Short Stories

Margo Orlando Littell (1999) opines that "short stores are the ideal reading companion because they are usually brief enough to read in one sitting, with all of the drama and impact that make reading fun". they are called short stories because they tend to be less complex than novels. Usually a short story centers on only one incident, has a single plot, a single setting, a few characters, and covers a short period of time.

In reading short stories, it is necessary that you identify the following elements.

Setting:
-the time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting
-place - geographical location
-time - time when the story is taking place
-weather conditions - is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc
-social conditions - the daily life of the characters contain local color
-mood or atmosphere - feeling created at the beginning of the story

Plot:
-the plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea
-it is the sequence of events in a story or play
-five essential parts of plot:
1. introduction - the beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed
2. rising action - this is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed.
3. climax - this is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story
4. falling action - the events and complications begin to be resolved
5. denouement - this is the final outcome or unraveling of events in the story

Conflict:
-it is the struggle that characters have to contend with
-it is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move
-it is any form of opposition that faces the main character
-types of conflict include: man vs man (physical); man vs circumstances (classical); man vs society (social); man vs himself/herself (psychological)

Characters:
-the persons in the story and their characteristics e.g. his/her physical appearance; what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams; what he/she does or does not do; what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her.

Point of view:
-point of view is defined as the angle from which the story is told.

Theme:
-the theme is a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. it is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey. examples: anything too much is bad; love conquers all, money is the root of all evil.

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Critical Thinking and Reading

What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task. Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking process - the reasoning that went into the conclusion we've arrived at the kinds of factors considered in making a decision. Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because if focuses on a desired outcome.
-Diane F. Haplern (1996)

The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand evaluate, or resolve.
-victor p. maiorama(1992)

Critical thinking is the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate or more defensible.
-Paul, binker, adamson, and martin (1989)

Broadly speaking, critical thinking is concerned with reason, intellectual honesty, and open-mindedness, as opposed to emotionalism, intellectual laziness, and clsoed-mindedness. Thus, critical thinking involves: following evidence where it leads; considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion; being precise; considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; weighting the effects of motives and biases; being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right; not rejecting unpopular views out of hand; being aware of ones own prejudices and biases; and not allowing them to sway one's judgement.
-kurland, daniel j. I know what it says... what does it mean?(1995)

Critical thinking includes the ability to respond to material by distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings, judgments and inferences, inductive and deductive arguments, and the objective and subjective. It also includes the ability to generate questions, construct and recognize the structure of arguments, and adequate support arguments; define, analyze, and devise solutions for problems and issues; sort, organize, classify, correlate and analyze materials and date; integrate information and see relationships, evaluate information, materials and data by drawing inferences, arriving at reasonable and informed conclusions, applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems, developing rational and reasonable interpretations, suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information, methods, cultural systems, values and beliefs and by assimilating information."
-mcc general education initiatives

Uses of critical thinking
Ellis(1997) claims that critical thinking...
1. underlies reading, writing, speaking and listening... the basic elements of communication
2. plays an important part in social change.. institutions in any society - courts, governments, schools, businesses - are the products of a certain way of thinking.
3. helps us uncover bias and prejudices.
4. is a path to freedom from half-truths and deceptions.
5. the willingness to change one point of view as we continue to examine and re examine ideas that may seem obvious. such thinking takes time and the willingness to say three subversive words: I dont know.

attributes of a critical thinker
ferrett(1997) enumerates the following attributes of a critical thinker:
1. asks pertinent questions
2. assesses statements and arguments
3. is able to admit a lack of understanding or information
4. has a sense of curiosity
5. is interested in finding new solutions
6. is able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas
7. is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against facts
8. listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback
9. sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment
10. suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered
11. looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs
12. is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found
13. looks for proof
14. examines problems closely
15. is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant

Reading and thinking are inseparable. When we read, we think as well. Hence, critical reading requires critical thinking. what is critical thinking? Harris and Hodges (1981) describe critical thinking as 1. the process of making judgment in reading: evaluating, relevancy and adequacy of what is read... 2. an act of reading in which a questioning attitude, logical analysis, and inference are used to judge the worth of what is read according to an established standard... among the identified skills of critical reading involved in making judgment are those having to do with the author's intent or purpose; with the accuracy, logic, reliability and authenticity of writing; and with the literacy forms, components, and devices identified through literacy analysis.  To harris and Hodges(1995) it is the process of arriving at a judgment about the value or impact of a text by examining its quality in terms of form, style and rhetorical features, the readability of the author and the consistency between ideas it presents and the reader's experience, including.. internal evaluation... and external evaluation..

