Why video games are Good Essay Example for Free

Why video games are Good Essay A kid plops down in front of the television and powers up his video game console. As he reaches for his controller, his mother has one point of view in her mind, more time wasted, another day wasted, video games rot my children’s brain. Or do they? Video games have a horrible stigma of â€Å"rotting our brain’s† because many believe that they are pumping our children’s minds with senseless violence and explicit content. Although many video games do include a substantial amount of violence, it comes second to the fact they can actually make you smarter according to many scientists and academics. They are seen to be good learning devices because of the problem solving and strategic thinking that is utilized to play video games. While there is obviously no substitute for classroom learning, video games can exercise the brain in many different ways. Most kids would rather pick up a joystick than pick up a textbook. Much to they’re unknowing they are exercising their brains. While traveling and discovering this exciting virtual world, they begin to figure out the rules and understand their goals in order beat the game and win. What might seem like a mindless zombie sitting on the couch for hours is actually someone solving a profuse amount of puzzles that are instilled in their video game. Someone playing a video game must solve and complete direct conflicts while keeping their overall goal in perspective. Playing a video game is similar to solving a science problem. Video gamers must come up with a hypothesis while trying to accomplish a goal, much like a student conducting a lab would do. For example: if a gamer is searching for a hidden item and they hypothesize that the item is in a dragon’s belly, they will attack the dragon and discover whether their hypothesis was correct or false. If they don’t find the item they must modify their hypothesis the next time they play. Video games are driven by goals and objectives, which are essential for learning. Scientific studies have shown that the brain can change with practice. If you train yourself to complete a certain objective, the part of you’re brain that you are using can actually growth in size and operation. Another scientific study has shown that those who constantly challenge their brain have almost a 50% less chance of developing dementia. Video games are all about interactive and active exploration, unlike leisurely reading a novel. A video game requires your brain to make immediate decisions. While reading a novel will exercise your creativity and imagination, video games will make your brain weigh circumstances and evidence, examine situations, reflect on your overall goal and forge a decision. It is not about what you’re thinking about when playing a video game, it is the way your thinking that challenges your brain. Video games make learning easier, comfortable, achievable and enjoyable. Any kid would rather learn how to slay a dragon than learn there times tables. This is simply because games offer more immediate and visible rewards. Memorizing and studying terms and theories may get you a good mark on your test, while beating the final boss will end the game. Gamers can also create their own adventure and decide their own unique fate and decided where they want to go and how they want to get there, within the restrictions of the game. It becomes their adventure. This is all played from the safety of their home, which prevents fears of making a mistake in front of others. If they lose, they can simply restart and try again without the feeling of embarrassment. This encourages gamers to take risks and expand their exploration opportunities. Although video games are no substitute for classroom learning, they have beneficial outcomes that can improve our brains activity making it healthier and function more efficiently. So next time you contemplate purchasing a video game, think about it not as endless hours waiting to be wasted, but rather as a large time investment for better of your mind.

