Ask these questions when negotiating a job offer

Ask these questions when negotiating a job offer If you’re on the job hunt and you’ve played your cards right, then perhaps you’ve found yourself in the following scenario: you’ve successfully made it through a series of interviews, waited patiently, been contacted by a hiring manager or HR representative, and been made a job offer. Often, this is absolutely fantastic news- the end result of a challenging job hunting process filled with ups and downs, excitement and disappointment. Now, after a long journey, you’re faced with an offer for what could be the next great opportunity along your career path. But hold on for a second- are you absolutely certain that this job offer is the right one for you?Most people fall into one of two camps when making a decision about a job offer. On one hand are the impulsive deciders, those who blindly and quickly latch on to the first available offer made to them. While it can be good to show that you’re eager and enthusiastic, there are some very good reas ons for deciding to slow things down a bit and take some time to weigh a job offer before accepting it. After all, accepting an offer that may not completely align with your best interests may actually set your career trajectory back, and it may be difficult to make up any lost ground- either in salary or job title. Furthermore, if you do quickly take an offer that you come to regret later, you may be sowing the seeds for a passive-aggressive workplace attitude down the road.On the other hand are the overthinkers- those who spend way too much time and effort weighing and overweighing every small detail of the offer in an attempt to reach a clear and decisive decision about whether or not to accept. These folks can count on a few restless days and sleepless nights as they struggle to reach some decision. And in the end, the exhaustion and worry that these people generate make it hard for them to feel good about whatever decision they reach. That’s not a good recipe for happine ss either.There is a middle ground between making an impulsive decision and overthinking a job offer, and for most folks it’s right where they should be when trying to decide about whether to accept a job offer. Thankfully, there are some strategies you can take advantage of to help you negotiate your next job offer. Envato recently published an article highlighting the key questions you should ask- either yourself or someone at the company- before accepting a job offer. Let’s take a closer look at some of these.Questions to ask yourselfWhat are my non-negotiables? When we’re looking for our next job opportunity, most of us have at least a vague, and possibly a concrete, sense of what we’re willing to be flexible about and what are deal breakers. This will vary by individual, based on one’s specific needs and goals. You should have a set of non-negotiables in mind when you’re on the job hunt to help you to determine if a job offer is right f or you or if some additional negotiation is required.Am I happy with the salary offer? This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised by how many people, either out of desperation or overeagerness, quickly accept the first offer made to them, even if it’s below what they were hoping to make- and once this happens it can take a long time to make up any lost financial ground. The truth is, most offers are within a flexible salary range and there is often some room for additional negotiation, especially if they really want you on their team. Just remember not to be too aggressive here or you could wind up talking yourself out of an offer completely.Is the company reputable and stable? The last thing you want to have happen is to jump onto a sinking ship. Even if the offer is great, what good is it if the company implodes before you can really reap any benefits? Before you agree to accept an offer, do your homework and make sure that the company has a good reputat ion in its industry and seems stable for the foreseeable future. There are even websites available for you to learn about what other employees thought about the company while they were there. The more information you have at your disposal, the more informed your decision will be, which is always a good move.Can I see myself getting along with my future colleagues and bosses? This one’s a bit tougher, as you’ll never truly know the answer until you start working there, but do your best to use interviews and office visit to get a sense of what it might be like to work there. Does there seem to be a friendly and collaborative vibe with good energy, or does something less positive and productive seem to be in the air? If possible, engage with whoever you run across or are introduced to and see if they seem like the sort of people you’d click well with. For most folks, this matters a lot- and could be the difference between a quick unhappy job hop and a satisfying an d extended stay.Questions to ask an HR representative or hiring managerWhen do you need my decision? If you want to make the most of your time to weigh a job offer fully, it helps to know how much time you have to decide. Politely asking this question will help you know what timeframe you’re working with, and then you can go from there.What benefits are being offered? In addition to basic information such as salary- which is typically provided upon receiving an offer- knowing what else is included in the offer (i.e., vacation time, retirement savings, insurance coverage, gym membership, etc.) will help you to weigh the full offer and determine if any additional points need negotiating.What will my everyday responsibilities look like? Hopefully, you have a clear answer to this question after interviewing, but if you don’t its okay to ask for a little more detail before accepting an offer. Remember, accepting a new job is a major life commitment, so it stands to reason t hat you’ll want to know all the parameters of the deal so you can choose wisely, including what your average work day will be like- especially if some of these details are on your non-negotiable list.Consider asking these questions when you’re weighing your next job offer and before you accept- because once you do, you may be closing the door on any further negotiating. Choose wisely and good luck!