Characteristics of critical readers
Schumm and Post (1997) believes that critical readers are:
1. willing to spend time reflecting on the ideas presented in their reading assignments
2. able to evaluate and solve problems while reading rather than merely complie a set of facts to be memorized
3. logical thinkers
4. diligent in seeking out the truth
5. eager to express their thoughts on a topic
6. seekers of alternative views on a topoc
7. open to new ideas that may not necessarily agree with their previous thought on a topic
8. able to base their judgment on ideas and evidence
9. able to recognize errors in thought and persuation as well as to recognize good arguments
10. willing to take a critical stance on issues
11. able to ask penetrating and thought-provoking questions to evaluate ideas
12. in touch with their personal thoughts and ideas about a topic
13. willing to reassess their views when new or discordant evidence is introduced and evaluated.
14. able to identify arguments and issues
15. able to see connections between topics and use knowledge from other disciplines to enhance their reading and learning experiences

steps in critical reading
1. before you read - scan the piece to get an idea of what it is about and what the main argument is. this may include reading an introduction if there is one, or the subheadings.
2. while you read - keep a running dialogue with the author through annotation by recording your thoughts, ideas and questions. underline, highlight or circle important parts and points, and write comments in the margins.
3. after you have read - look over your annotations to get an overall idea of the text. you may also choose to write a summary to solidify your understand.
4. responding to the text - after you have developed a clear sense of the authors argument and line of reasoning, you are able to analyze the author's argument and methods. then, you can develop your own ideas - perhaps into an essay of your own.

Considerations in critical reading
empire state college suggests that we consider the following in our analysis:
1. consider the authority of the writer - using both the information that you have about the writer as a person(training, political affiliations, life experiences) as well as clues from the language, tone and approach of the text, decide whether the writer is credible. is the writer knowledgable? what biases or values may be playing a role in his/her argument?

2. consider the logic of the writer's argument - it is important to ask yourself what the writer wants you to believe and whether the reasons and supporting evidence convince you of this viewpoint. examine the credibility of the "facts" as well as the line of reasoning that ties the facts to the main assertion.

3. expose the ways in which the writer gets your interest. a writer may use one or more of the following strategies to get the reader intellectually and emotionally involved in the text by: 1. trying to get the reader to identify with the author or evoke respect for the authority of the author (for example, through the tone) 2. trying to get the reader to care about a subject, cause, or problem (perhaps by appealing to their emotions by using shocking statistics, anecdotes, or detailed descriptions) 3. trying to get the reader to align him/herself with a greater class of readers (e.g. the educated, women, environmentalist) and 4. using the assumed interest and values of the reader as a foundation for another argument.

4. consider the writer's use of language and style- the writer makes many decisions concerning language and style that serve to influence your responses as a reader. examine the following aspects of the writing: overall tone, sentence formation, choice and connotation of words, use of punctuation, and brevity or length of passages. how do the writer's choices about language and style aid their argument? what do theses choices reveal about the writer's argument?

5. consider the idealogy that informs the text. try to uncover the idealogy - the system of beliefs, values, and ideas about the world - that underlies the text. a simple way to do this is to write down words and ideas that are valued in the text or reprenseted by the author in a positive way. then write down the opposite of each word. theses binaries or pairs of opposites; will reveal the idealogy that informs the text.

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Russian Bomb Squad Called In To Defuse A Sex Toy

Russian Bomb Squad Called In To Defuse A Sex Toy - Anti-terrorist bomb squad experts were called to a post office in the northwest of Russia to make safe a package from which a strange ticking sound was coming.The incident took place at Petrozavodsk in the republic of Karelia and followed a call from a postal worker who had identified a suspect package.The post building was ringed by the security forces and people were evacuated"

"In the package the bomb squad found a vibrator."

The sex toy had apparently been turned on "by accident".

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What are the Effects of Radiation Exposure - On Humans

What are the Effects of Radiation Exposure? What are the Effects of Radiation Exposure - On Humans


Regarding in the information on the Leak of Radiation from Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan, The Japanese authorities say radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have started to climb to potentially harmful levels.

Residents living within 30km (18 miles) of the plant have been advised to leave the area, or to stay indoors, and try to make their homes airtight.

Experts have stressed that swift action should be able to minimise any impact on human health.

What are the immediate health effects of exposure to radiation?

