The History of the Animal Testing Controversy Essay

The History of the Animal Testing Controversy - Essay Example animal testing stated that scientists are mislead by the statements that the body of animals is different and that the suffering of pain has a different impact on animals. O’Meara had also commented about the ethical issues associated with animal testing, the gain made by human beings and the extent of harm to animals. But in 1865, Claude Bernand known as the prince of vivisection and father of physiology states that "the science of life is a superb and dazzlingly lighted hall which may be reached only by passing through a long and ghastly kitchen" (qtd in The history of animal testing). Bernand indicates that there should be no consideration on animals that they have feeling, get hurt, and are entitled to live (The history of animal testing). William Harvey is an English physician of the early seventeenth century. He is known for vivisection and related findings about the circulation of blood and his work was mainly aimed to discredit the beliefs of Galen. The same century saw the uprising of anti-vivisectionist agitation. Edmund O’Meara from Ireland and Jean Riolan Jr. exposed the violent and painful death of vivisected animals (there was no anesthesia during those times) and the exposure of animals to an unnatural state that could delver only misleading theory about the functioning of a vivisected animal (Vivisection – An Ancient History). There is a growing controversy about the authenticity of animal testing because animals are not humans and products tested for response from animal need not necessarily result in the same response from human beings. Hence cruelty and torture towards animal by injecting products into animals, rubbing products on the skin, forceful inhalation and spraying products into eyes cannot be justified. The latest controversies are generated by the Animal Welfare Act that demands companies to state, the number of animals used for testing. Since birds, mice and rats are excluded from the list of animals it has become simple for

Childrens Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Childrens Literature - Essay Example On the contrary, a book that would be inappropriate in this regard is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (even though it is a personal favorite). In order to be an emotionally secure grown-up, it is important for the child to understand the meaning and relevance of social-emotional skills, the art of coping with challenges and themes such as friendship, empathy and having fun. Interestingly, the themes and motifs of Black Beauty, an autobiographical memoir of a horse named Black Beauty, do just that. Following are few illustrations of how Black Beauty encourages them while The Catcher in the Rye discourages: 1. Friendship: The book endorses the theme of friendship and its importance in life, all across the book. In the course of his life, Black Beauty develops admiration and deep friendship with fellow horses and his owners and appreciates the true meaning of friendship and importance of sharing experiences with friends. The protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is however an i ntrovert and thinks of friends as pretentious fellows. 2. Feelings: Even though both books dwell upon feelings of the individuals (or horses), feelings that kids learn in Black Beauty are positive such as developing compassion, kindness, sympathy, differentiating between good and bad, adventures of growing up, loyalty and mutual respect (foundations of healthy social interactions).

Content Analysis of Education Module

Content Analysis of Education Module CONTENT ANALYSIS ON ENGLISH MODULE BAHASA INGGRIS Dwi Aryani Abstract This research is aimed to evaluate the quality of the English module used by students of SMA N 6 Yogyakarta. There were many problems such as mistype, inappropriate content or material, and so on which were found inside the book. Then, the module used by the students should be evaluated on the content to know whether the book met the criteria of good module or not. The research was about case study using content analysis as the method. It used textbook evaluation criteria from Cunningsworth which contained ten aspects of evaluation and compared with the criteria of evaluation from Hutchinson and Waters. The evaluation concerned on the content such as language content and skill, the organization and appearance of the book. The result from Cunningsworth checklist showed that the book got 74. 25% which considered as good book. While the result from Hutchinson and Waters showed 78. 57%. The aspect which got low percentage was vocabulary and reading material, while the rest were considere d as good. From evaluation using two concepts from Cunningsworth which compared with the evaluation criteria by Hutchinson and Waters showed a little bit difference. The result showed differences in range 4. 