWERS IN THE FIRST BLANK, I TIE ALL THE SHEETS TOGETHER AND PUT THEM IN MY FILE CABINET, BRIGHT TOLD EDUCATION WORLD. ITS ALWAYS FUNNY AT THE END OF THE YEAR TO HEAR THEM LAUGHING AND SCREECHING OVER THEIR ANSWERS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. THEY ALWAYS CHANGE THEIR MINDS BY THE END OF THE YEAR! BEGINNING-OF-THE-YEAR TIME CAPSULES CAN INCLUDE MANY OTHER ITEMS TOO. IN ADDITION TO STUDENTS QUESTION SHEETS, THEIR INDIVIDUAL TIME CAPSULES MIGHT ALSO INCLUDE A. TRACING OF THEIR HAND, A PIECE OF YARN CUT TO MEASURE THEIR HEIGHT, AND A WRITING SAMPLE. SEALED THE ITEMS IN ENVELOPES, AND OPEN THEM AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. STUDENTS WILL SURELY BE AMAZED AT THEIR GROWTH PHYSICALLY AND ACADEMICALLY! FOR THAT TIME CAPSULE WRITING SAMPLE, YOU MIGHT USE ANOTHER OF BRIGHTS FAVORITE BEGINNING-OF-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES. I HAVE STUDENTS INTERVIEW EACH OTHER LIKE NEWSPAPER REPORTERS SOMETIME DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL, BRIGHT EXPLAINED. THEY HAVE TO ASK A PARTNER FIVE QUESTIONS AND USE THOSE ANSWERS TO WRITE A PARAGRAPH ABOUT THEIR PARTNER. THEN THEY INTRODUCE THEIR PARTNER TO THE CLASS BY READING THE INTERVIEWS. 40. THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS INVITING STUDENTS TO SHARE A FEW OF THEIR FAVORITE THINGS IS A GREAT WAY TO BREAK THE ICE! INTRODUCE AN OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCY ON WHICH YOU HAVE ALL KINDS OF PICTURES THAT DESCRIBE YOURSELF. THERES A PLANE, LOTS OF BOOKS, A HILL, AND MORE. INVITE YOUR STUDENTS TO GUESS FROM THE DRAWINGS WHAT YOUR FAVORITE OUTSIDE INTERESTS MIGHT BE. (DID YOU GUESS TRAVELING, READING, AND HIKING? ). GIVE EACH STUDENT A SHEET OF DRAWING PAPER AND ASK THEM TO TELL ME ABOUT THEMSELVES USING ONLY  PICTURES. BREAK INTO SMALL COOPERATIVE GROUPS, AND EACH GROUP TRIES TO TELL ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THEIR GROUP. OF COURSE, WALK AROUND AND INTERACT WITH EACH GROUP TO KNOW THEM TOO. 41. MAKE A LARGE CHART TITLED GETTING TO KNOW YOU. LAMINATE THE CHART AND HANG IT ON A WALL IN YOUR CLASSROOM. THE CHART HAS SECTIONS FOR EACH STUDENTS NAME AND INTERESTING FACTS, SUCH AS HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN THEIR FAMILY, HOW MANY PETS THEY HAVE, THEIR FAVORITE http://www. ToLearnEnglish. com – http://www. ToLearnFrench. com – Spanish : http://www. espagnolfacile. com/english German:

Gender Bias In Education Education Essay

Gender Bias In Education Education Essay At the heart of the gender bias conundrum are questions of male marginalization, stereotypes and gender identity and female subordination. These concepts will be explored throughout this paper as the basis for gender dialogue. At one of the spectrum is a gendered curricula and at the other end teaching. Studies on gender in the Caribbean has focused largely on issues surrounding gender differential curricula and access(on students more than teachers)This paper focuses is an attempt at both sides. Gender can be defined as set of behaviours, roles and positions which can be socially and culturally attributed to men and women. Gender is constantly shaped through social and cultural experiences which are expressed through the attitudes, value and behavioural characteristic of interpersonal intereaction.(2002, Leo-Rhynie and Pencle). The gender process is a difficult one which commences at birth and is continuously reinforced throughout life. The idiosyncracies demonstrated by gendered groups in society has implications for the identities adolescents develop and to a large extent determine the careers and lifestyles chosen. Gender bias implies some form of preference, inclination and prejudice for one sex over another. Education (that is access, enrolment, participation, performance and achievement) emerges as the arena in which both academic analyses and popular perception locate male marginalization.(2003,Barriteau, p.326). Feminist theorists like Sadker (1994) believe that whilst girls and boys sit in the same classrooms, using the same books, listening to the same teacher, they receive different education. In fact, upon entering school, girls perform equal to or better than boys on nearly every measure of achievement, but by the time they graduate high school or college, they have fallen behind. (Sadker, 1994) However, discrepancies between the performance of girls and the performance of boys in elementary education leads some critics to argue that boys are being neglected within the education system: It is no wonder Errrol Miller posited his maginalization thesis indicating the biases that existed in education and gender socialization However, if it is that males are marginalzed leading to fewer graduates from secondary and tertiary institutions;how is it possible that they are the ones selected for executive positions?Central to this discourse is the concern that men are missing from the higher echelons of the family, classroom and laborforce.