Lecture Analysis & Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Lecture Analysis & Plan - Essay Example Added to that, while some of the students have a health and life sciences background, obtained from courses taken at the university or high school, approximately half of the students had not. To further complicate matters, there are quite a few non-native speakers in the group numbering approximately nine. The implications of the aforementioned group characteristics are pertinent to lecture delivery and subsequent group absorption/assimilation, insofar as it means that some students have a pre-existing understanding of the material, while others do not, just as some will find the linguistic comprehension of the lecture quite challenging, while others will not. As for the lectures themselves, they are delivered in a large group lecture room in the science building. The lecture room is fitted with a number of technical visual aides. The diversity which characterizes this particular group means that group members have different learning styles and will respond best to particular teaching approaches. It is, accordingly, contingent upon the lecturer to vary his learning style as a strategy for reaching out to the audience and facilitating their understanding of lecture content. Some students are not cognizant of the university-level learning skills they need to develop, such as recognition of key lecture points, note-taking, critical thinking, and independent learning, such as which requires that they pursue independent learning and reading on lecture topics (Leonard, 2002). Conduct mini evaluation of lecture at the end so the lecturer will get an idea of how the students felt about the teaching/learning experience (these ideas have been produced from the authors own experience as a student & clinical teacher). Pace lectures so as not to cram too much information in too short a time, culminating in much of that information simply passing students by. In other words, â€Å"try to teach less, so students learn more† (Bligh, 2000, p. 216). Remind

Assessment and care of a client with complex needs. Mental Health Essay

Assessment and care of a client with complex needs. Mental Health nursing] - Essay Example 15). This involves a methodical evaluation of the social and health care requirements of an individual who has been brought to the ‘specialist mental health services’ (Forster, 2001, p. 15). An important component of the CPA is the assigning of a service provider who will work with the client and his/her family or caregivers to evaluate needs, create and carry out a care plan. In the CPA service provider task, the nurse is largely involved in locating an array of assessment needs, several of which could be outside the own knowledge or capability of the nurse. Besides the troubles brought about by mental disorders, numerous clients with serious and chronic mental disorders will be further impaired by ‘secondary impairment’ (Bartlett & Sandland, 2007). This will lead to a kind of disability marked by difficulty carrying out daily tasks such as cooking, going to the grocery, using public transport, and so on. Professional assessments from service providers shou ld be requested. In nursing theory and practice, bipolar disorder is classified as one of the most complex mental health disorders. The best nursing care takes place during the acute illness stage and remission (Suppes & Dennehy, 2010). This paper presents a case study of the mental health condition of Ms. ... She eventually became tardy. Her performance at work began to deteriorate. Ms. M herself admitted that she has difficulty concentrating at work. She also said that she feels lost and lonely at times. Her sleep patterns also became abnormal. She sleeps late but wakes up very early. But, interestingly, she began to show more enthusiasm and energy in the morning. Her sister reported that Ms. M became short-tempered all of a sudden and has been, for the first time, openly expressing her desire to become a model. Ms. M was diagnosed with depression and alcohol related problems. Ms. M’s mental health condition may be caused by genetics or environmental factors. A depressive episode may take place without any clear cause. It could be that something stressful in Ms. M’s immediate environment caused the sudden changes in her behaviour; it could be a stressful event at work or at home. A medical condition can also cause episodes of depression, such as brain tumour or stroke (Vide beck, 2010). According to Boyd (2008), use of substance and consumption of alcohol may also activate symptoms of depression. Case Analysis The symptoms of Ms. M are indicative of bipolar disorder. An individual episode of abnormal and chronic irritable mood. During Ms. M’s episodes of mood disorder, the following symptoms of bipolar disorder have continued: difficulty concentrating; more conversational than normal; excessive energy and enthusiasm; abnormal sleeping patterns; and increased confidence (e.g. desire to enter modeling). The mood disorder is quite serious to cause noticeable disruption in occupational performance or in personal relationships. The symptoms may be triggered by alcohol related problems. Because bipolar disorder often includes depressive and manic episodes, knowledge of

Assessment and Students Essay Example for Free

