"Hello?" Her stressed and tired tones channeled across the phone wire.
"Hi," I answered.
"Hellooooo! What's up?" With the recognition her voice instantly became light and easy.
"Nothing. Hey, guess what? I have to write a personal narrative. No one here knows me well
enough to help, so I thought I'd call you."
"A personal narrative, huh? What are you gonna write about?"
"I don't know. That's why I called you. The only recent life-changing occurrence that comes to
mind is...well, you know what it is. That's not what I want to remember as the most profound
thing that ever happened to me." I knew she understood exactly what I was referring to.
"Hmm. I don't know; there's tons of stuff you could do. Why don't you write about the time you
sang? Yeah, do that!"
"Well...I don't know."
"How about..." her words casually carried me with them as I leaned back in my chair and twirled the phone cord around my finger. Our voices transcended the time zones, and for a moment we were side by side on the pastel plaid of my bed again, lost in language, staring at the glow-in-the-dark solar system spiraling its way around my room.
I laughed at some of her suggestions, and eventually the question was abandoned as we moved on to other topics. She started to tell me about her weekend and the retreat she had gone to. My eyes wandered around my dorm room, still searching for ideas. Eventually, as Gene's broken sentences filled my head, my senses rested on the pictures of two girls--one with dark, curling hair and deeply tanned, muscular arms, and the other slightly smaller, more pale, more light--sticking their heads out from behind road-signs or outstretching their arms from a shopping cart. I smiled, and...
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...hat I didn't "need" anyone; that I was the one who would first defy the impossibilities of such social isolation. I saw myself as a rock-- impermeable, protected. But, staring up one last time at the fading moon, I discovered that all the while Gene had allowed me to believe I was an island, dependent on only myself, she had somehow been silently and secretly changing that truth within me. I had needed her--needed her to slay my social fears, to uncover the secrets of my passion--and I had needed humanity.
The clock read 4:30 a.m. when I pulled into my aunt's driveway. The moon had nearly disappeared, and the early hours of the morning found themselves lit by that ever-gentle glow before sunrise. As I walked into the house, I didn't even look to find what was left of the moon. I knew that it was still there, just like Gene had said. And that it always would be.
In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, two boys named Gene and Finny attend a New England boarding school, the Devon School, where they learn to overcome challenging obstacles and make life-changing decisions as they come of age. The boys live in a microcosm of World War II, with loyalty and deception being major elements of Devon. Gene is an introverted, hard working intellectual and his friend, Phineas, is an outgoing, daring athlete. When jealousy and competition start to come into play, tensions begin to rise. Through Gene and Finny’s perspectives on jealousy and the competition between them, John Knowles illustrates their rivalry as the barrier dividing the boys and their friendship.
Story: “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck ( a story about the hardships of two diverse men and their friendship)
Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation and provision of a person for the purpose of commercial sex. American trafficking victims are estimated to be between 100,000 and 300,000. Most of these are from the million are so children that are thrown out of their home or they have run away usually to escape abuse and/or sexual violence. (Shelley, pg. 230) The law says that a person under the age of 18 has to have been defrauded, forced or coerced into the sex trade against their will. Sex trafficking venues are wide and vast. Victims of sex trafficking can be found in brothels, strip clubs, esc...
Two years ago School District 74 organized a series of leadership workshops designed to strengthen the leadership performance of school administration and teaching staff. Participants were encouraged to think of themselves as leaders and to identify situations in which they were or could be leaders. The idea seemed to be not only that our school system will be improved through the development of strong leadership (on its own an important recognition), but also that anyone (and everyone) can be a leader in his or her own position within the system. This is a ridiculous idea. If leadership is approached as the only label that designates personal merit or importance, then the implication is that followers are less capable, less thoughtful and less important than leaders. If everyone is a leader, then the idea of leadership quickly loses its meaning; leadership implies followership, and without followers leaders could never lead effectively. Past emphasis on leadership has largely ignored the reciprocal relationship between leadership and followership. The purpose of this paper is to briefly discuss followership, and to acknowledge its importance to organizations, especially school systems.
“The 1% of US students with labels of severe disabilities including mental retardation have been historically excluded from ‘inclusive’ education” (Bentley, 2008, p. 543). Laws such as PL 94-142 and “No Child Left Behind” (as cited in Bentley), say that ‘public school students with all types of disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment—‘to the maximum extent possible…with children who do not have disabilities’ the majority of these students with special education labels, such as, mental retardation and multiple disabilities are still isolated in special education classrooms (Bentley, 2008, p. 545). Wehmeyer (as cited in Bentley), points out that mere access does not promote authentic participation (Bentley, 2008, p. 546). Burkowski et al (as cited in Webster and Cater), “Friendship has been defined as a bond between two individuals that is stable across time and involves mutual affection, mutual preference and having fun together” (Webster and Carter, 2007, p. 201). It is up to parents, teachers and other paraprofessionals to seek ways to facilitate and encourage the types of positive interactions that will foster these types of friendships. If done successfully all students will benefit and there will be true inclusion.