(2006, Lindsay). Schools serve as an important agent of socialization in society. There are gendered rules and regulations that are reinforced in schools.Teachers play a pivotal role in accepting behavior that are socially appropriate and rejecting the inappropriate ones. Their roles serveas models in creating gender identity. In a study of British schools (1988,Mahoney) noted that giles had already started practicing their secretarial role for their male counterparts, as they were expected by the boys to provide eraser, ruler and writing materials. In one classroom a boy left his seat and walked across the room to have his bandage fixed by a girl. This provided practice for boys to dominate and the girls to find strategies of resistence. Pencle(1994) observed the sexual division of labour in one jamaican classroom where girls were assigned indoor duties of sweeping and dusting while boys ran errands outside and lifted furniture. From an early age gender stereotypes were instituted in childrens lives by the various agents of socialization(church, family and school responsible for educating boys and girls. Literature is another area where the reinforcement of stereotpical views are orchestrated and administered. According to Pencle Leo-Rhynie (2003), textbooks à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦provides an inaccurate view of society to young people, a view which devalues the role of women.(p.204).They further cited research done by King and Morrisey(1988) whose examination of contemporary text history, geography and social studies utilized by teachers and students in preparation of the Caribbean Council Examinations(CXC); concluded that these books reinforced conventional societal views of patriarchy and male domination. The language in the books did not include women and exhibited them as playing passive, subordinate and menial roles. Additionally, Whitely(1994) ananlysed Integrated science books used in lower grades of Jamaican schools. He discovered that considerable male bias in these texts and questioned the influence it had on girls choice of studying science. Pencle and Leo-Rhynie asserted that the programmes pursued by girls reveal and obvious attraction to the helping professions such as teaching and nursing. Education has been considered as the key vechicle of mobility and social change in the Caribbean. Thus, education is a tool of persuausion and has been instrumental in gender role socialization and thus gender identity. Teachers have played an enormous role in the process so much so that the historiography over the last 30 years have given much attention to what is coined as the feminization of the teaching profession (Downes, 2003, p.303). Errol Millers Marginalisation of the Black Male and later Men At Risk was an empirical analysis of schools teachers in Jamaica in the period 1837 to 1990. Millers underlying thesis is that men have a right to the resources of the state and society over and above women. Many theorist have labeled Millers thesis as flawed as male marginality has stemmed from gender biased methodology rather than from reality. Lindsay, 1997). She believes that the marginalization thesis is a reinforce of the age old patriarchal mandate that women are a inferior and l esser being. Barritean(2003, p350) ciites Chevannes, whose work on coeducation and performance contradict many of Millers assertions of male performance, underachievement and education. Chevannes conclude that there are biases operating in the selection of certain subjects as opposed to others, and there is no evidence to suggest that girls routinely out perform boys, but ample evidence of gender performance both ways in specific subject areas. At very early ages, girls begin defining their femininities in relation to boys. One study of a third grade classroom examined four self-sorted groups of girls within the classroom: the nice girls, the girlies, the spice girls and the tomboys. Through interviews researcher Diane Reay found that nice girls was considered a derogatory term indicating, an absence of toughness and attitude. (Reay, 2001) Furthermore, the girlies were a group of girls who focused their time on flirting with and writing love letters to boys, the tomboys were girls who played sports with the boys, and the spice girls espoused girl-power and played rate-the-boy on the playground. Reays research shows that each of the groups of girls defined their own femininities in relation to boys. (2001) The Reay study further demonstrates how socialization of girls occurs at the school level by tolerating different behaviors from boys than from girls. Assertive behavior from girls is often seen as disruptive and may be viewed more negatively by adults. In Reays study, the fact that the spice girls asserted themselves in ways contrary to traditional femininity caused them to be labeled by teachers as real bitches. (2001) This reinforces the notion that girls misbehavior to be looked upon as a character defect, whilst boys misbehavior is viewed as a desire to assert themselves. (Reay, 2001) Clearly the socialization