SZABO Surname Meaning and Origin

SZABO Surname Meaning and Origin Szabà ³ is a common Hungarian occupational surname meaning tailor, or one who cuts or metes out. Surname Origin:  Hungarian Alternate Surname Spellings:  SABO, ZABO Fun Fact About the Szabo Surname Up until about the 17th century, Zabo was the most common spelling of the Szabo surname. Famous People With the Surname SZABO Laszlo Szabo - Hungarian chess grandmasterViolette Szabo (nee Bushnell) - decorated WWII female spyEcaterina Szabo - Romanian Olympic gymnastZachariah Szabo - American figure skaterDezsÅ‘ Szabà ³ - Hungarian writer Where Do People With the SZABO Surname Live? According to surname distribution data from Forebears, the  Szabo surname is by far the most prevalent in Hungary, where it ranks 3rd in the nation. It is also common in Slovakia, ranking 8th, followed by Romania (139th) and Austria (212th). Data from  WorldNames PublicProfiler  also identifies Szabà ³ as most prevalent in Hungary, by far, particularly in the Pest region. Genealogy Resources for the Surname SZABO Szabo Surname ProjectLearn about the Szabo DNA Surname Project at Family Tree DNA. Szabo Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Szabo family crest or coat of arms for the Szabo surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. SZABO Family Genealogy ForumThis free message board is focused on descendants of Szabo ancestors around the world. FamilySearch - SZABO GenealogyAccess over 1.9 million free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Szabo surname and its variations on this free genealogy website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. SZABO Surname Mailing ListThis free RootsWeb mailing list for researchers of the Szabo surname and its variations includes subscription details and searchable archives of past messages. The Szabo Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Szabo from the website of Genealogy Today. References Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

One of the Most Rewarding and Captivating Activities Essay

One of the Most Rewarding and Captivating Activities - Essay Example It is pure pleasure to be around children because they cannot be in one mood for a long time: one moment they are sad and the other they are definitely happy. Baking as a hobby is an interesting and useful activity, and it is often regarded as the highest level of culinary skills. When making some sweets, cakes or muffins it interesting to observe how a whole new piece of food appears out of nowhere: one moment you have only ingredients and the other people can taste your pastry. Combining these two joyful things: working with children and baking is a great chance to change the world here and now. Having an opportunity to help the children who live in low-class families and have no possibility to eat enough healthy food is a great chance to influence someone else`s life. At the age of twenty, she got this chance to influence the life of New Mexico community. Growing up really quickly she realized that she does not want to sit at home or play anymore and that she wanted to help other children to have a real childhood. That is how she became a volunteer making food for children who could not afford it. She dedicated one day a week to this work but was really happy to do it. As she was rather young nobody believed that she could do such a work well. On the first day when she got there, the woman who was also working in the kitchen laughed at and said that she had better go join other kids and play. But when she persuaded her to give her a chance and to help the woman soon realized that the young look had nothing to do with experience and expertise. She could only say â€Å"You know everything! What are you going to do at twenty?†. But there was so much to learn ahead that she barely found time for everything. Being a high school student she continued her charity work with children. By this time she has gained a lot of skills that were very useful in work with children especially disabled children. Those kids who have special needs require a lot of attention and care, and communication with them must be exceptionally effective.     