Braces: A Pain In The Ass :: essays research papers

Braces: A Pain In The Ass One out of three children or teenagers will have to live through their "rites of passage years" as a prisoner of their own orthodonist. Puberty is burdened enough by zit and acne battles, awkward growth spurts, and raging evil hormones. Braces add additional torture to this already hellish time to both parent and child. A life with braces is far more humilating, painful, and expensive than living with buck teeth, gaps, or a snarled tooth. Mental scars remain long after cuts and bloody sores in the mouth have healed. These platinum-colored shackles come with a factory full of degrading insults and nicknames. All through school one can expect to be called brace-face, tractor teeth, and metal mouth. The orthadontically challenged are always the butt of electricity and lip-locking jokes. The orthodontist's office is also a source of embarrassment. Most offices are open-air, filled with other patients. This means an audience as the nurse stretches and pulls patient's mouths in Jim Carrey-like expressions. If one should forget to brush their teeth before their visit, they will regrettably become immortal as the doctor announces the left- over remains of Taco Bell in-between molars.Braces become a constant source of embarrassment. Braces are three years of physical torture beginning with the very first office visit. The application of the brackets itself is long, tedious, and uncomfortable. First, cold, polydent flavored clay is thrust into the crevices of the mouth, forcing imprints. Jagged metal squares are glued to the enamel, forcing hot, burning, glue to drip down the pink of the gums. Braces also cause everyday aches and pains in the mouth. Metal spokes, guiding teeth to a new shape, stab the inside of the mouth causing cuts, sores,and tearing each time a person's mouth opens. Rubber bands placed on top of brackets pull and stretch teeth until gums are tender and sore. Being born with unperfect teeth can be painful! Braces hurt parents' wallets well after the metal is scraped and chiseled off. Payments while braces are being worn are very overwhelming. The average cost of braces today is around 3,000 dollars, more for specialty kinds. Patients must also pay for damages they ininflic ii inflict upon their orthodontic work. There are also other expenses after the metal inflict upon their orthodontic work. Molar bands that are pryed off can cost as much as

Leaving Belfast

Focused on a conflictive time for Belfast, Andrew Motion tries to express the devastation that Belfast suffered during the economy's decline years and the influence that the political issues had in the society. The narrators sadness for having to leave his beloved city can be felt all over the poem. The poem was published at a very difficult time for Belfast. Conflicts and violence were present in all the streets.On the one hand, manufacturing industries were on a cline and economy was in its worst situation; on the other hand, the city was divided in two parts: the Catholics and the Protestants. The poem introduced us two people going to the airport. One of them has decided to stay In the city, but the other wants to leave It. On the way to the airport, the narrator looks back from the top of the hills of the road and feels nostalgia for leaving the city behind. The author uses lots of descriptions which are representative of the sadness of the narrator, but also of the image that t he city had acquired.As the narrator states, he doesn't leave Belfast because of fear, although the violence of the bombs could make him feel scared; he leave it because he feels like a stranger in his own city and because the political issues are having a tremendous impact in the habitants of the city. In the last part of the poem, the narrators explains what is the thing most annoying for him. His beloved city doesn't seem to be on the way of the change so, unfortunately, he has to leave from Belfast and let it behind. Leaving Belfast Is a 7 stanzas poem consisted of 4 lines In each stanza, what we call a quatrain.The feet analyzed In the poem don't seem to have any relation between them, but we could say that although the position of the stressed syllable doesn't seem to have any concordance, most of them are what we call Rising feet, because in most of the occasions the unstressed syllables happen to appear before the stressed one and not the other way. The poem is a free verse poem; it doesn't respect any regular rhyme scheme as it is written in a narrative way, using the narrative techniques that were widespread in the 20th century, trying to reflect his feelings by he words of a narrator.The first stanza introduces us the main characters, the one staying in Belfast and the one leaving. In the second and the third stanza the narrator, the one staying, tell us about the way they have done leaving Belfast, how he feels doing it and what he see while he Is moving away. In the next stanzas, the narrator builds up a strong feel of devastation referral to Belfast. He shows us a society which Is In decline and under a world of violence. Finally, in the last stanzas, he expresses his feelings in this tuition, feeling like a stranger, and goes ahead with his decision to leave the city.The poem, which at first sight doesn't seem to be very complex, hides lots of stylistic devices that should be mentioned. The devices that appear more regularly are the figurative o nes, which explain something but in an inordinate way. The biggest example could be what we call Imagery. The test is very rich in images of Belfast, as the narrator helps the reader to visualize the way Belfast is decaying and how it is not more a sweet home for him. This can be perceived all along in the poem because he entire poem is highly representative of the Belfast society.There are other type of devices such as Paradox, on the first line of the third stanza, â€Å"geographies of punishment and love†; Personifications, third stanza â€Å"silence deepens under rain† or fifth stanza â€Å"the moon filling rooms with shadow politics†; or also Metaphors, third stanza â€Å"gust of light explains itself as flames† referring to the suns flashes, which are so heavy as flames, or in the last stanza â€Å"until it disappears at last in darkness†¦ † Referring to his Journey, that he has already left Belfast behind.The sound techniques, on the ot her hand, are not so clear. The most representative one could be the use of the stressed words made by the author, which immerse the reader in the Belfast atmosphere. The poem reflects the dramatic situation Belfast was suffering in those days where violence was common in the whole town. The poem has been created by the strong emotions Andrew Motion felt for his country and hometown, because the authors own feelings of the topic are represented everywhere. Those many details allow us to picture the Belfast scene.

