School wide discipline is a complex entity that relies on numerous, rules, factors and people at all levels of the educational, legal, public and political sectors. Support personnel, teachers, parents/guardians, police-courts-corrections, administrators, lobbyists and politicians all have their part to play in devising the rules and proper procedures for implementing and enforcing a school wide discipline plan. Needless to say, a lot can go wrong when numerous participants are involved. Personal and professional interpretations of the rules within a plan have the ability to make generation and enforcement of them widely varied across states, districts, schools, and even classrooms within the same building. Herein lies the major problem. The inconsistencies at the grassroots level, the classroom, where more than 80% of disciplinary infractions occur. Sound classroom management is directly correlated to positive behavior. However, classroom management isn't the only factor. Subject, Curriculum, Instructional Delivery Style, timely and consistent delivery of positive/negative consequences and the ability to relate to the intended audience have all been linked with positive behavior as well. Simply put, a significant number of factors effect positive behavior. How then can a discipline plan be implemented and enforced properly? Further and more realistically, how can supports be implemented that help teachers that struggle with one or more of the traits linked with positive behavior? Fortunate for some & not so fortunate for others, only computers and machines can be programmed to behave universally under similar circumstances, not humans. Therefore, it's very unlikely that any discipline plan will be enforced consistently. The key is to curb the amount of inconsistencies between classrooms at the school level. Administrators can identify successful and problematic classrooms by analyzing the number of discipline referrals. Once they're spotted, plans can be taken to mimic these traits displayed in successful classrooms to those that are not as successful. This will require possible training where the successful teachers lead the process. Also, teachers within the same grade that share students that switch classes can discuss what's successful or unsuccessful when dealing with problematic behaviors. Communication and unity are additional key elements to keep in mind that positively impact the universal enforcement of a discipline plan. Without them, every classroom will tend to stand alone, possessing and enforcing its own discipline plan.
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The Difference Between an Emcee and a Rapper. There are certain criteria that make an emcee an emcee. As Rakim put it, emcee means MOVE the CROWD. To explain, an emcee is able to control a crowd of any demographic or type, where as a rapper may only be able to relate to a particular type of audience. In addition, an emcee can write and freestyle, and views both of these attributes as necessary skills of an emcee. A rapper may not view freestyling as a necessary skill. It's been claimed by many critics of rappers that they can't freestyle well, if at all. An emcee can rhyme about anything, they have multiple topics of discussion in their works. A rapper usually sticks to one or two subject areas and rhymes about these continually. An emcee can rhyme to any beat or nothing at all. Further, a superb emcee will be able to talk about why the beat is good, bad or not present. A rapper needs a beat, usually a dope one (dope being relative and based on the rapper's standard). Also, a rapper gets paid to rhyme, it's more of an occupation than anything else. An emcee knows the true history of Hip Hop culture, exudes this culture through their artform and views themselves as a member of the culture. A rapper may or may not know the history of the culture or view themselves as a part of it. The Difference Between a Dee Jay and a Disc Jockey (DJ). A Dee Jay prefers to use turntables as their primary means of playing music. A DJ (disc jockey) will use any equipment necessary to play music be it laptops, CDJ's, Computers, tape players, mobile devices etc etc. A Dee Jay does not have a set playlist, they have the power to play anything they like. A DJ has to prescribe to a set playlist. They don't have the same freedom. To add, a Dee Jay intends to expose self and their audience to new styles of playing (cutting, mixing, scratching), new sounds (all genres are available for play) and new music. A DJ plays music in a conventional way. The songs they play usually are from a particular genre and already known by the majority of their listeners. A Dee Jay possesses, either a working knowledge of-or in their immediate grasp-or within their collections: breakbeats for B-Boys and instrumentals or breaks for emcees. A DJ usually doesn't have knowledge or possession of these. A Dee Jay can alter their sounds to fit the intended recipients. A DJ is unaware, unconcerned with or unable to do the same. A Dee Jay knows the history of the culture and views themselves as a member. A DJ may not know the culture's history or view themselves as a member. The Difference Between a Writer (Graffiti) and an Artist (Graphic/Visual). A writer, also