What to Add to Christmas Tree Water

Now that youve done the difficult work of selecting a fresh Christmas tree and delivering it to your home you need to keep your tree looking healthy through the holidays. You will need to give it plenty of water. As for treating that water, though, most experts say there is no reason to add anything—plain tap water will do. What the Experts Say While many additives are available for Christmas tree water, most experts—including the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA)—say there is no reason to use them. In the words of Dr. Gary Chastagner of Washington State University: Your best bet is just plain tap water added to the Christmas tree stand. It doesnt have to be distilled water or mineral water or anything like that. So the next time someone tells you to add ketchup or something more bizarre to your Christmas tree stand, dont believe it. Still, other scientists say some additives increase both fire resistance and needle retention. One such additive—Plantabbs Prolong Tree Preservative—claims to increase water absorption and prevent drying. Another product—Miracle-Gro for Christmas Trees —claims to deliver important nutrients and reduce bacterial growth. If youre worried about your tree being a fire risk, you may want to give one of these products a shot. Just remember that they are no substitute for adequate watering. Proper Watering The best way to keep your tree fresh is to make sure it gets plenty of moisture. This starts with using a tree stand with an adequate water capacity. The ideal stand is one that holds a quart of water for each inch of the stem diameter. That means that if your tree trunk has an 8-inch diameter, youll want a stand that holds at least 2 gallons of water. If the stand is too small, your tree will soak up the water more quickly than you can likely replenish it, leaving your tree dried out. Make sure, as well, to use a tree stand that is large enough to accommodate the trunk of your tree without having to trim down the sides. If your tree is more than a day old you may want to saw a one-inch cookie off the trees trunk bottom. Even a small sliver shaved off the trunk will help. This freshens the trunk and allows water to be quickly taken up to the needles for continued freshness. Make sure to cut in a straight line perpendicular to the trunk, as an uneven slice can make it more difficult for the tree to absorb water. Even if you dont plan to decorate your tree as soon as you take it home, put it in a bucket of water to keep it fresh. Place your tree in a cool, dry place away from fireplaces, radiators, and other heat sources. Too much heat will cause the tree to quickly lose moisture and dry out. Check the level of the water each day to make sure it stays above the base of the trunk. Make sure to check the needles as well. If they seem dry and brittle, the tree has dried out and may be a fire hazard. If this happens it should be taken outside and thrown away.

2015 Hume Teachers Scholarship Nomination - Open Category

2015 Hume Teachers’ Scholarship Nomination – Open Category Nominee: Arlene Rankothge – Meadow Heights Education Centre Criteria 1 Provide three or more examples of how the nominee: a. Inspires students and the school community to participate in lifelong learning b. Uses innovation in the classroom The teacher whom I would like to nominate in the open category is Arlene Rankothge from Meadow Heights Education Centre who teaches Certificates in Spoken and Written English. She is one of the hardest working and most dedicated teachers I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Over the past four years that I have known and worked alongside Arlene, I have witnessed the lengths she goes to, not only to teach her students how to read and write in another language, but also the basic skills they need to settle into life in a new country. Arlene will go out of her way, staying back after class or giving up her breaks, to help those that are struggling with their new language by giving them extra tutoring. No one appreciates the hard work Arlene does for her students than the students themselves. One example that comes to mind is how when Arlene had a student who had to withdraw from class due to treatments for a health related problem, she encouraged the student to come into the class whenever she felt up to it, to still give her the social and support aspect that the class offered, while keeping her English skills up, and not letting the student’s mind be focused solely on the fear of

Discuss the powers and constraints on the power of the Prime Minister Free Essays