32%. Keywords: module, content analysis, evaluation, and evaluation checklist INTRODUCTION Teaching resources are all materials that are used to facilitate in teaching and learning process. They can be divided into three forms which each has different functions and advantages. The first form of material is printed materials such as books, module or workbooks, worksheets, help the beginner teachers to cover and design each lesson carefully in detail. They also give all the plans and lessons that teachers need to present the topic in some details. Moreover, printed material can be used in any location or bring everywhere. Nonprinted materials like audio and video materials have their own advantages such as; inexpensive materials, since nonprinted materials have already prepared by the teachers and students should not buy it. There are materials that comprise both print and nonprint such as materials from internet which is also have some advantages. Internet provides many materials in a form of audio, text, picture, graphic and video. Students only need to access on the inter net pages suggested by the teachers and follow the instruction. It was quite easy for school which provides internet access (Richards-2002). Material has important roles in language teaching such as presentation resources, practice and communication interaction, language competence references, classroom activities sources, syllabus, and help less experience teachers (Cunningsworth-2005). Those are the role of materials in language teaching for both students and teachers. Module in several schools used as the primary sources in conducting teaching and learning activity. Module is categorized as commercial books which contain some potential negative effect as cover inauthentic language, distort content, not reflect students needs, deskill teachers, and expensive (Richards-2002). Related to the negative potential effect, it means that the materials covered by module are needed to be evaluated. In order to judge the quality of the book, the book should cover some criteria of good teaching resources. The criteria of good teaching resources on this context are criteria for printed materials. Teaching resources take a part in the teaching and learning process. The criteria are; 1) arouse the learners interest, 2) remind them earlier learning, 3) tell them what they will be learning next, 4) explain new learning content to them, 5) relate these ideas to learners previous learning, 6) get learners to think about new content, 7) help them get feedback on their learning, 8) encourage them to practice, 9) make sure they know what they are supposed to doing, 10) enable them to check their progress, and 11) help them to do better. Evaluation is measuring of strengths and weakness (Davies-2002). It can be conclude that the materials which are covered by module can be evaluated to know the strength and weakness. The evaluation can be done in three ways; pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation, and post-use evaluation (Cunningsworth-2005). The process of evaluation depends on the one who desires to evaluate the materials. Moreover, in order to know the strength and weakness of materials (book or module), it can be done through the evaluation checklist from the expert on the field (the expert on this context is expert in teaching). There are many experts who provide the checklist to help in evaluating book. METHOD This research aimed to evaluate the content of module for senior high school. The type evaluation on this research is post-use evaluation since the evaluation conduct after the book was used by the students. The research was focused on the content of the book in order to meet the criteria of good teaching resources by measuring the strength and weakness. Therefore, it is classified as case study research category. Case study is a research method which is done towards a system; it can be program, activity, and event. Case study is aimed to get a data, take a conclusion, and get an understanding from the data itself (Sukmadinata-2012). A case study may be understood as the intensive study of a single case where the purpose of that study is to shed light on a larger class of classes or a population (Gerring-2006). Moreover, it was not aimed to get the conclusion from the population. The conclusion from case study is simply from the case that the researcher taken to heart. There are some technique in collecting the data on case study research such as interview, observation, and documentary study. Those are the technique to collect the data and to get the conclusion. The data source was the materials covered by Bahasa Inggris, a module used by students in SMA N 6 Yogyakarta grade XII on the first semester. The book was written and published by CV Viva Pakarindo which was consisted of eighty pages and divided into five chapters. The book was applying Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan or abbreviated as KTSP as the curriculum. Instruments were needed to collect the data. This research used content analysis as an instrument to collect the data from students module. There were two instruments to support in conducting the research. First instrument used in this research was documentary study. Sukmadinata (2012) explained that documentary study is data collecting technique which is accumulate and analyze the document, whether documentary, picture, or electronic. The document which is accumulated is already chosen with purpose and focus on the problem. Moreover, the other instrument on this research was content analysis where the study is focus on deeply into the content of written information or mass media. Moreover, content analysis is defined as a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns. Wilkinson (2003) mentioned content analysis has been successfully used to analyze text and solve issues of disputed authorship of academic paper. and examples of texts suitable for content analysis includes essays, journal articles, books and chapter in books From the explanation which stated in the Wilkinson give a clear statement that module or workbook which categorized as book