Kontan’s Place

It is official, I am no longer mock trial sponsor. I resigned from the responsibility. It is going to be nice not having it hanging over my head. I’m going to miss it though.

What is mock trial? You work with a very small group of kids to prepare a court case designed by the Bar association. All depositions, evidence, and stipulations are provided. Students portray the witnesses and attorneys to present the case as it would be presented in court, creating questions and styling testimony. Attorneys from across the state are the judges for the case.

I have learned so much from working with mock trial. Law is actually a profession I could see myself pursuing. Much of mock trial is similar to debate. You have to know both sides of the case completely. One of the hardest concepts for students to grasp is never ask a question that you do not know the answer to. It is a very good rule to follow. If you already know the answer to the question then it is easy to catch the lie. When there is a lie then the one doing the questioning has to wonder why, and assume there must be something to lie about. This is where good attorneys will impeach the witness, or call him on his lie. The team last year was determined to catch their witness in a lie. A simple bending of truth or stumble on the question, an honest mistake, will not earn points for impeachment. It is the flat out lie that raises the eyebrow and encourages further questioning, resulting in more points for your team.

Students also had difficulty with objections. It takes strength to interrupt testimony, stand up, and state an objection. Students had to know how to recognize objectionable material, and how to express the grounds for objection. I can remember several times where an opposing attorney would stand up and object with, “OBJECTION your honor, that’s just not right” or “Objection, he’s making my witness look bad”. It is an amusing break in the courtroom drama when something like that happens. My students were taught to ALWAYS, at the least, state an objection in legal jargon…preferably the correct jargon.

Opening and closing statements were fun for the attorneys. It was their time to shine, and hopefully earn many points for their team. It is important to have a “hook” or theme to the statement. Maybe not in real life, I don’t know, but for our purposes it was. My favorite comes from a team in the Delta. The student stepped up to the podium, placed her notes, and then stepped from behind the podium. In a VERY theatrical and southern lawyer voice she proclaims, “LIES and DeceuP-shun”, and continues her opening. I have no idea what else she said because the first three words were such a shocking theatric, complete with hand motions. My first year as an assistant mock trial teacher sponsor there was a student who was not your ordinary high school student. He was as much, or more mature, than most adults I know. He was the student in khakis, dress shirt, and maybe a tie, walking around campus with a briefcase. (He broke his collar bone junior year and could no longer carry a backpack, so the briefcase became his storage for school work.) Great kid, really loved Shakespear. He was a thespian as well. The very last case we competed with he was able to slip in his Shakespear quotes. I’m not sure how much the judges liked it, but at that point we had so thoroughly impeached the opposing witnesses that it didn’t matter. The courtroom was at least entertained with his Shakespearean Matlock.

I’m going to miss it, but I am not going to miss the late nights in February scrambling for competition prep, case strategy, and all the logistical problems of taking students somewhere. My time was a fun learning process, but it is time to rest…

1 Corinthians 12

Everyone has something they are good at. Everyone has something they are passionate about. We’ve all been given a gift and the power to use it, AND God wants us to use it.

C.S. Lewis explains, God seems to do nothing for himself that he can delegate to us. He gives us the opportunity to get in on what He is doing.

The human body has many parts and all of the parts form one body. You can operate without certain parts, certainly. However it means another part will have to work harder, leaving the whole to work with less efficiency.

The Church is the body of Christ and our goal is to bring others into the body. As the human body has many parts, so does the body of Christ. One church may be a hand, another the arm, or a leg. The churches are not competition. The competition is the distractors that keep us from seeking God. All churches are needed to overcome the competitions, and reach the same goal. People respond to different means of church presentation. If you haven’t noticed people have rather strong beliefs when it comes to church folkways. To achieve success in reaching everyone, the body is interdependent.

The members are the pulse of the church. If they are not working, the church has no pulse. Without a pulse…one is dead.

Mentioned in church today and found as the signature of a fellow forum buddy at Mississippitalks

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!”

Get in the game. Discover your gift. Use it, don’t let it go to waste. There is someone out there who needs what you have to offer.

