Yousif Saleh Essays (972 words) - Epistemology, Skepticism, Doubt

Yousif Saleh Philyaw, 3rd AP Lang 11/29/15 Relationship between Certainty and Doubt The generic notion that miracles can be made with certainty seems unrealistic. This belief claims that anything can be achieved with the impossible being surpassed. However, there are set boundaries and limits that restrict a person from accomplishing "virtually anything" as Phelps asserts. Rarely can someone be certain about an issue because there are many factors that cause doubt. Certainty can create many complications in one's mindset, making them oblivious to other options. It is impractical to obtain "absolute certainty" as doubt plays a necessary role to success. Doubt is crucial to the attainment of success as it makes one open-minded and causes them to consider other opportunities and view things in different perspectives. Both certainty and doubt are needed to be successful. If either one is more prevalent than the other, then it breaks the balance between them and results in imminent failure. The dominance of doubt renders a person from achieving anything. With both notion s intact, certainty can motivate someone to accomplish their desires and dreams, while doubt can force someone to realize the roadblocks standing in the way, and thus working out ways to solve the issues. When used accordingly then can someone achieve "virtually anything" as Phelps says. As stated in the previous paragraph, without the equality of both perspectives it is nearly impossible to obtain success. When certainty triumphs over doubt, it causes someone to be blinded by their belief. This blindness gives rise to inevitable failure because only the outcome is contemplated. For example, a stockowner should never place all his/her investments into one business because once the business shuts down, it leads to either bankruptcy or the loss of money. It's the same concept of putting all your eggs into one basket, if anything happens to the basket, you lose your eggs in a swift and painful moment. The certainty that a business will succeed is being idealistic because there might be situations that can lead businesses to shut down, for example the weather. A hurricane can without a doubt destroy a business. With doubt, comes insurance, which is always the best way to prepare for the worst. Getting back to the example with the stockowner, if the stockowner has the sam e amount of doubt as certainty, then he/she will invest in many business. Doubt will make the stockowner hesitate to fully trust one business and will prompt him/her to consider more options. Also, Phelps perspective of how anything is possible seems too good to be true. Obviously, there are factors that prevent the impossible. Phelps uses "absolute certainty" lightly because there is no way someone can have absolute certainty. Nothing in this world is perfect and there are many flaws in everything that exists in the world. One example of this is a proposal, no man is certain that the woman he wants to marry, will say yes. This includes couples who are head over heels, and those that have been in the relationship in a long time. They have already developed a committed relationship, yet there will always be nerves leading up to the proposal, which is universally common. Phelps affirms that one can "accomplish virtually anything" as if nothing in the world is impossible. Impossible fe ats have been accomplished, but only because doubt made the entity strive for perfection. The same implications apply for doubt, the dominance of doubt over certainty will cause hesitation that will prevent anything from getting done. Doubting oneself isn't a positive measure as it generates cowardness and fearfulness. With these thoughts it is nearly hopeless to be motivated. An example of this type of hopelessness, is someone who is unhappy because he/she is stuck at a dead end job and continues to work there because they feel as though they are not qualified for any other job. They make excuses to need apply to other jobs, because in their minds, they think that they will never obtain another job. There must be certainty to achieve one's goals and dreams to set the quality between them. With a little bit of certainty, someone can have hope. The equilibrium of these two ideals are necessary for success in life.

Severe Emotional Disturbances (SED) Classrooms

Severe Emotional Disturbances (SED) Classrooms Self-contained classrooms for students designated with emotional disturbances need to create a structured and safe environment for students with behavioral and emotional disabilities to learn appropriate ways to interact with peers and adults. The final goal of a self-contained program is for students to exit and join the general education population in regular classrooms. Students with SEDs may be included in general education classrooms with support from a special educator. In many cases, when a students behavior puts him or herself at risk or threatens typical peers, they may be placed in self-contained settings. Sometimes, when children have come to the attention of law enforcement because of violent or destructive behavior, they may return from some form of confinement to a residential program. Decisions are often made on LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) based on the safety of the student, peers, and teachers. Because these special placements are very expensive, many school districts look to self-contained programs to help students with Severe Emotional Disturbances re-enter the general education population. Critical Elements of a Successful Classroom Structure, Structure, Structure: Your classroom needs to exude structure. Desks should be in rows, evenly spaced (maybe even measure and mark each spot with tape) and should be aligned so that students cannot make faces at each other. Trust me, theyll try. Classroom rules and reinforcement charts need to be clearly displayed. Be sure that all materials or resources are easily available, and that your classroom layout requires as little movement as possible. Students with Emotional Disturbances will use sharpening a pencil as an opportunity to annoy a neighbor. Routines: I make no bones about the fact that I am a devotee of Harry Wongs excellent book, The First Days of School, which lays out ways to create routines for a classroom to run smoothly. You teach the routines, you practice the routines, and then you make very sure that everyone (even you) follows the routines and executes them with fidelity. Routines require a teacher to anticipate the sorts of challenges he or she will meet. Its wise for new teachers or new emotional support teachers to ask a veteran special educator to help them anticipate the kinds of problems that you will meet in an Emotional Disturbance program so you can build routines that will avoid those pitfalls. A Token Economy: A lottery system works well in general education classrooms to reward and reinforce appropriate behavior, but students in an Emotional Disturbance classroom need ongoing reinforcement for appropriate replacement behavior. A token economy can be designed in a way that connects it to individual behavior plans (BIP) or a behavior contract to identify target behaviors. Reinforcement and Consequences: A self contained classroom needs to be rich in reinforcers. They can be preferred items, preferred activities, and access to the computer or media. Make it clear that these reinforcers can be earned through following rules and appropriate behavior. Consequences also need to be clearly defined and clearly explained so students know what those consequences are and under what circumstances they are put in place. Obviously, students cant be allowed to suffer natural consequences, (i.e. if you run in the street you get hit by a car) but instead should experience logical consequences. Logical Consequences are a feature of Adlerian psychology, popularized by Jim Fay, co-author of Parenting with Love and Logic. Logical consequences have a logical connection to the behavior: if you tear up your shirt during a rant, you get to wear my ugly, ill-fitting shirt. Reinforcement needs to be things that your students actually find important enough to work for: although age appropriate is the mantra of the day, if behavior is extreme, the most important factor has to be that it works. Create menus of appropriate reinforcers from which students can choose. Choose or design reinforcers that you can pair with replacement behaviors. For example, a certain number of days with a certain number of points, and the student gets to eat lunch in the lunch room with a partner class. A certain number of day with a certain number of points might also earn a student the opportunity to invite a typical peer to play a game in the ED room.