Teaching Philosophy :: Education Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy I was held back in fourth grade, because my teacher failed to realize that I was struggling. My parents tried everything from money incentives to grounding me until my work was done. Nothing seemed to work with me; I didn’t understand what I was supposed to be learning and no amount of pressuring, grounding, or incentives were going to help. The second time around, my teacher didn’t put as much pressure on me and made the class a little more interesting. The following year, my teacher Mr. Barger, told us on the first day that he’d â€Å"give [us] just enough rope to hang ourselves†. I often found myself in such a position. This teacher is the best teacher I have ever had, because he made the class fun. By the end of the year I was on the B honor roll. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I realized that I wanted to give something back to the students. I wanted to become the teacher that students would remember for making a difference in their life. I believe that the nature of knowledge is constructed and dependent upon person, place, or time. Knowledge depends upon the teacher’s teaching styles, foundations, and how much time the teacher can allow for certain subjects. With the student, it depends on his/her age, their learning process, and their learning environment. How well he/she does can depend on how much time the teacher spends on the subject. You could have a slow child in a class, but if you spend just a little longer on that math problem they just may get it. You may have a six-teen year old boy who chooses not to learn and goofs off, but if you keep trying to capture his interests he’ll probably come around. The nature of knowledge is relative; it just depends on how much the teacher and the student want to put into it. I believe that public education was established so that all people could get an education.

Planning And Decision Making Essay

Many organizations lack a better planning and decision making systems that usually leads to the failure of there operations, in this case planning refers to the overall integrated planning system within an organization which incorporates both strategic and corporate planning. An organization is a consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. Therefore corporate planning can only be achieved through management functions; planning, which encompasses defining organization goals establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals and developing a comprehensive hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities, organizing, which is the determination of what tasks have to be done, who does them how the tasks are to be grouped? Who reports to whom and where decisions are to be made. Controlling, this involves monitoring the organizations performance, leading, which involves managers motivating subordinates, directing the activities to be done, selecting the most appropriate channels of communication and resolving any conflicts among the employees Taking a look at Toyota Industries Corporation that was started in the year 1937 by Kiichirro Toyoda. It started off by manufacturing and selling automatic looms. Later on it extended by manufacturing automobiles including vehicles, car air conditioning compressors and engines. Toyota Company is widely known all over the world as an automobile manufacturer. It proudly owns the title of the world’s largest automaker company. It is known to be the largest then followed by General Motors Company. This company made sales worth 4. 72 million in the first half of the year 2007. It actually made a profit of $ 15. 09 billion. This paper is dealing with an evaluation of the success that this Company is having. This company is known to have production bases in Asia, Europe, Japan, India, China and North America. Toyoda, 2005) Orientation This company is reported to have a better management system that is referred to as the Toyota Production System which is made up of practices that are meant to organize the company’s logistics and its production; it is also found to encouraging a better communication between the company and its clients. Evaluation of Toyota Company shows tremendous success in the year 2007. This has actually ended the reign of the world best selling trademark of General Motors. An evaluation of the success of Toyota Company shows that it has really expanded various markets worldwide. This has enabled it to reach a very wide scope of customers. Evaluation on the success of Toyota Company shows that it has really opened up so many outlets all over the world including Africa. This has helped customers to easily access Toyota products unlike before. That is why this Company is really enjoying the booming success. (Dr. Shoichiro 2006) Planning is very important in any organization. This is because it helps the organization to easily replace personnel who get promotions or those who get transfers. This is because organizations nowadays carry out management development on all the leaders and managers in an organization. This helps an organization to have a pool of qualified personnel. It also helps an organization to carry out technological advancement. This is because the organization’s personnel are qualified and quite updated in the current technology. (www. onesixsigma. com) Key Processes  The system was founded between the years 1948 and the year 1975 which at the moment referred to as â€Å"Just in Time production† it was regarded as a house like design through which most of its workers once they are recruited they first of all get trained first before they start working in the company this actually shows how committed Toyota is in implementing a good performance oriented workforce, in this case we find that after an employee is trained and found to be successful then he is promoted with an ambition of meeting the expected company standards that are set. From the Toyota Production we find that the Managers can use this to identify the training goals. A manager needs to review his employee’s skills and the areas that they need to improve. These needs in the managerial skills will help in making goals. To find out this, the manager needs to asses the workforce and through this he can know what they are able to do and what they can’t do. Therefore the manager cannot just do this by himself. He needs assistance from other people. They can assist in reviewing his performance. Such people include the supervisors. These people can give invaluable information on the areas that need to be improved and give insight on the behaviors exhibited at work. During the planning the manager needs to consider the training programs that are being offered. The manager needs to carry out plan implementation. After that the manager needs to evaluate himself if he achieved his goals. The TPS also ensures that there is a minimal wastage of resources in the company, since the company regards wastage of resources as a result of de-motivation to its employees. Any organization that carries out management development usually experiences an increase in its productivity. When the personnel in an organization get skills in management there will be an increase in production. (www. onesixsigma. com) The founders of the Toyota production system had an ambition of eliminating the burdens which was referred to as the â€Å"muri†, also to curb the inconsistency referred to as the â€Å"mura† and the other reason for establishing the system is avoid wastage which was referred to as â€Å"muda† therefore we find that the company