Picasa, a photo editing tool was recommend for me to try.  While searching for the download I discovered it comes in a google pack with several other neat features.  Several of the programs I already have…Firefox, Google Earth, AdAware. The pack updates what you have and installs what you do not, unless you tell it not to install certain programs.  I am enjoying the desktop feature that has my pictures scrolling in a small window, a clock, battery power of my laptop, weather for my area, my to do list, a scratch pad, and news visible and easily accessible.  It too is customizable.  If you use gmail this is probably a handy tool for you because you can gadget your gmail to it.  It will also run your pictures as your screensaver.
I can’t wait to play with Picasa…btw, if you are not familiar with Google Earth it is a really great toy that allows you to see the world from the comfort of your own home.  Much of the satellite imaging is scarily clear. You can tell it to retrieve directions from point A to point B and it will “drive” you there turn by turn.  Not in the expedia map style, but you see each building, park, landmark, you would pass.  I do not do it justice. It is a satellite tool that is oogles of fun to play with.  Downside, it makes me motion ick if I play with it too much.

Coffee consumed, cinamon rolls eaten…time to get ready for church.  Have a great day!

We submitted to the back to school trap yesterday. The second day of school and neither of us felt the urge to cook dinner, so we went out. We will consider it a minor setback and do better next week. We decided to go to Logan’s. Now usually this is not a problem. The kids love it. There is something fun about having permission to throw peanut hulls on the floor. The girls love ribs and Logan’s has a rib/chicken entree and a rib/steak that we can split, adding an extra side. It is the perfect portion for me and the girls. Due to a lapse in judgement, I ordered the ribs/steak entree. Logan’s can usually cook a steak to order. It isn’t going to be as good as Djembe can do on the grill, but it usually isn’t bad. I like my steak medium.

This is medium:

something similar to a rawhid dog treat came to the table. When you HAVE to use steak sauce for flavor the steak is overdone. When Djembe cooks my steak it is perfect and there is no need for sauce.

The food was the least of our issues. When our waiter came to the table he addressed our table and the one across the aisle because we were seated at approximately the same time. SO WHAT! We are NOT together and I would like to have the specials given to my table, not shouted so all can hear…thank you very much. He took our drink orders and went on his way. After bringing the drinks and saying the bread we requested was on its way he took the orders of the other table and walked away. Um…hello, we’re ready too. Several minutes later, enough time for us to be very close to finishing the rolls that were brought, he returns. Our order is taken and he is not thrilled that I will be sharing with the girls. He again disappears. Time passes, he has not offered more rolls, he has not refilled our drinks, or stopped at our table to say the food will be out shortly. Eventually he brings out plates for the girls, reaching over Djembe to place the plate in front of Tweety, all the while not saying a word to us. Someone else brings our food to the table. I’m not willing to wait for a steak that is correctly cooked so A1 has to be used. Eventually waiter guy comes around and refills Jem’s drink, giving Jem the opportunity to request more rolls. As he walks past the table the next time he places the rolls and is on his way. When he brings the check dessert suggestions are yelled made. Ready to leave, we decline. I insert my card and hand the check back and he quickly returns with the receipt to sign, handing it to Jem. Jem hands it to me to determine tip and sign. Waiter guy took this opportunity to come around to my side of the table and hover. He starts chatting with our six year old, who has no issue with chatting it up with those who will listen. Waiter guy is obviously waiting for me to write the tip and sign the slip. I sign to Tweety “stop, now, no” letting her know that she needs to stop being chatty. Waiter guy finally clues in that I am not signing this with him over my shoulder. I wanted to discuss with Jem how much of a tip to leave, and didn’t want to do so with waiter guy over my shoulder. It probably doesn’t come through well in this post, but waiter guy was obnoxious. I laughed at the table behind us b/c they OBVIOUSLY wanted waiter guy to go away but he wouldn’t stop talking to one of the members of their group. Waiter guy, you are not a member of the eating party, do your job and do not offer an anecdote for every table! There was one point I was trying to hear what Tweety was telling me about her day and couldn’t b/c waiter guy was carrying on a loud (one-sided) conversation with our nine year old!

Anyway, I think Logan’s is off our list again. If/when we return I will not be ordering the steak. Steaks are best left to my wonderful husband who knows what I like.

Sorry if you stopped by expecting to read a T13. There is just too much to do this week.

Today was our first day of school with students. We are off to a very good start. My classes have 26-32 students. There were few issues that needed addressing. I was very glad for that. My biggest issue at the moment is getting them to bring their textbooks. All but 5 have been issued books, many did not bother to bring them to class today. Tomorrow sounds like a good day for a book check.

