Binomials in English - Definition and Examples

Binomials in English s Definition In language studies, a pair of words (for example, loud and clear) conventionally linked by a conjunction (usually and) or a preposition. Also called a binomial pair. When the word order is fixed, the binomial is said to be irreversible. (See Examples and Observations below.) A similar construction involving three nouns or adjectives (bell, book, and candle; calm, cool, and collected) is called a trinomial. Also, see: ChunkCollocationDoubletsIdiomReduplicative Etymology From the Latin, two names Examples and Observations Examples of binomials in English include aches and pains, all or nothing, back and forth, beck and call, bigger and better, bit by bit, black and blue, black and white, blood and guts, bread and butter, bubble and squeak, cease and desist, checks and balances, cloak and dagger, cops and robbers, corned beef and cabbage, cut and dried, dead or alive, death and destruction, dollar for dollar, dos and donts, fair and square, fast and loose, fire and brimstone, fish and chips, flesh and bones, goods and services, ham and eggs, hand to mouth, hands and knees, heads or tails, hearts and flowers, hem and haw, high and dry, high and low, high and mighty, huff and puff, hugs and kisses, kiss and make up, knife and fork, leaps and bounds, life and death, little by little, long and short, lost and found, loud and clear, make or break, milk and honey, needle and thread, nickel and dime, nip and tuck, now or never, null and void, nuts and bolts, old and gray, one to one, open and shut, part and p arcel, peace and quiet, pins and needles, pots and pans, rags to riches, rise and fall, rise and shine, rough and ready, safe and sound, saints and sinners, short but sweet, show and tell, side by side, slip and slide, soap and water, song and dance, sooner or later, spic and span, sticks and stones, strange but true, sugar and spice, thick and thin, time after time, tit for tat, tooth and nail, toss and turn, ups and downs, wash and wear, and win or lose. Reversible and Irreversible Binomials In the typical newspaper headline Cold and snow grip the nation it is proper to set off the segment cold and snow as a binomial, if one agrees so to label the sequence of two words pertaining to the same form-class, placed on an identical level of syntactic hierarchy, and ordinarily connected by some kind of lexical link. There is nothing unchangeable or formulaic about this particular binomial: Speakers are at liberty to invert the succession of its members (snow and cold . . .) and may with impunity replace either snow or cold by some semantically related word (say, wind or ice). However, in a binomial such as odds and ends the situation is different: The succession of its constituents has hardened to such an extent that an inversion of the two kernels*ends and oddswould be barely understandable to listeners caught by surprise. Odds and ends, then, represents the special case of an irreversible binomial.(Yakov Malkiel, Studies in Irreversible Binomials. Essays on Linguistic Themes. University of California Press, 1968) Synonymous and Echoic Binomials The third most frequent binomial in the DoD [Department of Defense] corpus is friends and allies, with 67 instances. Unlike the majority of binomials, it is reversible: allies and friends also occurs, with 47 occurrences.Both allies and friends refer to countries which accord with US policies; as such, the two coordinates of the binomial may incline us to categorize the binomial as synonymous (Gustafsson, 1975). Rhetorically speaking, friends and allies may have an intensifying function, similar to echoic binomials (where WORD1 is identical to WORD2), such as more and more and stronger and stronger.(Andrea Mayr, Language and Power: An Introduction to Institutional Discourse. Continuum, 2008)

Foreign Policy Conflict Between Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians in Term Paper

Foreign Policy Conflict Between Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians in 1790's - Term Paper Example In this environment, the two positions were antithetical and their opposition extended into the darkest corner of every issue, foreign policy included. Thomas Jefferson, the most well known proponent of Anti-Federalism, along with Alexander Hamilton, the most well known proponent of Federalism, often made their views clear in letters written to friends and associates. From these first-hand accounts, historians can piece together the political divides that fragmented early American politics, placing them in context and measuring the relevance of what they had to say to today’s heated discussions. Indeed, any study of 1790s American politics will reveal a deeply polarized discourse. In fact, one historian has remarked that today’s polarized politics is â€Å"mild by historical standards† (Rawls 89). Indeed, from its inception, American democracy saw the rise of fundamentally opposed political parties, in particular the Federalists and Anti-Federals. Just from the n ames ascribed to these political groups, one can tell that their beliefs were opposites on many levels. Deeply opposed convictions spurred vicious trading of barbs between politicians and newspapers, which we highly critical of their opponents (Daniel 6). However, as historians today note, the