of gender is reinforced at school, Because classrooms are microcosms of society, mirroring its strengths and ills alike, it follows that the normal socialization patterns of young children that often lead to distorted perceptions of gender roles are reflected in the classrooms. (Marshall, 1997) Yet gender bias in education reaches beyond socialization patterns, bias is embedded in textbooks, lessons, and teacher interactions with students. This type of gender bias is part of the hidden curriculum of lessons taught implicitly to students through the every day functioning of their classroom. In Myra and David Sadkers research, they noted four types of teacher responses to students: teacher praises, providing positive feedback for a response; teacher remediates, encouraging a student to correct or expand their answer; teacher criticizes, explicitly stating that the answer is incorrect; teacher accepts, acknowledging that a student has responded. The Sadkers found that boys were far more likely to receive praise or remediation from a teacher than were girls. The girls were most likely to receive an acknowledgement response from their teacher. (Sadker, 1994) These findings are confirmed by a 1990 study by Good and Brophy that noted that teachers give boys greater opportunity to expand ideas and be animated than they do girls and that they reinforce boys more for general responses than they do for girls. (Marshall, 1997) Gender bias is also taught implicitly through the resources chosen for classroom use. Using texts that omit contributions of women, that tokenize the experiences of women, or that stereotype gender roles, further compounds gender bias in schools curriculum. While research shows that the use of gender-equitable materials allows students to have more gender-balanced knowledge, to develop more flexible attitudes towards gender roles, and to imitate role behaviors contained in the materials (Klein, 1985) schools continue to use gender-biased texts: Once teachers have recognized their gender-biased behaviors, they need to be provided with resources to help them change. In their study focusing on how the effects of a gender resource model would affect gender-biased teaching behaviors, Jones, Evans, Burns, and Campbell (2000) provided teachers with a self-directed module aimed at reducing gender bias in the classroom. The module contained research on gender equity in the classroom, specific activities to reduce stereotypical thinking in students, and self-evaluation worksheets for teachers. The findings from this study support the hypothesis that female students would move from a position of relative deficiency toward more equity in total interactions. (Jones, 2000) This demonstrates that teachers who are made aware of their gender-biased teaching behaviors and then provided with strategies and resources to combat bias are better able to promote gender equity in their classrooms. However, beyond changing their own teaching behaviors, teachers need to be aware of the gender bias imbedded in many educational materials and texts and need to take steps to combat this bias. Curriculum researchers have established six attributes that need to be considered when trying to establish a gender-equitable curriculum. Gender-fair materials need to acknowledge and affirm variation. They need to be inclusive, accurate, affirmative, representative, and integrated, weaving together the experiences, needs, and interests of both males and females. (Bailey, 1992) We need to look at the stories we are telling our students and children. Far too many of our classroom examples, storybooks, and texts describe a world in which boys and men are bright, curious, brave, inventive, and powerful, but girls and women are silent, passive, and invisible. (McCormick, 1995) Furthermore, teachers can help students identify gender-bias in texts and facilitate critical discussions as to why that bi as exists. Departments of education should be providing mandatory gender-equity resource modules to in-service teachers, and gender bias needs to be addressed with all pre-service teachers. Educators need to be made aware of the bias they are reinforcing in their students through socialization messages, inequitable division of special education services, sexist texts and materials, and unbalanced time and types of attention spent on boys and girls in the classroom. Until educational sexism is eradicated, more than half our children will be shortchanged and their gifts lost to society. (Sadker, 1994). With the emergence of feminist movements and human rights groups, steps have been taken to address gender bias, a historical bias that has pervaded humanity for centuries. The creation and utilization of gender neutral terms and the entrance of men in tradionally females roles and women in male roles has been greeted with mixed feelings. There is still much to be done to correct the imbalance, a st ep which will require the merging and coming together of many social groups that have defiantly kept the barriers.