CHANEL - Brand Equity, Brand Positioning, Brand strategy Essay

CHANEL - Brand Equity, Brand Positioning, Brand strategy - Essay Example Even if they are somehow surviving, that is not because of what they are but because of what they were. They are â€Å"Too Big to fail† but not good enough to succeed, move forward and grow. One cannot completely blame these brands, their marketing managers, and owners for their failure. In the last few decades, the world changed in such unexpected and ruthless way that nobody got a second chance. Moreover, in the name of globalization, increased competition and customer awareness and empowerment, life became even more troublesome for these oldies. However, there are still some brands that were able to absorb all these shocks, maintain their integrity, respect and dignity, outclassed their competitors and are still very much captivating and appealing (Koda, Bolton & Garelick, 2005). They have become symbols of class, respect, honor, and success. However, the question here is what made these brands so great that when their competitors where winding up their businesses, they were still on the road of growth? What has been their magic formula that has been strengthening them over the period? What branding strategies have kept their brand alive and intact? This paper would move further by narrowing its focus to one of the brands that fulfill the above-mentioned criteria of long historical presence and everlasting brand power. Without any doubts, Chanel fulfills these criteria qui te comfortably. Quite understandably, Chanel enjoys immense brand equity in the market and that is why it has been so successful over the past decades. According to marketing experts, there are many reasons for the same. Firstly, the long and eventful history of Chanel provides it an edge over others and contributes to its equity. Previous records of accomplishment, past history and previous customer experiences play a crucial role in branding. This is because one of the most important roles of branding is to help customers to assign responsibility to the

Roman Empire Essay Example for Free

Roman Empire Essay The world of Literature before 1500 AD encompassed the era from the day when the civilizations came into existence till AD 476, when Roman Empire fell and again from the Florentine Renaissance in late 15th century to the renaissance. The literature saw the growth in the lands of Hebrews, Greeks and Romans who made remarkable contributions in poetry, and drama form. The ancient Greeks in the period from 356 BC to 323 BC formulated their work on basis of the works of the well-known and famed Pericles, Plato, and Aristotle using politics and philosophy as their tools under the leadership of Alexander, the Great. In the same way, Hebrews exerted an enormous impact on world history through their holy book, the Bible, which is still considered sacred by both Jews and Christians. Fragments of the literary works in the ancient era were discovered in nineteenth century â€Å"Beowulf,† the Norse sagas, the â€Å"Kalevala,† the â€Å"Nibelungenlied,† the â€Å"Song of Roland. † Starting g from 2700 B. C and written uptill 2000 B. C, Gilgamesh was the first great heroic narrative. It was lost due to the vagaries of time but it was found again in 1872, and its importance came to be known when the Utnapishtims Story of the Flood, was rediscovered. Gilgamesh is a Saga of spirituality, and the psychology of character is embodied in the character of Gilgamesh who took upon the journey to attain immortality, but he found his journey was fruitless and he lamented, â€Å"For whom have I labored? For whom have I journeyed? For whom have I suffered? I have gained absolutely nothing for myself, I have only profited the snake, the ground lion! † (angelfire. com, online edition) He realized that death was inevitable and should make most of the short life. The literature came into prominence in the Western world in 100 AD. The earliest of the medieval literature were Epic poems in vernacular language depicting the heroism, myths and supernatural elements derived from oral tradition. Beowulf is a good example of an Old English heroic elegy, written in 700-750. It has 3,183 lines. It is originally Anglo-Saxon poetry but created an indorrebale influence on the literatures of the generation ahead and had become â€Å"England’s National Epoc†. The poem composes of legends. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, fought battles with three antagonists; Grendel who was always destroying Heorot, its inhabitants in Denmark, Grendel’s mother and later a dragon. Between the years 1340 to 1400 was the age of Chaucer. His period was the age of transition, as this age saw the meeting of the two incongruous periods-the medieval and the modern or the Renaissance. The most crucial aspect of the medieval period is the belief in spirituality and abstract ideas, whereas the Renaissance period believed in sensuous and the concrete. Medieval period supported communism whereas Renaissance supported individualism. Medieval mind never tolerated free thoughts whereas the period of Renaissance advocated individualism. Chaucer represented his own age and held the mirror to the life of his time. He was truly the social chronicle of England during the same period. His poetry is a reflection of the fourteenth century not in fragments but as a whole. Other poets of this age focused on certain aspects prevalent at that time for e. g. anonymous author of Pearl tells us about the mysticism of the refined minds. Wycliff gave us the surging wave of religious reformation, but Chaucer focused on wide and variegated life. Chaucer symbolized the Middle Ages and poster the spirit of medieval world but underneath him flowed the spring of Renaissance. Writers of medieval period captured the foibles and follies of the contemporary society in the mysticism nature. Chaucer also used Nature in its full as symbol of life, which is fresh and serene and stirs up the