Assessment and Students Essay Journal assessment Conclusion Reccomendation III. INTRODUCTION: Why do Assessment? Are you asking too little of your class? Are your students approaching your course as hurdlers, barely clearing required levels of performance? Or are they approaching your course like high jumpers, pushing themselves under your guidance to increasingly more challenging heights? If your students arent high jumpers, maybe its because you arent asking them to high jump. By using appropriate assessment techniques, you can encourage your students to raise the height of the bar. There is considerable evidence showing that assessment drives student learning. More than anything else, our assessment tools tell students what we consider to be important. They will learn what we guide them to learn through our assessments. Traditional testing methods have been limited measures of student learning, and equally importantly, of limited value for guiding student learning. These methods are often inconsistent with the increasing emphasis being placed on the ability of students to think analytically, to understand and communicate at both detailed and big picture levels, and to acquire lifelong skills that permit continuous adaptation to workplaces that are in constant flux. Moreover, because assessment is in many respects the glue that links the components of a course its content, instructional methods, and skills development changes in the structure of a course require coordinated changes in assessment. IV. RESEARCH (CONTENT) What is Assessment? Assessment is a systematic process of gathering, interpreting, and acting upon data related to student learning and experience for the purpose of developing a deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experience; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning. Huba and Freed, 2000 Key Points Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning Multiple methods Criteria and standards Evidence Students know, can do and understand It’s more than just collecting data Sequence in Preparing Instructionally Relevant Assessment INSTRUCTION Indicates the learning outcomes to be attained by students LEARNING TASK Specifies the particular set of learning task(s) to be assessed. ASSESSMENT Provides a procedure designed to measure a representative sample of the instructionally relevant learning tasks. Is there close agreement? What is the Assessment Process? AIMS ASSESSMENT ACTION ADJUSTMENT Importance of Assessment To find out what the students know (knowledge) To find out what the students can do, and how well they can do it (skill; performance) To find out how students go about the task of doing their work (process) To find out how students feel about their work (motivation, effort) What is Student Assessment for? *To help us design and modify programs to better promote learning and student success. To provide common definitions and benchmarks for student abilities that will enable us to act more coherently and effectively to promote student learning. *To provide feedback, guidance, and mentoring to students so as to help them better plan and execute their educational programs. *To provide improved feedback about student learning to support faculty in their work. Functions of Assessment Diagnostic: tell us what the student needs to learn Formative: tell us how well the student is doing as work progresses Summative: tell us how well the student did at the end of a unit/task What can be assessed? Student learning characteristics -Ability differences -Learning styles Student motivational characteristics -Interest -Self-efficacy -goal orientation Learning Content knowledge Ability to apply content knowledge Skills Dispositions and attitudes Performances Direct and Indirect Assessment Measures Direct methods ask students to demonstrate their learning while indirect methods ask them to reflect on their learning. Direct methods include objective tests, essays, case studies, problem solving exercises, presentations and classroom assignments. Indirect methods include surveys, interviews and student reflection and/or self-assessment essays. It is useful to include both direct and indirect assessment measures in your assessments. How should we assess? True –False Item Multiple Choice Completion Short Answer Essay Practical Exam Papers/Reports Projects Questionnaires Inventories Checklist Peer Rating Self Rating Journal Portfolio Observations Discussions Interviews Criteria In Choosing an Assessment Method It should be reliable. It should be valid. It should be simple to operate, and should not be too costly. It should be seen by students and society in general. It should benefit all students. Who should be involved in assessment? The teacher The student The student’s peer Administrator Parents What should we do with the information from our assessment? Use it to improve the focus of our teaching (diagnosis) Use it to focus student attention of strengths and weaknesses (motivation) Use it to improve program planning (program assessment) Use it for reporting to parents Classroom Assessment Paper and pencil assessments: Ask students to respond in writing to questions or problem -Item level: Assessing lower vs. higher skills -Knowledge vs. application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -Authentic tasks e. . multiple choice, T/F, matching (recognition), short answer, essay (recall) Paper and Pencil Assessment Strengths -Can cover a lot of material reasonably well -Fair -Effective in assessing declarative knowledge of content Easier to construct and administer than performance assessments Weaknesses -Require forethought and skill -Less effective in assessing procedural knowledge and creative thinking -Con struction of good higher level recognition items is difficult -Recall items that do a good job of assessing higher level thinking (essay questions) are difficult to score. Performance Assessments assessment that elicits and evaluates actual student performances Types of Performances: Products: drawings, science experiments, term papers, poems, solution to authentic problems Behavior: time trial for running a mile, reciting a poem, acting tryouts, dancing Performance assessments Strengths – Effective for assessing higher level thinking and authentic learning -Effective for assessing skill and procedural learning -Interesting and motivating for students Weaknesses -Emphasize depth at the expense of breadth Difficult to construct -Time consuming to