How is the STAAR Scored

How is the STAAR Scored What is the STAAR? The STAAR is the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. The STAAR replaced the TAKS in 2012. This exam tests students at multiple stages of their education in mathematics and reading (grades 3-8), writing (grades 4 and 7), science (grades 5 and 8), and social studies (grade 8). There is also an 'end of course' test (similar to the Regents Exams in New York) at the conclusion of Algebra I, Biology, English I and II, and U.S. History. These assessments compare student growth across the state with the desired and expected learning outcomes. They are now required for graduation. Here are some essentials for the new STAAR teststhat you may want to take look at. How is the STAAR scored? All scores fall within three categories: advanced, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory academic performance. Individuals must earn a satisfactory or advanced mark on end of course (EOC) exams in order to graduate from high school with a diploma. Students with special education or English language needs may receive modified assessments. Each tests rubric is available via thestate website. Raw Score versus Scaled Score Each STAAR report includes a raw and scaled score. The raw result consists of the number of questions that a student answers correctly, with one point awarded for each problem. The scaled score takes into account the difficulty of the test version. Note that the scaled score fluctuates with the levels of academic performance each year. 2012-2014 is within the first testing phase, and thus, the scale has slightly lower thresholds for satisfactory academic performance. Advanced academic performance remains consistent. The score report also includes an analysis of an individuals strengths and weaknesses within the test. Preparing for the STAAR Many strong students struggle with standardized testing, but they cannot graduate with unsatisfactory STAAR scores on their EOC exams. Though the state releases some test content, preparing for a strictly timed and high stakes exam involves more effort. Timed writing or reading drills will assist individuals in gaining control of testing situations and developing confidence. Reading and understanding the rubrics for each test is also an important technique. You may want to consider a STAAR tutorto help you prepare. As a whole, this assessment system is still new to the state of Texas and it has been heavily scrutinized, as all new exams typically are. However, as the tests are increasingly regulated, additional materials should become available to schools, students, and teachers.

5 Things You Must Do to Convey Your Personal Brand To Someone Who Doesnt Yet Know You - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 5 Things You Must Do to Convey Your Personal Brand To Someone Who Doesn’t Yet Know You - Introvert Whisperer 5 Things You Must Do to Convey Your Personal Brand To Someone Who Doesn’t Yet Know You If you are a job seeker, you already know the challenges you face trying to get the attention of hiring managers for both your resume and you.  For the most part, we have to rely heavily on our resume or LinkedIn profile to bubble to the top and dazzle. No matter how you magically attract the hiring manager to you, the challenges is to quickly and powerfully distinguish yourself.  You need to convey your personal brand to stand out and be memorable. Use the Right Amount You want to think about your Personal Brand like the seasoning to a meal. (Tweet this!)  The seasoning is the thing that transforms an entrée from plain to Italian or Greek.  As with seasonings, you can’t be heavy-handed.  You don’t pile on an herb without dire consequences, nor do you add such a small pinch that you have accomplished nothing.  Look for opportunities to inject a word or phrase throughout your job search tools. Repetition Reinforces With items like your resume and LinkedIn profile, you want to add words and phrases in multiple forms, several times that reflect your Personal Brand.  Repetition is how we learn and the reader of your information is essentially learning about you. Word Usage Creativity The repetition you are going after is the Personal Branding concepts you want to convey but you must be cautious not to overuse any single word or phrase.  This becomes redundant and boring for the reader, who will quickly get lose interest and move on.  Let me give you an idea of how this might work. Let’s say you want to convey that you are dynamic.  Dynamic is the sort of word that isn’t overused in general but is unique enough it’s easily remembered.  If you repeated the use of that word a few times in your resume, the reader would start losing focus and quickly dump your resume.  If you check the dictionary, you find the following words associated with “Dynamic”: vigorous, energetic, aggressive, assertive and forceful.  Any or all of those words could be used to help reinforce the idea that you are a dynamic person.  You can use different words to keep it interesting to read and still portray your Personal Branding idea. You do frequently see a list of overused and meaningless words. (My personal pet peeve phrase is “people person”, seriously? What does that mean?)  