Q marginalisation

Through these poems and novel it shall e proven that Normalization is not always limited to an individual, instead it can extend to a social group and even a country itself. In this essay the three types of normalization will be addressed, individual normalization through racism, social normalization through groups such as the ‘hippies' and the normalization of a country itself through economic normalization of 3rd world countries.Normalization can occur anywhere at any time to anyone. Individual normalization is where one person Is singled out from a group or community of people for something like being an overweight. One of the most talked about and, unfortunately common, types of individual normalization is racism. Racism is something that society has struggled with for many generations. It has been around from the early settlers and has been a problem ever since.The poem telephone conversation' by Whole Saying demonstrates the racism and its problems very clearly. It is a p oem about an African man looking for accommodation In either England or America around the time of the sass's. The line â€Å"madam† I warned, â€Å"l hate a wasted journey – I am African†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"HOW an example of how African people were marginal's again because of the color of their skin. In those times, It was hard

Movie Essays

Movie Essays Movie Essay Movie Essay Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is a documentary that entails the health life of Australian filmmaker Joe Cross. His story is about his overweight state, which is later corrected by consistency in fresh juice solely in 60 days. He aborts steroids and pharmaceuticals, which only worsen his health, putting him on the brink of death. Joe manages to toss 100 pounds from 310 pounds in only two months surviving with nothing but fresh juice. Therefore, in the documentary, Joe Cross seeks to advice the audience on how to take control of their health status by choosing the right things to eat, being physically fit and overcoming obesity without dependency on steroids and other drugs. Joe classifies foods into two categories namely, macronutrients and micronutrients. Fruits and vegetables are micronutrients while macronutrients are the other types of foods, which cause unhealthiness. At the beginning, Joe buys green leafy vegetables from the produce vendor. The vegetables are celery, onions and tomatoes. Joe uses these vegetables to make mean green juice that he purposes is vital for a natural cutback in weight. The components of the mean green juice as brewed by Joe are a higher percentage of dark green leafy vegetables with additives of other vegetables and fruits. These vegetables are rich in vitamins and nutrients necessary for the body system. Plant based foods are healthier than animal products or processed foods. Joe traveled to the United States because he wanted to venture into a fruit and vegetable fast for sixty days. The road trip only featured a juicer and a generator in his car. This period was documented by his camera crew, which tagged along and each step he made can be clearly viewed on the film. Joe had a serious autoimmune disease intensified the negative impact. The disease caused an overproduction of histamine in Joe’s body leaving it itchy and irritated with inflammations. For the first 30 days, Joe heads to New York City and travels across America for the rest of the days. He says he had been focusing on his wealth rather than his health before he embarked on the juice fast. Thus, his area of importance then was his affluent lifestyle Histamines protect the body from foreign infections and keep it healthy. When it is overproduced, it causes allergies. After graduating high school became a young Australian businessperson with flourishing businesses and this lavish life made him enjoy his life by exposing himself to an unadvisable diet that saw his health status diminish with a dilated weight. This posed a serious threat to his life. Fasting is the act of going without of few for a period so juice fasting is inclusive of natural juices. He deprived himself of anything other than the natural juice, justifying the term juice fast. The American diet that is processed food is 95%. Joe was required by his doctor to take blood tests every 10 days to ensure he was still healthy. The blood tests show that he is improving gradually. He finds out that he no longer needs his medication. One has to keep in check with the doctor to understand the progress just as Joe’s doctor, Dr.Joel Fruhman advises him. After Joe completes his 60-day, juice fast, his weight loss is 82 pounds and this shows great improvement. While on his adventure, Joe comes across other people with the same problem he had before his realization and one of these obese people is Phil Staples. At the time, Joe was interviewing people concerning their eating habits while at the same time proposing his juice fast. Some of the people approved his health strategy while others, mostly the young ones were reluctant to adopt it. After Joe completes his 60 days juice fast and heads back to Australia, Phil decides to emulate the health icon and gives him a call. Following the call, Joe travels back to the States to help Phil on the Juice fast as a way for his body to heal naturally. Joe first met Phil at a truck stop. In the movie, Phil is overweight with and his poor diet gradually pushes him towards a heart attack as the doctor said. Phil was among those who attempt to follow Joe’s healthy lifestyle. Phil’s situation appears to be identical to Joe’s before he embarked on the juice fast because Phil also suffers from the autoimmune disease. The juice fasting undertaken by Joe Cross proves to be a detoxification therapy as his doctor sees no more use of medication in his life. Inspired by Joe’s story, Phil has the urge to overcome his 429 pounds with the help of his health icon. Phil quits being a