Create Activity Night Opportunities for Families

While students in grades 7-12 may be testing their independence, parents and caregivers may feel as though they are becoming less necessary. Research shows, however, that even at middle school and high school grade levels, keeping parents in the loop is critical to each students academic success. In the 2002 research review  A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement,  Anne T. Henderson and Karen L. Mapp conclude that when parents are involved in their children’s learning both at home and at school, regardless of race/ethnicity, class, or parents’ level of education,  their children do better in school. Several of the recommendations from this report include specific types of involvement including learning-focused involvement activities including the following: Family nights focused on content areas (arts, math, or literacy)Parent-teacher conferences that involve students;Family workshops on planning for college; Family activity nights are organized on a central theme and are offered at school during hours that are favored by (working) parents. At the middle and high school levels, students can fully participate as well in these activity nights by acting as hosts/ hostesses. Depending on the theme for the activity nights, students can demonstrate or teach skills sets. Finally, students can serve as babysitters at the event for parents who need that support in order to attend. In offering these activity nights for middle and high school, consideration should be given to the age and maturity of the students in mind. Involving the middle school and high school students when planning events and activities will give them ownership of an event. Family Content Area Nights Literacy and math nights are features in elementary schools, but at the middle and high school schools, educators can look to feature specific content areas such as social studies, science, the arts or technical subject areas. The nights could feature student work products (EX: art shows, woodcraft demonstrations, culinary tastings, science fair, etc.) or student performance (EX: music, poetry reading, drama). These family nights could be organized and offered school wide as large events or in smaller venues by individual teachers in classrooms. Showcase Curriculum and Planning Nights While much attention has been been on the curriculum revisions taking place nationwide  to align with the Common Core State Standards, individual school district curriculum changes are what parents need to understand in planning academic decisions for their children. Hosting curriculum nights in middle and high school lets parents preview the sequence of study for each academic track offered in the school. A overview of a schools course offerings also  keeps parents in the loop  on  what students will learn (objectives) and how measurements for understanding will be done in both  formative assessments  and in summative assessments. Athletic Program Many parents are interested in a school districts athletic program. A family activity night is an ideal venue to share this information for designing a students academic course load and sports schedule. Coaches and educators at each school can discuss how parents should be aware of the time commitments required of participating in a sport, even at the intra-mural level. Preparation of coursework and attention on GPAs, weighted grades, and class rank given in advance to parents of students who wish to participate in college athletic scholarship programs is important, and this information from athletic directors and guidance counselors can begin as early as 7th grade. Conclusion Parent involvement can be encouraged through family activity nights that offer  information on a variety of relevant topics such as those listed above. Surveys to all stakeholders (educators, students, and parents) can help design these family activity nights in advance as well as provide feedback after participation.  Popular family activity nights can be repeated from year to year.   Regardless of the topic, all stakeholders, share responsibility in preparing preparing students for college and career readiness in the 21st Century. Family activity nights are the ideal venue to share critical information tied to this shared responsibility.

Immigration Laws Are The Motivators Of Illegal Immigrants

One of the most controversial political issues of today is that of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Should the question of Illegal immigration into the United States be stopped, as it is unfair to both Americans and Mexicans which illegally immigrated. It is thought that the majority of illegal aliens that are now living in the U.S. are Mexicans (Anderson 55). Roy Beck clarifies the situation by stating, The national consensus is that the United States should be a post-mass immigration country which has included most leaders of business, religion, labor, academics, and social work.† Illegal immigration from Mexico must be stopped by means of different or completely new policies and other methods of prevention, because the effects on both†¦show more content†¦This has stopped a larger flood of people, since most immigrants seem to come to the U.S. in times of Mexican economic depression (Mexico† 2). The most apparent reason Mexicans illegally immigrate is to find j obs. Therefore, the elimination of the chance of them getting a job would be a major deterrent. A bill created by senators in California would allow the employer to enter a job applicant s social security number over the phone in order to receive confirmation of a person s official citizenship (DeMott 31). this would work along with the need for legal documentation that would have to be shown to employer as proof for current verification of legal citizenship,187 works directly with limiting their job opportunities and therefore discouraging men and women from even thinking about ever illegally immigrating. The Consequence Delivery System or Border Patrol is the most effective and powerful form of prevention. They are an agency of Immigration and Naturalization enforcers, that are charged with detecting and preventing illegal passage to the U.S. between America and other countries like Mexico (Anderson 59). U.S. caution on the border causes more delays, higher risks, and raised costs for the jumpers.† The addition of more guards are forcing potential illegal aliens to either be fined or by causing them to hire coyotes† to smuggle them, losing possible wages, which go to paying for food and

