Teachers in Nathaniels Life Essay Example for Free

Teachers in Nathaniels Life Essay Long after we finish school we remember our school teachers and experiences. We gain experience as a consequence of the situation or the people, who surround us. Our school teachers often help us to decide on important life choice and inspire us in our further pursuits. Nathaniel, the main character of the book The Soloist, written by Steve Lopez had several excellent teachers, who helped him with his experience in music and also in life. These three teachers helped Nathaniel during his personal difficulties and in the achievements he had along the way. Nathaniel’s first teacher was William Moon. Moon appeared in a complex and transitional period of Nathaniel’s life, when Nathaniel’s personality and confidence started to fade. Before Nathaniel turned eleven he was the happiest child. He had a complete happy family, but soon after his life took an unexpected turn. Nathaniel’s parents divorced. Nathaniel wanted to see his father, to be with him, share his experiences, but the child felt that there’s no place in his father’s life or him. Nathaniel was shocked by these changes: he couldn’t understand why his father abandoned his family. Floria Ayers, his mother remarried and Nathaniel and his two sisters moved to their mother’ new husband’s house. Alexnader Mangrum, his new stepfather had four children. Nathaniel had very complicated relationships with his stepbrothers and stepsisters, who weren’t happy to see â€Å"strangers† in their house. Nathaniel considered to leave his mother’s home. He told his little sister: â€Å"Let’s run away†. But she answered him: â€Å"Where are we going to go? You don’t think they are going to call our mother in a minute we got there? † They spoke of running away to aunt and uncle’s home. Nathaniel’s confidence and outgoing personality slowly began to fade after a short stay at his father’s home, the young man returned to Cleveland more sullen, more broken and yet more grown-up, it seemed. And there, in Cleveland Nathaniel met him, his first teacher. William Moon inspired Nathaniel. He put into the student the love of music. Music became the escape from reality for the lonely teen. Mr. Moon’s daughter Marjorie was studying music at Ohio University and played a string bass. One day, when Nathaniel heard how Marjorie plays the string bass, he told Moon: â€Å"That’s what I want to do. I want to do what she does†. (p155) This decision has defined Nathaniel’s way forward. The aspiring musician did all his best. Soon Nathaniel became so good, that William Moon couldn’t help him any longer. Moon had become attached to Nathaniel so much, that he even considered Nathaniel to be his son. He referred his talented student to Cleveland Orchestra, where Nathaniel met the next very important person and mentor of his life. Harry Barnoff improved Nathaniel’s musical ability, but also the teacher helped Nathaniel to believe in himself. Barnoff grew up in conditions, similar to Nathaniel’s. Their parents weren’t musicians. Nathaniel found his own way himself like Barnoff many years before, thanks to fate and natural talent. Further Barnoff helped his student to believe in himself during the hard repressive time in American history and enroll in Julliard. Probably, Barnoff was the most beloved of all Nathaniel’s teachers. Even many years later, when Nathaniel was mentally ill and needed to hear a familiar voice, Nathaniel called Barnoff. Lopez mentioned: â€Å"For many years Harry Barnoff was the man Nathaniel tried so hard to impress. It was Barnoff he called when he was in trouble, and it was Barnoff, whose phone number he still had committed to memory more than twenty years after the last time he dialed it†. (p 175). These words show how much Nathaniel was attached to Barnoff. Barnoff wasn’t an ordinary character in Nathaniel’s life. Barnoff was Nathaniel’s teacher, spiritual relative guide and friend for many years. The two previous teachers have been a part of Nathaniel’s past. They have done a tremendous job in a building of Nathaniel’s character. But that’s not enough; Nathaniel needed the help and support for the present. As such, Pete Snyder came into Nathaniel’s life for that purpose. Snyder is a famous musician, who consented to give the lessons to Nathaniel. They met because of Steve Lopez. Snyder