Exposure to moderate levels can result in radiation sickness, which produces a range of symptoms.

Nausea and vomiting often begin within hours of exposure, followed by diarrhoea, headaches and fever.

After the first round of symptoms, there may be a brief period with no apparent illness, but this may be followed within weeks by new, more serious symptoms.

At higher levels of radiation, all of these symptoms may be immediately apparent, along with widespread - and potentially fatal - damage to internal organs.

Exposure to a radiation dose of four grays will typically kill about half of all healthy adults.

For comparison, radiation therapy for cancer typically involves several doses of between one and seven grays at a time - but these doses are highly controlled, and usually specifically targeted at small areas of the body.

How is radiation sickness treated?

The first thing to do is to try to minimise further contamination by removing clothes and shoes, and gently washing the skin with soap and water.

Drugs are available that increase white blood-cell production to counter any damage that may have occurred to the bone marrow, and to reduce the risk of further infections due to immune-system damage.

There are also specific drugs that can help to reduce the damage to internal organs caused by radioactive particles.

How does radiation have an impact on health?

Radioactive materials that decay spontaneously produce ionising radiation, which has the capacity to cause significant damage to the body's internal chemistry, breaking the chemical bonds between the atoms and molecules that make up our tissues.

The body responds by trying to repair this damage, but sometimes it is too severe or widespread to make repair possible. There is also a danger of mistakes in the natural repair process.

Regions of the body that are most vulnerable to radiation damage include the cells lining the intestine and stomach, and the blood-cell producing cells in the bone marrow.

The extent of the damage caused is dependent on how long people are exposed to radiation, and at what level.

What are the most likely long-term health effects?

Cancer is the biggest long-term risk. Usually when the body's cells reach their "sell-by date" they commit suicide. Cancer results when cells lose this ability, and effectively become immortal, continuing to divide and divide in an uncontrolled fashion.

The body has various processes for ensuring that cells do not become cancerous, and for replacing damaged tissue.

But the damage caused by exposure to radiation can completely disrupt these control processes, making it much more likely that cancer will result.

Failure to repair the damage caused by radiation properly can also result in changes - or mutations - to the body's genetic material, which are not only associated with cancer, but may also be potentially passed down to offspring, leading to deformities in future generations. These can include smaller head or brain size, poorly formed eyes, slow growth and severe learning difficulties.

Are children at greater risk for radiation?

Potentially yes. Because they are growing more rapidly, more cells are dividing, and so the potential for things to go wrong is greater.

Following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in the Ukraine in 1986, the World Health Organization recorded a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among children in the vicinity.

This was because the radioactive materials released during the accident contained high levels of radioactive iodine, a material that accumulates in the thyroid.

How can the Japanese authorities minimise the cost to human health?

Professor Richard Wakeford, an expert in exposure to radiation from the University of Manchester, said provided the Japanese authorities acted quickly most of the general population should be spared significant health problems.

He said in those circumstances the only people likely to be at risk of serious health effects were nuclear workers at the plant or emergency workers exposed to high levels of radiation.

He said the top priority would be to evacuate people from the area and to make sure they did not eat contaminated food. The biggest risk was that radioactive iodine could get into their system, raising the risk of thyroid cancer.

To counter that risk people could be given tablets containing stable iodine which would prevent the body absorbing the radioactive version.

The Japanese already have a lot of iodine in their natural diet, so that should help too.

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Globalization and Education

Globalization-is most often used to describe the growing integration of economics worldwide through increases in trade, investment flows and technology transfer. Globalization refers to an increasing interconnectedness and convergence of activities and forms of life among diverse cultures throughout the world.

One could think that globalization is only a matter of industry and business, and that education as a moral process is not part of this development. however, if we understand education as a part of the information business, education systems can be seen as the core of the globalization process.

GLOBAL EDUCATION AND GLOBALIZATION

An education for globalization should therefore nurture the higher order cognitive and interpersonal skills required for problem finding problem-solving articulating arguments, and deploying verifiable facts or artifacts. These skills should be required of children and youth who will as adults, fully engage the larger wold ans master its greatest challenges, transforming it for the betterment of humanity - regardless of national origin or cultural upbringing.

Globalization has become a widespread idea in national and international dialogue in recent years. But what do we mean when we invoke each of these terms, and is there really a meaningful distinction between the two.

Globalization's shifting and controversial parameters make it difficult to describe it as clearly as a dominant force, booth positively and negatively, shaping the environment in which we live.