administer -Hard to score fairly How can we assess student learning? Traditional assessment: assess student knowledge and skills in relative isolation from real world context. Traditional assessment practices reflect what students are able to recall from memory through various means, such as, multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, and matching questions. Authentic assessment: assess studentsâ⠂¬â„¢ ability to use what they’ve learning in tasks similar to those in the outside world. Occurs when the authenticity of student learning has been observed. It requires information from a variety of source such as content work samples, observation during class activities, and conferences with students. Classroom Assessment Informal Assessment: teachers’ spontaneous, day to day observations of student performances. Examples Verbal -Asking questions -Listening to student discussions -Conducting student conferences Nonverbal -Observing -Task performances -On-and off-task behavior -student choices -student body language Informal Assessment Strengths -Facilitates responsive teaching -Can be done during teaching -Easy to individualize Weaknesses -Requires high level of teacher skill -Is vulnerable to -Bias -Inequities –Mistakes Classroom Assessment Formal assessment : assessment that is planned in advance and used to assess a predetermined content and/or skill domain. Strengths -allows the teacher to evaluate all students systematically on the important skills and concepts -helps teachers determine how well students are progressing over the entire year -provides useful information to parents and administrators. Portfolios A collection of student samples representing or demonstrating student academic growth. It can include formative and summative assessment. It may contain written work, journals, maps, charts, survey, group reports, peer reviews and other such items. Portfolios are systematic, purposeful, and meaningful collections of students’ work in one or more subject areas. Importance of Portfolios For Students Shows growth over time Displays student’s accomplishment Helps students make choices Encourages them to take responsibility for their work Demonstrates how students think Importance of Portfolios For Teachers Highlights performance-based activities over year Provides a framework for organizing student’s work Encourages collaboration with students, parents, and teachers Showcases an ongoing curriculum Facilitates student information for decision making Importance of Portfolios For Parents Offer insight into what their children do in school Facilitates communication between home and school Gives the parents an opportunity to react to what their child is doing in school and to their development Shows parents how to make a portfolio so they may do one at home at the same time Importance of Portfolios For Administrators Provides evidence that teacher/school goals are being met Shows growth of students and teachers Provides data from various sources What do portfolios contain? Three basic models: Showcase model, consisting of work samples chosen by the student. Descriptive model, consisting of representative work of the student, with no attempt at evaluation. Evaluative model, consisting of representative products that have been evaluated by criteria. Disadvantages of Portfolio Require more time for faculty to evaluate than test or simple-sample assessment. Require students to compile their own work, usually outside of class. Do not easily demonstrate lower-level thinking, such as recall of knowledge. May threaten students who limit their learning to cramming for doing it at the last minute. Rubric It is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student’s performance based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score. It is a working guide for students and teachers, usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to get students to think about the criteria on which their work will be judged. Rubrics are scoring criteria for Free-response Questions Scientific reports Oral or Power point presentations Reflections/Journals Essay Laboratory-based performance tests Article review or reactions Portfolios Many others Open-ended Question Concept Mapping It requires students to explore links between two or more related concepts. When making concept maps, they clarify in their minds the links they have made of the concepts and having visual representation of these links, they are better able to rearrange of form new links when new concepts are introduced. Laboratory Performance In this format students and teachers know the requirements in advance and prepare them. The teacher judges the student performance within a specific time frame and setting. Students are rated on appropriate and effective use of laboratory equipment, measuring tools, and safety laboratory procedures as well as a hands-on designing of an investigation. Inventories Diagnostic Inventories: Student responses to a series of questions or statements in any field, either verbally or in writing. These responses may indicate an ability or interest in a particular field. Interest Inventories: student responses to questions designed to find out past experience and or current interest in a topic, subject or activity. Classroom Assessment Presentation : a presentation by one student or by a group of students to demonstrate the skills used in the completion of an activity or the acquisition of curricular outcomes/expectations. The presentation can take the form of a skit, lecture, lab presentation, debate etc. Computers can also be used for presentation when using such software as Hyperstudio, Powerpoint or Corel presentations. Peer Evaluation : judgments by students about one another’s performance relative to stated criteria and program outcomes Journal Assessment This refer to student’s ongoing record of expressions experiences and reflections on a given