using the system has therefore discovered on how to reduce factors leading to wastage in the production of the firm. (www. onesixsigma. com) This has led to a better decision making in the firm whereby the system defines that better results are always founded on the right process of production whereby the companies are always urged to come up with a continuous flow of communication in order to indicate the threats of the company, we also find that the company encourages the use of the pull system which is directed towards the avoidance of overproduction, the other way that will enable a company to achieve its goals is to have a levelised workload whereby the employees are allowed to work at a lower speed in order to have better production results rather than working with a high speed to give poor results. In figure one, we find that the diagram has indicated that the company operates in two ways the Jidoka and the Just on Time processes whose goal is to enable a high quality production at a lower cost and within the shortest time limit. Here we find the company actually deals with the reduction of the cost of its products and also on the improvement of the quality of its products. Research indicates that Toyota is in a position of producing one vehicle in every six seconds which results into a total of six million vehicles per year, we also find that the company does not employ people who are given the responsibility but the members themselves report to be disciplined in a manner that they always clean their own offices, this policy has been found to be successful in ensuring that the workers report to their working areas with aim of improving their productivity. Key Learnings Management development is very beneficial to organizations. Many organizations that have embraced this usually have efficient and effective personnel. This improves the productivity hence leading to financial gains. The managers are skilled and will deal with issues that can cause losses efficiently. Figure two below indicating the ways Toyota puts together it production process, the company is reported to be successful as a result of encouraging its employees to work together as a team Whereby in terms of staffing, we find that the Toyota company actually employs more than 4,000 workers each day who are always provided with a number of two working shifts, in this company we find that the employees work in terms of teams, under which each team is made of a minimum of four to six employees, research also indicates that eight teams in the company make a whole group which is therefore provided with a team leader. Under the management in the organization we find that the company improves the performance of their workers through a better paying system which research indicates that every member in the team is paid at least ? 7,000 including this is inclusive of shift and overtime premium, they are also provided with a private healthcare. (www. onesixsigma. com) Where also find that there exist the policies of continuous improvement which is the company terms it as Kaizen action meetings which are regarded as circles of quality whereby the member staffs are involved in the improvement of the performance of the employees. This is well encouraged where the company is found to be offering Kaizen prizes after every six months. in the meetings a manager managing a team of twenty five groups is given an opportunity of deciding which group manager is the best after which all the managers in the company decides which group manager is the best to win the presentation. Then the two of the managers are given a chance to travel to Japan for a kaizen conference and give the story about their performance. For all these reasons we find that this Kaizen is used a way of improving the employees performance in the Toyota company and therefore the other companies planning to be as successful as Toyota one needs to implement the same policy in his or her organization. (www. onesixsigma. com) When evaluating the success in this Company, one can’t fail to notice the improved marketing strategies that have been incorporated therein. The company carried out outsourcing of experts who carried out market research on the target customers of this nation. The Company was therefore in a position to strategize so that it could overthrow the previous automobile manufacturer-General Motors. Marketing strategies were put in place to target the affluent customers all over the world. This played a big role in the success of Toyota Company. These marketing strategies included participating in sports. Toyota Company vehicles were used in motor spots and this actually marketed the vehicles. The Super 2000 Corolla and Peugeot were won in motors spots that were carried out late in the year 2007. (Toyoda, 2005) Toyota Company has had various acquisitions which influenced its success. It acquired 8. 7% of Fuji Industries. This Company is the manufacturer of Subaru vehicles. Toyota Company also acquired 5. 9% of Isuzu Motors. These strategies highly influenced the success of Toyota Company in the year 2007. This made Toyota Company to overtake General Motors. Toyota Company really strategized and incorporated new technologies in its manufacturing system. These technologies include an advanced parking guidance system and automatic power buttons. This resulted in the manufacture of hybrid gas-electric vehicle. This was produced in very large numbers. This hybrid gas-electric vehicle is sold at one million all over the world. This played a big role in the entire success of Toyota Company. (Dr. Shoichiro 2006) Evaluation of the success of Toyota Company shows that one of the factors that influenced its overall success in the year 2007 is branding. This company manufactures a wide variety of brands. This gives customers a wide variety of vehicles to choose from this Company. These brands include Lexus GS, Toyota Camry, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prius etc. This has also played a big role in the success of Toyota Company. Surveys carried out on Toyota Company products show a great improvement on the quality of its products. This influenced the general success of this Company until it overtook the previous world leader- General Motors Company. It brands are actually preferred by customers because of quality and durability. Toyota produced Lexus and Scion automobiles which ranked top in reliability and quality surveys. They also ranked best according to various consumer reports. According to the annual report of Toyota Company 2007, there was much incorporation of team work which greatly influenced the success of Toyota Company. This Company has a large market share in United States and Asia. (Wooly, 2006) Conclusion According to the annual report in Toyota Company, approximately 4. 72 million vehicles were sold by the first half of the year 2007. This ended seventy six year reign of General Motors Company. Evaluation of the success of Toyota Company’s success in the year 2007 shows that this company incorporated various strategies that played a big role in its success. These included outsourcing of experts, incorporation of new marketing strategies and opening up of very many outlets all over the world. Branding aspect in this Company was well used by the marketing experts and this is how Toyota Company managed to overthrow the previous world leading manufacturer – General Motors Company. The market share for Toyota Company in United States of America is enviable. This Company currently has the challenge of maintaining its leadership role in the automobile industry.