Business Analysis of HydroCan Essay -- Consumer Market Businesses Reta

Business Analysis of HydroCan Overview The company HydroCan is planning to launch a new type of lawn car product called â€Å"StaGreen†. They have hired a consulting group called â€Å"Stone Age Marketing Consultants† to create a marketing plan to launch there new product. They can’t decide between launching the product to the consumer market or the commercial market. So research is conducted on both markets to determine where the product should be marketed to. The Product The StaGreen is a chemical fertilizer created to improve your lawn but with a unique benefit that no other lawn care product has. The fertilizer reduces the need for manual watering on most types of grass by 40%. The Consumer Market The consumer lawn care market is a very pricey market with Canadians spending $2.3 billion in 1995. Not only does the consumer market have high spending, it also has high competition. StaGreen’s competitors would be â€Å"Scott’s Turf Builder† , â€Å"Scott’s Miracle-Gro†, and â€Å"Ortho† . These three products control 50% of the total consumer market. Lawn care products are mainly sold in three types of stores; discount stores, specialty stores, and home improvement stores. The most lucrative of the three are discount stores because in 1994-1995 it is estimated that 60% of fertilizer sales were purchased in discount stores. This is a large comparison to 30% in specialty stores and 10% in home improvement stores. The Commercial Market The commercial market is mainly fixed of Golf co... Business Analysis of HydroCan Essay -- Consumer Market Businesses Reta Business Analysis of HydroCan Overview The company HydroCan is planning to launch a new type of lawn car product called â€Å"StaGreen†. They have hired a consulting group called â€Å"Stone Age Marketing Consultants† to create a marketing plan to launch there new product. They can’t decide between launching the product to the consumer market or the commercial market. So research is conducted on both markets to determine where the product should be marketed to. The Product The StaGreen is a chemical fertilizer created to improve your lawn but with a unique benefit that no other lawn care product has. The fertilizer reduces the need for manual watering on most types of grass by 40%. The Consumer Market The consumer lawn care market is a very pricey market with Canadians spending $2.3 billion in 1995. Not only does the consumer market have high spending, it also has high competition. StaGreen’s competitors would be â€Å"Scott’s Turf Builder† , â€Å"Scott’s Miracle-Gro†, and â€Å"Ortho† . These three products control 50% of the total consumer market. Lawn care products are mainly sold in three types of stores; discount stores, specialty stores, and home improvement stores. The most lucrative of the three are discount stores because in 1994-1995 it is estimated that 60% of fertilizer sales were purchased in discount stores. This is a large comparison to 30% in specialty stores and 10% in home improvement stores. The Commercial Market The commercial market is mainly fixed of Golf co...

Violence in Christianity Essay -- Violence Christianity Religion War E

Violence in Christianity Violence, it has been a main tool in the Christian arsenal since the middle ages. From the Crusades to the Inquisitions of Spain, violence is ever prevalent. Even in this day and age, intolerance and violence continue to be preached. But is this violence an instrument of God or man? Is violence an inherent part of this religion? Some would say that it is indeed built in to the very fabric of its being. The Old Testament is full of the smiting of infidels and those who defy God. The Book of Revelations tells of the violent and fiery demise of this entire planet. There are instances of mass genocide, the killing of innocent children, holy wars, you name a violent act and God has called for it. The story of Noah recounts how God killed off everyone in the world save one family. This violence, some speculate, is a result of man?s own doing. Perhaps God?s word was miss-interpreted or those in power sought to legitimize their own violent acts through the involvement of religion. Regar dless of whether it was God or man that made religion violent, it is now deeply a part of it. The very involvement of religion into a dispute can cause the dispute to escalate exponentionally. ?Limited mundane conflict may escalate into violence when the issues at stake are imbued with religious ultimacy. (Klausner 268)? Violence not only plays a strong role in both commandment and practice, it is part of the very core of this belief system. From the zeal and fervor of conversion to the conquest in the name of a deity, violence is ingrained into religion?s very being. ?Religion? engenders an energy that may be experienced as despair or as enthusiasm? Despair can feed an urge to rid the world of pollution and sin (Klausner 268).? Violence in the religious realm may serve several purposes. It can be an end unto itself, a means to accomplish a religious or religious/economic/political goal. It can be done to invoke terror and awe, as in ?witness the power of our God and tremble before his might.? However it is enacted and whatever its reasons, violence is now an inescapable inevitability in religion?s ongoing battle between Good and Evil. In attempting to prove this, I will be drawing on a body of information collected from the Bible; The Encyclopedia of Religion: Articles on: Violence, Crusades, Inquis ition; Ethics: Violence; Dictionary of Middle Age... ... Roman gods certainly seem to be human projections onto the divine; perhaps we as Christians just projected a human father figure onto a beard in the sky as a means of protection and justification for the wickedness of man. After all, if it is in the name of God, how can we be wrong? Bibliography Candelaria, Michael R. Ethics. Ed. John K. Roth. ?Violence.? Salem Press Inc.: 1994. Finucane, R.C. Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. ?Inquisition, The.? Macmilian Publishing Co.: 1986. Johnson, James Turner. The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Ed. James F. Childress & John Macquarrie. ?Just War?. The Westminster Press: 1986 Klausner, Samuel Z. Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. ?Violence.? Macmilian Publishing Co.: 1986. Little, Donald P. Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. ?Crusades.? Macmilian Publishing Co.: 1986. New American Standard Bible. Russell, Frederick H. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. ?Crusade, Concept of.? American Council of Learned Societies: 1984. Wakefield, Walter L. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. ?Inquisition.? American Council of Learned Societies: 1984.