I suggest that if you are working to strongly brand your job search materials, you find some of these lists so you can avoid the use of those words. Consistency Everywhere, All the Time Although your resume and LinkedIn profile is the main thing you need to stamp with your Personal Brand, you have other things you need to pay attention to in this process.  Everything that represents you must be consistent and in alignment with the picture you are portraying.  You never know what someone will look at to make a quick assessment about you.  Here are some of the additional things you need to pay attention to for portraying your Personal Branding: Business cards All social media Your elevator speech The items on this list don’t have enough space to allow you to portray much more than one Personal Branding idea.  That’s ok because you have to remember that the people that don’t know you will still learn a few things about your Personal Brand from one sentence. Your Job Interview We don’t always think about our job interview as a place to reinforce our Personal Brand, but what you say about yourself speaks volumes.  No one can guess what you bring to the party; you have to fold in your Personal Branding as you respond to various questions. The interview is more than just your qualifications; it’s about you as a person and future co-worker. If you repeat your Personal Branding concepts across all of the various platforms you use and are consistent with everything a hiring manager reviews, you will be more than a piece of paper or a job title.  You will be a person they want working for them. Go to top Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU.   I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech.   In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression.   Get your copy now: CLICK HERE Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleash your professional potential. What are some areas of your Personal Brand that you’d like to work on? Share your thoughts in the comments! This post originally appeared at FlexJobs. Image Source

Translation Card Game

Translation Card Game By Derivative work: RodelarOriginal: User: André Costa (WMSE) Own work based on: Translation A till Ã…-colours.svg, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55643225 English has borrowed 60% of its vocabulary from French over the centuries. Some words have entered English almost unchanged. Some loanwords are unrecognizable. Some words look the same in both languages but are used in different ways. False Cognates These false-friends or faux-amis are often referred to as false-cognates, from the Latin co  for together and natus for born. These words were born together, but have gone their separate ways ever since. Examples abound. Heres one. Réunion is a plain old meeting in French, but a reunion is a special kind of get-together for people who have been apart for many years. The two words look and sound similar, but they are not translations of each other.   Learning about false-cognates can be extremely boring if presented as a list of translation facts to memorize. However, turn false-cognates into a translation card game, and students will love every minute of the lessonteaching and correcting each other, laughing and smiling the whole time. English-French Translation Card Game To help my students with the confusion produced by false-cognates, I have created a test, a chart and translation card game. This card game was taken from my English Second Language textbook for college students in Quebec called  Actively Engaged Online.   Free Download French-English Translation Card GameDownload For a grammar checker that can detect many false-cognate errors, try the Virtual Writing Tutor.   Please follow and like us:

Get On - Phrasal Verb of the Day

Get On - Phrasal Verb of the Day Todays phrasal verb of the day is: Get OnInfinitive form: Get OnPresent Tense: Get On/ Gets Oning form: Getting OnPast tense: Got OnPast Participle: Got On/ Gotten OnGet On is an English phrasal verb which can either be separable and inseparable depending on the context. It can be used in eight different ways:When you move your body and either stand, sit, lie, kneel, etc. towards something [inseparable]1. The robber told the hostage to get on his knees, while the rest were told to get on the floor.2. When I was little, I had to get on a chair in order to get something. Now that Im older, I still need to be getting on a chair, only this time, its a smaller chair.When you get onboard a train, bus, airplane, etc. where you walk to your seat [inseparable]1. Ben and Jerry got on the train to visit their mother in Oregon.2. We need to get out of here quick, so, get on the bus right now, hurry!Note: You do not get on a car, because when you get in, youre directly lead to your seat, unlike t he transportation mentioned above where you have to do otherwise.When you leave1. I should be getting on, my girlfriends waiting for me in the car.2. I need to get on now, see you guys later!When you are trying or wearing clothes on [separable]1.  