The change in Scrooges character Essay Example

The change in Scrooges character Essay Example The change in Scrooges character Paper The change in Scrooges character Paper Scrooge is described as a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! at the start of A Christmas Carol and as a man who became as good a friend, as good a master and as good a man, as the good old city knew at the end. In Charles Dickens Classic Novel A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge is a bitter old man. At the beginning of the novel Scrooge has reached a point in his life where he is a wealthy business man but is horrible to everyone and is disliked by many because he behaves so badly. Scrooge comes across as a man who is angry with the whole world, bitter and twisted and even though many may think that money buys you happiness this has not happened for Scrooge it seems the more money that he has the more miserable he became. Before Scrooges old partner Marleys ghost first appeared to Scrooge, Scrooge had been mean to several people that day including his inoffensive nephew who he told every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart he should Scrooge had also been unkind to Bob Crachit his clerk as he begrudged giving the poor man Christmas day off of work Youll want all day tomorrow, I suppose? Scrooge asked Crachit as Scrooge did not want to give Crachit Christmas day off even though he knew that Crachit had a family and a disabled son he wanted to be with. Two men who were collecting for the poor and destitute visited Scrooge in hope of a donation for charity and were sent on their way he told them I dont make merry at Christmas and I cant afford to make idle people merry The way in which Scrooge behaved to these people showed what a miserable unkind sole he was. Marleys ghost told Scrooge that three spirits will visit him Scrooge said I I think Id rather not Scrooge did not seem interested in changing his way of life and just wanted to be left alone. When the first of three spirits arrived it took Scrooge back through his past life back to when he was a child it showed Scrooge how unhappy he was the ghost reminds Scrooge that he was A solitary child, neglected by his friends Scrooge remembered how he felt as that child and was saddened by this, he also remembered how earlier that day he had chased away a young carol singer from his door by threatening to hit him with a ruler. Scrooge felt a pang of guilt for the way in which he had treated the lonely young boy. They continued their journey through Scrooges childhood and Scrooges mood was lightened by seeing many things from his past. They came to Scrooges sister who obviously adored him as she hugged and kissed a young Scrooge as she addressed him as her dear, dear brother. The young Scrooge seemed to love his sister very much and seemed delighted to be around her. Scrooge spoke to the spirit about his sister with great love and admiration. After this Scrooge seemed uneasy when the spirit spoke of his sisters son who had visited him earlier that day you feel as if Scrooge was feeling a bit guilty for the way in which he had treated his nephew. Scrooge and the first spirit then travelled to where Scrooge worked when he was an apprentice he saw his friend Dick who was a fellow apprentice and Scrooge and the spirit watched Old Fezziwig who they worked for entertain them at the company Christmas party. After watching himself as a young apprentice and seeing how Old Fezziwig treated him and all his fellow workers Scrooge began to feel guilty for how he had treated Crachit his Clerk the spirit asked Scrooge What is the matter? Scrooge eventually told the spirit No, I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now Scrooge at this time has realised that he has been a terrible employer to his clerk. The second spirit who visited Scrooge the ghost of the Christmas Present again took Scrooge to see people outside rushing around happily preparing for Christmas. The Spirit and Scrooge visited Bob Crachits house Scrooges clerk who was preparing for Christmas dinner with his family, Scrooge saw how excited the whole family were about Christmas dinner, he saw tiny Tim who was Cratchits disabled son he saw how the whole family rallied around him to make him comfortable. Scrooge asked the spirit Tell me if Tiny Tim will live Scrooge seemed to have feelings and felt concerned for Tiny Tim. Scrooge watched as Crachit toasted I give you Mr Scrooge the founder of the feast The whole family toasted Scrooge to make their father happy but Scrooge could see that none of them genuinely wanted to toast him and they all felt he was an ogre. The family again continued with their celebrations and Scrooge could see how happy the family was. After visiting Crachit the second spirit took Scrooge to his nephews house again they watched his nephew and his wife and their guest enjoy the Christmas celebrations they laughed and laughed and had a wonderful time. Even though Scrooge had over the years been miserable when his nephew The three spirits had an enormous impact on the rest of Scrooges life he realised that money was not the only thing that mattered and living life with people around you made a difference. Helping others was not a crime but actually something that would give him pleasure. He realised that people had mostly treated him well throughout his life until he became an old miser and after seeing how his employer had treated him when he was younger. Scrooge was able to see that he could help Bob Crachit and his family financially and by making Crachits working hours less so he could spend more time with Tiny Tim he would make his life happier. He also sent Bob Crachits a large Turkey as this was what Bob Crachit had wanted. After seeing his sister and himself when they were younger and seeing his nephew on Christmas day he realised that it would be fun to be part of his family again and so both the ghost of the Christmas past and the Ghost of the present helped Scrooge see family was important. Scrooge also gave to charity after meeting the three spirits as they were able to show him that charity was a good thing. Scrooge became to close to Tiny Tim he was a second father to him which showed he was a compassionate man. Scrooge had lost sight of what was important in life he had become obsessed with money and this had brought him nothing but misery as he did not want to share his good fortune with others. The spirits had shown him the error of his ways and he became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man and everyone who knew him would of agreed.

