Kontan’s Place

Manic Monday

We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself. Lloyd Alexander

Thinkexist quote of the day for January 30th, 2006. Apparently this is the philosophy my students operate by, only they choose not to look too hard for the answers.

Just another manic Monday. Actually no, it was Froggy’s birthday! Stinks being on a school day, but we have plans for the weekend. As for the rest, finishing up two chapters and encouraging students to actually attempt to pass. Same ole, same ole. Girls started their first day of after school activity. Each week they will take part in gymnastics, rock climbing, and other coordination building activities. Found out my neighbor is also involved in the program so we can car pool. WOOHOO!

Best news of all……drum roll please….ok, we’ll build to that
Djembe got his splint off and stitches out!!! He is now in a brace and doing various exercises to regain range of motion and movement in his wrist and hand. I came home this evening and he had a drum stick in his hand already trying to get back in shape. With such desire, it shouldn’t take long. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery with full range of motion and strength!

It’s been nonstop all day. Doing the teaching thing and then getting girls where they needed to be….and then the teacher sponsor thing…now I hear a garden tub and bubbles calling my name….

KONTAN JOU!

Meet n Greet

Sometimes during meet n greet people have a tough time coming up with something to comment on if they do not read often, so thought I would make it easy. I have my favorite quote on the side and I’ll paste it below. What’s yours?

“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.” Anthony Robbins

Kontan Jou!
(Happy Day)

Hay preguntas?

Usted entiende que se escribe aqui? Podría usted caminar en una sala de clase de la historia y ser acertado si no estaba en su lengua materna?

translation:
Do you understand what is written here? Could you step into a history classroom and be successful if it was not in your native language?

Yeah, me neither. Regarding my ability to converse in Spanish…MUY POCO…which should be poquito but I don’t think that is the correct spelling, so MUY POCO will have to do. Anyway, what’s my point? Yes, I have one. This is what two of my students feel like everyday. I am attempting to translate my notes into Spanish. Their text is not offered in Spanish. I work well with SPED kids and I work well with ESL, but my ESL usually speak at least a tiny bit of English! I have had a non-speaker in the past. He was able to pass my class with slight modifications, and he was eventually able to understand most of what I said. Maybe there is hope for my two non-speakers this time. So far the student who translates for me is very helpful. At least my Spanish is improving a little in the process…My husband loves me, my kids love me, and my dogs are still excited to see me. The cat tolerates me. It’s a good day…right.

Teachers are people too

ok. I have resisted the urge to rant and rave but people…I have had a really bad day. Not all of it, just one little part. Have you ever had those days where one (gigantic) incident ruins your day? If you teach you might know where I’m going with this…Guys, I had to call a parent today about academic dishonesty. I will refrain from details…but I saw it! I SAW kids paper in kids line of sight. Was kid using it? I can only assume since instructions (written and verbal) included be certain all information is not visible. Since I could see it obviously kid could too. And since I saw it from kids desk when I went over and took it then kid could see it too. So I called parent…by that time parent had already been informed of what was coming, only parent had been told some elaborate story that was not even remotely true. OH how I would love to recap, but I just can’t do that here and feel OK about it. But people, you know…I HAVE NO FREAKIN DESIRE FOR ANY STUDENT TO FAIL MY CLASS! I go above and beyond to be certain that students have every opportunity to pass if they will just try. I would guarantee that most ALL teachers are this way and do not want to deal with a high fail rate, nor do they want YOUR kid to fail! Did it ever occur to parent that kid might not want to get in trouble and just might…MIGHT…lie? Instead parent yells at me…ok, yells is harsh. How about, was HIGHLY aggressive to the point that I refused to continue the conversation. I was 100% professional the entire conversation. (I have witnesses that would testify to that.) I have learned one thing in dealing with difficult parents…Never…NEVER…EVER lose it. ALWAYS remain 100% professional and do not give in to the temptation to reciprocate the behavior. If you do it will come back to bite you in the butt. Anyway, my administrator stood by me through this. His wife was actually present during the phone call and was so wonderful to calm me down and put me back together after it. I have a tendency to shake when I’m stressed or nervous. I still had another meeting to attend and two classes to teach! OMG it was just not good. Not good I tell you. It will work out, I know it will. I know I did what I was supposed to do, and I know I am not lying. Better yet, my administrators knows I am not lying and knows to what lengths I go to in an effort to help my kids pass. I love my job but sometimes I do wonder why.

Lately things have been trying with several of us…the one thing we remind each other…and it is SO important to remember…so I will remind myself here:
Did you wake up this morning? YES
Does your spouse love you? YES
Do your kids love you? YES
Does your dog love you? YES
Does you cat love you? (ok, 3 out of 5 is not bad)

Point is…at the end of the day, I have to go home. Some days with work, but I try to leave work at work. Once home, the above is all that matters. I woke up this morning and did the best I could through the day. I have the love of my husband and kids…and my pets are glad to see me too.

Tomorrow is another day, make the most of it.

Kontan Jou

Thursday Thirteen

I’ve been meaning to participate in the Thursday Thirteen but have not taken the time, nor thought about it on a Thursday. . .So here I am. Here are 13 things I need to have finished before now:

1. LAUNDRY!
2. Mostly folding but there is some washing and drying that needs to be going on too.
3. Paint the closets
4. Take our no longer items to the Salvation Army
5. Give Tiki a bath
6. Put all the computer associated information and components where they go.
7. Burn all the junk mail we’ve received over the last month.
8. Burn old files
9. Create new files
10. Buy a filing cabinet
11. Put everything that does not belong in the kitchen in its proper place.
12. Clean out the garage.
13. GRADE PAPERS and record them in the computer grading system.