Essay --

The Economy, Monetary Policy, and Monopolies Alesia E. Davis Strayer University Eco-100 Dr. Shadrack Koros December 6, 2013 Analyze the current economic situation in the U.S. as compared to five (5) years ago. Include interest rates, inflation, and unemployment in your analysis. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal posted on the 6th of December 2013, employers in the United States have continued to increase jobs at a fixed pace and the unemployment rate fell in November, a sign of stronger economic growth that may intensify debate within the Federal Reserve about reducing central bank bond purchases as early as this month. (Wall Street Journal, 2013) U.S. payrolls rose by 203,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 7.0%, the lowest level in five years. (Wall Street Journal, 2013) Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast nonfarm payrolls would rise by 180,000 and the unemployment rate would tick down to 7.2%. Payroll numbers in September and October were reviewed up by a combined 8,000. Friday's report may strengthen expectations that the Fed will soon slow the pace of its $85 billion a month in bond purchases. At their October meeting, officials were looking to end the program "in coming months." The Fed's program, started in September 2012, is designed to keep long-term interest rates low, boost investment and spur hiring. (Wall Street Journal, 2013, New York Times, 2013) In October of 2013, the US inflation rate eased for the third straight month to 1 percent, the lowest rate since October of 2009. Primarily due to a drop in gasoline prices in September, the price dropped to ... ...t possible competitors from entering the market. (O'Sullivan, A., Sheffrin, S., & Perez, S. (2012)) â€Æ' The Wall Street Journal - Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News & Video - Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wsj.com The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://NYT.com Interest rates: The big freeze - Jan. 22, 2013. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/01/news/economy/interest-rates.moneymag/ O'Sullivan, A., Sheffrin, S., & Perez, S. (2012). Survey of economics: Principles, applications, and tools (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall. Job Creation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://useconomy.about.com/od/Employment/tp/Job-Creation.htm The Bell System| History| AT&T. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.corp.att.com/history/history3.html

Is inverting in CSR profitable or not

Is Investing in CARS profitable to business? At any juncture when an organization goes past simply legitimate compliances and emphatically engages in activities that seem to more extensive social good which is for the most part outside the diversions of the firm and is more customized towards the more extensive social responsibility, the firm Is said to have embraced the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CARS) (McMillan et al. 2006). The terms corporate social responsibility (CARS), corporate governance (CGI corporate sustainability (CSS), corporate citizenship and triple bottom line (TAB) are all being seed synonymously with each other and all these terms fall Into the broader concept of â€Å"ethical business† (Cast et al. , 2004). CARS Is taking the responsibility to empower people both socially and economically (Albuquerque, 2010).Holmes and Watts (1999) suggest that â€Å"CARS Is a duty of every corporate body to protect the Interest of society at large and alt hough every business's mall motive Is to earn profit, corporate should take the initiative for welfare of the society and should perform Its satellites accordingly†. CARS includes elements such as environmental protection, social equity ND economic growth and has a strong empathy with the founding principles of quality management (Leonard and Macadam, 2003).A fundamental belief among business and society scholars is that CARS ‘pays off for the organization as well as for the stakeholders and the society in general (Burke and Logon, 1996). The concept of CARS contrasts the classic economic argument that management has only one responsibility which is the wealth minimization of its owners. Classical economist Milton Friedman argued that the main aim of management is â€Å"to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Friedman, 2007).Even economists such as F riedman, who had previously suggested that social matters were not the concerns of business people and that these problems had to be resolved by unrestricted workings of the free market system, had to change their views regarding corporate social responsibility (Carroll, 1991). A theory called the agency theory exists which suggests that CARS is a complete misuse of corporate resources that could have been spent on value-added internal projects or even have been returned to the shareholders (McMillan et al. 006). Alexander and Buckshot (1978) and Bowman and Hair (1975) have contrasting views suggesting that stakeholders might have a positive view when managers implement CARS and might consider that to be a standout management skill because a firm that Invests In the society Increases It's perceived social reputation which In turn helps build the company's Image whereas companies that do not contribute to the society might not reap equal benefits.Mousse's and Evans (1986) suggest tha t socially responsible activities have a significant Impact on firm's standing especially with such Important areas such as inkers, Investors, the government and engaging In social satellites Is a pivotal part of decision makings In banks and other Institutions these days. A direct Implication of this might be that the businesses can secure more capital from Investors Just because of their perceived social reputation. Investors are