The movie being analyzed is the Sandlot. The relationship between the two main characters is a friendship, which begins with one boy who is desperate for friends and another who is searching for The Sandlot’s last teammate. The friendship between Benny and Small’s is an accurate depiction of the development of friendship in real life. In the movie, Scotty Smalls (Smalls) moves to a new neighborhood. One of his new neighbors happens to be the best baseball player in the neighborhood, Benny, who eventually teaches Smalls how to catch and throw so that the team has a ninth player. What begins as filling a baseball position eventually leads to a strong bond between the two main characters. Throughout the summer, the team plays baseball, goes swimming, plays baseball, goes to the fair, and plays baseball. A dog known as “The Beast” lives behind the fence of The Sandlot. The Beast is said to have eaten every baseball and person that has ever been on the other side of that fence, so when the boys hit Small’s stepfather’s signed baseball over the fence, they have to come together to retrieve the baseball. In the movie The Sandlot, directed by David M. Evans, the development of the friendship between Scott Smalls and Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez is conveyed through their communication. The Sandlot shows the progression of a friendship and the importance of communication to help a friendship flourish.
Friendship in The Pact Friendship is a huge part of everyone's life, whether they know it or not. In some way shape or form, everyone needs relationships. In the book The Pact, friendship is huge. Three boys George, Sam, and Rameck become best friends and you could say that they saved each others lives. Not physically but in a sense that without the pact they made, their lives might not be where they are today.
“So did you learn anything from what you just described about your hobbies?” Father Michael asked. “Did you learn anything about who you are as a person? ”
John C. Maxwell is spot on when he says “Leadership makes a difference.” Not only does leadership make a difference, it is the difference between success and failure, especially when it comes to a school. Granted Maxwell is more of business person, his knowledge, wisdom, and experience can easily translate into any setting, especially the education field. After reading Maxwell’s book, I sat down with my mentor and discussed a few of these nuggets of Leadership Gold.
The moon is a wondrous thing. Every night it's outside, up high in the sky, giving light to the world. Most people take advantage of the moon's light, because they don't know why or how the moon shines. Scientists today are busy proving theories and studying the moon, which will hopefully help society to understand the moon more. They know a lot about the moon, but there is still much more to learn.
In Moore’s “The Mind is an Enchanting Thing”, she introduces the idea of the mind’s multifaceted nature and definition through comparison of the mind. This is portrayed through the mind’s knowledge through learned and nature knowledge, the mind’s power through instinct and conscious, and the mind’s ability to bring awe through bird imagery and Herod’s oath. M. L. Rosenthal puts it best when he states,”’Mind’ here is neither an abstraction nor a mechanical process but something magically, and beautifully, alive: glittering, physical, and infinitely magnetic” (Rosenthal
Most beautiful kindred of all of humans are the companionship. Without excitement, confusion, tangles and commitment life becomes a cake-walk if people have a hand of a friend to hold on. Can everyone imagine if there is no friendship in the world? Nobody will care about one another. Friends are the pillars of strength that give support and comfort in life "A hedge between keeps friendship green”. Friendship is the one of the medium that can build unity among community. As Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of United States, once said, “Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together”, I strongly agree to his statement because friendship teach to help one another, learn to accept each other and build trust and faith towards each other.
Friendship is a relationship that all the individuals can create by themselves. Though it is not a god gifted relationship like that of the relationship of a mother, father, sister, brother or any of the other family but still it is one of the best relations an individual can possess. People who have true friends consider themselves as the luckiest individuals on earth.
Leadership is an important factor in managing change in organizations (Sarros & Santora, 2001). Leadership is one of the most vital success factors in organization (Murphy & Ensher, 2008). At any time in history of any community, there has always been a great leader and leadership has always been practiced (Leech & Fulton, 2008). For all successful organizations, there has been an effective leader who is able to mobilize all the resources in the organization to achieve its goals (Malusu, 2003). Schools, like other organizations, require effective leadership to achieve their goals (Barnet, McCormick & Conners, 2001). In an educational system, a principal as the coordinator of all educational and training activities
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader—John Quincy Adams. Effective school leaders possess a complex set of knowledge, skills, and standards. Education is about determining how to learn and helping those around you to discover their own visions and potential. It is the responsibility of an effective leader to be a catalyst of change and a source of inspiration and encouragement.