emotion of erotic love in his most enduring and popular â€Å"The Canterbury tales. † The Canterbury Tales begins with the season of spring in the month of April when the flowers are in full bloom, the birds are swinging from the trees and giving the chirping sounds, which is a symbolic of spiritual renewal. Spring also is a symbol of erotic love and we can have an essence of it in a scene when Palamon looks at Emelye, who is gathering fresh flowers to make garlands in honor of May and the Squire too participates in the beauteous and ardent scene of love. His courtly love signifies the freshness of the month of May. In the General Prologue, the garments are also symbols signifying characters personality and reveal the true nature of characters. The rich silk and fur gown, which the Physician’s is wearing shows his love for wealth and the flower brocade on the tunic of the Squire shows his youthful vanity and the forked beard of the Merchant symbolizes his duplicate nature. Chaucer also used physiognomy to decipher the temperament of pilgrims in the general prologue. The peasants are shown with the exaggerated figures. And the best example is Miller, who has round and ruddy face with a wart on his nose. Chaucer rendered meritorious service to the English language and made it an instrument of social, political and literary thought. Chaucer was realistic too as he revealed the truth as he saw it, which he showed in the journey of pilgrims to the holy shrine in this Canterbury Tales. He imparts the solid touch of realism as he portrayed in this characters. With him the literature also saw the beginning of realism in the new emblem and thoughts. The prose literature was almost negligible. Its bulk was very small and the literary quality was also very less. Though in France and Italy prose writing was in full swing, the English prose was very slow to catch up. Before 1350, there was hardly any prose work written except Ancrene Riwle. It is spiritual and the characteristic of Anglo-Saxon is clearly visible in their works. Higden, a monk wrote Polychronicon in Latin in 1350. In this work, we can find the reflection of the history of the entire world from the early creation to Higden’s own times. By the end of the century, Walsingham of St. Albams compiled Latin chronicles, which are similar to the description of scenes in the pages of Forissart. John Trevisa translated Higden’s Polychronicon and completed in 1387. Chauser’s contribution towards the English prose is also worth noting but he was more of a translator when he wrote prose. His prose works include the Treatise on the Astrolabe, the translation of Boethius. The most valuable contribution was the addition of the new prose in meters, which had not yet appeared before and added the beauty of Boethius. The Astrolabe is an early scientific treatise and an address to â€Å"Little Lewis My son†. This treatise amplifies the scientific application of literature and the literary handling of Science. The contemporary to Chaucer, there were other three chief writers. One was John Gower, who was a wealthy landowner whose tomb with his effigy is placed in St. Saviors, Southwark. Gower was conservative and he focused more on the past then on the future. The large part of his works was written in French and Latin. In his â€Å"Vox Clamantis† (The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness), he denounced the common people for their revolt against the privileged class and the people of authority. And in this vocabulary, he showed exaggerated bitterness. After the death of Chaucer in 1400 for complete 150 years, there was no great writer and the main cause for the decline of the literature was the restart of the Hundred Years War, and then the War of Roses, which was nothing more than the butchery of rival factions. In this period, the leading poets were only imitators of Chaucer and many of them were Scots. Among them was the Scottish king, James I who wrote beautiful poem â€Å"The king’s Quair†, which is more of an allegory of 1400 lines showing the love of an captive author with a lady who promised to bring him out from the drudgery to the life of riches. This was the historical and the biographical account of his own eighteen years captivity in England. He incorporated the Chaucer’s stanza of seven lines riming ababbcc, which gave him the name of ‘rime royal. ’ (Fletcher, 1918) The most popular were the ballads written by both the English and Scottish writers. Among all the best ballads written are: The Hunting of the Cheviot, Sir Patrick Spens, Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudeslee; Captain Car, or Edom o Gordon and King Estmere among the few. The ballads, as the old tradition dictates, give the vivid, picaresque and descriptive account of the battles of the Kings and knights. The Author of Par excellence, which fifteenth century saw was the Sir Thomas Malory. His main purpose was to gather important works of Arthurian romance and organize them giving the historical accounts of King Arthur and his knights in his book ‘Le Morte Darthur,’ The Death of Arthur. It was the first English classic, which was published and printed. Women in the medieval period were not treated equally to men. They were mostly religious writers who were canonized as nuns like Clare of Assisi, Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena, who wrote their experiences and insights into religion. But what ever they wrote, they gave charm and feminine touch to their works and in the secular realm, opportunity came in form of Marie de France and Christine de Pizan and from their soul flowed their repressed feelings. They wrote on courtly love. Marie de France was born in France but lived in England in 12th century. In most of her manuscripts are found the characteristic features of Anglo-Norman. The medieval French literature is abounding with stories of courtly love focusing on the queen. The queen for the literary world is the â€Å"natural feminine object of male heterosexual desire†(Kinoshita, Online Edition) and she remains a figure of desire in the hands of King but the Marie de France’s Equitan1 tells us the story of king’s extra marital affair with Senechal’s wife. Even though the lady resisted but she succumbed to his advances and the two plotted to kill Seneschal so they both could marry but Seneschal knew about their disloyalty and he blistered them to death in hot bath and the moral she poster is: â€Å"He who plans evil for another may have that evil rebound back on him† â€Å"Tels purcace le mal dautrui / Dunt tuz li mals revert sur lui† (309-10). 