Oh gee, if I gain one more pound, Im afraid I wont be able to get my old jeans on.2. Can you get this on for me? Ive always wanted to see how you look in that beautiful dress.When you have a good relationship with someone1. Hows it getting on with your new friend?2. I have always got on well with my colleagues. In fact, were all going on a trip together soon.When you continue doing something1. Francis mother to him that he needs to get on with his homework before he is allowed to leave the house.2. Stop talking and concentrate! You need to be getting on with your reading.iframe width=560 height=315 src=//www.youtube.com/embed/7L7SWSdjbM8?rel=0 frameborder=0 allowfullscreen/iframeExercises: Write your answers in comments and we will correc t them.Fill in the gaps from the video above:Lets go anyway, yeah. Lets skip the getting married a bit because that seems to be a problem, have the honeymoon, and see how we ____ __.Do you find yourself having a hard time getting on with somebody? Why and what happened?Complete the sentences below with the correct form of Get On.1. If you want to make it on time here, you need to ____ ___ the train that leaves at exactly 4 P.M.2. I guess it is safe to say that I ___ __ well with my bestfriend. Weve been in each others life for more than a decade.3. An old superstition says that the bride shouldnt ____ the wedding dress ___ until the day of the wedding itself. Are you kidding? I mean, how is the bride supposed to know if its the right size? I say we stop this and _____ ___ with it anyway. Go ahead, try it out.4. By the time the police arrived at the crime scene, the suspects have already ____ __ the bus. The police never gives up, however, and decided to ____ __ with the chase.5. How are you _____ ___ with your first day at the gym?Change the example sentences above to negative sentences (or positive, if the sentence is already negative). Then change them to questions.

Celebrate Mathematics With These Three Pi-Tastic Activities!

Celebrate Mathematics With These Three Pi-Tastic Activities! Celebrate Mathematics With These Three Pi-Tastic Activities! 3.14159265358979323846 Considering the fact that we pride ourselves in Mathematics at Kumon, we couldn’t skip over March 14th without celebrating Pi Day. We’d be doing you an injustice. In fact, our love for math is just like piâ€"irrational, constant and infinite in nature. Every year on March 14th, math lovers around the world celebrate Pi Day. Pi is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constantâ€"the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameterâ€"which is approximately 3.14159. Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize. Pi Day provides the perfect excuse for incorporating math into all aspects of the day and what better way to celebrate than with these “Pi-Themed” Activities! Enjoy Pi-Themed Foods. For your younger children, take them into the kitchen to explore circumference, diameter and fractions by making pizza pie or a dessert pie of any kind. And let’s be honest, this activity is fun for all ages. Your older kids may like making a pie in the shape of Pi or adding the symbol to any circular treat. Play Pi-Themed Games. Pi games are not only fun, but will also improve your child’s understanding of Pi. Conduct a Pi Day scavenger hunt by hiding Pi-themed objects around the house. The objects can even represent the numbers of Pi. For the older kids, have a memorization contest with a prize for the winner. And even the youngest mathematician can participate in the games with the making of a Pi paper chain. Different colored paper strips are paired with numbers (e.g., red with two, blue with four). The strips are then linked in the order of Pi. The chain can be as long or short as you want it. Calculate Pi. Have your child cut out circles of different sizes. They can even trace popular circular household items. Have them measure the diameter and circumference of each circle and see if they can calculate Pi. Celebrate Pi Day today and everyday by checking out the Kumon Math Program. You might also be interested in: Happy Pi Day: Celebrate Mathematics Today and Every Day with Kumon Celebrate “Read Across America Day” with these Fun Activities 7 Ways to Celebrate Pi Day Frightfully Fun Activities for a Brainy Halloween Celebrate Mathematics With These Three Pi-Tastic Activities! Celebrate Mathematics With These Three Pi-Tastic Activities! 3.14159265358979323846 Considering the fact that we pride ourselves in Mathematics at Kumon, we couldn’t skip over March 14th without celebrating Pi Day. We’d be doing you an injustice. In fact, our love for math is just like piâ€"irrational, constant and infinite in nature. Every year on March 14th, math lovers around the world celebrate Pi Day. Pi is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constantâ€"the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameterâ€"which is approximately 3.14159. Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize. Pi Day provides the perfect excuse for incorporating math into all aspects of the day and what better way to celebrate than with these “Pi-Themed” Activities! Enjoy Pi-Themed Foods. For your younger children, take them into the kitchen to explore circumference, diameter and fractions by making pizza pie or a dessert pie of any kind. And let’s be honest, this activity is fun for all ages. Your older kids may like making a pie in the shape of Pi or adding the symbol to any circular treat. Play Pi-Themed Games. Pi games are not only fun, but will also improve your child’s understanding of Pi. Conduct a Pi Day scavenger hunt by hiding Pi-themed objects around the house. The objects can even represent the numbers of Pi. For the older kids, have a memorization contest with a prize for the winner. And even the youngest mathematician can participate in the games with the making of a Pi paper chain. Different colored paper strips are paired with numbers (e.g., red with two, blue with four). The strips are then linked in the order of Pi. The chain can be as long or short as you want it. Calculate Pi. Have your child cut out circles of different sizes. They can even trace popular circular household items. Have them measure the diameter and circumference of each circle and see if they can calculate Pi. Celebrate Pi Day today and everyday by checking out the Kumon Math Program. You might also be interested in: Happy Pi Day: Celebrate Mathematics Today and Every Day with Kumon Celebrate “Read Across America Day” with these Fun Activities 7 Ways to Celebrate Pi Day Frightfully Fun Activities for a Brainy Halloween

Language Learning Plateau 8 Ways to Get Unstuck and Back in the Game

Language Learning Plateau 8 Ways to Get Unstuck and Back in the Game 8 Ways to Get Unstuck and Back in the Game Youve already come so far with your language learning.In theory, having learned even  some of a language is pretty great.The view from the intermediate level should be beautiful.But its hard to enjoy the view when youve hit an unexpected slump on your way to language fluency.Its an experience many have faced before you, but that doesnt make it any less daunting.Were talking about the dreaded language learning plateau.Yep, your language education was moving along smoothly, and then it suddenly seemed to halt or slow down drastically, right?Youre not alone.Moving Beyond the Intermediate EFL Learning Plateau  by Qing Xu points out that this plateau is unavoidable but can be overcome.In  Moving Beyond the Plateau: From Intermediate to Advanced Levels in Language Learning,  Professor Jack Richards also describes this unique challenge and related issues.So its time to get past whats keeping you from fluency.But before you can move forward, you need to understand what exactly that is. Wha ts a Language Learning Plateau?A language learning plateau occurs when you stop learning as much as quickly. Its easy to make quick progress early on, but as you learn more, you naturally slow down. Because of this, a language learning plateau frequently occurs when learners reach an intermediate level of language proficiency.Why Do Language Learning Plateaus Occur?There are a few reasons why you may be experiencing a language learning plateau.Youve met your goals.  A lot of learners set goals that are reached by the time they reach an intermediate level. For instance, you might want to be able to hold a basic conversation or be able to read a newspaper or book in your target language. If youve met all your learning goals, your learning will naturally pause.You dont have goals. Whether you never had any goals to begin with or you just havent set new ones since you achieved your previous objectives, not having goals can halt language learning progress. Without a clear idea of what yo u hope to achieve, you dont have a clear direction for focused study.Youre stuck on a loop, doing the same thing all the time.  If you keep doing the same thing, youre likely to keep getting the same results. However, once youve milked one particular method for all its worth, youll see your learning plateau.You lack confidence. As an intermediate learner, youve come a long way, but you also know enough to realize theres a lot you dont know. This can diminish confidence and make you feel like you cant possibly become fluent or communicate as clearly as youd like.Theres a natural slowdown. Even if you do everything right, language learning plateaus can naturally occur. Its not a fun truth, but at the same time, at least you arent solely responsible for your current rut!8 Ways to Get Unstuck and Back in the Game1. Set clear goals.Once youve plateaued, not knowing what to do next can be a big part of the problem. If you dont know what to do next, your studying will be less focused, so y our learning will slow down.Clear goals will alleviate this by providing you with the focus you need to surge ahead. Its important to base these goals on your current language level and make them realistic. Setting a specific timeline for your goal is also a good way to keep yourself on the right track.Overly ambitious goals, like becoming fluent in a week, can demotivate you by setting you up for failure. Set realistic goals that are somewhat challenging but that you know you can achieve.For instance, you might resolve to learn a new set of vocabulary words or memorize irregular verb conjugations in the next week.Regardless of what your goals are, having these clear benchmarks will help keep you moving in the right direction.2. Use authentic material.Most students will have focused on resources for learners up until they plateau. While this is a helpful way to understand the underlying structure and rules of a