For those unfamiliar, here is what the first day of school is like…If you have children you will have to make arrangements, prior to the first day, to drop them off early so that you can make it to work on time. You must battle traffic, and for some reason usually construction as well. After you drop your children at the correct school, well before other students arrive, you must make your way to your own. There is, of course, parking issues to deal with too. Once you are able to park and make your way into the building you must quickly situate yourself for the day, checking email and completing last minute items. At first bell you must position yourself near your door to monitor the hall, direct lost students to their rooms while assigning seats to your incoming students and instructing them to begin the board activity. When the bell rings you will again have to ask them to settle and begin their activity. While they are working you quickly take attendance while opening the door for those who were lost, or simply roaming because they knew they could take advantage on the first day. After attendance it is time to offer procedural instruction. No one likes it, but it must be done. Announce the guidelines/expectations and instruct them on how to speak in class, get out of their seat, or secure permission to leave the room. If time allows the get-to-know-you activities improve the first day atmosphere. You must also instruct students on classroom dismissal. Upon dismissal you will repeat steps of hall monitor, direction, and seat assignment, then repeat class instruction. This will be done several times during the day. Your life will be governed by a bell, and you have a new understanding from the perspective of Pavlov’s dog. If you are lucky you will be able to dismiss students to lunch and enjoy a few minutes on your own. Planning periods are spent making copies, running across campus, guiding lost students, or in some sort of monitoring position. It is a misnomer that any planning is done during such periods. In every class there will be at least one clown student who believes it is their duty to entertain the class, rattle your patience, show how foolish cool they are. If you only have one, count your blessings.

The end of the day brings a new challenge…getting out of the parking lot to pick up your own children before the principals call authorities about an abandoned child.

This is my perspective. All schools are different. We have an eight period day, fifty minutes each class. Teachers have two plannings and a duty, or one planning and no duty. I teach five classes each day and have a mentoring period (very similar to study hall, but kicked up a notch). I can not imagine being an elemetary teacher.

The key to a successful first day…”never let them see you sweat”

Welcome to Wednesday.   Thanks for stopping by.  As you can understand times are hectic right now.  Tomorrow will be our first day of school.  I do believe I met most of my students and parents Monday night.  My girls had open house at their schools last night.  OH the paperwork that goes with the start of each year!  I liked all of the teachers my kids will have.  Froggy is starting 4th grade and will change classes for the first time.  She is excited about it.  Change classes meaning she will have a different teacher for English/Soc.St/Art. I don’t know if the teachers will swap or the students.  Although I remember subbing 5th grade and the students moved.  I did not get to meet her Challenge teacher. Another day…Tweety had to change elementary schools. (I hate rezoning.) We live out of district so our children have to go to the tuition schools. No, I don’t have to pay tuition.  Anyway, the school Tweety is assigned to is WAY on the other side of town.  Nothing we can do about it now.  I was reassured when I walked in and the first person I see is an assistant who was at Froggy’s first elementary school.  This man is AMAZING.  You know the life long teacher types?  Well, he taught forever, retired and couldn’t stay away.  A few days each week he is an assistant at Tweety’s elementary.  I worked with the librarian a few years ago so I am comfortable that I have at least two people that I am familiar with.  Tweety’s teacher was very nice.  It wasn’t like open house last year where Tweety met her teacher and ran to her with a big hug.  (I knew it was going to be a great year then!)  However, Tweety did open up after a few minutes and was asking about her desk and chattering like normal.  I didn’t point out that she rarely stops talking and her last teacher said she was “very energetic and a gymnast waiting to be discovered.”  I figure there are just some things a teacher needs to discover on her own.  I want her to discover Tweety’s good nature and charm well before she discovers that she can’t sit still.  Just keep her busy and she will be your best student.  Give her down time and I wish you luck.

Time to head to school.  The girls will be going with me.  It is at these times I feel sorry for them.  Being a teacher’s kid is not easy.  Today they will have videos and other children to entertain them.  They will also be running any errands that anyone in the building can come up with.

Have a great day…

I just spent the entire day listening to a discussion on assessment. Granted, it was good information. Really. Not enough that we should have spent the ENTIRE day. We have had ZERO time in our classrooms! Well, at least we received a box of “assessmints” for our participation. No joke. If I had time I would take a picture.

Here’s an ice breaker for the next time you might have need…give everyone a piece of string that is cut at about arms length. Tell them to hold it with both hands using only their index finger and thumb. Now, tie a knot without letting go of either end. Yes, it can be done. After six hours you become rather efficient at it as well. What? I had to stay alert throughout the assessment discussion. I also became good at making things out of Hershey kiss wrappers. My table mates made fun of me because I had to line all of our Hershey’s into a pyramid and then redo it everytime someone took one.

