"There are very many functionalist approaches which have been put forward, and they are often very different from one another. Two prominent ones are Role-and-Reference Grammar (RRG), developed by William Foley and Robert Van Valin, and Systemic Linguistics (SL), developed by Michael Halliday. RRG approaches linguistic description by asking what communicative purposes need to be served and what grammatical devices are available to serve them. SL is chiefly interested in examining the structure of a large linguistic unit--a text or a discourse--and it attempts to integrate a great deal of structural information with other information (social information, for example) in the hope of constructing a coherent account of what speakers are doing. "Functionalist approaches have proved fruitful, but they are usually hard to formalize, and they often work with 'patterns,' 'preferences,' 'tendencies,' and 'choices,' in place of the explicit rules preferred by non-functional linguists." Read more

Clean Out Dates: Periodically ask the student to sort through and clean out his orher desk, book bag, and other special places where written assignments are stored.Extra Books: Provide the student with an extra set of books or electronicversions of books for use at home. This eliminates the student having toremember to bring books back and forth.Use of Calendars: Teach the student to use a calendar for schedulingassignments. Tape a schedule of planned daily activities to the student’s desk tohelp with time management and transitions.Checklist of Homework Supplies: Give the student a checklist that identifiescategories of items needed for homework assignments. The checklist can betaped to the inside of the student’s locker or desk.  Read more

PRIMER: What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? - ADDED Classroom Interventions for Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Considerations Packet   Primer text from The College of William & MaryADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions of children (Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, 2015).    In a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, scientists found that 6.1 million children aged 2-17 years living in the U.S. had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is similar to previous estimates. Ages 2-5: Approximately 388,000 children Ages 6-11: Approximately 2.4 million children Ages 12-17: Approximately 3.3 million children   The diagnostic term attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) refers to individuals who display patterns of inattention, impulsivity, and overactive behavior that interfere with daily functioning (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) V (APA, 2013) criteria for diagnosing ADHD listthree types of ADHD and the accompanying characteristics. Predominantly inattentive type.The student may:o submit inaccurate or incomplete work,o have difficulty attending to conversations, activities, or tasks,o be easily distracted,o have difficulty following directions,o frequently lose materials, and/oro have difficulty organizing tasks and materials. Read more

Primer text from The College of William & MaryADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions of children (Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, 2015).    In a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, scientists found that 6.1 million children aged 2-17 years living in the U.S. had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is similar to previous estimates. Ages 2-5: Approximately 388,000 children Ages 6-11: Approximately 2.4 million children Ages 12-17: Approximately 3.3 million children   The diagnostic term attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) refers to individuals who display patterns of inattention, impulsivity, and overactive behavior that interfere with daily functioning (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) V (APA, 2013) criteria for diagnosing ADHD listthree types of ADHD and the accompanying characteristics. Predominantly inattentive type.The student may:o submit inaccurate or incomplete work,o have difficulty attending to conversations, activities, or tasks,o be easily distracted,o have difficulty following directions,o frequently lose materials, and/oro have difficulty organizing tasks and materials. Read more

The four-part framework (investigating the issue, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas, taking action) incorporated into this micro-credential reflects the changing role of our students in the 21st century. Students must have a substantive understanding of the complex, diverse, and interdependent world in which they live. Educators will delve into the research that supports the students becoming globally competent through inquiry. The four-part framework is described below. Additional resources are available in the “Supporting Rationale and Research” section and should be examined prior to completing this micro-credential. Investigate the worldStudents must engage in activities and explorations where they are able to investigate their world beyond their immediate environment. Research that is age-appropriate should be conducted where problems are framed that are significant at the local, regional, or global level. Read more

The educator uses current research and resources aligned with global education to create a yearly resource plan. The educator identifies strategies and activities that support the global competence framework, and incorporates them into lessons, assignments, activities, or assessments. Method Components Educating a new generation of globally and culturally competent students is imperative. A clear framework for global competence requires students to engage in robust and rigorous exploration that includes investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas, and taking action. Read more

The home environment is critical for maintaining health and well-being among the medically ill and people living with disabilities. Access to appropriate supportive care technologies and home health care services depends in part on where homes are located, what sorts of spaces are available for care in the home, and whether basic services (such as utilities) are reliable. These aspects of home environments are difficult to measure, even when features of homes are narrowly defined and only a single attribute, such as safety, is considered (Gitlin, 2003). Measurement challenges become more complex when considering that each of these environmental features also has a cultural or social component. Homes are located in neighborhoods, where home health care providers may not feel welcome or safe because of crime in a low-income neighborhood and discrimination or suspicion in a higher-income one. Homes differ in their spaces available for care but also in the willingness of families to make these spaces available, adapt them as needed, and work with home health staff to provide care. Also, utilities, telephone service, and access to services differ by community, with some communities well serviced and others shortchanged. Read more

How can educators identify and select accommodations to address the needs of individual students? Using a set of guiding questions, the teacher will identify one response accommodation for a student with a disability based on his or her individual strengths and needs and the barrier created by the disability. The educator will then implement the accommodation and evaluate its effectiveness. Finally, the teacher and student will reflect on the effectiveness of the accommodation. Read more

Supporting Rationale and Research Bannan-Ritland, B. (2002). Computer-mediated communication, elearning, and interactivity: A review of the research. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 3(2), 161-79. Dwyer, K. K., Bingham, S. G., Carlson, R. E., Prisbell, M., Cruz, A. M., & Fus, D. A. (2004). Communication and connectedness in the classroom: Development of the connected classroom climate inventory. Communication Research Reports, 21(3), 264-272.http://bit.ly/2s8jFEH Wiemann, J. M., & Backlund, P. (1980). Current theory and research in communicative competence. Review of how does it achieve its effects? American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 185-199.http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00346543050001185 Greene, J. A., Seung, B. Y., & Copeland, D. Z. (2014). Measuring critical components of digital literacy and their relationships with learning. Computers & Education, 76, 55-69. Read more

Grants and scholarships are not the same things, and the two terms are often confused.   People often wonder about the difference between scholarships and grants. Both are student financial aid that helps to pay for the necessities associated with higher education such as tuition, room, board, and textbooks. Though people sometimes confuse the terms or use them interchangeably, each has their own eligibility requirements and guidelines. One similarity grants and scholarships have is that they don’t need to be repaid, unlike college loans. Let’s take a look at the various characteristics of scholarships and grants. Read more

Background The Small Business Grant Fund, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants and Local Authority Discretionary Grants which ran through the initial lockdown period have now largely expired. Currently some businesses in local lockdown areas may be able to claim further grants under the Local Restrictions Support Grant. We are awaiting updated guidance as to any further grant funding for businesses following the announcement of the second national lockdown.   Eligibility Your business may be eligible if it: Occupies property on which it pays business rates Is in a local lockdown area and has been required to close because of the formal publication of local restrictions guidance that resulted in a first full day of closure on or after 9 September. This funding is not retrospective Has been required to close for at least three weeks because of the lockdown Has been unable to provide its usual in-person customer service from its premises REf: https://www.nfuonline.com/news/coronavirus-updates-and-advice/coronavirus-news/what-business-support-grants-are-available-due-to-covid-19/   Read more

Check out this article co-authored by Thom Jayne, Adesoji Adelaja, and one of AAP's co-directors, Richard Mkandawire.   https://www.rural21.com/english/current-issue/detail/article/africas-rapid-economic-transformation.html   Read more