can be analyzed. In this case, module included as one of academic paper such as mentioned before. Then, content analysis focused on the characteristics of language as communication with attention to the content or contextual meaning of the te xt. Since the subject on this research was the module, so the researcher prepared some checklists to evaluate the book. The researcher provides two evaluation checklists to evaluate the book. The first evaluation checklist is taken from Cunningsworth which covers ten descriptions such as; design and organization, language content, vocabulary, grammar, language skill, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and practical consideration. The other evaluation checklist is taken from Hutchinson and Waters which cover main aspect such as audience, aims, contents, methodology, and others. Every aspect on evaluation checklist covers some questions or statements to be answered in evaluation process. There were some procedures for conducting this research. The procedures will be explained as follow; a) Preparation, on this step the researcher took a part to choose the book which was needed to be evaluated. Choosing the book which was needed to be evaluated from the external and internal factor; b) Analysis, took a part on analyzing the book using criteria designed by the researcher based on the criteria or concepts from the expert. It means that the evaluation criteria were not pure from the researcher, but adapting from one concept to evaluate the book; c) Report, this step was the last step on this procedure. After the researcher pass the preparation and analysis step, means that the researcher should make the report of the result after conducting the evaluation. After conducting the evaluation towards the book, however, scoring is needed to get the result of the evaluation. Book evaluation using Cunningsworths checklist given score one until five. The indicator is modified using Likert Scale which indicates negative until positive (Sugiyono-2012). Moreover, evaluation checklist suggested by Hutchinson and Waters has the own rate or score by using zero, one, and two. These score and indicators are originally designed by Hutchinson and Waters. The result of the evaluation is calculated using mean deviation. Therefore, the result of calculation will be described in a form of paragraph by using descriptive qualitative. Figure 1. A pattern to calculate the score of each evaluation. Note : Æ ©X = the total of criteria which is met the criteria N  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   = the total criteria points in each aspect Table 1. The level of Suitability 80% 100% Very Good 60% 79% Good 50% 59% Fair Under 50% Poor FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The evaluation taken from two sources; Cunningsworth checklist which is used as the evaluation focus, while the result of evaluation from Hutchinson and Waters is used to compare on this findings. Based on the evaluation, Hutchinson and Waters provides twenty one questions and divided into five main aspects including with the additional information. The overall evaluation from Hutchinson and Waters got result 78, 57% in percentage. It will be compare with the result of evaluation from Cunningsworth evaluation checklist. The findings of this research presented ten specific aspects where each of them are analyzed based on Cunningsworths evaluation checklist. Design and Organization This aspect covers five criteria of evaluation with the total score 20 out of 25. The percentage is 80% and it is categorized as very good. The result of design and organization evaluation is presented on the table as follow. Table 2. Design and Organization Checklist No Design and Organization Criteria Score 1 The content is organized 5 2 The content is sequenced 5 3 Provide adequate recycling and revision 0 4 Provide reference sections for grammar and vocabulary 5 5 The materials suitable for individual study 5 Total 20 Percentage 80% The first criteria is about the content which is organized. It means the contents of the workbook such as topic, structure, skills, and function are organized. All units provide complete topic, all four skills in every unit, language functions and language features. The evaluation shows that the first criteria got perfect score. Such as the organization, the second criteria is about the sequential of the content. It discusses whether the workbook has difficult level for the students and also the function of the workbook for individual study. From all units, the materials can be used for the students to study by themselves. The book cannot fulfill the third criteria by presenting recycle and revision section. The fourth criteria can be fulfilled by providing reference sections for grammar and vocabulary. The materials also suitable for individual study. It can be seen from the contents of the workbook which provide material on the first page in every chapter and continued by the exerc ise. There are many exercises on the workbook such as exercises for all skills, language contents (grammar and vocabulary), and also exercise that cover all materials. It is presented in the last part in every chapter. The exercise also in different types such as multiple choice and essay. From all those exercises, the workbook is easy for the students even for individual study. Language Content Language content is the second aspect of evaluation with the achievement 60% from the total score 9 out of 15. The table below presenting the result of language content evaluation. Table 3. Language Content Checklist No Language Content Criteria Score 1 The book include materials for pronunciation work 0 2 The book deal with the structuring and conventions of language use 5 3 Language style is matched to social situation 4 Total 9 Percentage 60% From the table 3 we can conclude that the first criteria cannot fulfill by the book by providing materials for pronunciation.   