truck driver for the juice fasting experience and is able to lose a large amount of weight towards the end of the movie as depicted by him running around and playing with the son. He also cuts down on his medication and this shows the positive effects of the mean green juice on an individual’s body system. He sponsors a community juice fast and is no longer depressed. His work changed towards a direction of healthy living standards. In his family, Phil helps his brother who is in an even worse state of obesity than he is. He is more dedicated to his job at the YMCA. The parts of the movie, which I liked, are the remarkable transformation of Joe to a healthier person and the impact he had on obese people such as Phil Staples who could barely pass through the truck stop. Another interesting aspect is the rare similarity in unhealthy conditions of both persons. However, I did not like the idea of the mean green juice because it seems bitter and it takes a lot of courage to decide on taking it solely for a number of days to lower the calories in the body. Such a transformation would be difficult to fathom if one comes from a background of eating a lot of processed foods and animal products. Nevertheless, the idea holds water towards the end of the movie when we see the lives of two men change dramatically to a better and healthy body system. The advantages to this type of diet are that it does not have bad side effects as those of obese medication, It is also feasible and not life threatening since we can identify Joe Cross as a strong person at the end of the film and his efforts remolding Phil’s health. As proven by Joe and Phil’s chronicle, the medication on obesity and the autoimmune disease was not efficient as compared to the juice fast. On the other hand, the disadvantage with this type of diet is that it takes a long time and one has to be patient and daring to take it. A person may fall into temptation, go back to the unhealthy foods, and consume them with double effect, leading to more calories. Buying too much organic foods can be costly and overdoing the juice fast can lead to diabetic problems. Movie Essays Movie Essay Movie Essay Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Fantasy in Harry potter movies Fantasy is a genre of fiction that consist of magic, imaginary worlds, quests, mythical creatures and great battles over good and evil. This genre uses supernatural occurrences as elements of plot or setting. Elements commonly used in this genre include wizards, elves, dragons and other imaginary creatures (Ledesma, nd).fantasy is anything that has no possibility of existing in the real world. Fantasy is related greatly to Harry potters movies because it is used to describe people, creatures, places, quest battles and many more magical happenings (Hill, 2005). Fantasy is used in the Harry potter movie to describe the Hogwarts School of wizardry and witchcraft where Harry goes to school at the age of eleven years. This magical place does not exist in the real world (Nikki, 2009). The students in these school all posse some magical power. this is revealed to Harry by a giant .fantasy comes out clearl y here when the giant a magical creature reveals to Harry that he is not an ordinary person like his relatives who have raised him up since the death of his parents. In addition, when Harry starts school he interacts with talented children like him. Fantasy relates to Harry potter, since most of the creatures are magical and posses’ extraordinary powers that ordinary creatures do not. In the movie, there is a scene where a gigantic three is the portions class. Another fantasy related to Harry potter is the magical spells cast on creatures and the wizards. The spells are used to disguise a wizard or witch, to wade off danger away or to create a camouflage. A scene from the movie that demonstrates this fantasy is the patronous charm spell that Harry uses against the dementors who are affecting Harry. In the real world, no magic spell exists to cause an effect on anyone or any creature. Another scene is when scabbers, Rons cat turns out to be a wizard in disguise. The wizard dec ided to disguise himself in order to spy on Harry and his friends and report to lord voldemort in the end Harry is able to kill voldemort with a single spell. Fantasy in relation to Harry potter is brought out in the power to see the invisible objects around. It is an extra ordinary thing to see things that are thought to be invisible, example ghosts. In the movie, Harry sees skeletal horses pulling the carriages at school. Another fantasy that relates to this movie is the evidence that one can hide a part of his soul to be retrieved later. This is brought out in the movie when Harry goes on a dangerous mission with Dumbledore to destroy apart of voldemort’s soul that is contained in a horcrux stored in different places. Fantasy is used in the movie to unite people who know each other in death, who in turn have conversations. Some have the power to choose whether to stay dead or to go back to life. From the movie this is shown when Harry dies and meets with Dumbledore who ans wers all his questions and alternatively gives him a choice of staying or going back to life. He chooses to go back and kill voldemort. The other fantasy used in the movie, is the ability for power to vanish from a person and regain it later. From the movie, this is witnessed by Harry when voldemont regains his power in a creepy graveyard. Another fantasy is the ability to speak the language of another creature. A scene in the movie is the ability of Harry to speak to snakes when he discovers he is a parslemouth. Work cited Ledesma, Debbie. Fantasy Fiction. suite101.com. 2011. Web. December 2, 2011 Hill, Joshua. Harry Potter and Fantasy – A Quick Look. sffworld.com. 2005-10-20. Web. December 2, 2011 Nikki. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. goodreads.com. Nov 29, 2011 04:01am. Web. December 2, 2011.