only drawn in generally if the profitability then obviously investors would not be interested.There are many organizations embracing the concept of CARS and there are many examples which show significant relationship between CARS and profitability. There have been other retinues too who have suggested a negative relation between social responsibility and profitability and have in fact argued that engaging in socially responsible activities are an added cost to the business that puts the firm at an economic loss compared to firms that are less socially res ponsible (Brandon and Merlin, 1985).However, this traditional concept of cost increment has been downplayed by many organizations that have adopted the concept and the results are quite promising too. One such organization is Timberland which has provided employees the opportunity o take significant amounts of paid time off to volunteer for social causes of their choosing (Peppier, 2003). Louis Button has been introducing CEO-friendly products and has been actively supporting environmental causes which could in turn entice customers to purchase the company's luxury items (Does and Schooner, 2009).Wall-Mart reduced transportation costs by $3. 5 million, saved 3,424 tons of corrugated materials, 1,358 barrels of oil, 5,190 trees and 727 shipping containers through their CARS initiative (Hampton et al. ). Ecology and Environment Inc. (2008) reported an 80% deduction in its annual carbon emissions from its headquarters noting that the efficiency gains resulted giving the company an esti mated net savings of approximately $232,000 from 1998 to 2008 (Sprinkle and Amines, 2010).Another prime example is Body Shop which generates so much profit because it advertises itself as being ethical as it bans animal testing and considers effect on endangered species when choosing ingredients for the company's products (Dennis et al. , 1998). Companies that engage in social performance by adapting CARS as a concept have often increased their ability to entice and to retain employees which in turn leads to owe turnover and significantly less training and recruitment costs (Turban and Greening, 1997). Merck has donated more than 2. Billion tablets of drug Emaciate (vermilion) to help eradicate river blindness in parts of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle easy and some observers noted that there were few financial benefits to Merck (Dick, 2009). Organizational culture is equally important at the workplace because it is directly related to ethical principles. A manager might prom ote unethical practices so as to achieve targets or higher profits causing fear among employees of the company's practices which might be detriment to their own good in the long run (Ross and Perry, 1999).Cornell and Shapiro (1987) induced a new theory whereby they claim that firms with a perceived social image might discover to have substantially lower cost than those of competitors which means they have a better financial performance. Even multinationals have engaged in socially responsible activities abroad. An example is Shell, an oil company based in London that came under intense criticism from various group over their drilling operations in Nigeria ND to compensate that Shell invested over $50 million in health, education, agriculture, Job creation, women's programmer, youth training and sponsorship (Eagleburger, 2003).The need for CARS emerged as it goes beyond Just the legal framework and various attempt have been made by governments of various countries to try and blend th e concept with existing legal paradigms. An example has nothing at all for the wide range of stakeholders that could be affected by the company's decisions such as consumers, employees or the local communities (Frankest, 2001). In the I-J, a number of commissions have been setup since the sass like the Hamper Commission (Committee on Corporate Governance, 1998) which rejected the idea quoting the fact that â€Å"accountability to many is accountability to none† (Frankest, 2001).Being socially responsible has many positive effects for the business. Socially responsible companies not only Just enjoy the benefits of brand image and reputation but also have less risk of negative risk events such as bribery, corruption, child labor scandals and sweatshops which could damage their reputation and cost millions of dollars in information and advertising campaigns Outsource, 2004). Marigold et al(2007) studied the empirical link between corporate social performance and corporate financ ial performance and found out that the overall correlation was positive.They also found that the association was strongest for specific dimension of charitable contributions, revealed misdeeds, and environmental performance. While selecting normal business rules and especially when it comes to selecting a profitable outcome, companies select CARS activities which yield the highest total payoffs in terms of collective benefits to the firm and its takeovers and which fall within the range indicated for strategic CARS of a firm as suggested by (Burke and Logon, 1996).Companies that adopt the CARS principles in the product industry run less risk of having to recall defective product lines and pay heavy fines for excessive pollution which means consumers can trust the companies that are seen to be investing heavily in CARS activities (Outsource, 2004). While helping reduce staff turnover, if CARS activity can hold one highly trained specialist who earns $100,000 this can translate into a $400,000 benefit for the company as the cost of employee turnover can range from 50% to 400% base salary (Sprinkle and Amines, 2010).According to Martin(2002), â€Å"Corporations often willingly engage in socially responsible behavior precisely because it enhances shareholder value†. Academic researchers face difficulty in