The second criteria got perfect score related to the structuring and conventions of the language use. It deals with how to take a part in conversation, how to structure a piece of extended writing, and how to identify the main point in reading passage. Language style is the choice of words used by a specific group of people when they speak. For example there are bureaucratese, the words, jargons, and abbreviation. It should be matched with the social situation of the students. There is one part of the book the researcher found that inappropriate language style with the social situation of the students. It was because the students accusing her friend took her money which actually she does not. Grammar The achievement on grammar aspect is on 88% with the total score 22 out of 25. The suitability of grammar materials categorized into very good (see Table 1). The result of the evaluation on grammar aspect is presented on the table below. Table 4. Grammar checklist No Grammar Criteria Score 1 The book covers grammar items for the level 5 2 Grammar presented in small pieces units 2 3 Grammar emphasis on language form 5 4 Grammar emphasis on language use (meaning) 5 5 Language use and form are in balance presentation 5 Total 22 Percentage 88% The book has already provided grammar items based on the level of students. Then, more than half of the book presented the materials for grammar in wide space where it should be presented on the small units to make the students easier to learn the material. Moreover, grammar materials similarly emphasis on language form and use. Both of language form and use should be presented on balance presentation as the criteria mention. Vocabulary Table below is the result of evaluation of vocabulary section where covers five criteria of evaluation. The aspect got low percentage with 44% where there was one criteria cannot fulfill by the book even the worst is contain two score zero. Table 5. Vocabulary checklist No Vocabulary Criteria Score 1 Materials for vocabulary teaching adequate in terms of quantity and range of vocabulary 0 2 Vocabulary materials are strategies for individual learning 0 3 The materials emphasis placed on vocabulary development 5 4 Vocabulary presented in a structured and purposeful way 5 5 Provide distinction between active and passive vocabulary 1 Total 11 Percentage 44% Based on the evaluation, the book minimally covers 1000 new vocabulary for every stage or every grade. The quantity of the vocabulary in every chapter is not enough if we took a look on the material. The availability of vocabulary on the book was too far with the range of the evaluation. The total vocabulary material presented in the book consists of sixty one; chapter one twelve, chapter two is twenty, chapter three with ten, chapter four provides fourteen, and chapter five presents five new vocabulary. Related with the quantity of vocabulary materials, it could not be used for learning individually. However, the vocabulary materials which are presented on the book help the students in semantic relation such as presenting the meaning and synonyms. Moreover, vocabulary which is presented in every chapter also categorized in situational situation. Language Skill Language skill gets 95% on the result of evaluation where it is considered as very good. Most of criteria are fulfilled by the book with achievement 5 in average. Table 6. Language Skill Checklist No Language Skill Criteria Score 1 All four skills were covered 5 2 All four skills are presented balance 4 3 The materials are integrated skills work 5 4 Reading passages and associated activities are suitable with the students levels 4 5 Provide sufficient reading material 5 6 Materials for spoken English are well designed 5 7 Writing activities are suitable in terms of amount of guidance/control 5 8 Writing material is using appropriate style 5 Total 38 Percentage 95% Language skill has already covered all four skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing inside the materials in every chapter. Those four skills are presented in the same portion. The book similarly provides materials and exercises for each skill and integration. Most of materials are presented by reading passage where they are supposed to suitable with the level of students. For this reason, the book should provide reading passage in sufficient way in order to present the materials. Moreover, the book also has to provide materials for spoken English where it should be well design. Related with the materials and exercises for each skill, writing section should provide guidance or control in writing activities. The style used for writing skill also should be presented in appropriate style. From all criteria, the book gets high score in these eight criteria of evaluation. Listening Listening aspect covers four criteria where there is one criteria cannot fulfill by the book. The evaluation shows that the book got 75% from the total score 15 out of 20. Table 7. Listening Checklist No Listening Criteria Score 1 Listening form part of dialogue or conversation work 5 2 Provide specific listening passages 5 3 Listening material set in a