language, youll need to start consuming more authentic material to make your push towards fluency.FluentU is a fun, easy tool that lets you take in more authentic material without being overwhelmed by words you dont know. FluentU collects authentic videos like movie trailers, music videos, news and more. However, thanks to captioning and careful annotation of each word, youll never be in over your head. Word definitions, example sentences and associated images are at the tips of your fingers. If you want to see how a word is used in other contexts, you can even click it to see other videos that contain that word.Plus, FluentU is convenient. You can use it online or download the app on iTunes  or Google Play.3. Try new methods.Since your language learning has slowed down, now is the perfect opportunity to change up whatever youve been doing. Its possible that youre just stuck in a rut with that method. Trying something new could reinvigorate your language education.Trying  creative language learning methods  is a fun way to approach this new phase in you r learning process. But regardless of what approach you take, the main goal is to do something different.One method you may not have tried is double translation. In double translation, you translate a text from one language to another and then back again. Conventionally, you use a dictionary for all of this. However, since you already have language skills, you can skip this with the exception of any words you dont know. This is a helpful way to build vocabulary and practice your reading and writing skills.Other approaches may vary based on how youve studied in the past. For instance, if youve been taking a class or studying a textbook, you might try immersion, language learning software or language learning apps.Or, you could even continue by taking a course. But instead of taking a course about your target language, you could take a course in your target language. Here are some platforms that can help you with that:Coursera offers courses on a variety of subjects, and in addition t o courses taught in English, you can find some taught in French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and other languages. Finding what youre looking for is easy. Just type a subject that interests you in the search box (like art, math, etc.), and then filter using Course Languages on the left-hand side of the screen.Udemy offers self-paced courses accessible on any device that cover many topics. Once again, you can just search by subject and use a drop-down menu to browse courses for a particular language.If you want to try the challenge of taking a real university-level course in your target language, edX has courses from schools like Harvard and MIT. Search for what youre looking for and then scroll down to the bottom of the page. On the left-hand side, youll see the courses broken down by language.If youve relied on immersion, on the other hand, now would be a good time to crack a textbook to get a more thorough understanding of underlying grammar rules.Regardless of what youve been doing, changing things up is an easy way to get out of your rut and see the language from a new angle.4. Focus on problem areas.At the plateau level, bad habits or mistakes start to become more ingrained, so its time to correct them.Taking proficiency tests and assessing your own skills will help you determine what areas you need to work on. Dialang is a particularly useful free online proficiency test because you can test multiple skills individually to see what skills are your weakest.Another way to assess your own skill without a proficiency test is to think through what youre most comfortable with. If you had to communicate with a native speaker, would you feel more comfortable doing it through speaking or writing? Would you feel more comfortable hearing or reading a native speakers response? Chances are that the skill you prefer is your stronger skill, so focus on the skill you didnt choose.While you may be at an intermediate level overall, chances are that you have some areas that a re stronger and some areas that are weaker. Once you find these areas, all you have left to do is work on improving your weak points!For instance, if you struggle with listening, do more listening exercises. Sure, it may seem obvious, but taking the obvious steps that you may have previously overlooked is important at this point in the process.Similarly, if you struggle with speaking, find opportunities to speak. You might even start a public speaking club in your target language!Additionally, if you struggle with a particular grammar rule, you can dedicate more time and effort to finally nailing it down.Not only will putting time and effort into improving your problem areas improve your language skills, it will also make your confidence skyrocket.5. Learn more vocabulary.Limited vocabulary is one of the main hurdles that keeps intermediate learners stuck in the plateau phase.Fluency in a language requires wordsâ€"a lot of words. While an intermediate learner usually knows the most common words, the depth and breadth of their vocabulary is usually lacking.To push away from the plateau,  learning vocabulary  is essential.You can choose vocabulary sets by considering what words