strength and productivity of American democracy â€Å"also comes from the parties† (Rawls 95). ... Anti-Federalists strongly opposed to the Constitution, believing that it gave too much power to a central governmental institution—a federal government. The president, whom they branded as a â€Å"military king,† they believed, would become a tyrant who would rule over â€Å"the lives, the liberties, and property of every citizen of America† with â€Å"uncontrolled power† (Marshall 251). This fear was based primarily on the ideal that liberties should not be swallowed up to build a more powerful, glorious nation. In arguing for a stronger federal government, the Federalists relied on two powerful arguments in favor of the Constitution: first, that Congress had no leverage against the empires of France, Britain, and Spain because it could not regulate foreign commerce, and second, that restrictions on Congress interfered with its basic duty to provide for a national defense (Marshall 234). Both of these arguments are germane to a nation’s foreign aff airs, which places the topic of foreign affairs central to the debates between Federalists and Anti-Federalists raging in the 1790s. The most visible face of Federalism in the United States during this period was Alexander Hamilton, who took part in organizing a forceful defense of the Constitution in The Federalist Papers, a collection of 85 essays designed to convince the people of New York to ratify the new Constitution. After the Federalist movement, which was intended primarily to see the Constitution ratified (which it was in 1789), the Federalist Party emerged—guided by the policies of Hamilton in the early 1790s (Berkin 208). John Adams, the second President of the United States and only President elected from the Federalist platform, took office in 1789. The election of Adams and the rising

Managing and Leading Quality Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Managing and Leading Quality Services - Essay Example The policy that selected to audit is ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour’. My workplace caters for children with Additional Support Needs (ASN) and these children often display a range of extremely inappropriate behaviours such as spitting, hitting, kicking and throwing. Both in terms of individuals and as part of such an establishment, we have a duty of care and a responsibility to ensure the safety of the children as well as the staff members. With this in requirement mind it is clear to me that it would be appropriate to audit our current policy of ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour’. This is a generic policy published by the local authority and it does not take into account the varying needs of children whom my organization serves. There are some issues arising from the absence of a clear policy or guidelines on how to promote positive behaviour imbedded into the practice of my establishment. The Rationale, Justification and Purposes: Rationale: Proper discipline i s a mandatory prerequisite for facilitating good learning. No matter the nature or extent of indiscipline, it is an obstacle to both teaching as well as learning. At the organisation, I think that every child has a right to access the best education which can be offered in partnership among school, community and the parents. The organisation’s Positive Behavior Policy forms part of â€Å"Safeguarding Policy Portfolio† (Promoting Positive Behavior n.d.) and exhibits our commitment to safeguarding the welfare of all students. Thus, our organization needs to focus on reliable, strong and fair management of learner behavior to establish a safe, congenial and purposeful atmosphere in which every child may develop his or her complete potential. Providing such a high quality learning atmosphere is a significant precondition for learners to attain the maximum possible levels of achievement. â€Å"Parents, teachers, and students work together to create an environment that is s afe and supportive and that promotes learning. It encourages children to think and learn actively and to be hopeful, trusting, loving and healthy† (Positive Behavior Policies and Procedures 2010, p. 2). Every child will also be asked to conform to the principles and rules of the school and parents will be kept educated so that they can support and encourage the use of system. The policy for promoting positive behavior is mainly based on encouragement through recognition of the positive aspects in children. This, in turn, will inspire them to mould their behavior appropriately. Also, when other children observe such encouragement, it will motivate them to imitate such behavior. The policies of the organization must reflect the policies and guidelines of the present local authority and government. At the same time, as procedures symbolize an accomplishment of policy and must evolve over time as new apparatus emerge, new processes will be planned, and the risks connected with an area modified in response to changes in the external or internal environment. Justification: There have been numerous initiatives and investigations in the UK over the last several years with regard to promoting and encouraging positive approaches to behavior and actions. Schools report that their chief concern relates to low level interruption although there are some schools and students that experience severe problems. â€Å"The school needs to be confident that its policies and practices in relation to behavior are positive and