topic. There are two types: one in which students write with minimal direction what he/she is thinking and or feeling and the other requires students to compete a specific written assignment and establishes restrictions and guidelines necessary to accurately accomplish the assignment. Journals can evolve different types of reflecting writing, drawing, painting, and role playing. REFLECTIVE JOURNAL What did I learn? How do I feel about it? What happened? SYNTHESIS JOURNAL How I can Use It? What I learned? What I Did? SPECULATION ABOUT EFFECTS JOURNAL What could happen because of this? What happened? V. CONCLUSION A fair assessment is one in which students are given equitable opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do. Classroom assessment is not only for grading or ranking purposes. Its goal is to inform instruction by providing teachers with information to help them make good educational decisions. Assessment is integrated with student’s day-to-day learning experiences rather than a series of an end-of-course tests. Why link assessment with instruction? Better assessment means better teaching. Better teaching means better learning . Better learning means better students. Better students mean better opportunities for a better life. VI. RECCOMENDATION Specific assessment tools, listed below, are strongly recommended to faculty and department heads for their ability to provide useful information for accountability and, more importantly, to foster dialogue to improve student learning within courses. These three assessment tools are strongly recommended because they are concise and effective direct evaluations as opposed to indirect evaluations. Direct evaluations can be both formative (the gathering of information about student learning during the progression of a course or program, usually repeatedly, to improve the learning of those students) and summative (the gathering of information at the conclusion of the course, program or undergraduate career to improve learning or to meet accountability demands. ) 1. Rubrics:  These are the most flexible types of direct assessments and can be used to score any product or performance such as essays, portfolios, skill performances, oral exams, debates, project/product creation, oral presentations or a student’s body of work over the course of a semester. Since we are talking about assessing â€Å"official† course learning outcomes that are stated in course documents, all faculty teaching that course must agree on a detailed scoring system that delineates criteria used to discriminate among levels and is used for scoring a common assignment, product or performance or set of assignments, products or performances. Information can be obtained from the course document’s assignment and evaluation pages to help guide the creation of the rubric. Pros: †¢ Defines clear expectations. †¢ Can be used to score many kinds of assignments or exams †¢ Faculty define standards and criteria and how they will be applied Cons: †¢ Faculty must agree on how to define standards and criteria and how they will be applied 2. Common Final Exam or Common Capstone Project:  These direct assessment methods integrate knowledge, concepts and skills associated with an entire sequence of study in a course. Either use the same final exam for all sections offered in a course (commercially produced/standardized test or locally developed final exam) or require a culminating final project that is similar (using the same grading rubric to evaluate). Pros: †¢ Good method to measure growth over time with regard to a course †¢ Cumulative †¢ The data is more robust if all students complete the same assessment †¢ Provides an additional buffer between student learning performance and an individual instructor’s teaching performance Cons: Focus and breadth of assessment are important †¢ Understanding all of the variables to produce assessment results is also important †¢ May result in additional course requirements †¢ Requires coordination and agreement on standards 3. Embedded Test Questions:  Embed the same agreed upon questions that relate to the course’s student learning outcomes into the final exam for all sections of the course and analyze tho se results and/or embed the same agreed-upon requirements into the final project/assignment for all sections of the course and analyze those results. Pros: †¢ Good method to measure growth over time with regards to a course †¢ Cumulative †¢ The data is more robust if all students complete the same assessment †¢ Provides an additional buffer between student learning performance and an individual instructor’s teaching performance †¢ Embedded questions can be reported as an aggregate Cons: †¢ May result in additional course requirements †¢ Requires coordination and agreement on standards If some instructors embed and others do not, the data will be difficult to compare and analyze †¢ Separate analysis of embedded set of questions is required VII. REFERENCES https://www. google. com. ph/search? q=ASSESSMENT+TOOLS+PPT;rlz=2C1GTPM_enPH0537PH0537;aq=f;oq=assessment+tools+;aqs=chrome. 0. 59j57j61j60l2j0. 3437j0;sourceid=chrome;ie=UTF-8 http://www. slideshare. net/armovil/assessment-of-student-learning? from_search=2 Fulks, Janet, â€Å"Assessing Student Learning in Community Colleges†, Bakersfield College, 2004

Strengths And Weaknesses Of Eliminative Materialism