The British Prime Minister (PM) is holder of great power(s). ‘The PM is the most powerful figure, indeed the most powerful figure in the British system of government’[1]. He or She leads a group of political figures some of whom have a party or national standing in their own right. We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss the powers and constraints on the power of the Prime Minister or any similar topic only for you Order Now At the beginning of the 20th century the PM was described as primus inter pares- first among equals. The PM has can exercise powers which are denied to other members of the cabinet for example the power of patronage. He/she has formal powers inherited by the monarch such as the ability to go to war and more informal powers such as the media. The PM also has constitutional powers for example being able to decide the election date. This essay shall outline some of the powers at the disposal of the PM as well as some of the constraints that can limit the PMs freedom of action. Firstly, ‘The Prime Minister’s role is peculiarly British in two ways. The first is that as the Head of Government, he must control the House of Commons to remain in office[2]. The fact that the PM is head of government gives him/her considerable power. The PM owes his or her position to the party and must not forget such a connection. He or she will use the powers of leadership to keep the party united, working out compromise solutions as necessary. As leader of the majority party the PM retains support of the parliament. As long as the majority is a workable one, the PM and his or her cabinet colleagues are in a position to persuade the House to adopt party policies. In this sense a good relationship between the Pm and his or her party is crucial in allowing the freedom of choice for the PM. Secondly, the PM exercises power under the royal prerogative, powers which can be used but are traditionally powers of the crown. Powers relating to the legislature-e. g. ‘the summoning, proroguing and dissolution of parliament; the granting of royal assent to bills; legislating by Order in Council (e. g. in relation to civil service) or by letters patent; creating schemes for conferring benefits upon citizens where Parliament appropriates the necessary finance’[3]. Powers regarding the armed forces ‘Powers relating to the armed forces e. g. – the Sovereign is commander in chief of the armed forces of the Crown and the control, organisation and disposition of the armed forces are within the prerogative’[4]. Furthermore, ‘the power of appointment and dismissal, can be, and is, used by the Prime Minister to shape the general and specific direction of policy, as Margaret Thatcher demonstrated in September 1981 when she reinforced her Governments commitment to its economic policy by dismissing several so called wets[5]. Thirdly, the PM determines the date of the next general election. The PM alone decides when to ask the monarch when to dissolve parliament and therefore the time of the polling day. Normally this will be after four years in office. The PM will choose a time when victory looks most likely[6], his or her choice may be influenced by party performance in the polls, opinion polls and also by-elections, there are a number of various influences that cast the deciding factor into when election Day is. On the other hand, a constraint on the powers of the PM could be his/her cabinet colleagues. It clearly limits the freedom of action for any PM. No PM can survive long without the support of his or her cabinet colleagues. The fall of Margaret Thatcher in 1990 is often said to be largely the work of her cabinet, ‘the introduction of the Community Charge for local government sounded the death knell for Thatcherism’[7] And her presidential style of leadership were making her unpopular. In 1990 there was a challenge to her leadership. Michael Heseltine stood against thatcher in a challenge to her leadership but ‘despite being only four votes short of outright victory, she stepped down after advice from her Cabinet’[8]. fewer votes than she did but enough to damage her authority to such an extent that in a succession of face to face interviews her cabinet colleagues convinced her not to stand in the second round, thus leaving the way open for john major to be elected. Thatcher was therefore removed from office largely due to the work of her cabinet colleagues. John Major also had some difficulties in his second ministry with some of his cabinet particularly John Redwood and Michael Portillo, because of their underhand opposition to his policy. Brown enjoyed the advantage of being able to reshuffle his cabinet thoroughly when he took over as PM, hence ensuring the exclusion of his enemies and rivals. He made sure to include some of his ‘inner circle’ including Ed Balls sometimes named Mr Browns ‘representative on earth’ [9] A second constraint on the powers of the PM is the support of the media or lack of it. If a PM is to be popular and hence successful, he or she needs the support of a large section of the media; this usually itself can be dependent on the popularity of the PM. The Murdoch press is often credited, especially by the newspapers themselves as having more influence than they really have, a Guardian article affirms ‘ Rupert Murdoch’s spell is broken. But not his baleful influence’[10]. Moreover when they transferred their support from Major to Blair in the mid-1990s/ it was certainly harmful to Major’s electoral success. However, if Major had still been popular in the country, it is unlikely that the sun and the times would have switches sides as they did. Brown initially enjoyed a favourable press, largely due to the novelty factor. ‘By the skilful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise’ Adolf Hitler’s remarks about the media make the impression that the correct use of it can prove a powerful thing. But by contrast we have seen that when the media turns against the PM it can be a constraint on the power of the PM. Finally, the size of the majority in the commons can have a substantial effect on the PMs ability to push things through. Tony Blair enters Downing Street on a wave of goodwill after a landslide election victory, his Commons majority of 179 ending 18 years of Conservative rule[11]. Tony Blair was fortunate between 1997 and 2005 with two large majorities. This was an important factor in his success, and his ability and his government’s ability to get programs passed in parliament. However, it is arguable that because his majority was so huge, some dissidents on the backbench were more willing to cause trouble than they otherwise would have been. In 2993-5, there were a number of Labour backbench revolts which greatly reduced the government’s theoretical majority in the commons. So perhaps it is better to have a large, rather than enormous majority. But governments with small majorities such as Wilson and Callaghan in the period 1974-0 and then John Major in 1992-7 can suffer considerably in the event of a backbench revolt. Over Europe, Major had great problems within his own party and only managed to ratify the Maastricht Treaty with a majority of one vote because of a backbench revolt. This sort of difficulty undermines the PMs Authority more generally, in the media and among the voters as a whole. Blair found this out for himself in his third term, with a reduced majority, and his first defeat in 2005 on the terrorism bill. Brown of course inherited this slimmer majority from Blair and in March 2008 he faced back-bench rebellions over his counter terrorism bill. In conclusion, it has been argued that the PM has acted beyond the constitutional role which is primus inter pares (first among equals). The PM can exercise powers held by the crown or prerogative powers for example the ability to go to war. Also the PM decides the election date. But most importantly, he or she is leader of government and by definition the most powerful politician in the country. However, should the PM forget the connection established between the press, the people and his or her party the PM will find it hard to succeed as Margaret thatcher’s downfall highlighted. How to cite Discuss the powers and constraints on the power of the Prime Minister, Papers