Social Media Versus Traditional Media

Social Media Versus Traditional Media What are the benefits of Social Media over Traditional Media? As both traditional and social media are emerging out for the leadership role in commanding and attracting consumer attention, but its worthwhile to limelight on some of the undeniable benefits of social media over traditional media1. Cost:-Social media Field is open to all with almost no barriers to entry to new entrants to create or distribute Social media context. Only time and production costs are the sunk cost involved in social media. With this investment the context rebound with glance in web unlike TV, radio and newspapers. Intimacy:-Social Media can broadcast information to thousands or millions of people at once with superior quality of dialogues and specificity which traditional media lags. Proximity:-Most importantly to say time and distance has virtually disappeared which acted as barriers between customers and the globe. Social Media has brought the globe together by connecting community like never before. Targeting:-Social media has specific advantage over isolating and focusing on brands or products depending on the customers interest by regularly monitoring and sourcing information. Nimbleness: Social media has a unique advantage as it allows brands to adapt to consumers buying and sharing habits almost instantly as it keeps informed about the area of interest of the customers. Measurement:-Social media can measure brand messaging almost instantly with the customers response to brands and each other across networks, platforms and apps.Whereas traditional media rely on long term measurement tools. Exponential:-As difficult it is for a brand to create its base same is for Social media but after it strikes the exponential growth for social media is limitless and repeatable at lower cost. Participatory:- As barriers to entry is almost equal to zero it encourages customers to participate in commercial dialogues.Dream of brands and consumers in dialogue has finally come true through Social media ,thanks to real-time communication tools. Newness:-Social media is well aware of the new preoccupations of customers but still it has the ability to constantly evolve to meet the customers demand. Social media retains with new shines with reflecting light of new re-engaging consumer attention. Future:-Social media has already focused on brand advertisements following on customers eye ball, it will shortly follow customers adoption of mobile community which will bring a new dynamic for social media. Future is bright and vast for Social Media. 1http://simonmainwaring.com/blog/uncategorized/top-ten-advantages-of-social-over-traditional-media/ Is social media disruptive to traditional media? Social Media applications are basically built on Web 2.0 technology. Social Media today has not emerged completely. Observation of the rise of social media reveals that the number of users of Social Media is increasing. The rate of increase of users is also on the rise. The users of social media now, belong to the early majority group. Since the evolution of social Media began recently and the users belong to early majority group, Social Media has a long way to go. Within this short time and less number of users, Social Media has started taking the share away from Traditional Media. Many firms, today think Social Media as the best Marketing Platform considering the advantages of Social Media over traditional Media. Consider the example of Pepsi, which preferred traditional Media over Social Media. Pepsi thinks, it can attract more customers using Social media rather than traditional Media and started investing $20million in Social media campaigning. Dell is the perfect example of success of return on Investment from Social Media. It has gained $6.5 million sales revenues only from twitter in a very short time. It is expecting its revenues to grow substantially from Social media in future. With the success of Dell many firms are embracing Social Media for Marketing. Coca Cola has started a new department for Social Media Marketing, formulated Social Media Strategy and Social Media Policy. Since, Social Media is a networked industry, i.e., the value for a user increases with increase in number of users and as the value for a user is increasing more users are embracing the Social Media. The number of users is also increasing with the increase in complementary products. For example, in Facebook, number of complimentary products is increasing with increase in number of users and vice versa causing Snow ball effect As the value of Social Media is increasing, users of traditional media are moving towards Social media. Even, the number of Social Media sites is increasing, however, different sites serving different users. The evolution of Social Media is not complete. Hence, once the Social Media is evolved completely, traditional media can become obsolete. What is Social Media Marketing and how does it benefit the producers? Social Media Marketing is the use of various social networking sites for the promotion of some product, service, company or organization. Commonly used social media marketing sites are YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Wikipedia etc. The marketing done using these resources is said to be Social Media Marketing and it is usually beneficial for the producers in following ways Traditional and social media are struggling between each other to attract the consumer attention even though there are some advantages of social media. Bellow there are some points to strengthen our views2. 