Strengths And Weaknesses Of Eliminative Materialism Eliminative Materialism puts forward serious arguments that are worth into consideration and ultimately embracing. It is viable and holds very valid arguments that can shape the course of philosophy in order to slot it within the modern thought that is driven by empiricism. It has its weaknesses and strengths even though its effects have cut across the world within the platforms of both formal and informal philosophical debates. Of great influence is the view that the much celebrated folk psychology is a distasteful idea whose existence will ultimately be cut short in the wake of cognitive science (also dubbed as neuroscience). The hope that folk psychology will be done away with by neuroscience is not guaranteed considering that many people and philosophers still have a soft spot for the folk psychology. The argument to embrace eliminative materialism views is propelled by the realization that folk psychology invokes ideas from a weird and ghostly world that are based on extra-fiction creatures that no modern science can authentic. The inherent transformation of many of folk psychologys ideas into the epiphenomenalism puts it at a more precarious condition. Eliminative materialism appreciates the fact for philosophy to continue making any sense, it must take note that folk psychology merely leads us to admitting that our mental content is influence by factors out of the head or otherwise; this sidesteps the power of the human mind which has the power to coalesce all the two instances and more While eliminative materialism is valid and should be upheld, the notion that there are no beliefs, desires and that philosophical contributions should shun discussions to the opposite of this claim remains a matter of discourse. Discussion From as early as the 16th century when Descartes invited other thinker to query the complexities and conflicts of body and soul, the obscurity on the scope of body-soul conflict has remained elusive. The biggest challenge has remained what actually the body and the mind are. The mind that is attributed to be the source of human thoughts, regarded as the second public and the drive of many of the human actions, has been investigated by many scholars to understand what gives the human mind commands. From the16th century numerous view points have been served on the academic table of philosophy with a majority of them being less compelling or even too obfuscated to explain the obvious problem. In an attempt to unravel the mystery that makes the body and the mind complex, Paul Churchland and other proponents of the eliminative materialist approach have presented a number of arguments that are blatant shots at the folk psychology. According to philosophers who argue along the grains of eliminative materialism, the only way out in understanding the complex but practical nature of the body and mind will be embraced when we do away with the greatest stumbling block which is the folk psychologys concept of mental states. In his spirited fight to knock sense in the heads of folk psychologists, Churchland argues that it is impossible match physical states with their corresponding mental states and the nation propounded by folk psychology should be eliminated from the human ontology; a view that justifies the name eliminative materialism. This view becomes the materialistic approach towards the human mind which Churchland claims eliminates. The culture of individualism is also referred to as Capitalism. In philosophy, the notion that all facts concerned with the human way of thinking are dependent on physical process that the body is involved in. some families can be considered materialistic due to their metaphysical understanding. These theories can be best defined as those that almost resemble paradigmatic opinions. This is also referred to as the mechanical opinion. These opinions or theories are of different types. Most of them are covered in this article.          Many researches conducted come up with the opinion that use of concepts can reveal what state a persons mind is. Based on Nigel Warburtons comment, it is noted that philosophers can become more knowledgeable from neuroscience. This pushes them to revise some of the words mostly used by folks. This is unlike Pat Churchlands opinion that there is absolutely no need to interfere with words used by folks. It states that they should not be replaced with neurobiological words. This is true to the fact that use of neurobiological words would really shut many people out. This would work in league with their economy and the culture that they follow in their whole life.       It is still argued that most of the issues concerning human beings are mainly neurological cases. It can also be noted that a human being are built by the occupations that they hold in life. They are also built up of the objectives that they share and the kind of relationships they are involved in. many philosophers recognize Pat Churchlands opinion as an attempt to bring out the clear meaning of materialism. Her beliefs are quite different from all other ones associated with the issue. It is agreeable that the words used by folks really need to be revised. This is in further support of Churchlands opinion. This is however, objected by noting that neurological words are not necessarily the immediate options. This makes philosophers wonder if humans are really, what they think they are or they are creatures in human forms.  Ã‚   There are some problems and weaknesses associated with the eliminative materialism. Most notable is its approach to the body and mind that out rightly ignores the significance of material culture and its obvious effects on human beings daily encounters. This puts the credibility of the proponents of the eliminative materialism at an awkward position considering the fact some philosophers like Bruno Latour argues that it not possible for a reductionist scientist to be essentially reductive. It is argued that the thin line walked by Churchland and crew is one that does conform to critics view that eliminative materialism disregard for material culture makes positions it wrongly for amending the folk psychology and like any other dream becomes unreachable just like it is not possible to be alive without a body. Unlike the disregard that eliminative materialism holds against material culture, this notion is very impactful in discussing the body and the mind. In