read the article and invited Lopez and Nathaniel to his concert. Snyder was going to help Nathaniel in finding his own way in his current situation. The teacher’s purpose was to rehabilitate Nathaniel through music. Snyder was someone like a doctor for Nathaniel. He was a doctor, who treated Nathaniel without medications. Snyder did it through Nathaniel’s enthusiasm for music and it paid off. Lopez states: â€Å"It was a promising break through. Nathaniel is confronting his fears and thinking more rationally† (p. 179) Also with Snyder’s help Lopez tried to persuade Nathaniel to move in to an apartment after thirty years living on the streets and he did just that. At first Nathaniel refused to be in an apartment. He said: â€Å"It’s not my room; I’m not going to be living in here†. (p. 167). However, a week after holding the lessons with Snyder, Nathaniel started to like his new place. One day Nathaniel went out his new apartment to the yard and he saw his neighbor James, who was smoking a cigarette there. When he finished, he threw a cigarette butt on the floor. Nathaniel hated to see garbage on the floor, especially cigarette butts. When Nathaniel saw it he came to James and said: â€Å"Excuse me, sir, you cannot smoke here† Nathaniel said it with such authority, as if he was a courtyard monitor. There stood in the yard and to James’s question: â€Å"Who are you? You don’t live there† Nathaniel pointed on the window of his room and said: â€Å"This is my place† (p. 186) I don’t think that Nathaniel would go so far without Peter Snyder. One day, when Nathaniel had a dialogue with Snyder about the reason of refusing the room. Nathaniel said that in the tunnel he hears the city and doesn’t feel cut off from it like he does inside these four walls. Snyder’s answer had to impress Nathaniel and gave him a different point of view:†Think of this as a clean quiet tunnel. Nathaniel got this point; he agreed that the room is a good decision for his passion, not a prison as he thought of before. Each of Nathaniel’s teachers made an important contribution in Nathaniel’s life. It changed it for the better I had similar experience. I was a very a stubborn child. I never listened to other people’s opinion and I didn’t listen to my school teachers. Probably the main reason for my attitude to teachers was that my teachers didn’t generally like their job and I sensed that. However, after I met my math teacher all that changed. She as very kind and very helpful. Professor Ahmatullaeva wasn’t an ordinary teacher, who taught basic math. She also showed us why math is interesting. She inspired us to learn math. Her attitude was completely different. When I saw her I remembered my mother. Her eyes beamed pure warmth. When she saw that we can’t do something she helped us, when she saw that we felt bad she took care about us. Farida Ahmatullaeva did her best for us. We were a big family for her. She always told us that we are her kids. Even after our graduation we came to school just to visit her. She was always touched that we loved and remembered her. Our teacher Farida remembered all of our names and everything we did in class. A couple days before leaving Tashkent I met her. She was also leaving my city to go to Russia. I remember this day as it was yesterday. I saw tears in her eyes. My teacher told me: â€Å"I know, you will do your best and achieve whatever you want. † She became very close for me because she wasn’t an ordinary teacher, she was also my friend and mentor. There’s no doubt that teachers are very important for the development of our personality. They take part in our educational and the moral foundations of our lives just as our parents do. Our first part of life is at home; as we grow up we continue our lives at school. Teachers become the next support and network by helping us to mature. That’s why becoming a teacher is a very responsible choice. Being a teacher goes beyond the delivery of the essential subject. It also means to be personally connected. Teacher is a bond between the person, who teaches knowledge to students and the person, who provide with a life experience. Also teacher tries to put themselves into the student’s shoes, share own point of view. Teacher helps a student make a decision and give new ways of looking at some experiences. If we are more aware, we have a wider disposal of choices.