In Howards End, Forster is very much on the side of women, and unfair to male characters Free Essays

Edward Morgan Forster was born in 1879 in London. His father died before he was born and subsequently it was women who brought him up, his mother and great-aunt Marianne Thornton. Foster spent his childhood largely in the female company and in their sheltering presence, who no doubt gave him knowledge of how women were perceived and where their role was in the society. We will write a custom essay sample on In Howards End, Forster is very much on the side of women, and unfair to male characters or any similar topic only for you Order Now It was his aunt who left Forster a legacy of eight thousand pounds, a considerable sum in those days when remembering that Margaret Schlegel lives very well on six hundred a year. The inheritance from his aunt enabled him to write in independence and security. It is therefore unsurprising that Forster held a high opinion of women, and being brought up by them, not surprising that he would take ‘their side’. Forster exposes the constructed nature of gender and his own ambivalent relationship to traits coded ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ in his culture. However, there is substantial evidence to suggest that Forster was deeply troubled and preoccupied by his own gender identity in this period. This may be reason for Forster to side with women in the play. Forster uses Margaret as the central character in the novel and the most completely drawn. Through certain parts of the novel, the narration seems to vacillate between Margaret and Forster. This shows that Forster is much more inclined to take the side of women rather than men. She is the centre of consciousness in nearly every scene. In chapter two Forster sums her up and sums up the cause of her fascination; she has ‘a profound vivacity, a continual and sincere response to all that she encountered in her path through life’. Forster seems to be always able to rise to the challenge of that description. Helen has a lot in common with Margaret. We are told that she is much more beautiful than Margaret as well as being more impulsive, idealistic and uncompromising. Helen is a character who is ‘rather apt to entice people, and, in enticing them, to be herself enticed’. Forster presents Helen as an imaginative character although she often talks without thinking. Helen’s responses to life are intense, excitable and exaggerated. The difference presented by Forster is that men view life as a conquest to gain materialistic pleasure, which although may be enjoyed presently, they are not able to take theses pleasures with them. Women differ, as Helen states in chapter twenty-seven, that money is not an end to all means, and that life is more about emotional conquest. However this is easy for Helen to say as she is set up for life with inheritance money. Therefore, money should not be an issue to Helen, which is proved when she tries to offer Leonard five thousand pounds. Forster’s central opposition between man and woman seems to be played out by Henry and Margaret, in which it is blatantly obvious that Forster sides with Margaret. This can be seen in the conversation on the levels of houses. Margaret recognizes that ‘ours is a female house†¦. It must be feminine and all we can do is see that it isn’t effeminate. Just as another house I can mention, but I won’t, sound irrevocably masculine, and all its inmates can do is see that it isn’t brutal’. Through Margaret Schlegel, the traditional terms of masculinity and femininity are scrutinized and are subjected to the demands of higher integration. Margaret’s point of view is ultimately not representative of a view that might be coded as essentially female or feminine. Forster is sensitive both to the essentialist conceptions of the female and the social coding of feminism. Margaret is much the voice of Forster when speaking and underlines Forster opinions of women and the fact that he is very much on their side throughout debate and speeches in the novel. In conclusion, in my opinion, the fact that Forster was troubled by his own sexuality and the fact he was a homosexual would incline him to take the views of women. This is also propelled by the fact that his upbringing was done only by women in the form of his mother and his aunt. Forster’s inheritance ensured he would not have to labor in order to educate himself, so in fact may never of had much contact with ‘the real world’. How to cite In Howards End, Forster is very much on the side of women, and unfair to male characters, Papers