1. Cost: The cost factor is quite small for the social media. On the other way the cost entry barrier for creating and distributing the Social media is quite small. There are some short of initial investment in terms of developing the social media and time is also needed but if we discard this two small investment it is almost free. It doesnt bear any additional expense like TV, print media and Radio and move into the wave indefinitely to serve the targeted customers. 2. Intimacy: If we look at the potential pitfall of the traditional media we will see that traditional media normally need to broadcast to its large customer base (may be millions of customers) at a time which robs in terms of the specificity and the dialogue of traditional media. But in case of a social media this draw back could be overcome. 3. Targeting: While targeting a specific segment of the market or the specific segment of the customer the social media is much more specific or in the other way it could be easily distinguished in this respect. In the social media space that particular customer base share their ideas and thoughts about different products of their interest and distribute them among each other. 4. Nimbleness: Social media is much more agile in terms of the external environment change as compare to the traditional media. It takes very less time to respond to the external environment change and impacts the consumer buying and sourcing behavior instantly. But on the other hand traditional media takes a bit more time to take change as compare to the external environment. 5. Measurement: In case of the traditional media the measurement style of the effectiveness of the brand messaging is quite time consuming and lengthy process. But in the other hand in case of a social media it is instantaneous. In the social media space the customer reacts to the brands, the platforms and the applications instantaneously. In any case if that response becomes negative the social media have some chances to react to that negative response. 6. Newness: Traditional media is hardly unique in terms of the consumer per-occupation with whatever is new. Even though the huge demand of the consumer who seeks change social media keeps its pace by engaging the sheen in new so that it can attract the consumer attention from time to time. But in case of a traditional media the distribution mode hardly changes even though the content may change. 7. Exponential: even though it is very hard for any product or brand to thread the market social media has huge potential for the exponential growth in exchange of a low cost. 9. Proximity: In the social media space there is virtually no time and distance barrier exist between the consumers. It is more like creating a global and connected community by the customers. These characteristics of the social media open enormous opportunity for the social media for success and failure closely depending on the how well it measures its market dynamics. 10. Future: Now a days most of the time the consumer looks at the online advertising but in near future it will be in the huge mobile community. The advertising dollar will follow in the huge mobile community. It shows a new future for the social media space. 2http://simonmainwaring.com/blog/uncategorized/top-ten-advantages-of-social-over-traditional-media/

Google Is Changing Everything

Google Is Changing Everything 1. Use Google to conduct a search. What advertisements appear next to the search results? Answer: Advertisements related to the search keyword. 2. What is Google trying to do with spreadsheets? Answer: Google try to provide spreadsheets to compete Microsoft products as well as to be able to provide online spreadsheets where people could share and collaborate instantly to the spreadsheets and store the file online instead in local computer 3. What is an enterprise search? Answer: Enterprise search is the practice of making content from multiple enterprise-type sources, such as databases and intranets, to be indexed, searched and displayed to authorized users 4. Identify potential revenue models in Google’s activities described here and on Google’s Web site. Answer: Google potential revenue model is through advertisement. Therefore we can said that Google Revenue = Time Spend On Web. The more time people spent on the web means more exposure to Google ads. For the advertisement, the advertisers pays Google for every person clicks on the ad which lead to the advertiser’s website. . How do Google’s services benefit a company such as Kaiser? Answer: From the case study, we can see that Kaiser developed clinical knowledge portal for their 50,000 doctors, nurses and other caregiver, which main purpose is to allow right information be able to be accessed quickly and easily. Therefore with the combination of knowledge which stored in the po rtal and the advancement of Google Search Appliance, Google able to provide them with reliable indexing and also strong search capability. Furthermore by using Google’s spell checking, problem with doctor handwriting and pharmaceutical products name can be easily overcome. 