measuring the relation between social and financial performance. Business students and business faculty members and even fortune rankings have been found to have used subjective indicators (Outsource, 2004).Other researchers have however used survey instruments, behavioral and recapture measures, rating seems, combination of surveys: financial statements, articles on companies in press, academic Journals and government reports to asses profitability against various dimensions (Outsource, 2004). The problem with academicians and researchers is that it is hard to measure profitability Just on one dimension of the broad dimensions that corporate social respon sibility has to offer.Another problem underlying the concept of corporate social responsibility is that it can only come into reality if managers adopting it become moral instead of amoral or amoral (Carroll, 1991). The philanthropic functions and ethical functions (Carroll, 1991) have taken a significant place in recent years making it even difficult for any measurement as such.Other variables can be measured through statistical tools and dependent and independent variables analysis can also be done. Burke and Longed (1996) suggest that there are five strategic dimensions which help firm assess the value created for the firm by CARS programmer: centrality, specificity, their strategic proposition can expect really good results compared to the ones that just eliminate CARS activities.Caravan and McGuire(2010) suggest that ‘increasingly, human resource development (HARD) is viewed as having a role in helping organizations achieve societal, environmental and economic goals'. CAR S as previously mentioned by the author is linked to other departments too. Companies engaging in CARS can actually produce efficient results such as helping to raise awareness among employees, developing potential attitudes towards sustainability, environmental awareness and corporate citizenship.CARS is interrelated with other components of management science. For example, Press et al (2009) suggest that HARD investment as been found to be associated with a positive impact on the triple bottom line of business, social and economic performance and various other literatures aforementioned have suggested how CARS has contributed to reducing staff turnovers hence contributing to a better organizational performance in all sects of the firm itself.There is an argument that exists between business students on how CARS has become a part of business and management courses worldwide and the fundamental aim of business is to make profit; the students deduce the fact that if CARS was not prof itable why would it even be considered as a feature in the study of equines and management as suggested by (Mullions, 2007). There are a few organizations that have adopted CARS and used it as a marketing tool.Tell bank was a bank which was successful because it marketed itself as an ethical bank and other Islamic banks which have tailored their services to meet the religious and cultural needs of the local people are found to have done relatively well (Wilson, 2005). Many organizations have adapted to the concept of implementing CARS activities and even gone on to using it for strategic purposes and almost all of the time to increase their revenues (Wilson, 2005).Classic literatures in business and society proclaimed that while CARS might have short term costs, it actually pays off in the long run as suggested by (Davis K, 1997 and Steiner G. C (1980). Burke and Logon (1996) suggest that companies should carry out the following analysis while implementing CARS so as to increase the ir profits: Firms need to identify the stakeholders which are vital for achieving the firm's mission, aims or strategic objectives. Firms need to find out policies that are relevant to CARS, programmer and related activities which tailors to the wide range of stakeholders. Firms need to access the opportunities that offered by implementing CARS project so as to attain their strategic objectives or so as to solve problems and threats facing the problem (certainty). Firms need to access the cost benefit analysis of CARS projects which can be captured or internalized by a firm opposed to other firms in the same industry especially the competitors (Specificity). Firms need to anticipate future changes in the organizations environment and changes in the needs of key stakeholders which could be addressed through proactive CARS policies and activities (Proactively). Firms need to determine the starting point of mandated requirements in order to find out the opportunities for voluntary acti vities (voluntarism). Firms need to identify opportunities so as to create positive visibility with relevant internal or external stakeholders from CARS activities (Visibility). Finally, firms need to measure and associate the value or future value that is expected from various CARS projects various countries bringing out new legislations and have recognized environment, employees and consumers to be significant and legitimate stakeholders of business. Carroll (1991) suggest that â€Å"corporate executives have had to wrestle with how they balance their commitments to the corporation's owners with their obligations to an ever-broadening group of stakeholders who claim both legal and ethical rights†.Various literatures have suggested both positive and negative correlation between profitability and corporate social responsibility. However, there is no compelling evidence from literature to suggest that there is negative correlation between the two. Organizations that have adapt ed the concept of CARS and have made it part of heir strategy have found to have done well (see examples above) (Albuquerque, 2010). It might be the prime reason why various organization in different parts of the world have used the concept of CARS in