Geraldine Said:

How do you deal with a difficult co-worker? 10 points for the best advice. Thank you?

We Answered:

I feel for you. I'm retired after 30+ years in the workforce, and I've worked for my share of people with toxic personalities.

The conclusion I came to is to avoid working for a person with a toxic personality iif it's at all possible.

It does not speak well for the organization you're in that this woman got in because of cronyism. You can get bad apples by hiring on merit, mistakes happen, but cronyism is a bd thing.

If this is a short-term project that you'll be working with this woman on, I'd say just try to gut it out and get along-- but keep a file of any conflicts you have, documenting times, dates, what was said, etc., so that if you have to you can defend your position. Getting along with difficult people is sometimes just a part of the job.

That said, only you know how much garbage you can take from this person. If you find this woman is sucking the life out of you trying to get along with her, then find another job. And if the organization you are in seems to hire and promote based more on cronyism and nepotism than on talent, it's time to get the resume sharpened and find another workplace.

Good luck. Life is too short to have toxic people spoil it for you.

Joe Said:

On a scale of 1 to 10: What are chances Dems will pass this HC bill without fully understanding what's in it?

We Answered:

My father taught me never bet against a sure thing.
A bill created behind close doors, ignoring the will of the people, and most of all not accepting other points of view.

This bill will be on the tombstone of the DNC if they pass it.

Marlene Said:

wanna write a script for a workshop organised by an institute about media and courses! can anyone help out ?

We Answered:

I would advise u to make a google search for scholarships n other financial helps.

Carole Said:

More EXPERT GRAMMAR help needed?

We Answered:

I don't know if this helps. These are the rules I follow.

When an adverbial clause is essential and follows the main clause, do NOT separate the adverbial clause from the main clause with a comma. The clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. Adverbs that frequently introduce these clauses are: as, because, if, since, so, unless.

NOTE: Read the sentences with adverbial clauses very carefully. Sometimes the same word that introduces an essential clause in one sentence will introduce a nonessential clause in another (you can still trust the adverbs listed above to introduce nonessential clauses.) If the adverbial clause explains or elaborates, it is nonessential and a comma precedes it.

Sherri Said:

Lots of questions about teaching 3rd grade-?

We Answered:

Depending on where you are, the morning is a rush to take attendance, send the report to the office, take money for lunch or count out lunch tickets, check in homework, and in some cases, either go to PE or library, or have special teachers come in to pull out children, that there is hardly time to think. If some of the children are bussed in, then sometimes they come in late. Before school starts, there will be an orientation. There you will be told of the school's policies. That is what you follow as you will have observations, even from day one. As there is inclusion, in your class might be children with LD, BD, MED, or in need of ESL. Throughout the day, these are either pulled out, or an aide sits with the child depending on the IEP. Messages come in from the intercom which tell you that little Johnny is not to get on the bus, but to meet his mother at the office at the end of the day. Now, these children are strangers to you. The organization of little learning centers is very nice, if they are used to it. But if it is the first time, don't let them run the show. Remember, those pesky things called lesson plans, and those other things that are State learning goals, and All Children Achieve or whatever the government requires. Well, that means teaching to the goals in order. So, you will need a copy of the goals. As far as the USA is concerned, you don't operate in a void. You must have subgoals which lead to mastery of the goals for the subjects for which you are responsible. In addition, they check your grade book, and your marks of the homework. Yes, they will have homework each night to be signed by their parents plus they must do 20 minutes of individual reading also signed by the parent who is to read to them. They don't always read at that age, especially the boys, some of whom can't yet coordinate their fingers enough to write. So, as far as starting the first day, the principal will tell you what to say. Then, you watch while everything falls apart as stragglers come in, and during the first week, others are just returning from vacations. Usually, either the school has given the local Office Depot a list of required supplies, or you provide the list for their parents to purchase. Don't spend your hard earned money helping them. It ends up being a huge chunk of your salary just getting the room decorated. Hopefully the school has a professional dye cutting machine, so you can decorate cheaply. So, before you can go off in all directions, you will have to get the children back into a routine and also to evaluate where they are. don't put out scissors for safety reasons. That is all done by the art teacher. There might be a computer for which to make a schedule. Usually, they go to computer lab. Generally, the first day is shorter. If it won't, I would have work sheets. There I said it. You can't have them wandering around the room aimlessly while you figure this and that out, and you can't be sure that a mentor assigned to your or the principal won't come into the class to check on what is happening at any given moment. That includes listening in on the intercom. So, if you are in an area with many resources and a new, air conditioned building, it will be very nice. If it is an urban area, keep it very simple with minimum movement and solid discipline plus much praise for good behavior and a quiet voice. Always keep moving around the room, to watch what is happening. If you look up your state, you might find the state goals for third grade. That is what you teach. As soon as possible, connect with another third grade teacher to see her systems. It is easier to have name tags ready than to struggle to remember who is who, and a seating chart with their names on the desk, so they can find a desk right away, as you will need that attendance report very quickly, day one. As far as a job chart, wait on that. Do all the jobs yourself. Very soon, you will see who is Suzy the paper passer and Bill the garbage basket passer.

Aaron Said:

What counts as 'writing credentials' when submitting a letter to a publisher?

We Answered:

A writing credential is a piece of writing you have done which has been actively selected by someone else.

Nothing you mention here is a writing credential. You are expected to have report and essay writing skills if you are trying to get published. You're expected to have written loads of fiction already.

Amateur fiction posted online by you does not count (fanfic or not).
Self-published work does not count.
Schoolwork does not count.
Going on courses does not count.

What counts is

writing for which you have been paid
writing which has won a competition
writing which has been chosen to be published by a third party (e.g. newspaper articles, short stories in magazines, commissioned web articles).

And, um, "letter of proposal for a novel"? Novel publication doesn't work like that. Did you mean a query letter? The novel manuscript needs to exist in its finished form before you try to sell it. A letter of proposal is normally for non-fiction, when you haven't written the book yet.

That probably sounds really negative...but it's pretty common for people to _not_ have any writing credentials. If you don't have any, don't claim them. No publisher cares that you had to write essays during your degree or have been to a workshop or have a fictionpress account.

There are people around who will critique your query letter and advise you as to what it should contain - I recommend you go read the forums at www.absolutewrite.com where you will find every link you could possibly want :).

Edit: LK's advice seems a bit different from what I've been told :)

I'd write it including the things LK says count and go ask one of the query letter critiquers.

Roland Said:

I need to write a sport report for class! HELP!!?

We Answered:

Write about a person or an event. A player like Garrincha or a World Cup win by Brazil (especially the 1962 victory).

Or write about athletes. There are plenty of athletes who overcame hardships to win Olympic glory. Wilma Rudolf overcame childhood polio, hunger and being born 18th of 19 children to win three golds at the Rome Olympics in 1960.