You know, teachers are worse not much better than students when it comes to meetings.

We have freshman orientation tonight. Why? I don’t know, they have already had orientation. It is a meet and greet for parents tonight. No handouts, just “hi, I’m your child’s teacher.” Hour and 1/2 out of my day. Small sacrifice I guess. I would feel a little different if they had not attended an orientation AND open house wasn’t in a few weeks. I had to get a sitter so I might as well take advantage of the opportunity, right? I’m meeting Djembe afterward. Oooooeeee. I get to check that off my pre-school goal list twice!

Time for sitter to arrive…have a great day!

The theme for this month of sermons is “Get Wired”. I have come to realize that I am not the only one that has trouble feeling included in a church. Churches are funny about this kind of thing. They don’t mean to be, but a church is a sense of family. They can be very welcoming to guests, but as the guests are around more and more it seems that you are expected to get your own drink instead of waiting until you’re asked if you would like a refill. Sometimes we have to get up and get our own anyway. This is the way I view inclusion in church. If you want to feel included after you’ve been there a while it is many times as simple as just getting up to get your own soda…or in our case coffee. (We have a coffee/doughnut break between services, gotta love that.) I’m not making sense, sorry. You have to find your spot and get involved. You get out of something what you put in. If you don’t put anything in, you are likely not going to get much out. The theme “get wired” creates an analogy between wiring electricity to a house and running a church. It takes many steps to do both. Without one of the steps the electricity will not work, or there could be disaster. Same with church. It takes a lot of hands to make a church run smoothly. Everyone has a gift that they can offer. The trick is to find yours and plug in. I have gotten to know several in our church through playing softball and will get to know more when co-ed softball starts this fall. That isn’t the involvement I mean though. My husband plays with the musicians each week. I’ve met several individuals through that outlet as well. He is involved. I haven’t found my spot yet. I’m not sure where it will be, but I am confident that it will be. I’m not ready to stay on the sidelines and not get involved. I strongly believe that being involved is essential to one’s Walk. Something that I struggle with is the surrendering of self. I want what I want and struggle to give that up for what is best. If you read my venting post this morning you can understand that. Before I started this post I created a new playlist on Rhapsody to listen to as I type…this is the song that was just on…

The next song is Dive by Stephen Curtis Chapman with the chorus:
I’m diving in, I’m going deep in over
my head, I want to be
Cought in the rush, lost in the flow,
in over my head, I want to go
The river’s deep, the river’s wide,
the river’s water is alive
So sink or swim, I’m diving in

That’s what we need to do. Dive in. If you haven’t read all of the lyrics to Dive, take the time.

I found this meme at Tracie’s and thought it would be fun to do.

Disclaimer—some of this stuff I was forced to watch because that is what my parent or my husband was watching, so don’t judge me based on this list alone because I was (and in some places, painfully!) honest. But all in all this was a fun thing and a great list! I do not watch much TV lately, but this is a great list.

Feel free to do your own and leave a link for it in comments–I would love to see what eveyone else has spent their lives doing!

Instructions: Bold all of the following TV shows which you’ve ever seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime. Bold and Italicize a show if you’re positive you’ve seen every episode of it. If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).

Are you ready??

