Kontan’s Place

Happy Holidays to all who stop by today! We will be celebrating Christmas and I am very excited as we have family coming to our house this year. For several years we have celebrated Christmas with the family either before or after the holiday because we wanted to remain home for our children to enjoy a holiday without the chaos of going here and there. It has worked GREAT but this year we will be celebrating with several in the family coming to us. It will be really great for the girls and for us.

On another note…if you read often you read my last post denouncing my cousin’s stupidity. If you are a praying person please remember him. I do not agree with many of his life choices, but his most recent stubbornness takes the cake and it could have disastrous consequences for him and his kids.

Now…on to my Thirteen. I took this from Sage and it is a little more than 13, but I really liked it and it looked fun…

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I really like hot chocolate best, especially if you add whipped cream to the top.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa has a lot of houses to get to…sit them under the tree

3. Colored lights on tree/house?
White lights and if you put any lights on the house it should be simple and tasteful.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No. I don’t need greenery to kiss my sweetie

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Start after Thanksgiving. If I wait then it will be just before Christmas. Things are just TOO hectic in December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Dressing!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
The after dinner football games with my cousins.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I’m not sure. I just sort of figured it out and never said anything. Santa stopped leaving stockings one year when Gran was too sick to make them and asked me to do it.

I’m having to pause here. Let me just say that we didn’t have a lot, but she did everything in her power to make holidays, especially Christmas, special. There were a few in the later teen years when it was just us and really, those times are very special to me.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We like to open the grownup gifts on Christmas Eve and leave Christmas day to enjoy the kids.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
This year I put the lights on and then gave the ornaments to the girls and said go for it.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I’m in Mississippi, what is this snow you speak of?

12. Can you ice skate?
When the opportunity presents…but that involves traveling to a place where there is opportunity.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
My stereo!

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Celebrating the amazing gift we have been given. The chance to be forgiven by the birth and death of Christ. If you mean the “holidays” of November to December? Time to enjoy family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Caramel, but that is more of a snack so apple pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
We take time to drive around looking at Christmas lights. This year I am really looking forward to Christmas Eve service at the church we’ve attended this past year. The music will be spectacular.

17. What tops your tree?
A star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
I enjoy giving. I love seeing the excitement in the eyes of my girls.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
So many. Go Tell it on the Mountain done by Canadian Brass is one that I really love. OK, I love ANYTHING they play. I also love Sleigh Ride, arranged by Leroy Anderson…and the entire Charlie Brown Christmas CD. I really prefer all the Christmas songs done without words, but I do like the Carpenters. OK. I’ll stop.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Tasty but sticky. I like them. It was very sad for me to find out the “legend of the candy cane” wasn’t true. *sigh*

That’s it for me. Thank you for being patient throughout my extended T13. Thanks for stopping by!

Isn’t it amazing that some people are just totally stuck on stupid? That is something that no amount of education can fix. No details needed here, not mine to give…but if you are seriously and freakishly ill- go to the doc don’t sit back and say it’s nothin’. Maybe that will make a great weekend comment game…

As much as I enjoy visiting my family it is so great to be home! I miss not sleeping in my own bed. I also do not like being away from Jem. I’m looking forward to having him home all next week!

Today I was crudely reminded of a previous post where I feared a 30% failure rate in class. Fortunately my numbers looked really good. 50% were exempt from exams and only 12 students were unable to pass my class. Some who were in danger of failing b/c they didn’t do their project ended up pulling a high score on the exam and passing with a 70 or 71. I was very impressed by this.

It is getting to the time where everyone will be out for holiday. I know there will be rejoicing at my favorite blogs. To those who lurk by I wish you happy holiday! Enjoy the break.

I ditched on laundry today. I know…bad bad. I decided to visit family instead. My little cousins are still in school, but the girls were able to spend the afternoon with them. We’ll be back next week for a little more quality time for them. They did exchange gifts. There was a lot child excitement. Although I don’t like opening gifts b/f Christmas, it does help with the anticipation and it was good for them to share the excitement of their gifts.

As they are in school this week and finishing up the semester with celebration I am thinking more and more about the diversity of schools and the Christmas celebration thing. My oldest daughter has a friend in her class who is Hindu. I feel really bad for this little girl, and others like her, who are not Christian. They do not celebrate Christmas like we do, yet so many end of semester activities are geared toward it. Some halfwit on a forum I read said we should change OUR traditions to accommodate them. I see the closed minded point, however we also shouldn’t exclude children. Skip the gift exchange and leave the gifting for those who are close enough to be on gift giving terms. Celebrate the end of the semester. Everyone can participate and enjoy that. I’m sounding so politically correct here…I’m usually not. This just irritates me. I guess partly b/c I disagree with the whole party at school thing. I am not a party planner, I am a teacher. I am not a babysitter either. If there is nothing to be done in my class then by all means, stay home. Yes, there is a place for fun in the classroom, but let’s keep it with some sort of educational value. My young cousin has to do a presentation tomorrow about Christmas in Nigeria. I thought this was a GREAT assignment b/c it makes the end of semester fun as well as beneficial. On the other hand, it is a lot of work for a seven year old! It will be very cute.

Don’t get me wrong on things. I advocate the teaching of religions in school. Students need to know what others believe. However, I do not support celebrating one holiday over another. For older kids, they can understand and not participate if it is contrary to their upbringing. It is more difficult for younger children.

Some may disagree…that’s fine. You are entitled. I for one would rather send kids home for their parents to babysit rather than keep them in the school room for a party that has no value. At least tie it to something beneficial. Maybe that is why I teach high school and not elementary, you think?

