Online Writing Lab Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Online Writing Lab - Essay Example You, I believe, would also be experiencing the same difficulties with language and culture that all people coming from other countries face during the early days adjusting in the new environment. The matter doesn't get any easier especially for an immigrant coming from a developing and a Muslim country like Pakistan in our case. Locals looking at us with a suspicious eye, jobs not easy to secure, investigation teams just around the corner waiting for us to make a wrong move etc are some of the problems that we have to cope up with. Apart from this there comes the problem of communication gaps that exist between the locals and people like us who use English as a second language. Writing applications, interview letters, and even writing and speaking simple words may elicit negative and undesired feedback due to inappropriate usage of grammar. Sometimes using correct sentence composition may land us in trouble since the usage did not convert to the same context in the local's minds due to cultural differences. Having experienced these issues myself, I have some encouraging news for you about how to avoid landing into tricky situations in front of your peers. Leafing through my computer files yesterday I found my solution to the cultural and language problems I had faced during my initial days in the United States. The solution was a simple Online Writing Lab called 'OWL' for short. An OWL is an always available facility which provides you free writing resources and instructional material on the internet. It is a portal where students, members of the community, and global users can find information to assist them with many writing projects while teachers and trainers can use the material for in-class and out-of-class instructions. Every country has its own set of rules and expectations about the ways to communicate in a business setting. In some countries, they may place less emphasis on written materials and more emphasis on verbal communication. However, in the United States, memos, letters, and emails are important and play a role in creating a person's business reputation. The 'OWL at Purdue' has a special section relating on how Non-Americans should go about writing for a business audience. It includes information on how to approach a topic by getting to the point, to keep the message simple, how and when to use active and passive voice with special emphasis on nondiscriminatory language, and a guide on using verbs rather than keeping the message vague. The best part of the Online Writing Lab is that it provides a teacher-student relationship as in a school yet a completely professional online environment just like in the case of distance learning. You can write a letter for your business purpose, but send it first to your teacher at the OWL from where you will receive instructions and training on how to improve your business writing. As a result you can then send the convincingly written revised letter for the business purpose you initially intended and get a firm response. Not only this, there is a lot more available on their website including basic formatting and referencing styles for business reports, demo letters and memorandums, and writing guidelines. Your reputation remains safe while all the time you learn how to make your writing skills even better. And while your writing skills improve, you are assured that your spoken language gets better. Your convenience is the key here. You can send emails, write letters or memos, and make corrections and revisions all at a

Professional Development for Elementary Teachers, Team Building for Essay

Professional Development for Elementary Teachers, Team Building for Elementary Teachers and Teachers as Mentors in Elementary Schools - Essay Example One might conclude that under these circumstances, it would be nearly impossible for students to succeed in a Baltimore City Public School. However, the question of how educators can enhance student performance (specifically student test scores and attendance) in public schools has been widely discussed and explored by educational practitioners. In fact, educational reformers have developed different strategies to enhance student performance in public city schools. Empowering teachers both inside and outside the classroom seems to be at the forefront as a key intervention for teachers in public elementary education today (Supovitz, p. 1591). Educational practitioners and researchers alike agreed that teachers can best empower themselves by engaging in different activities like professional development, team-building, mentoring. Such activities would not only empower teachers but they would also improve student performance. Education is a life long process, especially for those who are educators. In the field of education there are always new developments, and for a teacher it's important to be up to date on the knowledge concerning a subject, as well as the most effective teaching methods to ensure that students have the best chance possible to succeed in school. It's important that teachers continue their education to better serve incoming students' needs. Professional development is viewed as a vital part of being a teacher. The most prominent form of professional development is traditional one, but there is also a technology-enhanced one that is becoming more readily available. Team building process of teaching community is to improve the educational system. According to G. Maeroff (1993), 'the nucleus or team would assume ownership of new ideas and learn strategies for implementing them and for winning adherents among their colleagues in the school community' (p. 513). Researchers suggest that education might be improved by the formation of school teams of committed people who are prepared to take risks inside and outside their own classrooms. And Maeroff concludes that 'the greatest value of teams will be as vehicles for bringing improvements to teaching and learning' (p. 519). 'Existing' teachers mentoring other teachers is also an important point to take into consideration. This mentoring uses experienced master teachers who support and assist both novice and experienced teachers new to the district or a particular school. In team frame mentors should be team leaders, committed to professional growth, be confident and caring people. Only in this case it will bring the best results for both educators and students. The teaching environment should follow collaborative scheme, thus providing opportunities for discussion, reflection, and follow-up. Professional development for teachers in public elementary schools Elementary children learning is of strategic importance for both their future and that of the nation. Elementary teachers must be prepared with the knowledge, skills, values and techniques to interact successfully with children, parents, colleagues, administrators, and others who affect children's lives. They must adapt to the interests, learning styles and needs of individual children in a complex, rapidly changing and culturally diverse society.