Scientology Scam :: essays research papers

So, can you say anything good about Scientologists? Well, they are snazzy dressers. Oh and Tom Cruise is one! And the person who started scientology also wrote that sci-fi classic "Battlefield Earth". What a great movie... :-| OK let me go on the offensive now... Scientology is rather young. Beginning in 1953, during a coincidentally timed slump in Layfaette Ronald Hubbard's book sales. Originally a few "help centers" sprung up, taking the places of bookstores where for a nominal fee and the purchase of a copy of Dianetics, you could soon be feeling the effects of a new way to look at religion. Of course the timing is all coincidental right? BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Wrong-O-Laserbrain! Take a look at this quote from a Sci-Fi convention in Newark, New Jersey: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way to do it would be to start his own religion."Guess who said that? OK that was an easy one... Guess when he said it? March 1949. Oddly enough he hasn't mentioned this directly to any of his cul-- I mean, his congregation. Scientology bases itself on a belief that we are simply the living vessels for an alien soul. That's right. The alien soul is called the thetan. A human being can get in touch with his inner E.T. by achieving a level of clear (Scientology plays like an RPG, you get XP, you raise levels) It takes a lot of money to become clear, for reasons I have yet to discern, but Juliette Lewis apparently was able to do so, which leads me to believe it was indeed money that spurs the alien to the surface, and not intelligence. Now, let's take this further.... As many of you know, I'm not a religious man, however I would be remiss to use one of the fundamental pillars of Christianity to lend credence to a new religion I was trying to set up. Yep, that's right, Jesus was a Scientologist. According to L. Ron Hubbard, Jesus was an ordinary man, who went a shade above clear. This allowed his mortal body to produce what looked like miracles, although according to L.R.H. any scientologist can do this with enough training in the way of the thetan. I'm wondering why Scientologists aren't trying to bring more credibility to their religion if this is the case, hell, one or two of them could damn near end world hunger! Oh right, the thetan needs money to perform.

Bill Clinton and leadership Essay

For the purpose of this paper, I have chosen the political leader and the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton as the subject of my essay. This paper is based on two of his autobiographical books which were based on his early childhood as well as his life before, during and after his presidency. The book My Life is an autobiographical account by Bill Clinton himself. He is the sole author of the book which was published in the year 2004. The book clearly outlines the various events of his life. These events pertained to the inauguration of Clinton as the 42nd president of the United States of America. This second volume, the first being a biography by Adam by the name of Bill Clinton, puts Clintons term in the office as the epic fall and the term of redemption. This was mostly indicated like such I the book due to the disastrous failure which came bout due to the actions of Mack McLarty, the white house chief of staff, as well as the promiscuous behavior of Clinton and the relationship with Hilary Clinton which was more emphatically and influential than his specific term. The years of 1993-1994 are depicted as the time where things were falling apart for both America as well as the Clintons. However the period following that pertaining to 1995-1996 the book depicts Clinton as In terms of the leadership and presidency Bill Clinton was much favored as being the revolutionary and sensible politician who with the support of his first lady was able to make America as the greatest nation of power in the world. The book also made use of many military metaphors to describe the situation the context of the book. It was highly apparent by reading the book that it was mostly about the evolution and change in the personality of Bill Clinton following his inauguration as the President of the United States. The change in him depicted him as being an arch baby boomer to the undisputed leader of his country. The accounts covered by Clinton were very much expected as he takes into account the bogus scandal of Whitewater, the unethical dalliance with Monica Lewinsky as well as his attempts at managing and balancing the budget for the United Stated of America. Other topics covered in the book also pertain to the Middle Eastern crisis and the peace plan proposed by him. However the more illuminating topics those were discusses in the book related to his personality and his life on a much personal note. This depicted the strength he showed as a person and how ,much the person as developed, and matured over the years in terms of his decision making him an ideal president for the United States during his time at the white house. The book itself however is ill organized and quite chaotic. The reason for this which can be ascertained for the events following and surrounding the launch of the book as well as the statement given by Bill Clinton himself was that the book is basically the picture into his life and the various significant events that took place in it. It is very much like the efforts of a small school boy however the content varies in terms of several topics and themes. The period of the presidency is treated like a rush period where the events merge into each other and the timeline is haphazard skipping large time variables in some instances. However despite the lack of maturity in the book, and the ill organization of the content the book did become a best seller, its sales even surpassing the sales of the memoirs of Hilary Clinton. The book My Life by Bill Clinton suffered criticism for the former advisor of Clinton’s Dick Morris who wrote a rebuttal by the name of Because HE Could. Through this book, Dick Morris set right and pointed pout the various inaccuracies which were present in the autobiographical account