Content on discipline problems in school free essay sample

The purpose of discipline is to help the individual to gain knowledge, habits, interests and ideals which conduce to the well being of him, his fellows and society as a whole. Besides that, discipline should be taught in school by teachers since young. Giving discipline lessons to the teenagers is able to guide them proper discipline which is necessary in their growing process including mental development. To be more precise, teenager are trained to be more able to maintain a good behavior through what they have learn in the discipline lessons as they were introduced with the concept of discipline. As education researcher Daniel Duke (1989) points out,† the goal of good behavior is necessary, but not sufficient to ensure academic growth. † But, a well academic growth strongly depends on how an individual was taught since young which includes how they were trained in discipline and maintaining good behavior. Teenager can avoid the feelings of guilt and shame by avoiding improper behavior if they have self-discipline. Besides, Discipline acts as a standard for teenager to be judged by society to see whether they are mature enough in various situations. Other than that, discipline motivates children to behave well in order to be praised by society for their well-being. Moreover, discipline guilds children to make their own correct decisions and control their own behavior. For disciplinary problems, there are causes to it for sure. The causes are categorized into two parts, which are the out-of-school causes and the in-school causes. In out-of-school causes, we can see that students who are involved in disciplinary problems, usually get the influence from media. It is believable that media like television and the Internet have a potentially damaging effect on children. According to Media Education, 2005, studies reviewed ten years of research concluded that children would have viewed 200,000 acts of violence, including 16,000 murders by the time they are 18 years of age. Besides that, quality of home life is a big influence on children. Two working parent families, single parent families, two mommy or daddy parents, blended families are likely to exist in every community. From this cause, insecurity is the main reason that causes one to be involved in disciplinary cases. Students are more concerned fore basic security needs than for learning. These security issues have a created a large group of children seeking emotional support from just about anybody available. Some students might pay to a certain gang of friends for protection purpose. This encourages some students to use this opportunity to bully people who are threat to students under their protection, and this is how discipline problems occur. Another out-of-school cause is the concentration of poverty. Studies over many years have shown a strong connection between socioeconomic status and success in school. Easy said, mostly students from wealthier families do significantly better than those from poorer families. National statistics indicates that growing up in a background of poverty is more likely than race to put a child on a route of misbehavior and punishment. Children in poor families experience regular stress from economic hardship are likely to be involved in unlawful acts and antisocial. Children raised in poverty often choose to behave differently, which will cause disciplinary problems in school. Like mentioned above, in-school causes are also big influences to disciplinary problems in school. Competitive environments are remained in most schools where students compete for recognition, grades, and spots on sports team. Limited spots exist, and they’re always for the best people. Jealousy and envy will occur, and it turns into a disciplinary problem when it comes to an argument or a fight. Powerlessness is another factor in school discipline problems. Some students rebel as a way of voicing their dissatisfaction with their lack of influence. Students are told the rules, the consequences, what to do, when to talk. When the school creates rules and procedures that define behavioral standards for students that have had little or no input, a conflict of control and power can happen. Last but most definitely not least, many students with constant discipline problems believe that they cannot and will not be successful in school. They do not believe they can get the attention and recognition they need through school achievement. Their self-message