Education systems constitute the core of the globalization process.

Global education, as distinct from globalization, does what higher education has traditionally aimed to do: extend students' awareness of the world in which they live by opening them to the diverse heritage of human thoughts and action, and creativity.

Global education extends students' awareness of the world in which they live by opening them to the diverse heritage of human thoughts and action, and creativity.

Globalization links individuals and institutions across the world with unprecedented interconnection.

Characteristics of Globalization That can be linked to education

In seeking to understand and theorize the nature of globalization and its effects in education, it is argued that globalization has both potentially negative as well as potentially positive effects. It is also argued that the restructuring of the state under the impact of neo-liberalism, which has been the underpinning ideology of economic globalization, has had a real effect upon the structures of educations, as well as upon educational policies in the form of new managerial ism and human capital theory

*in educational terms, there is a growing understanding that the neo-liberal versions of globalization, particularly as implemented by bilateral, multilateral, and international organizations, is reflected in an educational agenda that privileges, if not directly imposes particular policies for evaluation, financing, assesment, standards, teacher training, curriculum, instruction and testing.

*in economic term a transition from Fordist to post-fordist forms of workplace organization; a rise in internationalized advertising and consumption patterns; a rediction in barriers to the free flow of goods, workers and investments across nation.

*in political terms, a certain loss of nation state sovereignty or at least the erosion of national autonomy, and correspondingly, a weakening of the notion of the citizen as a unified and unifying concepts, a concept that can be characterized by precise roles, rights, obligations and status.

*in cultural terms, a tension between the ways in which globalization brings forth more standardization and cultural homogeneity, while also bringing more fragmentation through the rise of locally oriented movements.\

globalization is undoubtedly an important constitutive feature of the modern world.

aspects of globalization
1. industrial globalization, trans-nationalization. this refers to the rise and expansion of multinational and transnational enterprises.
2. financial globalization. this refers to the emergence of worldwide financial markets and better access to external financing for corporate, national and sub-national borrowers.
3. political globalization. this refers to the spread of political sphere of interests to the regions and countries outside the neighborhood of political (state and non-state) actors and the potential formation of a global citizen movement.
4. informational globalization-the increase in information flows between geographically and remote locations.
5. cultural globalization - the growth of cross-cultural concepts.
6. globalism - the universal, internationalist impulse that the world is connected. it refers to the connection between cultures, nations and peoples, embodies cultural diffusion, the desire to consume and enjoy foreign products and ideas, adopt new technologies and practices and participate in "world culture"

Socio-cultural, economic, and political issues on globalization
1. socio-cultural issues - one of the paradoxes of globalization is that difference is becoming increasingly normative. Globalization and massive migrations area changing the ways we experience national identities and cultural belonging.

Socio-cultural issues on globalization:
*massive migration
*managing difference
*global changes in culture

Global changes in culture deeply affect education policies, practices and institutions.

Teachers and schools need to have flexibility to cope with and make use of the cultural resources that are in their classrooms.

Globalization brings about opportunities for education, particularly in the ways that new technologies can be put to work to improve both the quality of education worldwide.

What the world seems to be learning is that illiteracy anywhere creates economic and political risks everywhere.

Education creates a capacity to mitigate the disparties in the world today that are potentially very destabilizing both from an economic and a political point of view.

Education will need rethinking and restructuring if schooling is to best prepare the children and the youth of the world to engage globalizations new challenges, opportunities, and costs.

Globalizations increasingly complexity neccessitates a new paradigm for learning and teaching.

Education for globalization nurtures higher order cognitive and interpersonal skills required for problem finding, problem-solving, articulating arguments and deploying verifiable facts or artifacts.

1. content of education
a. curriculum up-gradation - the modern advances in information technology have revolutionized among others, the content of knowledge and the processes of educational transaction.

b. productivity orientation - the basic objective of globalization is to enhance productivity and to make the educational system an instrument in preparing student who can compete in the world markets as productive members of the society.

2. the fall out of globalization
a. internationalization of education - implicit in the system of globalization is the inevitability of the internationalization of the educational system, particularly at the higher education stage.

b. finance-related issues - in order to be a part of global configuration, the requirement of funds for social services including education will increase manifold.

c. privatization of secondary and higher education

EDUCATION IN THE NEW MILIEU

Learners must now be viewed as proactive participants in learning, actively seeking ways to analyze, question, interpret and understand the ever-changing environment.