the notion of material culture, the term qualia defines anything that could not be any more familiar; it is the way we view things according to how we have been experiencing them. Philosophically, speaking, it is easier to understand terms accompanied by examples than the crude manner in which we would want to define them. As such our states of mind are far influenced by issues that our bodies have experienced in the past than mere talk of facts that our bodies have not yet experienced. When we view images like a cup of tea simmering our future references on cups maybe influenced by this qualia. Again when we experience sounds we like or dislike they become our auditory qualia. There can never be anything that is more vivid than an individuals qualia. An individuals qualia is made of different conscious and unconscious properties that constitute ones sole view of the world. Even if the rest of the world is an illusion defined by utmost obscurity, our qualia becomes the solace in understanding the world since what we know and have experienced can never change in our minds.

What is borderline personality disorder? Essay -- Psychology, Emocion

According to the DSM-IV(2000), Borderline Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: 1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. 2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation 3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self 4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) 5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behaviour 6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days ) 7. Chronic feelings of emptiness 8. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) 9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms (DSM IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). According to American psychiatric association, Consumer & Family Information (2001), people with the disorder experience a great deal of anxiety and psychological distress, and they have difficulties at school or work. They can learn to manage the disorder, but the disorder itself is life long. People who have borderline personality disorder can be very sensitive to the way others treat them, reacting strongly to criticism or misinterpreting oth... ...ed psychotherapies have demonstrated efficacy for some BPD symptoms in randomized controlled clinical trials. In conclusion, borderline personality disorder is characterized by instability of emotions, periodic impulsive and self-destructive behavior, and troubled relationships with other people. Despite the positive findings of the treatments for some patients and some symptoms of the disorder, comprehensive BPD treatment continues to be a challenge. The BPD symptoms least impacted by psychotherapeutic treatment are those more related to temperament and the ability to function effectively in occupational and social roles (Binks et al., 2006 as cited in Joan et al 2009). Medications that targeted some symptoms of borderline personality disorder have also been used. However, this practice has been proven to have different side effects and not reliably effective.

Comparing Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt Essay -- Compare Contr

Comparing Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt During the 20th century many different presidents went in and out of the doors of the White House serving the country the best they could. However, two of these men hold a place in American history as perhaps the greatest leaders that had ever served our country. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson are two extraordinary men that symbolize the hope and aspirations of the American people during such a tumultuous time in United States history. Both of these men held leadership qualities like no other, had strong views for America, and held exceptional ideas on foreign policy. Theodore Roosevelt stepped into head of office on September 19, 1901 when President William McKinley was assassinated. He was the youngest man to become president. His motto was â€Å"speak softly but carry a big stick.† President Roosevelt would come into power offering America the square deal. He would take the power away from the industrialists as he controlled big business from the White House. He would soon become known as a TrustBuster. Roosevelt used American power for American interests and was quoted as saying, â€Å"I am an American first and last. â€Å" Although some historians argue that Roosevelt acted like a six-year-old throughout his presidency and that he didn’t think things through, ie â€Å"he thought with his hips†, one can admire the tremendous leadership qualities that Teddy Roosevelt had. First, he was a very bold man who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. The average citizen was aware of what a â€Å"positive, warm and tou gh, authoritative and funny† president that they had leading them. His leadership qualities stemmed from his time as a New York state Assembly man, a deputy sheriff, a ... ...ir racial characteristics. He also knew the value of the ethnic vote. Wilson on the other hand was a racist who brought his Virginia attitude with him to the White House. Perhaps the most ironic thing about these two men is the fact that Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1904 for helping resolve the Russian-Japanese fighting, and TR never was in office during the Great Wars while Wilson was. However, we did end up getting the United Nations from Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. In conclusion, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were very different people who held different beliefs on America, but nonetheless, these two men gave their all in making America a better place. Without these two leaders, America could have been a very different place today. Who knows, I might have been writing this paper in German had it not been for them.