I spent today finishing my Christmas shopping, cleaning house, and then treated myself to a visit to my favorite hair and spa place. I say I finished my Christmas shopping, but I still have to pick up several gift cards and the makings for a relaxation basket (lotions, fizz balls, and such). I’m just happy to have my kitchen and living room clean! I made the mistake of wiping one baseboard…then got carried away and did them all. I accomplished one other task today. Our hotel is booked for DC. I love Priceline.com. I got a GREAT deal on a nice hotel.

Now, it’s time for bed. Tomorrow my goal is laundry. I hate folding clothes.

Wow what a weekend. Friday we released from school early…there were no students. I came home, got my stuff together, and then headed out to Tuscaloosa, AL. (ew long drive) Why Toontown? I did something else stupid. I allowed my AL teaching license to expire. Reciprocity is an unknown concept these days, so to renew I had to take the AL Basic Skills exam. Oh joy. Reading, Applied Math, and Listening/writing portions were tested. Reading wasn’t difficult at all. There were a few technical passaged to decipher, but for the most part it was no problem. Math was a little more difficult since I haven’t had a math course since 1995 and it was all word problems. The part I thought would be easiest was most stressful. Let me know if anyone has had a test like this…

You listened to a message or memo and took notes. The audio would be played twice then you had 2-6 minutes to write the message in a legible and well-written paragraph. With each question the difficulty level increased. It was very fast paced and tension inspiring. Overall, I think I did fine…well, as long as I didn’t make careless errors on the math portion and due to my math frustrations , that is possible.

The stay in Toontown was not horrible. I stayed over Friday night so that I wouldn’t have to get up WAY early Saturday morning. It was also a great benefit to go to relax, review, and go to bed early. I didn’t take my laptop so I wasn’t tempted to stay up. Finding the testing building was not too difficult. UA’s campus is not bad. It is an urban campus and I hate that, but otherwise it was easy to find what I needed. I tested from 8:30 until 11:30 with NO breaks. That was exhausting, but at least we were out early. After that I had to drive home and prepare for a Saturday night performance which was an hour away. That went well, but it has been a really FULL day. Now I wait…scores will be released in February. I feel good about it, but you never know…

Last thing…Happy news! Now that school is out there is a lot to do to prepare for incoming family and Christmas, but I am also going to DC to help my cousin find an apartment. It has been SO long since I have been there so I’m really excited…even if it is semi-business!

I would like to wish Jewish bloggers who stop by… Happy Hanukkah!

MUCH better. No major issues today. I had a few begging to “do something” for their grade. Sorry guys, time’s up and you were warned. Only one exam tomorrow…woohoo!

time for bed

As I read the rants of other teachers I start feeling much better. I am not the only one!!! I really feel for those who still have one more week. I couldn’t do it. We are in exam week now. My 7th and 8th took their exams today. 7th did really well, 8th did their usually “getting by” routine. After morning exams students were dismissed to lunch and teachers had a luncheon. Following an hour of free food we headed back to our rooms for grade recovery. (OH this deserves a post all to itself.) Grade recovery is part of our NCLB (all I need to say isn’t it) tutoring program. Each department created guidelines for grade recovery and the students have been coming after school to attempt a passing score in their low classes. Today we had two hours reserved for frantic students. Only the “frantic” part wasn’t there. Understand that we can not make students attend recovery. My students were not frantic “what can I do to pass your semester class so I don’t have to take it in summer school.” No…they were being bitter little twits that were put out b/c they weren’t leaving with all the other students. Let’s get one thing straight…I TOLD them SIX FREAKIN’ WEEKS AGO that if they did not do the project THAT COUNTS FOR TWO MAJOR GRADES that they WOULD fail my class. THEY WERE WARNED! Students who fail my class usually do so b/c they refuse to do an easy (yet slightly involved) current event portfolio. They are given plenty of time AND opportunity to do this. So the students in my room this afternoon were given a newspaper and told to find fifteen articles, summarize them, and write a response. I actually looked at the grades of each student to determine what they most needed to do. Several had other assignments that they needed to complete. My goal was to get them to complete as much as possible in the time available. Let me explain one more thing…it is not the project that fails them. It is the fact that they have likely missed other assignments and tests, or scored too low to afford to zero major grades. As a result, not doing the project gives them no hope of passing. You know, I had 32 students (out of 125) not turn anything in on project due date. Only 10 of those turned in for late credit. I had 7 students in my room this afternoon with only three completing the project. Why? My class is not that hard. It is not that demanding. There is very little to “understand”. It’s a social studies class! I love it, but don’t expect everyone else to. I also am realistic enough to admit that it really IS NOT DIFFICULT! I don’t want a 30% failure rate…but what am I supposed to do! I did everything but write the summaries and responses myself! I even cut out articles for students who were struggling to find articles from a particular category. (Apparently opinion/editorial and government articles are hard to come by. Pffffft)

OK. I need to take my own advice and go relax. Before getting on the computer I fell asleep while my six year old read her book to me. We were only supposed to read two chapters, but noticing that I was out she finished the entire book and got a good 30 minutes extra to stay up. At least it was for reading…

The day is done, THANKFULLY! It was exemption announcement day and students were wild. I don’t even want to think about it…too many other things to stress over this week. I have a licensure test Saturday and I’m REALLY FREAKED over it. I HATE MATH! I have no natural ability in this area and it is terribly frustrating. Furthermore, I can’t find any info online that will guide/remediate me through the expectations for this test! OK. stop. breathe. It’s time for a bubble bath and a glass of Merlot. At least exams start tomorrow. Less students.

For those who read here often you know I adore Mark Schultz and Chris Rice. Here is another of my favorites. If you have seen/read The Notebook this song will likely seem very appropriate. It is typical Mark Schultz style, a beautiful tug at the heartstrings. Check it out…