Information and Communication Technology and Education

Today we live in an age of lightning-fast information transfer. technology has allowed individuals to obtain, assemble, analyze and communicate information in more detail at a much faster pace than ever before.

Education is generally seen as a formal process of instruction, based on a theory of learning, to impart formal knowledge ( to one or more students).

ICT - more than a new technology

information and communication technology in education consists of the hardware, software, network media for the collection, storage, processing, transmission and presentation of information, as well as related services.

ICT has become a personalized commodity and the environment we are operating in is more nd more based on information and communication technology.

Technology can be seen merely as a social product rather than a technology which is separate from society. each step on teh way to developing new technologies is connected to social, economic, and political factors.

The rate of technological innovation is so fast that even as today's applications are being disseminated newer ones are being tested.

Computers in education disable us because:
*effective teaching all but disappears. good teaching requires a good connection.

TESDA ( technical education and skills development authority )

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD)

ESD - an active and expanding field of educational innovation and transformation worldwide - encompassing allied movements/fields such as education for nonviolence and conflict resolution, education for a culture of peace or peace education for nonviolence and conflict resolution.

Social
Peace, equity, democracy

Economics
Work, Money, Education

Environment
conservation, preservation, protection

society -  an understanding of social institutions and their role in change and development as well as the democratic and participatory systems

environment - an awareness of the resources and fragility of the physical  environment and the effects on its human activity and decisions

economy - a sensitivity to the limits and potential of economic growth and their impact on society and on the environment, with a commitment to assess personal and societal levels of consumption out of concern for the environment and social justice.

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Education for sustainable development is a dynamic concept that encompasses a new vision of education to empower people to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future. Its overall aim is to empower citizens to act for positive environmental and social  change implying a participatory and action-oriented approach.

ESD is fundametally about values, with respect at the centre: respect for others, including those of present and future generations, for difference and diversity, for the environment, and for the resources of the planet that we inhabit. Education enables us to understand ourselves and others, and our links with the wider natural and social environment, and this understanding serves as a durable basis for building respect.

Implentation - an educated citizenry is vital to implementing informal and sustainable development.

decision making - good community based decisions which will affect social, economic and environmental well being also depend on educated citizens.

quality of life - education is also central to improving quality of life. education raises the economic status of families; it improves life conditions, lowers infant mortality, and improves the educational attainment of the next generation, thereby raising the next generation's chances for economic and social well-being.

*envisioning - being able to imagine a better future
*critical thinking and reflection - learning to question our current belief systems and to recognize the assumptions underlying our knowledge, perspective and opinions.
*systematic thinking - acknowledging complexities and looking for links and synergies when trying to find solutions to problems.
*building partnerships - promoting dialogue and negotiation, learning to work together.
*participation in decision making - empowering people

DESD Decade for sustainable development


Key action themes for ESD

1. Gender Equality - the pursuit of gender equality is central to sustainable development where each member of society respects others and plays a role in which they can fulfill their potential

2. health promotion - issues of develoment, environment and health are closely entwined - ill health hampers economic and social development.

3. environment - environmental perspectives cover several major themes, reflecting diverse goals and audiences, including water, climate change, biodiversity and disaster prevention.

4. rural development - in spite of rapid urbanization, three billion or 60% of the population in developing countries, and half of the world population, still live in rural areas.

5. cultural diversity - education must respect diversity.

6. peace and human security - peace and security are fundamental to human dignity and development, the sustainable development of any culture is always endangered by a situation of insecurity and conflict.

7. sustainable development - cities have moved to the forefront of global socio-economic change.

8. sustainable consumption - our choices as consumers today will impact the way people will live tomorrow. means consuming goods and services without harming the environment or society.

ESD as the right attitude to globalization

optimist globalist see only the boon of globalizing influeces in terms of improbed quality of life, higher living standards, and greater social cohesion and understanding.
pessimist globalist see the dark side of globalization with dominant first world countries imposing their own economic and political agenda on the world
traditional globalist take a safe ground feeling indifferent to change, saying the effects of globalization need not to be exagerated
transformative globalist who would not stand and wait but take a proactive stand.

values based learning - the processses of self-reflection and critical inquiry fosters critical thinking of one's values and the values of others.

learning to transform - this involves developing a vision for ESD and subsequent transformation of thinking for change.

whole school approach - this is to develop an entire school culture committed to ESD, not focusing on ESD simply within the curricula

coommunity based learning - the school act as a social agent, as part of the community and involving the community as a resource and participant in decision-making processes.

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