The Real All Americans

The Real All Americans combines the tales of two merging chapters in American history, a time when football is leaping out of the dirt, and the Western Frontier is disappearing. The book reads like a â€Å"who’s who† of history. It also introduces us to and establishes Olympian Jim Thorpe, a multi-sport player once considered the world’s greatest athlete, and legendary coach, Glenn â€Å"Pop† Warner. Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, Indian War Chief Sitting Bull and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower also play significant roles in the book. Author Sally Jenkins weaves a history lesson together beginning with a bloody massacre in 1866 and bookends the tale with a battle on the football field in 1912, Indians versus the Army. In 1866, members of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes lured the U. S. military into a trap. It proved a fierce and violent coup to ward off annexation of their land. Chieftain American Horse slit someone’s throat in the battle, and other natives removed scalps then gallantly rode home to brag of their victory. The Indians won the battle that day but not the war. Despite their recalcitrant stance against the expansion of the U. S. Territory, change was coming. American Horse nearly decapitated a man to display his staunch opposition against being forced into a reservation. He would later buy a suit from Saks and send nearly a dozen of his offspring to a U. S. government run boarding school. To demonstrate the transitory times the country faced, Jenkins masterfully walks us through history. By 1890, the first Transcontinental Railroad is completed. It runs through once serene land the natives called home. The tracks have dissected their frontier, carving out even smaller allotments then what the government issued to the natives. The infamous â€Å"cowboys and Indians† battles have nearly disappeared like the Western frontier. At this time, football began to take hold of the American psyche. The brutality of the sport provided a new outlet for men to showboat their masculinity. America is at a crossroads. It knows it must live amongst the natives, the people whose land the government has taken. American leaders know some of the Indians will seek to live outside of the oppressive conditions of the reservations. They question how they will live civilly with the â€Å"savages†. Fighting is no longer the answer. Assimilation becomes the solution. But it is not fully embraced by either side. Did natives have the mental capacity to â€Å"learn the way of the white man†? Indians feared losing their centuries old mores. Army officer and abolitionist Richard H. Pratt sought the government’s approval to launch the social experiment. He had what he believed to be success in absorbing and â€Å"curing† the hardest of Indian resisters when he ran a military prison in Florida. Pratt opened The Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania hoping to strike gold again. He Christianized the students and cut their hair to make them similar to the white man. While Pratt’s legacy is mixed, Jenkins makes it clear that the superintendent is fond of the students he recruited and treated them like he would his own children. Jenkins eloquently illustrates how this experiment is not without heartache and failure. For every handful of children that willingly assimilate, at least one native revolts, runs away or returns home scared and confused. Pratt thought abandoning their native tongue, denouncing violence and learning how to eat with a fork and spoon were the only ways American society would accept Indians. A student named Plenty Horse returned to his reservation with one mission, to wipe the stain of Carlisle from his character. He killed an innocent American military member to impress his tribe. Pratt would argue he had more success stories than accounts of failure, and he attributes that the football team he begrudgingly allowed on campus. The mortal combat-like sport had captivated the nation, and Carlisle men caught the fever too. Pratt repeatedly denied his men a chance to compete telling them they would face more humiliation if they signed up to take the brutal beatings Ivy League teams loved doling out. The Carlisle Indians had the weight of a race on their scrawny shoulders, Pratt said. Their losses would be exaggerated and their wins downplayed. But his boys did not care. In 1895, Pratt relented and granted the men permission to play on one condition; they had to leave the violence up to the other teams because the Indians were already perceived as savages. That condition was the driving force behind the Indians’ desires to play. They wanted a chance to prove they were not savages or mentally inferior to their Ivy League counterparts. Within a year of playing the Indians embarked on an unprecedented feat, they played Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Penn