Sikhism Essays (1499 words) - Punjab, Sikhism, Panentheism

Sikhism Sikhism is a Religion of uniqueness. It has beliefs from two other religions; Hinduism and Islam (Borak 53). This religion is very scarce in the United States. The main area for Sikhs is in the Northwest India (Borak 53). I had never heard of this religion before, so that is the main reason why I chose to study this religion. I have found it very interesting and different. The Sikhs have many unique qualities. Sikhism dates back to a long time ago. Making it more modern, it was introduced near the closing of the 15th Century (Borak 53). Guru Nanak Dev originated it, now making it a minority group. The Sikhs are found generally around northwest India, or Punjab, but can also be found anywhere in the world (Borak 53). Sikhism has a very rare formation. This religion is a mixture of two other religions, known as Hinduism and Islam. This joining together is known as syncretism (Hopfe 188). The Hindus and Islams began to mix and some thought of joining the two together. Not everyone agreed so they decided to make a new religion with practices from both religions while still keeping Hinduism and Islam separate religions (Borak 54). From the Hindus, the reincarnation of Jesus was put into practice for this newly accepted religion and also they kept "The True Name" sacred because He can do anything. One true God is used also as a practice, coming from the Islam beliefs (Hopfe 188). Its originality helps make this religion special in its own unique way. The Sikhs have many of their own beliefs but also the ones coming from Hinduism and Islam. The opening lines in their Holy Book, or Guru Granith Sahib, state "There is one supreme eternal reality; the truth; immanent in all things; creator of all things; immanent in creation. With out fear and without hatred; not subject to time; beyond birth and death; self revealing"(Philosophy). This statement summarizes their basic teachings, also adding equality to their beliefs (Hopfe 198). They believe every human is of the same sex even though chastity is not allowed. Women are equal to all men. Sikhs do not believe in burning women, women wearing veils, or marriages to widows. There is no separation by creed, color, race, or sex (Philosophy). All people are equal. Sikhs believe to worship in temples known as Gurdwaras, also meaning Gateway to the Guru. Daily attachment to God helps you become closer to Him, believes Narm Marg (Philosophy). Also, faith grows within the community while worshipping at the Gurdwaras.(Richards, 198) Serving others is their center of worship (Richards 198). Among the Sikhs are three other religions, The Udasis, Sahajdharis, and the Singhs. The Udasis is an order of Holy Men who follow the same practices as Buddhist, Hindus, and Jainism. They are celibate and wear a yellow coarse garment like Buddhist monks or go naked like Jain monks. They have one possession, a begging bowl and they are also poorly shaven (Hopfe 180). On the other hand, Sahajdaris are very reasonable and very clean- people. They reject the militancy of the Sikhs (Hopfe 192). The Singhs are just a break off of the Sikhs. Sikhs believe in God but they worship by Gurus (Richards 198). Guru means leader (Hopfe 189). They also believe in Guru Granith Sahib and other writing by the ten Gurus. They do not believe in any other religion, though (Richards 198). God is the creator, maintainer, and distructer who can not take human form (Philosophy). He appears only in spirit by believing and can not appear in human (Richards 198). Their five cardinal vices are Kam, or lust, Krodah, or anger, Lobh, or greed, Moh, or wordly attachment, and Ahankar, or pride (Philosophy). Some of their beliefs and vices are the same as Catholics. Sikhism doesn't really have any hierarchy that I could find but they do have certain positions. There are ten Gurus who would serve as our priest do, but now they worship what the Gurus taught and by the Scripture (Hopfe 189). Gurus were the leaders. (See pages seven for a listing of the ten Gurus.) Their first Guru who was chosen April 5, 1469, the day Sikhism formed was Guru Nanak, and the last Guru was Gobind Singh Dev from 1666 to 1708 when he died(Guru Nanak Dev). I did not find out why there are not any more Gurus. Gurus are the down face of the heavenly who provide leadership for humans (Philosophy). They still do have anniversaries for the Gurus which

Project Based Learning for Special Education

Project Based Learning for Special Education Project-based learning is an excellent way to differentiate instruction in a full inclusion classroom especially when that class includes students of widely different abilities, from the cognitively or developmental disabled to the gifted children. Project-based learning is also excellent in resource rooms or self-contained classrooms with either typically developing partners or with sufficient support or accommodations. In projects: Science: Create a model of a concept, perhaps insects, and label each part.Reading: Create a television commercial or a web page to promote a book, one you have read together or one that the group has read in a literary circle.Social Studies: Create a play, a power point presentation, or display for a State (as in Michigan,) a country, a political system (socialism, capitalism, republic, etc.) or a political point of view.Math: Plan a trip to a preferred spot (Paris, Tokyo) and create a budget for hotels, flights, meals, etc. In each case the project may support any number of educational objectives: Reinforce Content Retention Project learning has proven, in research, to improve concept retention in a range of students. Deeper Understanding When students are asked to use content knowledge, they are driven to use higher level thinking skills (Blooms Taxonomy) such as Evaluate or Create. Multi-Sensory Instruction Students, not just students with disabilities, all come with different learning styles. Some are strongly visual learners, some are auditory. Some are kinetic and learn best when they can move. Many children benefit from sensory input, and students who are ADHD or Dyslexic benefit from being able to move as they process information. Teaches Skills in Cooperation and Collaboration Future jobs will require not only higher levels of training and technical skills but also the ability to work collaboratively in groups. Groups work well when they are chosen by both the teacher and the students: some groups could be affinity-based, others could be crossability, and some could be friendship based. Alternate Means of Assessing Students' Progress Using a rubric to lay out standards can put students of varying abilities on a level playing field. Student Engagement at its Best When students are excited about what they are doing in school, they will behave better, participate more fully and benefit the most. Project-based learning is a powerful tool for the inclusive classroom. Even if a student or students spend part of their day in a resource or self-contained classroom, the time they spend in project-based collaboration will be a time when typically developing peers will model both good classroom and academic behavior. Projects can enable gifted students to push their academic and intellectual limits. Projects are acceptable across abilities when they meet the criterion established in a rubric. Project-based learning also works well with small groups of students. Pictured above is the scale model of the solar system one of my students with Autism created with me: We figured out the scale together, measured the size of the planets, and measured the distances between the planets. He now knows the order of the planets, the difference between terrestrial and gaseous planets and can tell you why most planets are uninhabitable.