6. Why is Google considered a Web 2. 0 company? How is it related to social networking? Answer: According to Wikipedia, Web 2. 0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Based on the characteristic of web 2. 0, Google can be considered as Web 2. Company because it can be accessed from anywhere, have strong data which supporting their company, periodically updated, and have good user interface. Google can be considered to web 2. 0 company not only related to their social networking product, but also to their other product such as Gmail, Google Maps, etc. Through Orkut, which already being replaced with Google Plus, which is Google social networking product. From Google Plus user will be able to interact with others and create network with othe rs 7. Enter google. om and identify all wireless activities. Answer: Google try to move all the desktop application to web based application. In the google. com site, the wireless activities that can be found are search maps, Google Plus, Google Mail, You Tube, Google Groups, Google Document, etc. 8. Google derives most of its income from advertisement. Yet, it provides many other services for free. Speculate on the reasons. Answer: It is believed that anything that related to digital networks quickly feels the effect of falling cost. According to basic economic theory, in a competitive market, price falls to marginal cost. And this also applies to Internet, however in this sector every day marginal cost of digital information comes closet to nothing. And in my opinion why Google provides their service free is in order to build their reputation. I believed that once people already gained trusted, feel comfortable and feel that this service provide lots of benefit, they will not be oppose if they need to pay for this service eventually. For example in Google web advertisement, it all started with their good reputation in searching keyword based on their PageRank technology, which lead to attention, which mean increase in traffic, and as a return, money come to Google through advertisement. 9. Identify Google’s activities related to e-commerce. Answer: Related to e-commerce, Google facilitates advertising through Google AdSense. In addition to that, Google also facilitate online selling and buying by introducing Google Product Search.

Corruption: Essay and Students

GEORGIA | 45 Youth Against Corruption: An National Essay Contest (Georgia) Summary The project Youth Versus Corruption consisted of a series of discussions culminating in a school essay contest for 14-15 year olds. Students were encouraged to develop and express their attitudes towards corruption and lawfulness, whilst raising their awareness on the issue through discussions with guest speakers and by writing creative essays. This empowering project captivated the interest of students by providing an opportunity for their opinions to be heard at national level, and by inviting famous people to attend discussions at schools.The project was carried out by Transparency International Georgia between September 2003 and February 2004 in 19 schools in six regions of Georgia1. TI-Georgia worked closely with the Georgian Ministry of Education’s Culture of Lawfulness Project. 2 Background â€Å"During this period of injustice in the country ordinary citizens were hurt most. They longed for money to buy bread, and this is the reason why people started mass protests against the government. The government was unable to use force against its people.High officials had committed so many crimes that they could no longer redeem themselves. Each one of them was involved in corruption and everyone was aware of this fact. After the change of government all the corrupt people became very scared, some of them fled the country, others were arrested†¦ â€Å" Zaza Datukshvili (15) Recent research leaves little doubt that the difficult economic and political situation in Georgia can be attributed largely to high levels of corruption. The attitude of citizens to corruption has also been problematic.Although the negative impact of corruption on a larger scale is widely accepted, its effect on everyday life often remains obscured. Where it is recognised, people are generally pessimistic about the prospects of fighting corruption successfully. Consequently, there is an urgent n eed for awareness-raising campaigns that draw attention to the everyday effects of corruption and the effective means to curb 1 2 The regions included Tbilisi, Senaki, Telavi, Tianeti, Batumi, Gori Funded by the Open Society Georgia Foundation, OSGF, and the US Department of Justice 46 | GEORGIAThe project in numbers 19 schools and 589 students took part in this project; 758 questions were asked on the issues of corruption and legality at the meetings with guest-speakers; 411 essays were written during the contest. corruption. This increased awareness is vital for Georgia’s success and the mobilisation of young people is especially crucial in this regard. A course entitled ‘Culture of Legality’, focusing on law and corruption issues, was introduced and piloted in 19 schools by the Ministry of Education in 2002. It was