Science Explains Why Rotten Eggs Float

One of the ways to tell whether an egg is rotten or still good is to use the flotation test. To perform the test, you place the egg in a glass of water. Fresh eggs typically rest at the bottom of the glass. An egg that sinks but rests with the large end facing up may be a bit older but is still fine for cooking and eating. If the egg floats, its old and may be rotten. You can test this for yourself, although to be scientific about it, youll need to crack open the egg to observe its appearance and smell it to be certain eggs are good or bad (trust me, youll know the bad ones). Youll find the test is fairly accurate. So, you may be wondering why the bad eggs float. Why Bad Eggs Float Fresh eggs sink because the egg yolk, egg white, and gases have enough mass that the density of the egg is greater than the density of water. Density is the mass per unit of volume. Basically, a fresh egg is heavier than water. When an egg starts to go off decomposition occurs. Decomposition gives off gases. As more of the egg decomposes, more of its mass is converted to gases. A gas bubble forms inside the egg so an older egg floats on its end. However, eggs are porous, so some of the gas escapes through the eggshell and is lost to the atmosphere. Although gases are light, they do have mass and affect the density of the egg. When enough gas is lost, the density of the egg is less than that of water and the egg floats. Its a common misconception that rotten eggs float because they contain more gas. If the inside of an egg rotted and the gas couldnt escape, the mass of the egg would be unchanged. Its density would also be unchanged because the volume of an egg is constant (i.e., eggs dont expand like balloons). Changing matter from the liquid state to the gas state doesnt change the amount of mass! The gas has to leave the egg for it to float. Gas With a Rotten Egg Smell If you crack open a rotten egg, the yolk may be discolored and the white may be cloudy rather than clear. More likely, you wont notice the color because the overwhelming stink of the egg will send you off to go throw up. The smell is from the gas hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The gas is heavier than air, flammable, and toxic.   Brown Eggs vs. White Eggs You may be wondering whether it matters if you try the flotation test on brown eggs versus white eggs. The results will be the same. There is no difference between brown eggs and white eggs except for their color, assuming the chickens were fed the same grain. Chickens with white feathers and white earlobes lay white eggs. Brown or red chickens that have red earlobes lay brown eggs. The egg color is controlled by a gene for eggshell color that does not affect the thickness of the shell. There are also chicken eggs with blue shells and some with speckled shells. Again, these are simple color differences that do not affect the structure of the eggshell or the result of the flotation test. Egg Expiration Dates The expiration date on a carton of eggs isnt always a good indicator of whether or not the eggs are still fresh. In the United States, the USDA requires egg expiration dates be no longer than 30 days from the packing date. Unrefrigerated eggs may not make it the full month before going off. Refrigerated eggs are more likely to dry up than go bad. The pores of egg shells are small enough bacteria arent going to enter the egg and start reproducing. However, some eggs naturally contain a small number of bacteria, which are more likely to grow in a warmer, more favorable environment. Its worth noting the rotten egg smell isnt just from bacterial decomposition of an egg. Over time, the egg yolk and egg white become more alkaline. This occurs because eggs contain carbon dioxide in the form of carbonic acid. Carbonic acid slowly escapes the egg as carbon dioxide gas that passes through the pores in the shell. As the egg becomes more alkaline, the sulfur in the egg becomes better able to react with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulfide gas. This chemical process occurs more rapidly at room temperature than at cooler temperatures. Another Way to Tell If an Egg Is Bad If you dont have a glass of water handy, you can test an egg for freshness by holding it up to your ear, shaking it, and listening. A fresh egg shouldnt make much sound. An older egg will slosh around more because the gas pocket is larger (giving it room to move) and the egg has lost some cohesion.