consecutively. At that time in history, that would be considered a mortally dangerous schedule. Football did not have the regulations that govern it today. In 1905, the football field saw 146 deaths. Huge wedges of men would run at each other, pick up running backs and throw them, and break legs, noses and necks. The physical prowess of the other teams did not frighten Carlisle. The opposing teams grinned every time they kicked an Indian; the Indians were only allowed to grin when they got kicked. The Carlisle Indians put up a valiant effort against the big four but lost all of the games, however that is attributed to several blatantly bad calls. The team almost upset Yale, but a referee called back what would have been the winning touchdown. It was so bad, the next day the White press wrote, â€Å"Carlisle proved it could beat 11 young Yale men, but not 11 young Yale men and a referee†. While the rag-tag team of players enjoyed several glowing reviews over the decades, the Carlisle men felt like they were denied proper credit. A large portion of the press would attribute their victories to their White Yale coaches. Their losses, on the other hand were the inevitable evidence of their â€Å"Indian character flaws†. Despite the humiliating obstacles the team faced, the Indians progressively got better, thanks in part to the hiring of Glenn â€Å"Pop† Warner, a real gamesman. He had a taste for gambling but an even larger appetite for experimental plays and encountered equal minds when he coached the Indians. They too wanted to play the game their own way and outwit their opponents. They changed the game when they started running around teams instead of through them, a sight no one and witnessed at that time. Carlisle started the first trick plays, hiding the ball, and they dominated the field when the forward pass was made legal. No one could stop Jim Thorpe, except Jim Thorpe. Warner said his carelessness and laziness led to losses in games the team had nearly sealed up as victories. Thorpe briefly left the school to pursue his love of baseball, which would later lead to him being stripped of the gold medals he won at the Stockholm Olympics. Warner convinced his star to return to school for one final battle, the 1912 game against the U. S. Army, a team that had nine future generals on its roster. A young Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the backfield. In the locker room, Warner reminded his team of â€Å"Wounded Knee† and all of the other atrocities committed against their tribes. This was their time for revenge he harped. They could wage war on the football field instead of the battlefield. Of course the cadets were favored to win. Rooting against them would be â€Å"Un-American†. Army had caught up to the Ivy League teams, and was in the midst of a four-year stretch in which they built a record of 28-5-1. The game had national implications for both teams. Army had lost only once that season, to Yale (6-0). A win over Carlisle would catapult Army to a number one ranking. The emotional and practical stakes were obvious for the Indians. The game represented their continual fight for respect. They were clearly the best offense in the country, but commentators continued to mark them with an asterisk as if they were less than a real college team. The Indians were ready for war. They graced the field with sleek formations. Several fast forward passes combined with trick plays tomahawked the Army. Final score, 26-7. They did not just change football; they slowly changed the misconceptions of Indians. They stood up to humiliation and mockery with grace and dignity. They took beat downs and grinned, leaving spectators to question just who the â€Å"savages† really were. They claimed many victories over Ivy League schools stocked with players who descended from men who stole the Carlisle Indians’ Land. They proved they were the Real All Americans. But their celebration would be short-lived. The team nearly imploded after the win, and Warner found himself coaching a team that no longer respected him. Thorpe had been outed as a â€Å"professional† because he played baseball for money, and he lost his gold medals. Warner knew all along what Thorpe had done, but he acted as if he had no clue. That enraged the Carlisle team, and members wrote Congress and also divulged details of Warner paying his athletes. Warner was later asked to resign. Outside forces also erased Carlisle’s place in the history books as well. America was undergoing yet another transformation. The public now believed it was wrong to have taken natives from their homes to place them in far-away boarding schools. It was time to end the â€Å"experiment†. The little support Carlisle had left had faded. Pratt was long gone. Weaker leaders replaced him and none had a desire and commitment to the natives like Pratt. By 1918, The Carlisle Indian School had closed.