meaningful context 5 4 Provide pre-listening task 0 Total 15 Percentage 75% The evaluation shows that the book has already provide listening section in a form of dialogue or conversational work in every chapter. There are some listening passages which are provided by the book in order to organize the section. Moreover, all materials and exercises are presented in meaningful context. However, the book does not provide pre-listening tasks before they focus on the listening section. Speaking Speaking got perfect achievement with the percentage 100%. It indicates that the book provide all contents that the criteria mention. [P3] Table 8. Speaking Checklist [P4] No Speaking Criteria Score 1 Provide spoken English materials 5 2 The material contains oral presentation and practice of language items 5 3 The material contains dialogues 5 4 The material contains roleplay 5 Total 20 Percentage 100%   The materials for speaking are presenting inside the book where they contain oral presentation and practice for language items. In order to help the students in practicing their speaking skill, the book provides materials such as dialogue and role-play. Reading From the evaluation, reading got low percentage with the achievement is 32.5%. The total score of fulfillment is 13 where actually the total score is 40. The book provides reading text where it is used for introducing new language items such as grammar and vocabulary. Therefore, the materials are not focus on the development of reading skill and strategies for students. Reading materials, however, provide integrated materials with other skills and work. On the contrary, the book does not provide setting scene and background information on reading passage. Then, the book also does not provide pre-reading activities. Thus, reading materials similarly appears on the middle of units where it is commonly appears on the early unit. Table 9. Reading Checklist No Reading Criteria Score 1 Reading text used for introducing new language items (grammar and vocabulary) 3 2 The material focus on the development of reading skill and strategies 0 3 The material linked to other skills and work 5 4 Reading text appears on the early unit 0 5 The subject matter is appropriate 5 6 The text provide setting scene 0 7 The text provide background information 0 8 Give pre-reading question 0 Total 13 Percentage 32.5% Writing The evaluation shows that writing covers five criteria where there is one criteria cannot fulfill by the book. The score of evaluation is 19 out of 25 and it is presented on the percentage with the achievement 76%. Table 10. Writing Checklist[P5] No Writing Criteria Score 1 The material handle by guided writing 5 2 The material handle by controlled writing 5 3 Provide variety task 5 4 Provide language resources specific to the written form such as punctuation, spelling, and layout 4 5 Learners encourage to review and edit their written work 0 Total 19 Percentage 76% From the evaluation, writing materials are handled by guided writing and control writing which are presented in a form of simple instruction. Moreover, writing also provides various types of task such as writing memo, letter, and so on. Writing materials and tasks, however, do not encourage the learner to review and edit their own work since there is no space or section provided by the book. Practical Consideration The last evaluation is on practical consideration which covers five criteria. The result shows that the book got 92% from the total score 23 out of 25. The evaluation presents that the book represents good value for money. It means that the book neither too expensive nor too cheap. Even though the price is quite cheap, but the quality of the book is strong and long-lasting because the materials which is used to print the book. Related to the price of the book, it is easy to be obtained by the students; the school has already stock the book. Therefore, the students may ask to the school or their teachers. On the contrary, the appearance of the book does not attractive as they should.   The cover of the book is colored by burgundy where it looks like dark and gloomy. The detailed achievement from practical consideration is presented in the following table. Table 11. Practical Consideration Checklist No Practical Consideration Criteria Score 1 The book represent good value for money 5 2 The book is strong and long-lasting

Political Correctness Infringes on our First Amendment Rights Essay exa

Political Correctness Infringes on our First Amendment Rights Political correctness has become increasingly obvious in our daily lives. For example, the other day I attended the first meeting of the Frisbee Club here on the State University campus. During the meeting, we were discussing the fact we wanted shirts for this year, but we did not know what slogan to use. While in the brainstorming process, the slogan â€Å"Suck my disk† came out. At the time, the slogan â€Å"suck my disk† seemed to be better than sliced bread to a bunch of college guys. But as we were wrapping up the meeting, one person came out and asked, â€Å"How appropriate do you think this slogan is if we want to have a Frisbee clinic with the high school? I think parents will be a little apprehensive.† It was also brought to our attention that Silk Screen, the local store that prints different images and slogans on clothing, has a policy that refuses politically incorrect slogans. There seems to be a generally accepted concept in society that often makes us think three to four times before we speak. This concept ...