Lesson Plan Step #8 Assessment and Follow-Up

Lesson Plan Step #8 Assessment and Follow-Up In this series about lesson plans, were breaking down the 8 steps you need to take to create an effective lesson plan for the elementary classroom. The final step in a successful lesson plan for  teachers is Learning Goals, which coming  after defining the following steps:   ObjectiveAnticipatory SetDirect InstructionGuided Practice  ClosureIndependent PracticeRequired Materials and Equipment An  8-step lesson plan is not complete without the final step of Assessment. This is where you assess the final outcome of the lesson and to what extent the learning objectives were achieved. This is also your chance to adjust the overall lesson plan to overcome any unexpected challenges that may have arisen, preparing you for the next time you teach this lesson. Its also important to make note of the most successful aspects of your lesson plan, to ensure that you continue to capitalize on strengths and continue to push forward in those areas.   How to Assess Learning Goals Learning goals can be assessed in a variety of ways, including through quizzes, tests, independently performed worksheets, cooperative learning activities, hands-on experiments, oral discussion, question-and-answer sessions, writing assignments, presentations, or other concrete means. However, its important to remember that you may have students who better display their mastery of a topic or skill through non-traditional assessment methods, so try to think about creative ways you can assist those students in demonstrating mastery. Most importantly, teachers need to ensure that the Assessment activity is directly and explicitly tied to the stated learning objectives  you developed in step one of the lesson plan. In the learning objective section, you specified what students would accomplish and how well they would have to be able to perform a task in order to consider the lesson satisfactorily accomplished. The goals also had to fit within your district or state educational standards for the grade level. Follow-Up: Using the Results of the Assessment Once the students have completed the given assessment activity, you must take some time to reflect on the results. If the learning objectives were not adequately achieved, you will need to revisit the lesson in a different manner, revising the approach to learning. Either you will need to teach the lesson again or youll need to clear up areas that confused several of the students. Whether or not most students showed understanding of the material, based on the assessment, you should note how well students learned different parts of the lesson. This will allow you to modify the lesson plan in the future, clarifying or spending more time on areas where the assessments showed the students were weakest. Student performance on one lesson tends to inform performance on future lessons, giving you insight into where you should take your students next. If the assessment showed the students fully grasped the topic, you may want to proceed immediately to more advanced lessons. If understanding was moderate, you may want to take it slower and reinforce the takeaways. This may require teaching the entire lesson again, or, just portions of the lesson. Assessing different aspects of the lesson in greater detail can guide this decision.   Examples of Types of Assessments Quiz: a short series of questions with right and wrong answers that may not count towards a grade.Test: a longer or more in-depth series of questions that probes for more understanding of the topic and may count towards a grade.Class discussion: rather than a quiz or test that is scored, a discussion helps identify understanding. Its important to make sure all students are able to demonstrate mastery here, so that no one is lost in the shuffle.  