financed by the American National Strategic Information Center.The ministry dubbed the project a success and integrated the course into the curricu lum of grade 9 (14-15 year olds) for the following academic year (20032004). The course became obligatory for all 147 Tbilisi (Georgia’s capital city) schools as well as in those regional schools where the course was piloted. The ministry intends to bring this course to all Georgian schools over the next two years. The project In conjunction with this new course, TI-Georgia carried out a youth awareness-raising campaign, which included a series of discussions, culminating in an essay contest.The project sought to sensitise young people to issues of corruption and legitimacy and to lend greater impact to the anti-corruption programmes already carried out in schools. The essay component in particular gave students the opportunity to express their ideas and to use knowledge gained from the discussions. The contest also sent a signal that society was interested in youth voices. After a selection process, the nine best essays were published in Georgia’s premiere newspaper, 24 Hours, and posted on TI-Georgia’s website.In introducing this campaign to Georgian schools, TI-Georgia worked closely with the Culture of Legality Programme, the Ministry of Education, the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, and the Anti-Corruption Council of Georgia. TI-Georgia, along with these organisations, offered special prizes for winners, using funds provided by the Soros Foundation. Additionally, prominent panellists in the discussion sessions distributed their books to the students for free. The project also coincided with the pre-revolutionary demonstrations in Georgia, which influenced its implementation. The project commenced in Septem- GEORGIA | 47Carola Huebner-Kruzinna (13), Nicaragua ber and October, just preceding the November 2003 elections followed by the Rose Revolution of 23rd November. People were very preoccupied with the upcoming elections, and, as a result, students and teachers were often absent from school. Planning and organisation The campai gn, Youth Versus Corruption, took place over 6 months. The first month focused on preparation and logistics, during which a project booklet was published with a complete description of the project. The project working group held a meeting with the participant schools’ teachers and Ministry of Education representatives.The working group consisted of a TI coordinator, a professional linguist, a representative of Ministry of Education, a poet, a writer, a lawyer and a journalist. At the first meeting the group discussed the following topics: which issues and questions would best engage the students; the best guest speakers for 14-15 year olds; and how to structure the discussions and essay contest to the age and knowledge level of the students. 48 | GEORGIA Four working meetings were held over two months to establish the form of the contest and a mechanism for evaluating essays.A list of potential guest speakers was established, the format for their discussions was developed, to pics were selected for the essay contest, and project follow-up measures were determined. Students were asked to select the guests they wanted to meet. Their selections included many media representatives. With its extensive network of connections TI-Georgia was able to arrange for these prominent personalities to come speak to the students. Teachers who had taught the Culture of Legality course were contracted as local coordinators for each school.They assisted in organising project events and participated in the preliminary grading of essays. Information booklets and posters were distributed to schools where the discussion sessions were arranged. The following topics for the essay contest were selected: Is injustice the source of corruption, or is corruption the source of injustice? Describe a corrupt person (appearance, life-style) and how they differ from other people; Imagine that you work in an organisation that condones corruption. What would you do? Discussion forums Discuss ion forums were held as a preparatory stage for the essay contest.For each discussion forum, one guest speaker was assigned to each school. In some cases this would be a poet, in other cases, a journalist or famous lawyer. The atmosphere at the events was charged with excitement. The students, especially those from the regions, were thrilled at the chance to meet well-known Georgians they knew from print or television. The parents of the students were also very eager to cooperate and gave useful feedback. The dialogue centred on the students’ personal experiences with corruption, and what they had done to solve or work within the situation.The discussion forums were structured to be interactive. At the beginning of the session, guests would speak about themselves, offer a topic for discussion or invite students to ask questions. TI-Georgia recorded all questions, and used these results to devise essay topics that would be of real interest for the students. Students in the reg ions were more active during the discussions than their counterparts in the big cities and later also took a more independent position in their essays. The urban youth was less optimistic but better informed. In particular, students from schools in