Did I mention that I really need to do laundry? Oh well, back to school. Have a meeting. It never ends.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here.

The Notebook

Thanks to Yellojkt I have been dedicating the month to reading novels. Thanks to Sage I chose to read The Notebook.

Sage, thank you. This book was wonderful. It was my first Nicholas Sparks book and I am so glad that I chose to read it. Had it not been for your review I would not have bothered. For a summary of the book go visit Sage.

For me, this was one of the most touching stories. After spending the last two years reading literature related to American historical analysis I have enjoyed my month of novels, reading what I call brainless reading. . .or as Sage calls it “chic lit”. I have read a lot of novels this month. Most I would not admit to if called out on it.

The Notebook was so touching. It really makes you think about what is important and how the choices we make in life are so important for the future. It also touches the heart. The characters in the book followed their heart. They shared a love that most people only dream about. They were meant to be together and knew it. The story line through most of the book is as Sage described, chic lit. The end though, the end was enough to make a grown man cry. Many of the comments on Sage’s blog refer to this work as a very sad one. I can see where it was, but the tears that fall are also happy ones. Happy for the love that these two individuals shared right up ’til the end…but sad in the tragedy of Alzheimer’s and the way it steals one’s life. This was an amazing story. I do wonder if there is an element of truth to the methods used by Noah. The main point I received from this book…live life, follow your heart, and love with all you have. Do not let the one you love drift away without knowing how much they mean to you. And finally, devotion. How many reading this, who have read The Notebook, can say that they would endure the daily pain that Noah had to endure while trying to grasp the memory of his wife Allie?

Warm and fuzzies, two thumbs up.

Writing a better history paper

While searching for ways to help my students I ran across The History Place. I’m surprised that tip #3 does not also state that cut/paste is plagiarism and is not legal! These are simple tips, but you would be surprised how many high school students do not bother to follow such advice.

How to write a better History Paper
Five Tips for Young Students

Tip # 1 Try to pick a topic you’re actually interested in.
Most teachers are open to suggestions. For example, if you like sports and you’re studying the American Colonial Era, you could look into how kids played back in the 1700s. Were there any organized sports? Was there even any time for play, considering the amount of chores? Be curious. Use your imagination. The more interested you are in the topic you finally get, the more motivated you will be.

Tip # 2 Start early.
It makes all the difference. If you leave it all until the last minute the quality of your paper will suffer badly. At The History Place we get panic e-mail messages from kids who don’t have a clue about their topic and have a paper due in a matter of hours. The stress of trying to complete an assignment with one eye on the clock is guaranteed to make it a miserable experience for you. And then your parents will get stressed too!

Tip # 3 Don’t just cut and paste.
It’s very tempting to copy stuff from the Internet and Encyclopedia CD-ROMs. But you’ll wind up with a hodgepodge of various writing styles and levels of expertise all stuck together like a jigsaw puzzle. It’ll be quite obvious if your paper reads like it was written by a Ph.D. and you’re only in the 8th grade! It’s important to go to your local library or bookshop and get books in addition to using any electronic info. Right now, most books are not available on the Internet or on CDs. Then write the paper based on the knowledge you have gained. Another thing to do is to interview persons who either experienced the historical era or who are knowledgeable, such as a college professor.

Tip # 4 Let someone else read it before you turn it in.
Ask a friend or relative for an honest opinion. Sometimes young writers know what they mean as they write, but they don’t actually make it clear on paper. If you have any confusing paragraphs your friend can quickly tell you.

Tip # 5 Make sure you follow your teacher’s style guidelines.
This refers to requirements for margins, footnotes, the cover page, bibliography etc. Pay attention to all the little (annoying) details on how your teacher wants you to assemble your project. Then you’ll get the wonderful grade you deserve!

stressed?

I know I shouldn’t post this, but OMG I laughed so hard. Yes, some days just feel like this.

Delightful Dell

Friday I got this bright idea to reinstall my operating system, clear out files, and just really get my laptop running smoothly. I had so much info on it from grad school and programs galore. Soooo, ghost it. Sounds easy enough, and it would have been had I not forgotten one little, tiny, itsy-bitsy thing. . . Drivers are required to make all hardware function well on a computer. I failed to obtain the drivers disk from its hiding place. I still have NO idea where it is. I was in a funk yesterday b/c I couldn’t get my wireless to work. I couldn’t even connect directly into the modem b/c the ethernet wouldn’t work. ARGH!!! Frustrating! Djembe, being the sweet and practical man he is, suggested I just use the PC and call a computerguy friend on Monday. OK, look here Mr. Practical… You have been married to me for almost 11 years you should know how I feel about my projects by now. I am headstrong and determined. I want to finish this project not Mr. Computerguy. Besides, I really didn’t want to explain to Mr. Computerguy my stupidity. I put it aside yesterday only to pick up and try again today. Same problem. Jem, being the sweet and practical man he is, suggested getting on Dell’s site. OK…not a bad idea. I mean, I didn’t think of it…but it just…might…work. IT DID! I was able to access Dell’s website and find all of my hardware components for my system, but I wasn’t sure what specifically I needed. Now, Dell, being the delightful computer company they are, has a chat feature for their tech support. So I logged in, posted my question and waited my turn, only two minutes and I didn’t have to listen to their hold music. Mr. Dell guy logs into the chat area to help. He kindly, and I do mean kindly, answered my questions and sent links to all the drivers I would need to make my operating system work. It was A-1 customer service. I was SO glad for the help and my laptop is up and running with no problems. Dude…I am SO glad I gotta Dell!

I would like to thank Djembe for patiently loving me through my psycho frantic frustration. ~*~

great quote!

Found this quote while visiting SYAR’s blog:

“I don’t blame you for being you but you can’t blame me for hating it.”

Great quote!