4 (Kinoshita, Online Edition). What lie beneath are the complexities abounded in the courtly forms and the responsibilities of the king? Equitan1 tells about the function of kings, and the principal element is the lord-vassal relations. The feminist theories of today looked into the various aspects that constituted the feminine role in the medieval age and subsequently in their literature. There were very few female writers who had really left an endurable mark on the society. In the patriarchy society, they enjoyed respectable and encouraging social circumstances, though for a limited period. Writers such as the Greek poet Sappho, the Alexandrian mathematician and philosopher Hypatia, and the Chinese scholar Pan Chao (Ban Zhao), were the women of great intellectual abilities. Hypatia was born between 350 and 370 AD. She was a mathematician and also taught astronomy and astrology. She was daughter of Theon, a philosopher and a student in a school of Plato and Plotinus. Her notable works are commentaries on Diphantus’s Arithmetica, on Apollonius Conics and Ptolemy works, but all are lost. She was murdered in 415 AD by Christians mobs. With her murder her works too died. The role of the women was just confined to the domestic affairs which is reflected in the art and literature of the time from Athenian vase paintings to the Homeric verses in both Iliad and Odyssey. In the epics, the woman got the place as mythic figures. Ovid in his Metamorphoses recapitulated women as goddesses who had the power to revenge, as revengeful queens, and on the other hand the cunning witches, and the objects or victims of male aggression and sexual desires. In the classical dramas of Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes and Sophocles, women looked in a different way. Clytemnestra kills the king; her husband Agamemnon but does not hide instead proclaims her deed openly. Agamemnon had killed his only child as he deemed it necessary but Clytemnestra did not forget it and revenged her death. Here Aeschylus poses ethical question on viewers and makes the reader feel sympathetic for women, a thing, which could not be heard, in the contemporary society and Aeschylus bestows on her with title of tragic heroine. On the other hand, Euripides is seemed to be afraid of women. His protagonist Medea is depicted more as a devil than a human being that came on this earth from some other world. She has barbaric attitudes. Euripides was fully aware of the fact that the majority of the women are sensitive human beings, but he was looking at the other side of the women who in the Athenian Age had no rights like that of men and are different than men and when the time came, they are capable to be barbaric too. In Bible, women are shown as heroic female figures like Esther and Judith mostly found in the Old Testament Apocrypha. And the Bible also shows women symbolically as the two opposite poles: temptress Eve and the flawless Virgin Mary. Chaucer in his Canterbury tales presented the women as a dominating personality. Though Chaucer presented the follies of both men and women, he yet gave women her place in the society. In the Knight’s Tale, women find themselves free from the male domination. Emily, Duke Theseus’ sister-in-law, refuses to marry as she considers her chastity as most valuable. His cousins, Palamon and Arcita, both fall in love with Emily. Palamon loves Emily because he thinks that she is a goddess Venus, â€Å"goddess/ But [she] is really Venus [to him]† (Chaucer 1986) whereas Arcita loves Emily because he finds her most beautiful, â€Å"Beauty [that is] so fresh it destroys [him]† (Chaucer, 1986) The plays during the Middle Ages were liturgical, mystery plays but they did not get its due place in the society, and most of the plays had religious fervor. Slowly the mystery plays got popularity in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with the most renowned and passionate play being Oberammergau. Along with this, morality plays also gained popularity. Twenty years later, people began to watch the Chronicle-History plays. These forms of the plays depicted the glory of the English to inculcate among public, the feeling of pride under Elizabeth and an ardent desire to know the historical past. The plays became popular, as there was an enthusiasm among the people due to the defeat of Armada in the struggle with Spain. After that there was an era of Renaissance, the freshness of the new ideas originated from the new order in the social, political, economic fabric of the society. Reference List Angelfire. com The Epic of Gilgamesh Retrieved on September 10, 2007 from W. W. W: http://www. angelfire. com/mo3/paganfiles/library/ancient/epic_of_gilgamesh. txt Chaucer G. (1986) The Canterbury Tales. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc. Fletcher R H. (1918) A History of English Literature. Retrieved on September 10, 2007 from W. W. W: http://classiclit. about. com/library/bl-etexts/rfletcher/bl-rfletcher-history-3. htm Kinoshita S. Adultery and Kingship in Marie de Frances Equitan1. Retrieved on September 10, 2007 from W. W. W: http://www. luc. edu/publications/medieval/vol16/kinoshta. html

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide are Morally Correct :: Free Euthanasia Essay