24
3rd Rock from the Sun
7th Heaven
Adam-12
Aeon Flux
ALF
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
Allo Allo
American Idol /Pop Idol/Canadian Idol/Australian Idol
America’s Next Top Model/Germany’s Next Top Model
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Babylon 5: Crusade
Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beavis & Butthead
The Ben Stiller Show
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
Big Brother (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bug Juice
Chappelle’s Show
Charlie’s Angels
Charmed
Cheers
China Beach
CHiPs
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop
Crossing Jordan
CSICSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dancing with the Stars
Danny Phantom
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
Davinci’s Inquest
Dawson’s Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadliest Catch
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dharma & Greg
Different Strokes
Doctor Who (new Who)
Doctor Who (series 1-26)
Dragnet
Due South
Dungeons and Dragons (old cartoon)
Earth 2
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Family Guy
Family Ties
Fantasy Island
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Frasier
Friends
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan’s Island
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Green Acres
Green Wing
Grey’s Anatomy
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Happy Days
Head of the Class
Highlander
Hill Street Blues
Hogan’s Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Iron Chef (Japan)
Iron Chef (USA)
Hell’s Kitchen
JAG
Jackass
Jeopardy
Joey
John Doe
Kath and Kim
LA Law
Laugh-In
Laverne and Shirley
Law and Order
Law and Order SVU
Little House on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Magnum P.I.
Malcolm in the Middle
Married… With Children
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission Impossible
Monk
Moonlighting
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
My Family
My Favorite Martian
My Life as a Dog
My Mother the Car
My So-Called Life
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
Mysterious Cities of Gold
NCIS
Night Court
Nip/Tuck
Northern Exposure
Numb3rs
One Tree Hill
Oz
Perry Mason
Picket Fences
Pirates of Darkwater
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Profiler
Project Runway
Psyche
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (British)
Queer Eye For The Straight Guy
ReGenesis
Remington Steele
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Samurai Jack
Saved by the Bell
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
So Weird
South Park
Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants
Sports Night
Square Pegs
St. Elsewhere
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis — New season
Stargate SG-1 –New season
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titalns
Teletubbies
That Girl
That 70’s Show
That’s So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Bionic Woman
The Brady Bunch
The Colbert Report
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Love Boat
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mighty Boosh
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Mythbusters
The O.C.
The Office (UK)
The Office (US)
The Pretender
The Prisoner
The Real World
ROAR
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
thirtysomething
Three’s Company
Top Gear
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Upstairs, Downstairs
Veronica Mars
Vicar of Dibley
Wings
What Not To Wear (US)
What Not To Wear (UK)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Witchblade
Will and Grace
Wonderfalls
Xena: Warrior Princess
Young Hercules

And what I now realize is that I have seen more tv shows than I would like to admit. ARGH!

I didn’t intend to vent this here, but I need to get it out and move on because it is driving me nuts and making me angry. Let me first say, I love my job and I know that I am fortunate to be in this district. I also love the building in which I teach and it is the best thing about teaching the subject I teach. However, I do not understand why I am still teaching 9th grade MS Studies.

I started at this school in 1999 as a permanent sub. I spent 9 weeks of that year in an English class. In 2000 I worked full time in our resource center (tutorial/make-up testing), but was pulled for 3 or 4 weeks to teach US and AP US history. In 2001 I was given a classroom teaching US, World, and Humanities. My pass rate on the state test for US History was 98%. The other two percent either didn’t come to school ever or didn’t take the test on the testing day. The next year I was assigned to teach World History. It was in 2003 that I was assigned to the ninth grade building teaching MS Studies. There I have remained, despite requesting to teach something different.

It has worked out. I was able to obtain my Master’s without having the stress of a state testing area to teach. With that complete, I now do not understand why I haven’t been given the opportunity to teach US, AP US, or World. It isn’t like the positions haven’t opened up. In fact, veterans in my department were shocked when the AP position opened up and a guy without his MA and not NBC was selected. I was not the only one upset over this turn of events, another MA teacher was looked over as well. At the end of last year I did request to teach something different. World Geo was added to my prep this year. Oh joy. At least I am interested in geography, but not what I meant!

So what am I doing wrong…I
- teach bell to bell
- vary my teaching strategies using hands on activities, Internet assignments, projects, lecture, powerpoint notes, book work
- document all NCLB requirements of interventions and improvement strategies
- work VERY closely with the resource teachers of all my SPED students
- maintain parent contact by phone and offer a means for them to keep track of my class via the Internet (here’s my site)
- have a great rapport with the students
- include cross-curriculum instruction

My pass/fail rate is average and I get along well with my department/building. I am not a silent participant. I offer suggestions when asked, volunteer for extras, and am involved in my school. So what’s the deal? Why am I stuck teaching this course? I’ve never had this course in my own education so I know there are others who are more qualified.

I am just not interested in dealing with ninth grade again!!!!

***
I’m going to continue this post playing on a response by Belleza. I think I remain in the ninth grade because I do my best and give 110%. My students advance to the next level with foundation for US history. I teach MS Studies from a US perspective with MS emphasis. It is the only way I knew how because when I started I knew very little about the state and said as much. In fact my words were, “Sir, you understand that the only thing I know about MS is that it is an hour to the AL state line?” His response, “yes and there is a big river on the other side you’ll do fine.” I work well with our SPED and ESL students at a vital transition in the educational path. I put great emphasis on writing and thinking, instead of just giving them information to memorize. I was told that someone who could/would make writing a priority was needed and that was my purpose. So yes, there is a purpose for me where I am. I did need to vent the frustration in order to start the year off right though. Thanks for reading.