the capital were not as active in discus-GEORGIA | 49 sions and were often quite cynical in response to the issues raised. In the more isolated regions, these discussion sessions with famous guest speakers became important events. Although conceptualised as a preparatory stage in the essay contest, it became apparent that the discussion forums were no less important than the contest itself. Student essays were solicited from those schools that participated in the forums. The forums took place during the first few months of the project and the essay contest in the last few months. In sum, there were 19 meetings at 19 separate schools.Each meeting featured one guest speaker and 30-35 students, meaning that, overall, around 600 students part icipated. Essay contest As Georgian school curriculum does not offer specific courses on essay writing, TI-Georgia coordinated a workshop on writing instruction in all participant schools prior to the contest event. The contest then took place on 15th and 16th December 2003. The students were given the three topics outlined above to choose from and two hours to write their essays. They were encouraged to use various written styles to express their opinions on corruption. The evaluation of the essays was conducted in two stages.In order to ensure impartiality, the essays were first evaluated by teachers from other participat- 50 | GEORGIA ing schools. The top ten per cent of essays were selected during this initial evaluation and sent to an independent jury established by TI-Georgia. The jury was composed of a writer, an education official, lawyers, a linguist, and a TI representative. The essays were evaluated on a ten-point system based on four criteria: analytical skill, creativit y, personal expression and command of the Georgian language. Of the over 500 submissions, three winners and eight runners-up were announced.The winning essays, as previously mentioned, were published in the newspaper 24 Hours and on the TI-Georgia website. An awards ceremony was held on 24th December 2003 at the Open Society Foundation Georgia conference hall. TI-Georgia awarded the winners special certificates and prizes. All teachers, jury members, nominated students, partner organisation representatives, guest speakers and donors were invited to the event. Results â€Å"How would corruption be created if there was no injustice? In a just state everything and everyone must serve justice, but does not corruption create injustice?I believe that it is no news for anyone that the truth in Georgia does not have a very big value. Many people ignore the truth and act in an illegal and unjust way. † Tamar Mebonia (15) An evaluation questionnaire was designed to identify changes in students’ views on corruption before and after the programme, and they were disseminated after the contest. The questionnaires also solicited student opinions on which features the programme might add or change, and the students generated a list of potential guest speakers for the next implementation of the project.Empowering students The most important achievements of the campaign were the large number of participants involved and the apparent change in students’ attitudes. Youths that participated in the project learned that their opinions and ideas were valuable and relevant to society. In particular, the interviews revealed that students do have strong views on corruption, but feel that no one is interested in their opinions on the subject. The project was valuable to them as it gave them the opportunity to express their views, which were taken seriously.Furthermore, teachers realised the benefits of discussing the subject of corruption with their students, and of adding such a discussion to the curriculum. GEORGIA | 51 Challenges â€Å"First of all, civil education must become part of the school curriculum, so that the new generation has a different ideology, so that she does not look at injustice as if it were none of her business and so that she takes action in the fight against injustice. She can do this by not offering bribes to the teacher; this will go a long way towards eradicating corruption and injustice. Tamuna Papavadze (15) Although the project was an overall success, TI-Georgia encountered a number of difficulties along its way. For example, the Ministry of Education attempted to control the process and wanted to interfere with the selection of guest speakers and discussion topics. TI-Georgia dealt successfully with this problem by seeking support from other NGOs and putting pressure on the ministry as a collective force. The ministry asked TI not to bring revolutionary activists into schools as guest speakers, at one point goi ng so far as to ask that the project be called off.In addition, they requested that they be informed of the essay topics before staging the contest. Fortunately, TI-Georgia did not make any concessions in these cases, as it had the support of most school officials. The change in administration after the revolution allowed it to continue the second phase of our project without interference. Winning the interest of young people for this project was a central challenge. To this end, TI-Georgia used a few key incentives, including contests and awards, the chance to have an essay published and reach the greater public, and the opportunity to meet major