your vocabulary lacks. For instance, many intermediate learners dont have as many verbs as would be desirable, so this is a good place to start. You might also be lacking more academic language, so words related to your academic interests could also be beneficial.Quizlet is a helpful place to find and study thematic vocabulary sets. All you have to do is type in key words (for instance, academic Spanish) and youll find plenty of user-created lists. You can print off the lists to study, you can play games on the site or you can use flashcards on the site.VTrain.net is a free software you can use to create and review your own flashcards, allowing you to choose the vocabulary that you find most important. Flashcard apps like Cram  (available for iOS and Android) are also useful learning tool s that allow you to build your vocabulary in whatever minutes you have to spare.Building your vocabulary wont only help you keep your learning on track, it will also help you communicate more clearly and concisely.6. Interact with native speakers.Most language students focus on a generic form of their target language early in their educations. Once youve plateaued, the next logical step is to learn to speak more like a native. Interacting with native speakers is terrific for speaking practice, listening practice, vocabulary building and pronunciation improvement.It can definitely be intimidating to try to speak your target language with a native speaker. Luckily, conversation exchange is an awesome tool for this. Conversation exchange is when you partner with a speaker of your target language. You get practice in your target language, and you give your partner practice in your native language. This is ideal because theres a strong chance that your partner has also encountered a lang uage learning plateau that theyre trying to escape from.If you cant find a native speaker near you, there are plenty of online solutions. Skype language exchange  is a popular way to connect with native speakers all over the world.  Finding a language exchange partner  doesnt even need to be difficult since there are a wide variety of online resources that will help. Plus, many conversation exchange sites even offer estimated skill levels for participants. If you find someone at an intermediate skill level in your native language, they, too, are probably around the language learning plateau stage.For instance, Conversation Exchange can help you find a native speaker near you or arrange a penpal correspondence. TalkAbroad can also help you schedule online video conversations with a native speaker.Once you start speaking your target language with native speakers, your skill and confidence will propel you past the plateau.7. Build confidence with other learners.Weve mentioned confidenc e a few times before, but it really is that important.Working on your skills in general will help improve your confidence, but the best way to improve your confidence is to use your target language and use it often.If you dont speak, listen to, read and write in your target language often, you wont have the time to build the confidence you need to continue forward towards fluency. When youre learning, native-level skills seem impossible. This is why its important to use your skills in a supportive context. Get together with or make friends who are at a similar stage in their learning progress. If youre not sure how to do this, check out some language learning communities.Together, you can commiserate about the difficulties youre facing and get some valuable practice in. Even if you make friends with someone learning a different language, theres nothing to stop you from speaking to them in your target language (and it might even be less daunting this way)! Similarly, if youre reading or writing alongside a friend, theres someone there to push you forward if you ever feel like quitting.As long as you use the language more often, your confidence will grow until full fluency is within reach.8. Nip discouragement in the bud.Once your learning slows down, it can be easy to become discouraged. You may even stop trying to improve your language skills. But dont let discouragement weigh you down! Learning a language is like a marathon. When you start, its easy to move quickly. However, the farther you go, the more your pace is likely to slow. When things seem impossible, its important to remember that youve come a long way.Sure, it was more fun to move faster, but quitting now that the finish line of fluency is in sight is a mistake you may regret. Youve already put this much work in. Dont let discouragement stop you from finishing the race!The road to language fluency may not be a continual rise.There will definitely be some flat ground along the way.But if you follow these tips, you can overcome your language learning plateau and continue along your way to fluency with confidence! And One More ThingIf FluentU doesnt nip your discouragement in the bud, nothing will. (But dont worry, FluentU will!)FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way real people speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse ScreenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right t o see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.

