Clifton College's The English Experience
Location: Bristol
Ages:12 to 17
Fees:2 Weeks:£2740;3 Weeks:£4110;4 Weeks:£5480
Start Dates:9,16,23,30 July & 6,13 August 2023
The English Experience challenges students while building their confidence in English and many other skills that are useful inside and outside the classroom. At the beginning of each week, students are put into small groups and given a complex problem to work through to find a solution and present it in their chosen way. Teachers are there to guide the students, which is why class sizes are 12 at most.
In the afternoons, students choose an elective(选修科目) to follow for 6 hours per week. These include such courses as news reporting, presentation skills, a Mini UN, and creative writing. Extra electives such as professional golf, tennis, and football coaching, as well as horse riding and exam preparation, lead to an additional cost.
Students go on two full-day excursions(短途旅行) per week. Mid-week excursions are planned around that week's topic, so on the environmental week we go to a local environmental activity centre, while the theatre week involves a trip to a West End show with a drama workshop. Saturday excursions are more relaxed but still engaging, and include set time for shopping. Sunday excursions are shorter but also include an entrance to a local attraction.
In the late 1930s, people could donate blood, but very few hospitals could store it for later use. Whole blood breaks down quickly, and there were no methods at the time for safely preserving it. As a result, hospitals often did not have the appropriate blood type when patients needed it. Charles Drew, a Black surgeon and researcher, helped solve this monumental problem for medicine, earning him the title "Father of the Blood Bank."
In 1938, while obtaining his doctorate in medicine, Drew became a fellow at Columbia University's Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He studied the storage and distribution of blood, including the separation of its components, and applied his findings to an experimental blood bank at the hospital.
As Drew was finishing his degree at Columbia, World War II was erupting in Europe. Great Britain was asking the United States for desperately needed plasma(血浆) to help victims. Given his expertise, Drew was selected to be the medical director for the Blood for Britain campaign. Using Presbyterian Hospital's blood bank as a model, Dre w established uniform procedures and standards for collecting blood and processing blood plasma from nine New York hospitals. The five-month campaign collected donations from15,000 Americans and was considered a success. His discoveries and his leadership saved countless lives.
With the increasing likelihood that the nation would be draw n into war, the United States wanted to capitalize on what Drew had learned from the campaign. He was appointed as the assistant director of a three-month pilot program to mass-produce dried plasma in New York, which became the model for the first Red Cross blood bank. His innovations for this program included mobile blood donation stations, later called bloodmobiles.
Her face is framed by wavy brown hair extensions, her filled lips pursed towards the viewer. It could be a description of an Instagram post, but the touched-up (修改过的) beauty is Diana Cecil, an English noblewoman who belongs to a powerful family at the Jacobean court. Experts at English Heritage have discovered that her portrait had been altered by restorers to enhance certain features, suggesting that our modern beauty standards might not be so modern after all.
The great-grand-daughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, one of Elizabeth I's closest advisers, Diana was considered one of the great beauties of her age. Yet it seems a later artist had other ideas. A restorer, probably in the 19th century, worked on the painting after it was damaged from being rolled sideways. It seems they also took the opportunity to alter the noblewoman's face, enlarging her lips and lowering her hairline to reduce the size of her forehead.
Now, following careful conservation work, Cecil's original appearance has been restored, with the full-length portrait-painted by Cornelius Johnson when Cecil was about 31. The conservation team discovered the changes made to the Johnson painting after removing a yellowing layer of oily liquid that had covered its original, more vivid colors. They also surprisedly found the artist's signature, and a date that had been signed in the portrait's curtain suggesting it was finished in1634 and not 1638 as previously thought.
According to Alice Tate-Harte, a conservator at English Heritage, it was not uncommon for people to ‘sweeten' old paintings in the 19th and early 20th centuries. "Conservation wasn't a profession, they weren't working in institutions with salaries," she said. "They were artist restorers and they had a bit more flexibility to prettify and beautify, whereas we have a lot more ethics today. we must keep our retouching to a minimum. I hope I've done Dian a justice by removing those additions and presenting her natural face to the world."
When middle school math teachers completed an online professional development (PD) program that uses artificial intelligence to improve their math knowledge and teaching skills, their students' math performance improved.
This online professional development program relies on a virtual facilitator to present problems and provide feedback, aiming to enhance teachers' master y of knowledge and skills required. It covers why mathematical rules and procedures work and focuses on helping students employ instructional tools and strategies to overcome common struggles.
An experiment was conducted in which 53 middle school math teachers were randomly assigned to either this Al-based professional development or no additional training. On average, teachers spent 11 hours to complete the program. We then gave 1,727 of their students a math test. While students of these two groups of teachers started off with no difference in their math performance, the students taught by teachers who completed the program increased their mathematics performance by 0.18 points on average. This is a statistically significant gain that is equal to the average math performance difference between sixth and seventh graders in the study.