by Bill Clinton. The authors view on leadership however pertains to a more peaceful and negotiation based method of employing power and making use of it. Bill Clinton is of the opinion that in order to be able to run the country, a dictatorship is not the answer, instead innovative and democratic methods pertaining to dissemination of ideas across the board is a much better way of conducting managerial tasks. The author has stated through his autobiographies as well that the bet for of leadership is when the leader takes into account the point of view of those around him, gathering the specialized intellect available and then unanimously voting on the most beneficial and cost effective solution/ decision for the specific issue or case. This is a very democratic approach to decision making. However in the form of leadership described by Bill Clinton, it is essential to have a formal figurehead as this has the effect of providing the followers and the general population with one pint of view as well as a unified direction. The decision itself may be a democratic one however the proceedings to be carried out have to be collaborative in nature dictates from one source. The aspect of democratic leadership can be applied to the leadership for schools. The reason for this is that the political landscape pertaining to the role of leadership is much institutionalized. This is the same case with schools and colleges which are institutionalized as well with a formal set of rules and ethical code of conduct. However the differences settle in relative to the size of the operation. The operations conducted by Clinton were extensive, even global in nature. The scope for the school is restricted somewhat limited inn terms of the resources available, the staff participation and the relevance and long term effect of the decision making. However the same principle of school leadership as a form of democratic leadership can be employed. School leadership can be employed using democratic leadership styles characteristic of Bill Clinton by giving autonomy as well as decision making power to the lower staff and managers for their operations as well. This is an important component of the democratic leadership as the management and staff is usually the closest entity to the students and can understand their issues and problems much better. Moreover by being close to the students in terms of proximity the staff is also able to observe them and make them provide inputs for the prospective solution to the problem and the long term strategic goals of the institution. This information can be gathered form the expert and specialized managers and staff in the school and then relayed on to the appointed leader. The chairman for the board of directors of the school can then take this information in to account as well as any other information that would be reported by the management and the staff. After performing a cost benefit analysis and the long term strategy and profitability analysis the board of directors would be able to ascertain upon the main strategy for the school and how the issues need to be addressed. The above mentioned format for leadership enables almost all the members of the organization to participle and conduct a two way communication with the leader or the leaders of the organization. The solutions and strategies formed through this method are more accepted by all those concerned an in the long run are mostly effective as well. In terms of applying the leadership techniques and theories mentioned in the book and practiced by Bill Clinton clearly depict that the leader has to be an enigmatic person who has charisma and charm to carry out the role of being a figurehead and a liaison to the elements in the external environment. These views would enable me to hold a position of leadership in the school by making the fellow students aware of the characteristics that I have for being a potential leader as well as the communication and negotiation skills that would enable me to conduct discussions with them pertaining to the solution of the issues and the problems that hand. Aside from this the enigmatic personality is good for public relations as well as gaining the confidence and support of those around me. References 1. Clinton, B. , (2004), My Life, Publisher: Knopf, ISBN-10: 0375414576

Evaluation System For Student Growth And Learning - 845 Words

According to the National Education Association the teacher assessment and evaluation is used to strengthen the knowledge, skills dispositions, and classroom, practices of professional education. The aim of the evaluation to promote student growth and learning. Comprehensive systems that support teacher evaluation will foster professionally and instructionally. I will give an overview evaluation systems failures supported national education association and my personal experiences in the professional. In addition, I will elaborate and critique North Carolina evaluation system for teachers. However, evaluation systems have had negative impacts on current systems. Current systems have failed to improve teacher practice and enhance student growth and learning. Summative observations performed by school principals lack training on observations. Many administrators do not receive continuous professional development from their local district. This impacts teacher’s observations beca use principals can produce actionable feedback. Using evaluation checklist are often meaningless when the checklist are designed to depict good practice. â€Å"Failure to prepare is preparing to fail†. (Nate Gallimore 2010 p.67) Evaluation systems failed to identify teacher professional growth and provide professional learning opportunities tailored to the instructional need. All teachers have different strength and weakness instructional. Therefore, teachers should attend professional development forShow MoreRelatedStrengths And Weaknesses Of The Teacher Keys Effectiveness System934 Words   |  4 Pagesstrengths and weaknesses of the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) from the perspective of a future school leader. 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