Euthanasia is Morally Correct "The third night that I roomed with Jack in our tiny double room, in the solid-tumor ward of the cancer clinic of the National Institute of Health in Maryland, a terrible thought occurred to me. Jack had a melanoma in his belly, a malignant solid tumor that the doctors guessed was the size of a softball. The doctors planned to remove the tumor, but they knew Jack would soon die. The cancer had now spread out of control. Jack, about 28, was in constant pain, and his doctor had prescribed an intravenous shot, a pain killer, and this would control the pain for perhaps two hours or a bit more. Then he would begin to moan, or whimper, very low, as though he didn't want to wake me. Then he would begin to howl, like a dog. When this happened, he would ring for a nurse, and ask for the pain-killer. The third night of his routine, a terrible thought occurred to me. 'If Jack were a dog, I thought, what would be done to him?' The answer was obvious: the pound, and the chloroform. No human being with a spark of pity could let a living thing suffer so, to no good end." (James Rachel's The Morality of Euthanasia) The experience of Stewart Alsop, a respected journalist, who died in 1975 of a rare form of cancer gave an example on the morality of euthanasia. Before he died, he wrote movingly of his experiences with another terminal patient. Although he had not thought much about euthanasia before, he came to approve of it after sharing a room with Jack. While growing up, each of us learns a large number of rules of conduct. Which rules we learn will depend on the kind of society we live in and the parents and the friends we have. We may learn to be honest, to be loyal, and to work hard. Sometimes we learn a rule without understanding its point. In most cases this may work out, for the rule may be designed to cover ordinary circumstances, but when faced with unusual situations, we may be in trouble. This situation is the same with moral rules. Without understanding the rules, we may come

Educating ESME Comprehensive Reflection

Every teacher’s worst nightmare – that is the setting to which Madame (whatever you do don’t call her Mrs. ) Esme Raji Codell stepped into as her first job fresh out of college. In this sink or swim world Esme, unknowingly, became a lifeguard to thirty youngsters, as she seemed the only one who could protect the children from the rough waters that are inner city Chicago. Through studying her very candid and personal diary, I am awe stricken by her extraordinary display of pedagogy as she exemplifies what it truly means to be a teacher.Esme’s proficiency in her dealings with situations surrounding equity, creating a safe, relaxed and positive classroom environment, expectations as a teacher, gender, diversity learning, multicultural competence and accommodation are, at times, straight out of a teacher’s workshop. Some might argue with her protocol, as she is both sharp-tongued and downright stubborn, but none can call to question her motive or incapa city for complacency.As every teacher goes into the workplace, first year, or twenty-fifth, and despite any subconscious fear you might possess of the hideous class you might be challenged to educate, there is always a certain comfort in knowing that, regardless the case, you have the support of your administration to uphold most any rational expectation you place on your students. As the school year drew near, I’m sure this was the case even for Madame Esme, as she seemed eager to start her first year of teaching. She set her expectations high in all aspects and from day one seemed determined to see her students achieve accordingly.She maintained her ideals throughout the year, though, it becomes more evident that her superiors might not share such idealistic values. No case more true than is seen on May 4th. After trying to reach a male student, B. B. , who seems to be having behavioral problems related to his home life, Esme finds herself separating her student from a â₠¬Å"big pounding fight on the playground† (Codell, 1999). In the aftermath which followed, Esme receives a tongue lashing from B. B. in which he directly calls her a bitch. Outraged, Codell storms into the office of her incompetent principal, Mr.Turner, and continues to share with him her disgust of the issue. Full of remarks which any rational person would have left to thought, she gladly gave to Mr. Turner in words. Summoned up, her venting stood strongly on the fact that she didn’t get paid to be called names of that sort, and she both didn’t have to, and wouldn’t tolerate such. Reasonable†¦ justified†¦ maybe, maybe not? All the same, nothing in my (and hopefully anyone else’s) study of education could have prepared me, or apparently her, for his unprecedentedly repulsive response. â€Å"You don’t understand.They’re black†¦ It’s just the way black people are. The black child is different. They deal with so much . Drugs, gangs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Codell, 1999). How can one articulate the hopelessness of such a situation? I am deeply saddened at the thought that this is based on the account of a real conversation, which took place at a real school, concerning the expectations of real kids. Profound knowledge directly linked to the situation can be found in the Pygmalion Study (Rosenthal, 1992) where student achievement was found to be directly proportional to the expectations placed on them by teachers and administrators.Knowing that this was the standard set for students school wide, one may only speculate at the vast number of children who fell victim to such complacency and negativity. As I am only able to imagine how detrimental it must have been to Esme’s moral in that moment to hear such foulness reign down from your superior, I commend her in the highest fashion for the manner in which she handled herself before him. I only hope that I have the courage to stand so boldly should I fi nd myself under such circumstances. The months of April and May seem to be full of touching moments in Madame Esme’s first year.I found myself