Teachers often have limited access to high-quality PD programs to improve their knowledge and teaching skills. Time conflicts or living in rural areas that are far from in-person professional development programs can prevent teachers from receiving the support they need. Additionally, many existing in-person professional development programs for teachers have little impact on student achievement. AI-based PD programs include opportunities for teachers to observe teaching practices. Teachers also receive real-time support from the program facilitators. The Al-supported virtual facilitator acting as a human instructor gives teachers authentic teaching activities to work on, asks questions and provides real-time feedback and guidance.
Advancements in AI technologies will allow researchers to develop more interactive, personalized learning environments for teachers. More importantly, AI-based PD programs can collect rich, real-time interaction data, which help make programs more effective. Despite billions of dollars being spent each year on professional development for teachers, research suggests that how teachers learn through professional development is not yet well understood.
It's no secret that reading good news feels a lot better than reading bad news. Like, would you rather bite into a lemon, or sip on a fresh glass of lemonade?
The world is full of problems and conflicts and we need to stay informed and alert(警觉的)to what's going on around us. While reading traditional, more negative news is important, consuming good news is also part of staying informed. And it also brings meaningful benefits, like reduced stress and anxiety, higher rates of engagement, community building skills, and inspiration for creating a better world. Plus, knowing what to look for in the good news landscape is a key part of improving our media literacy skills and being thoughtful news consumers.
In fact, good news, known as solutions journalism, is becoming more popular, as publishers and news stations discover the benefits of sharing positive stories. Good Good Good is one of them. Ateam of reporters and editor s there work daily to deliver stories that make readers feel hopeful and equipped to do more good with possible solutions.
"If it bleeds, it leads." has long been a saying used in the media to describe how news stories about violence, death and destruction draw readers' attention. The thing is, however, there's also good stuff out there—the delightful and kind parts of humanity. "Beautiful stories are happening worldwide.When you do find them, the world can suddenly feel like a very different place. Good news is a vital part of how we learn about the world and solving the world's problems." Hervey, one of Good Good 's editors said.
A. Share good news with people around you.
B. It's just that we don't hear as much about them.
C. But the "bad news" has its place in the world.
D. It provides a more balanced view of the world.
E. And so, negative news stories are everywhere on news media.
F. Heartwarming stories make you cry and feel good.
G. The news media company is devoted to providing good news intentionally.
For the past 18 years, my daughter has been around me all the time. Now that she is in college, the1 of our relationship has totally changed and our relationship is completely 2 . I'm not going to be there every morning to have breakfast with her. I won't know when she's mad or when she's happy. Here's a little story of our new 3 .
A week ago, my daughter wanted to 4 so she called me during the day as I was in meetings. I5 her later on, but she was in class. At midnight, she reached out 6 to ask if we could talk. Well, guess what? I was 7 . I thought we would talk the next day, but she was not 8 .
Research shows that parents are 9 when their children are grow n up, but for me that is when I start to get concerned. I am always left to 10 , how can I, as a parent, remain 11 to my daughter to guide, support and love through life's changes?
We may have to 12 the way we communicate. My daughter encouraged me to go digital. That's how I ventured into the world of social media, following her updates and occasionally sharing my own experiences. Through this 13 presence, the physical gap is 14 and I feel I still have an active role in her life. This experience serves as a reminder that 15 , however scary, holds the promise of growth in our shared journey.
The market for wearable technology in the past few years has been on a rapid rise. We seem to have too much attachment to data accessible on those devices. is it a good thing that we're relying on technology more often than not, recording every step we take? Can those tools really maximize your workout benefits? The real questions surround not the (wear), but the wearer.
The challenge for athletes (look) to up their game with data is finding the type of information that is most helpful. If you are hoping to run faster and want to try moderating your pace based on heart rate "zones," a wearable can help you do so. However, for professionals and those who are new working out, less is more.
Earlier this month, Sara Hall, a professional marathon runner competing in the U. S. Olympic marathon trials, actually (throw) away her GPS watch midrace (avoid) distraction. Similarly, for beginner runners, it's more important to learn to listen to your body's signals — tiredness, (ache), bursts of energy—— to track your pace or heart rate. Depending on what those goals are, there might be ways to achieve them that are more cost (effect), more fun, more convenient. Dr. Ethan Weiss, a physician at the University of California tells his patients that a different item (attach) at your wrist, like a leash, is more likely to pull you toward more activity.
Poor Bobby was getting cold sitting out in the backyard in the snow. With only one dime(10美分硬币) in hand, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's birthday gift. Ever since his father had passed away, the family of five had struggled. Although the family was short of money, they had love and family unity(团结).
Bobby had three sisters, all of whom had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Wiping tears from his eyes, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the stores opened.
Anyway, he wanted to try his luck.
Bringing together all his courage, he walked into the first store he saw. His heart quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could not buy anything with only a dime. Finally he saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his dime. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder gently and said, "You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you." Then the shop owner left. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid.
After a little while, the shop owner came out with a bunch of red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow.
How might the shop owner feel when he heard Bobby's words?
How might Bobby react when he saw the roses? Why?
What might the shop owner do next?