commonly called a graffiti writer, consistently writes under an alias name or icon/character. An artist may or may not write under an alias. The writer's name holds significant meaning and is either given to or chosen by the writer. An artist's name may or may not hold meaning, or wasn't given to or chosen by them. The writer's alias tends to serve as the center piece for all public displays of their works. In other words, the name-its letters and the creative way they are put together act as the focal point in their work of art. An artist usually has characters or tangible items as their center pieces and signs their name in small letters at the bottom corner. Signatures for writers are called tags and these also have unique and elaborate styles. The artist definitely doesnt use letters of the alphabet as their major form of creation, where as a writer does. For a writer, learning and mastering letter styles is the foundation of their art form. A writer uses spray paint as their primary material for creating public pieces. An artist uses any and all types of materials for creating their works. A writer has to create burners (elaborate pieces on a public mobile or immobile medium like concrete walls and train cars) and bomb (the actual process of making a burner in public view) which is free to the public. An artist doesn't usually apply their master pieces on public mediums or give them away for free. A writer commits an illegal act when they're doing art in the public realm. An artist may or may not commit illegal acts when creating works of art. A writer is out for fame-getting their name up on pubilc meduims as frequently, creatively and big as possible. An artist is not concerned with the fame aspect as it pertains to the writer. A writer knows some aspects of writer history (local, national, global), and identify themselves as members of the Hip Hop culture. An artist may know nothing about writer history or identify themselves as members of the Hip Hop culture. The Difference Between a B-Boy and a Urban Dancer. A B-Boy or B-Girl uses any flat and hard surface as their stage/dance platform for practicing, displaying and battling. Urban dancers usually use indoor facilities for this such as studios, classroom and theatres. B-Boys have distinct moves that they use based on top or up rocking (footwork, popping or locking) and down rocking (swipes, windmills, freezes and other floor moves). An Urban dancer may use elements of these styles but they're not their primary focus. A B-Boy prefers to dance to breakbeats over all other genres of music, and a true B-Boy will be coerced to dance by simply hearing a Dee Jay play some of these classic breakbeats (songs from the 70's or earlier that served as the foundational sound for Hip Hop) such as Jimmy Castor Bunch's Just Begun. The urban dancer usually relies on contemporary and more commercial music as their preferred sound. A B-Boy learns from a former or current B-Boy. The interaction is more personal than the dance classes that most urban dancers attend. Also, the B-Boy's teacher is not paid in most cases. They teach to keep the style and culture going. Again, B-Boys consider themselves part of the Hip Hop culture. To end, although they use several moves commonly associated with B-Boys, urban dancers may not consider B-Boying to be a real form of dance or Hip Hop to be a real culture. Hip Hop is a way of life, rap is music, there's a huge difference between the two.
The culture of Hip Hop has commonly been mistaken by the mainstream media as a genre of music rather than a way of life. This post serves to curb that problem by defining the elements of Hip Hop culture: Dee Jays, B-Boys, Writers (Grafitti), and Emcees. All four of these elements share a symbiotic relationship with one another, no one element can stand alone, although some are more prominent than others. Hip Hop started as a culture that served to diminish the presence of gangs and gang violence amongst the youth in NYC during the early 70's. The ability to display artistic skill in dance, Dee Jaying, visual art and rhyme over fighting skills was paramount. Hip Hoppers developed their own dress, language/slang, music, art, technology, trade/ways of making commerce and rules/belief system. For example, some common norms shared amongst members of the Hip Hop culture are:
Influenced heavily by Kung Fu & Blaxploitation movies, signifying/'the dozens' & Jamaican Dance Hall/Dub culture, Hip Hop definitely has its elements of braggadocio and boasting. This is mainly displayed as spontaneous wit during battles, be it dance, burners (colorful and elaborate spray paint pieces that use wild style), Dee Jaying or Emceeing. This belief in braggadocio by no means makes the culture superficial. It helps to proliferate the culture as one Emcee attempts to further their style and out do the next Emcee-in turn styles evolve and continue to elevate; as on Dee Jay tries to out do the next and come up with different and better styles/music; as one B-Boy tries to out dance the next and invent or formulate their own style; or one writer out doing the next with style, color and characters. Needless to say, Hip Hop will continue to grow globally as a culture.
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