Why We Need Better Gun Control Laws Now

Why We Need Better Gun Control Laws Now Photo Credit: watchdog.org The tragic shooting of these two young journalists, which Flanagan recorded and spread on his social media  accounts,  comes just weeks after other incidents of gun violence have occurred in the U.S. On Thursday, July 23, John Russel Houser, 59, stood up in a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, during a showing of the Amy Schumer comedy “Trainwreck” and fired into the crowd of movie-watchers, killing two people and injuring numerous others. On Wednesday, June 17, Dylann Roof, 21, killed nine people during  Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina, in hopes of starting a race war; all nine of his victims were black. Beyond these shootings, other horrific bouts of gun violence have plagued America going back years. In September 2013, lone gunman Aaron Alexis killed 12 people in a mass shooting in the Washington Navy Shipyard in Washington, D.C. In December 2012, 20 children and  six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School when Adam Lanza, 20, went on a shooting spree. In July 2012, gunman James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others when he went on a mass shooting spree during a midnight screening of the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado. In January 2011, six people died and 19 people were shot, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Gifford, when gunman Jared Lee Loughner fired his pistol into the crowd at a constituent meeting in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson, Arizona. In February 2010, Amy Bishop, a biology professor, stood up and killed three people during a department meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. In November 2009, 12 people were killed and more than 30 were injured by Nidal Malik Hasan when he went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas. In February 2008, five people were killed and 21 were injured  by gunman  Steven Kazmierczak at the Northern Illinois University. In April 2007, 32 people were shot and killed at Virginia Tech by senior student Seung-Hui Cho, in the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history. The list of shooting sprees goes on â€" as does the list of victims who were killed by these senseless acts of violence. Why then has no progress on gun control been made? Journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed August 26, live on air in Virginia.Photo Credit: Getty The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1789, and states that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The language of the amendment has sparked debate over the intended range of this right, but as it stands, that right has been fairly unrestricted for hundreds of years. Which makes efforts to restrict that amendment so much harder. While there’s something to be said about protecting the individual’s fundamental rights, there also comes a time when the government needs to restrict this right for the greater good and for the safety of society. The two acts that have been passed that somewhat practice gun control are the 1934 National Firearms Act and the 1968 Gun Control Act, though both deal more with  HOW people can buy guns and the ways in which they can be ordered and transported, rather than WHO can access guns. The only real law that’s been passed that helps regulate who can buy guns is the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which was enacted in 1993. It required licensed gun dealers to do federal background checks on people attempting to buy firearms by using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS), which is kept up by the FBI. The Brady Act includes conditions which prohibit people from buying guns. They include: those who have been convicted in a court of any crime punishable by a prison term over one year, are a fugitive from justice, are an unlawful user of or addict to any controlled substance, have been committed to a mental institution, are an illegal alien, were discharged from the Army dishonorably, have renounced U.S. citizenship,  are under a court order prohibiting them from harassing, stalking, or threatening a partner or child, or have been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Many states have laws that add other criteria which can disqualify an individual from being able to buy a gun. This act may seem like it restricts a lot and is effective gun control, and in some shooting incidents, it should’ve been enough to prohibit the gunman from purchasing a weapon. Such is the case with Charleston shooter Dylann Roof, who should’ve been rejected by NCIS as he was arrested for possession of narcotics and admitted to the drug crime, but a mistake in the FBI system allowed him to buy a gun. However, the gun Flanagan used to kill Alison Parker and Adam Ward was legally purchased, and that and another Glock pistol were bought after the Charleston church massacre of nine black people. Flanagan was able to pass a background check, even though before he was fired by the station he was told to seek help for mental health problems. While employed at the TV station, colleagues complained they felt threatened or uncomfortable working with Flanagan. Now I don’t know whether stricter gun control laws would’ve been able to disqualify Flanagan from purchasing a gun as he had no criminal record and complaints at work cant really be used in background checks.  However, I do know that more restrictive gun control laws and universal background checks would go a long way in helping diminish shooting sprees and gun violence, while not overly impinging on American citizens’ Second Amendment rights. We cannot afford to let media hype and political attention to this issue die down before any progress has been made, as has been the problem in the past, because we deserve to feel safe whether we’re going to a movie, to work, to college, or  anywhere else. The time for tougher gun laws is now.