Georgian celebrities.Competitions are not typical in Georgian schools, and the prospect of a contest with awards and public exposure was exciting and motivating for the students. The most difficult and time-consuming part of the project was negotiating with guest speakers and organising their visits. As mentioned before, the project coinci ded with Georgia’s Rose Revolution. This caused a great deal of scheduling difficulty, as most of the planned speakers were active participants in the revolution. In the end, though, TI Georgia successfully held 19 discussions with students in six Georgian regions.Recommendations Most of the participants said that the contest was interesting for them as a way of sharing their opinions, but some still doubted that their ideas would be taken seriously by adults. Therefore, it would be good to expand the distribution of the winning essays, not just to newspapers and websites, but to television stations, radio and other schools. The essays could also be publicly 52 | GEORGIA presented to high-level officials who would then respond directly to the students.There are plans for follow-up projects, specifically to expand the programme to other schools and to first-year university students. Project description by: Lana Ghvinjilia For additional information, please contact: Transparenc y International Georgia at [email  protected] ge The best essays can be read on the website of Transparency International Georgia in English and Georgian language. Address: Transparency International Georgia 18, Rustaveli Ave 0108, Tbilisi Georgia Tel: +995-32-996 615 Fax: +995-32-997 292 Email: [email  protected] ge Website: www. transparency. ge

Interventions for Special Education Students

Teaching students with special needs comes with unique responsibilities and enormous rewards. Modifications—both to your physical classroom and to your teaching style—are often necessary to accommodate them. Modifications mean change while making accommodations means adapting to those things you cant change—existing circumstances. Interventions involve skill-building strategies that are designed to move special students to more advanced academic levels. Do you and your classroom have what it takes? Heres a checklist of strategies to help you develop a  classroom that should meet the needs of all your students. ___ Special needs students should be within close proximity to the teacher or the teachers assistant. ___ Implement procedures that are well understood by all your students to keep noise levels at an acceptable level. The Yacker Tracker is a worthwhile investment. ___ Create a special carrel or private location for taking tests, and/or revise existing seating to accommodate students who more acutely need to be free of distractions for ultimate success.   ___ Eliminate as much clutter as you can. This will also help keep distractions to a minimum. ___ Try to avoid presenting instructions or directions only verbally. Use graphic organizers, as well as written or graphical instructions. ___ Clarifications and reminders should be given as regularly as necessary. ___ Needy students should have agendas which you give them regularly and that you refer to yourself. ___ Communication between home and school should be in place for all students, but particularly for those students with special needs. Your relationship and interaction with a childs parents or guardian can be an invaluable tool and ensure consistency between the classroom and home. ___ Break down assignments and work into manageable chunks, particularly for students with attention span deficits. Provide frequent breaks. Make learning fun, not a draining challenge. A tired child is never at his most receptive to new information. ___ Your classroom expectations should be clearly outlined and understood, as well as consequences for inappropriate behaviors. Your approach for conveying this information will depend on the individual special needs of the children involved.   ___ Extra assistance should be available when needed, either from yourself or from a more accomplished peer. ___ Praise students when you catch  them doing things correctly, but dont overdo it. The praise should be a real reward, not something that happens over every small accomplishment but rather in response to a string of related accomplishments. ___ Use behavior contracts to target specific behaviors.   ___ Make  sure students are familiar with and understand your curing and prompting system that helps them stay on task. ___ Never begin instructions or directions until you have the undivided attention of your entire class. ___ Allow additional wait time for your special needs students. ___ Provide special needs students with regular, ongoing feedback and always promote their self-esteem. ___ Make sure all your learning experiences really do  promote learning. ___ Provide activities that are multi-sensory and that  take learning styles into consideration.   ___ Allow time to let your special needs students repeat instructions and directions. ___ Modify and/or shorten assignments to ensure success. ___ Have methods in place so students can have text written to them and so they can dictate their answers. ___ Provide opportunities for cooperative learning. Working together in groups often helps to clarify misconceptions for learning delayed students.