How Teachers Can Create a Great Lesson Students Love

How Teachers Can Create a Great Lesson Students Love The best teachers can captivate their students’ attention day in and day out. Their students not only enjoy being in their class, but they look forward to the next day’s lesson because they want to see what is going to happen. Creating a great lesson together takes a lot of creativity, time, and effort. It is something that is well thought out with lots of planning. Though each lesson is unique, they all have similar components that make them exceptional. Every teacher has the ability to create engaging lessons that will mesmerize their students and keep them wanting to come back for more. A great lesson engages every student, ensures that every student is meeting the learning objectives, and motivates even the most reluctant learner. Characteristics of a Great Lesson A great lesson...is well planned. Planning starts with a simple idea and then slowly evolves into a tremendous lesson that will resonate with every student. A terrific plan ensures that all materials are ready to go before the lesson begins, is anticipatory of potential issues or problems, and takes advantage of opportunities to extend the lesson beyond its core concepts. Planning a great lesson takes time and effort. Careful planning gives each lesson a better chance to be a hit, to captivate each student, and to provide your students with meaningful learning opportunities. A great lesson†¦grabs students’ attention. The first few minutes of a lesson may be the most critical. Students will quickly decide whether or not they should devote their full attention to what is being taught. Every lesson should have a â€Å"hook† or â€Å"attention grabber† built into the first five minutes of the lesson. Attention grabbers come in many forms including demonstrations, skits, videos, jokes, songs, etc. Be willing to embarrass yourself a little bit if it will motivate your students to learn. Ultimately, you want to create an entire lesson that is memorable, but failing to grab their attention early on will likely keep that from happening. A great lesson†¦maintains students’ attention. Lessons should be outrageous and unpredictable throughout captivating each student’s attention. They should be fast-paced, loaded with quality content, and engaging. Time in class should fly by so quickly that you hear students grumbling when the class period is over each day. You should never see students drifting off to sleep, engaged in conversation about other topics, or expressing general disinterest in a lesson. As the teacher, your approach to every lesson must be passionate and enthusiastic. You must be willing to be a salesman, comedian, content expert, and magician all rolled into one. A great lesson†¦builds on previously learned concepts. There is a flow from one standard to the next. The teacher ties previously learned concepts into each lesson. This shows the students that various concepts are meaningful and connected. It is a natural progression of old into new. Each lesson increases in rigor and difficulty without losing students along the way. Each new lesson should be focused on extending learning from the previous day. By the end of the year, students should be able to make connections quickly as to how your first lesson ties into your last lesson. A great lesson  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦is content driven. It has to have a connected purpose, meaning that all aspects of the lesson are built around critical concepts that students at a particular age should be learning. Content is typically driven by standards such as the Common Core State Standards that serve as a guide for what students are supposed to learn in each grade. A lesson that does not have relevant, meaningful content at its core is senseless and a waste of time. Effective teachers are able to build upon the content from lesson to lesson continuously throughout the year. They take a simple concept early on continuing to build upon it until it becomes something complex yet understood by their students because of the process. A great lesson†¦ establishes real-life connections. Everyone loves a good story. The best teachers are those who can incorporate vivid stories that tie in key concepts within the lesson helping students to make connections to real life. New concepts are typically abstract to students of any age. They rarely see how it is applicable to real life. A great story can make these real-life connections and often helps students remember concepts because they remember the story. Some subjects are easier to make these connections than others, but a creative teacher can find an interesting backstory to share on just about any concept. A great lesson†¦provides students with active learning opportunities. A majority of students are kinesthetic learners. They simply learn best when they are actively engaged in hands-on learning activities. Active learning is fun. Students not only have fun through hands-on learning, they often retain more information from this process. Students do not have to be active throughout an entire lesson, but having active components mixed in sporadically at appropriate times throughout the lesson will keep them interested and engaged. A great lesson†¦Ã¢â‚¬â€¹builds critical thinking skills. Students must develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills at an early age. If these skills are not developed early on, they will be almost impossible to acquire later on. Older students who have not been taught this skill may become discouraged and frustrated. Students must be taught to extend their answers beyond the ability to provide the correct answer alone. They also should develop the ability to explain how they arrived at that answer. Each lesson should have at least one critical thinking activity built into it forcing students to go beyond the typically straightforward answer. A great lesson†¦is talked about and remembered. It takes time, but the best teachers build a legacy. Students coming up look forward to being in their class. They hear all the crazy stories and cannot wait to experience it themselves. The hard part for the teacher is living up to those expectations. You have to bring your â€Å"A† game every single day, and this can become a challenge. Creating enough great lessons for each day is exhausting. It is not impossible; it just takes a lot of extra effort. Ultimately it is worth it when your students consistently perform well and even more importantly express how much they learned by being in your class. A great lesson†¦is continuously tweaked. It is always evolving. Good teachers are never satisfied. They understand that everything can be improved. They approach each lesson as an experiment, soliciting feedback from their students both directly and indirectly. They look at nonverbal cues such as body language. They look at overall engagement and participation. They look at diagnostic feedback to determine if students are retaining the concepts introduced in the lesson. Teachers use this feedback as a guide to what aspects should be tweaked and each year they make adjustments and then conduct the experiment again.