What to Do if There are Suspicions or if Someone Alleges They are Being Abused

RecogniseRecognise the signs and symptoms or believe what you are toldRespondComfort – warm and caring Reassure the person that you believe them and that it is not their fault/they are in no way to blame Do not promise that you will keep it secret (may need to pass on to help them, important not to say one thing and do another) but only to people who need to know and will help Protect the individual – ensure they are in a safe place and protected from any further possibility of abuse Medical assistance if requiredReportReport the allegation immediately to a senior colleague (manager or named safeguarding lead) May have formal referral procedures or may make initial verbal referralRecordPreserve any evidenceTry to remember as much as you can – listen carefullyFull written report as soon as possible after the event including everything you observed, everything you have been told, any previous concerns you may have had, what has raised your concerns on this occasion Accurate and factualMake clear what you have actually seen and what is hearsay. Do not ask leading questionsReferYou may need to make a referral to another agencyIdentify ways to ensure that evidence of abuse is preservedIf this is a potential crime scene, must be very careful not to destroy any potential evidence.Do not clear up or wash or clean any part of the room or area in which the alleged abuse took place †¢Don’t disturb the scene, clothing or victim.Don’t remove anything (e.g. clothing, bedding).Do not allow victim to wash, bathe, brush hair or teeth etc).Secure the scene (e.g. lock the door).Preserve other potential evidence (e.g. documents) by locking them away.Keep other people out of the area.Get advice from the police if in doubt.Bear in mind that any medical treatment is a priority and must be provided immediately but make it clear to any medical staff that the situation may result in a prosecution so they need to record any findings carefully in ca se theu need to make a statement later.Explain the importance of an accessible complaints procedure for reducing the likelihood of abuseShould be simple to follow because it encourages people to raise their concerns.Indicates the organisation will respond to those concerns.If it’s too difficult to make a complaint, people won’t complain and the abuse may continue.Can identify any areas of weakness in a provider and help improve the service.If a complaints procedure is clear and easily accessible, abusers are more likely to be challenged on their behaviour. Knowing this would make them less likely to abuse.Helps vulnerable individuals to feel protected, empowered and less likely to accept abuse.Describe unsafe practices that may affect the well-being of individualsLack of training (e.g. manual handling, personal care, eating and drinking).Not observing confidentiality.Not following infection control procedures.Confusion over prescribing and administering medication.Fire evacuation procedures.Failure to comply with regulations.Explain the actions to take if unsafe practices have been identifiedTell their manager or named safeguarding person.Describe the actions to take if suspected abuse or unsafe practices have been reported but nothing has been done about itRecord any information carefully (factual, time and date etc).Keep moving through the management chain. If no one in your organisation responds, contact CQC or IW Council Safeguarding Adults Board (google and find out how to contact).If it is a criminal offence (e.g. theft, fraud, physical or sexual abuse) refer the matter to the police.Public Concern at Work is a national organisation that provides information legal advice to people who are concerned about malpractice at work.Free and confidential advice. (www.pcaw.co.uk) May be very difficult to pass information on – this is known as ‘whistleblowing’ Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) protects whistleblowers and ensure s you cannot be victimised by your employer for reporting abuse or any other illegal acts So long as you have a ‘reasonable belief’ that one of the following is taking, has taken or may take place, you are protected by law:A criminal offence.Breach of a legal obligation.Miscarriage of justice.Danger to the health and safety of any person.Damage to the environment.Deliberate covering up of information tending to show any of the above.

Pagkalulong Sa Bawal Na Gamot

Critical thinking is an important quality to cultivate and for many educators, it is the goal of education. Here are a few examples of critical thinking from my own life. First, one of the things I try to do for work is to make good financial investments. For this to take place, you need to analyze everything or think critically. You need to know what is going on in the world (economically speaking), see what things are going to be in demand in the future, and act before others do.So, I drew up a picture of the world and what I thought would happen and I invested based on my convictions. All of this was borne out of critical thinking. Second, when I think back to my university days, I had to decide on a major. There were so many choices and I decided to go with a major that I not only loved, but also a major that would make me more marketable in the long run. I realized that I could study practically all the things I loved in various departments. Based on this, I chose the department that was most marketable.Critical thinking entails careful analysis of all the variables (or as many as you can cover) in a situation, using data and logic to process the information and shape the decisions. Other factors may also enter into the mix†¦ As I considered the timing of my retirement from classroom teaching, I reviewed the financial considerations regarding investments, pension and Social Security payments, options for other means of obtaining income, and tried to predict anticipated current and future expenses.All of this took time and research, but was â€Å"easy† in terms of recording figures that could be examined objectively. Harder to quantify but still vital to the analysis were my reflections on how I was approaching the challenges inherent in classroom positions. I evaluated my energy level, commitment to spending the time and effort outside of the classroom, and my enthusiasm for continuing my personal education in the field. I also felt that emotio ns did play a role in the process and did allow my feelings about continuing to work with middle schoolers enter the process. Bless them, but they are enough to wear anyone out after so long! ) The final piece in my decision-making process was the awareness that my father's health was declining and that I needed to make myself much more available to assist with transportation, supervision of medical concerns, and general involvement in trying to maintain a quality of life for him that is as good as possible for as long as possible. Is critical thinking fast and easy? NO! Is it important in many real life situations? YES!