their strategic decision making phase.There might be some organizations which have embraced the concept of social responsibility as a voluntary activity but research literatures show that organizations that have used and tailored programmer to social good have in fact benefited in terms of financial performance too. Companies and board of directors now discuss he term CARS in their annual general meetings and are seen to be keen on engaging in these activities and even go as far as advertising what they did in their brochures which are generally released in various Scams.This paper recommends the use of CARS by businesses and there are academic and research evidences to suggest that engaging in these activities will help increase profi t levels for different organizations but Outsource(2004) views suggests that extensive studies are needed to explore the casual mechanism linking CARS to profitability and to determine whether or not those relationships hold consistently over time.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Selling Cosmetic Products Through Door-to-Door Selling, Specialty Stores, Department Store Counters, and Supermarkets and Hypermarkets?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of selling cosmetic products through door-to-door selling, specialty stores, department store counters, and supermarkets and hypermarkets? ?Door-to door selling The advantage of using door-to door selling is the salesperson can make initiative to go around door-to door to persuade customers to buy the cosmetic products instead of waiting the customers to visit your shop. The company is able to save money for setting up a visible shop which usually costs a lot. Besides, there is no need to take attention on the design and decoration of the shop and display of goods.Sometimes, the customers really have no intention to buy the products, but due to continuous persuasion of the salesperson, they buy it in the end. Using door-to door selling method has a great potential to earn unlimited revenues. It is also considered convenient to customer as products are delivered directly to them. Salesperson can explain the functions of the cosmetic products a nd recommend what is suitable for the customer face-to face and one-by one. This is typically vital in sales of cosmetic products as each person suits different kind of cosmetic products and customers will have lots of question to ask the salesperson.It is important to provide good services to customers in door-to door selling. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages of using door-to door method to sell cosmetic products. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, customers might have lots of questions about the cosmetic products and cause time consuming. Especially for cosmetic products, for those who have been using, they will be loyalty to particular brand and will not change dramatically which appears to be risky as they do not know whether the new brand suits them even you kept on persuading them.It is difficult to provide consistent good quality of services. Besides, it is also difficult to employ and retain salesperson due to the unattractive working conditions. Most of the people will reject to attend to the salesperson. As a result, the salesperson may even not have a chance to promote the products. ?Specialty stores Firstly, specialty store for cosmetics provide professional services by trained salesperson and beauty consultants. This can attract many consumers as they can save money to consult a professional consultant and yet can get recommendation, free analyze of their skins, newest information and trends.Specialty stores also provide full range of merchandises of specific cosmetic brand. This provides convenience to customers. Specialty stores can also be renovated and designed based on the theme or concept of the brand. This is helpful to build the identity of the brand in order to attract more customers. However, to train the salesperson and beauty consultants, the store has to spend a lot of money and time. And also, it is very costly to renovate the specialty stores. Without sufficient and a big amount of fund, it is totally impossible to operate a specialty store.Specialty stores might not be able to attract customers who initially do not have interest in this brand to step in. In addition, specialty stores have to put in effort to draw traffics on their own, unlike selling products in department stores and supermarkets. ?Department store counters Setting counters in department store is the most popular channel in cosmetic products. Department store attracts all groups of customers and offers a wide variety of brands of cosmetic products to customers.The cost of setting up counters in department store is much less compared to setting up a specialty store. However, setting counter in the cosmetic products department is very competitive as all different brands of cosmetic products are put together in a particular area. Especially for cosmetic products, customers can go to every counter and try each product. Customers can just walk around and compare among the brands. Besides, the space is rather small and has to pu t in great effort in the location of displaying the products to attract customers. ?Supermarkets and hypermarketsSelling cosmetic products in supermarkets and hypermarkets cost cheaper. Usually there is no salesperson promoting the products, thus can save money on recruitment. Basically, most cosmetic products sold in the supermarkets and hypermarkets are basic, lower-priced mass products. Without salesperson, the cosmetic products appear to be less attractive. Furthermore, similar to setting counters in department stores, supermarkets will diversify their products into different departments. Thus, all cosmetic products will be placed together which is highly competitive.