is â€Å"Since I can’t be recognized as anything other than a failure, I’ll protect myself from feeling hurt. † They believe to be recognized as a troublemaker is better than being seen as a failure. When there are causes, there will definitely be effects as well. Effects of discipline problems in school on teachers will occur. The teacher’s mood may have an unfavourable effect on the pupils’ behavior. The teacher might enter the classroom with trembling nerves and nothing seems to be done to please him. Perhaps when one student commits a minor error, the case will be exaggerated in his mind, and his or her sharp criticisms are given, and it creates a bigger issue. It is said that good discipline and behavior are the conditions for a successful school. But when a school has lots of discipline problems, teachers will think of leaving the school. They said they had left because student discipline was such a challenge. Many complained teaching is about being more in the crowd control business than in teaching. In fact, the most worrying effect is the effect on the other students. Bullying cases increased in the past few years which shows that the discipline problems in school have not yet to be under control. Videos are uploaded to the Internet, showing how a student is being bullied, being called â€Å"ugly-looking pig†, hair being pulled, face being slapped, and body being kicked. The reasons why the particular students is being bullied, sometimes is just plainly because he or she looked unattractive or unsightly, which frustrates the bullies. There are some cases which had happened in Malaysia. Bullying in schools has been a major issue with several high-profile cases surfacing in Malaysian over the past year. Just before Chinese New Year, a group of secondary school boys from Limbang, Sarawak, ganged up on two students and â€Å"rained blows and kicks† on them in their dormitory. Besides that, there was a bullying incident happened in Butterworth. Three secondary school students posted the video of how they bullied their classmates on YouTube. Violence and bullying in schools are not something new, however the extent of bullying is not usually reported, let alone recorded. A video on YouTube emerged on Facebook showing a Malaysian teenage schoolgirl being physically bullied by classmates in a horrific way. Other than that, the SMK Raja Abdullah bullies attacked the victim by yanking her hair, strangling her, cutting off her hair and hitting her in the head with books. The victim cried and pleaded for her classmates to stop but her classmates continued to jeer and attack her. In another incident on May 24, 2011, eight secondary school students were sent for a two-year community service program with the state Welfare Department, with a 1,500 ringgit bond for good behavior after they were found guilty of trespassing into a school and beating up a student. Solving this issue is not an easy task, it requires involvement of all parties, including teachers, parents and students themselves. Parents really make a difference in student achievement behavior. Parental involvement should be increased where schools should establish a policy where teachers are required to contact parents throughout the year. Parents will understand how their kids are performing in school. If the kid has discipline problems, parents should be informed as soon as possible before things get serious. This is not to say that all parental involvement have a positive effect on student behavior. Even so, this is an area which many successful schools claim to make a huge difference. Besides that, discipline plans are a way to provide students with a persistent and fair plain of what will happen if they misbehave. Schools should not only create a schoolwide discipline plan, but truly enforce it as well. Teachers and administrators should often follow the discipline plan created by the school board. Effective classroom management should include posting and use of this discipline plan. Furthermore, counselors in school play an important role in this case. Students with issues can often consult the counselors. The counselors should give them proper advice and motivation to get rid of the bad habits. The only way to help the students is to understand them. They should walk around the school and observe students with discipline problems and also get information on their background to help know them better. This is how to understand the problematic students well, in order to lend a hand and solve the problem.