Hands-on experiment: Where the subject matter is appropriate, the students apply the lesson to an experiment and record the outcomes.Worksheet: Students fill out a worksheet, especially for math or vocabulary lessons, but it also could be developed for many topics.Cooperative Learning activities: Students work in a group to solve a problem or have a structured discussion.Illustrations or Graphic Organizers: These can include Venn diagrams, K-W-L (Know, Want to Know, Learned) charts, flow charts, pie charts, concept maps, character traits, c ause/effect diagrams, spider web, cloud chart,T-chart, Y-chart, semantic feature analysis,fact/opinion chart, star chart, cycle chart, and other appropriate graphic  organizers. Often the subject will determine which works best as an assessment tool. Edited by Stacy Jagodowski

Research Paper Critique and Summaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Paper Critique and Summaries - Essay Example The research study proceeds from the assumption that "countries with a higher score on the collectivism index are more likely to favour the personal selling promotion tool than will countries with a lower score" (248). While this assumption is solidly grounded in the study's literature review, the authors subject it to further empirical examination. Utilizing an experimental design, Fam and Merrilees (1998) distributed a survey questionnaire amongst retail managers in both Australia and Hong Kong. Receiving a 40.2% in Australia and a 16% response in Hong Kong, Fam and Merrillees' (1998) seven-point Likert-scale questionnaire focused on the correlation between collectivist and non-collectivist cultures' marketing approach preferences. The data results validated the assumption, indicating that collectivist cultures betrayed a market preference for personal promotion selling tools. The research exploited both dependant and independent variables. Within the context of this research the independent variable was culture. ... Validity and Reliability Irrespective of the importance of the issue which a research sets out to investigate, the study would be worthless were its unreliable and its validity suspect. A study is valid if it actually investigates and studies the phenomenon which it identified and defined at the outset and reliable if it is replicable. With regards to this study, it does investigate that which it defined and while no mention is made of its being replicated by other researchers, Fam and Merrilees (1998) attempted to establish validity through the re-examination of their data and the replication of the results using a different method. Added to that, the researchers establish a chain of evidence throughout the study, verify the information collected and, accordingly establish construct validity. The study emerged as reliable and valid from that perspective. Evaluation When evaluated in terms of the criterion of utility, this article emerges as highly valuable because, in an era of globalisation and the internationalisation of business, this article provides marketers with the information they need to effectively address cultures. They identify the marketing tools and techniques which specific cultures are most responsive and susceptible to. In terns of the criteria of replication, the article is only partially satisfactory. In brief, even though the researchers make an effort to replicate their study for the purposes of validating their results, they do so to a very limited degree. They re-analyse the data using an alternate method and this does not fully satisfy the criterion of replication. Lastly, with regards to the criterion of