rather moved in taking stance from an omnipresent perspective. On tax day, Codell finds herself frustrated with Latoya, a young black girl in her class, seeing as it was the fourth consecutive day she had been a half hour late (Codell, 1999). Bound by her own pledge to professionalism in educating the kids she is so blessed to have, Madame shows sign that she might possess human qualities, after all, when she admits that she was inclined to yell at Latoya as she was becoming frustrated on having to repeat herself, consecutively.However, Esme is able to withhold her wit and refrains from doing so as she has vowed to talk and listen privately, as of late. Upon speaking with the student alone in the hall, Latoya calmly informs her that â€Å"they are in the shelter this week and [she] must drop her little sister off and take the train ov er†¦ it takes longer than [expected]† (Codell, 1999). Stepping back a moment to gain perspective, these are fifth graders. The same one where you look forward to daily recess freshly removed from the ideas that the opposite sex have ‘coodies’ and light up sneakers are cool.Remember? Oh, yeah! And you walk your sister to drop her off in the mornings before school and then jump on the inner-city Chicago train to get to school, yourself. As a teacher, you’re taught that your students will live very different lives and of the necessity to make accommodations accordingly. Students’ backgrounds cover a vast spectrum, and in order to achieve equity in your classroom, you must accommodate these students and cater to their specific needs so that, they too, have an opportunity to be successful.Latoya’s story, in particular, strikes me a little too close for comfort. In fact, it is unsettling to know that these situations are not the exception in su ch areas, but can be found, all too, commonly when the teacher takes a closer look. Is it because, like many, my childhood was so very contrasting to what you find, time and again, throughout the diary? I was pleased with the mild temperament in which Esme handled the situation. She made it clear that Latoya had done a good thing and that she appreciated it, followed by a means of accounting for any work that she might have missed.I find it especially significant that she reflected clearly reflected on the matter, and how close she had come to scolding the student who in all actuality, deserved praise. â€Å"I still burned with shame at the thought of what I almost said and at all the occasions I have spoken harshly† (Codell, 1999). These are words which should be heard as an echo in the minds of every teacher following his or her sharp tongue. As a boy, myself, I will attest based on my personal account that boys are in crisis.Though, I was clearly not in a state of mind to fathom it at the time, I (and most other boys alike) struggled with the restraints of public school. Sitting in a desk for an hour or so at a time with, but, five minutes to use up all of my energy in the hallways before my next bound session was rough to say the least. It is trying on a boy’s soul. Comprehending what the teacher is scribing on the board is the least of your worries, so paper folded in some fashion or another becomes a common means of passing time. Other days, it’s the kid sitting next to you.Meanwhile, you, likely those around you, are missing out on the entire point of being there – education. Esme seemed to have mastery understanding of this early on whether she fully knew the science behind it, or not. Though, she makes just a small note, a few words says it all. In what appeared to be Esme, merely, jotting down a few random observations for her diaries’ sake she hit on something rather insightful. â€Å"June 4th†¦ Kyle performs better in math if I let him stand on his head whenever he wants. † (Codell, 1999). Now what does this mean?The fact of the matter is, when you let boys get their raw physical energy out they are significantly more receptive to the idea of sitting at a desk and learning, as well as more proficient in doing so (Slocumb, 2004). Girls learning styles and general behavior are more in tune with the establishment of the public school system, when compared to boys. These are gender specific issues that you must be aware of in the classroom. As anyone who has ever been through grade school knows, being different can create a problem for you among peers, and a grand one at that.Whether that difference be the way you dress, your intelligence, speech patterns, race, ethnicity, customs, physical trait, the way you act or any of the other items which fall into such an infinite classification, that difference is enough to land you on the wrong end of someone’s jokes. While, we have l earned that regardless of their likeness, there are as many differences within groups of people as can be found between one another. Thus, there are no real grounds to single anyone out under the premise that they are different.However, this is a concept far, too, fetched for fifth graders†¦ usually. Early on in the year, September 27th, Madame Esme read the story The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes to her class. The plot of the tale is about a little girl who claims to have one hundred dresses, despite wearing the same one to school every day. After being teased, endlessly, the poor girl moves away. Then her peers come to find that she truly does own a beautiful hundred dresses like she had said†¦ one hundred drawings of dresses.The story is significant because following its closure, Ashworth, a boy in class stood up and whispered to Madame that he had something to share with the class. Esme speaks aloud to the class to give him their attention, as expected; then, she ad ds â€Å"I hope you will keep in mind The Hundred Dresses when he tells you. † Stuttering, Ashworth gets out â€Å"I†¦ I only have nine and a half fingers. Please don’t tease me about it. † (Codell, 1999). In her journal, Codell is quoted in describing the moment as macabre (Codell, 1999).After the silence which she captures eloquently, students speak out to defend him one after another with claims that they’ll kick anyone’s ass who says something. If you’ve ever witnessed someone publicly disclosing something truly personal about themselves such as this before, then perhaps you can grasp what a spectacular moment this must have been. As a teacher, you know this is a victory. This is one of those extraordinary moments that pay back to the nth degree, but can’t be found via pay stub on Friday. As a teacher, there’s not much that you can do here. This is, in a way, above you.You don’t create these moments, they happen . You do, however, create a safe, positive, comfortable environment where the students can relax and learn. Madame monitored the situation as best she could in the moment, but the true credit here, she began earning the first day when the students walked in. She earns it daily with her greeting, â€Å"Trouble Basket†, and word exercises as the students enter her classroom. Further, she is helping to break down the walls between individuals and helping them to come forth with their problems, all via her classroom environment.While we have gathered that we are all so, very, different in our many personal traits and attributes, gender, and even the background that we come from, the same holds true for our learning styles in the classroom. If there is any single thing which Madame Esme might have gotten most right, it must be her diversity in teaching styles. This is so intrinsically related to many principles of teaching associated with differences. Students learn in different w ays just as they do all others things differently and to varying degrees from one another.Esme has been deemed crazy over the course of the year for her outrageous methods including the way she dresses, herself, at times. In a list from June ninth, â€Å"†¦ we made light-up quiz games†¦ put on shadow puppet shows†¦ built an accurate castle†¦ had a bubble festival†¦ made sushi†¦ made video commercials†¦ had a book character masquerade party†¦ went to an outdoor Beethoven concert†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Codell, 1999). The previous is even an incomplete list of the interesting lessons she remembers doing. It doesn’t include any of the larger activities which she discussed in depth, over the course of her diary.The point is that the more diverse your teaching techniques, the more effective you are as a teacher. This is evident in the beginning of the same journal entry in which Esme notes that the results from her kids Iowa reading and math scores were the best in the school and virtually every student jumped at least one year in their performance from previous tests (Codell, 1999). What else do you say to this? Cliche as it may seem, â€Å"talk is cheap. † These results explain it all, as they are a testament to the effectiveness of diversity teaching and learning methods.In evaluating Madame Esme Raji Codell, one must understand that any findings would be incomplete so long as they didn’t include accreditation for her work regarding multicultural competence. In this country, we have had a real problem accommodating cultures other than our own. Oh, how quickly we forget that our nation was started by a diverse group whom had all made the voyage to the new land from their parent countries, alike. Over the last few hundred years, America developed foul sense of self pride which demanded others become like us. When in all actuality, it would be impossible to concretely define what we are.Thus, the justly concept o f multicultural pluralism and multicultural competence have since been born. Esme, the poster child for such innovative practices, exemplifies everything which the terms stand for. Madame wore a sari, a type of scarf, given as a gift to her by a student from another country (one of three) without much more thought than to show her gratitude, it seemed (Codell, 1999). The next day, she had four girls waiting on her, all dressed in customary fashion from the native land, seemingly inspired by the window of opportunity Codell had given them the day prior.In another instance, she allowed her female student to perform a cultural dance, which the student began without asking during class. Such was allowed. It was merely the girl looking to express herself and in the process everyone else enjoyed it. When studying the Mexican-American War Madame brought in a native Hispanic man to lecture on Mexico’s perspective of the war. This is multicultural competence. I commend her for, in the midst of her diversity teaching and learning styles, she includes these fine principles, which in turn, encourages cultural pluralism and combats assimilation of culturally diverse students.They are more fluently understood for their practices and, consequently, increasingly accepted among fellow students. In studying this diary†¦ this epic monologue†¦ this compilation of pedagogy†¦ I wonder now, What do you conclude from this? What is the one thing that you can take with you from this? It’s an answer so vast that it cannot be defined in this, mere, manuscript. What is my conclusion you ask? My conclusion is this: what more might I add that Madame Esme Raji Codell has not already taught us? In my eyes, she is the model for twenty-first century teachers in America. She is motivated to educate, not just teach.She is determined to succeed, rather than participate. She strives to make a difference, rather than be a part of the problem. And, may God have mercy on t he incompetent individual who stands in her way. These dispositions compiled with a hunger for knowledge, an inclination to reflect, a conscience to admit when wrong, and a sense of humor to laugh about it at the end of the day are the ingredients for success in the teaching profession. Such are the characteristics of a fine fifth grade teacher by the name of Madame Esme and such are the very reasons why her name will not be forgotten.