Kontan’s Place

What a day!

Had a lot to do but I think it was worth it. Have pics, will post…but I think sleep is going to win out tonight. Thanks for stopping by.

Homework

How much is too much? First off, I do not give a lot of homework. I give an assignment at the beginning of the week and students are to complete it by a specific day. When they do it is their business, and there is class time available almost every day. Second, I teach 9th grade, not elementary so I don’t really know what is appropriate. That said…let me address the elementary level.

I have a first grader and a fourth grader. The older child has less than twenty minutes of homework each night. Actually, she is given her assignments on Monday and has to have them complete by Friday. There is a pace guide to keep her on track. On the other hand after an hour the first grader is still chugging along on her third math sheet, her vocabulary/spelling, or just starting her reading. We spend at least an hour on homework Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I finally asked her teacher about it and that is what is assigned. I was concerned that she wasn’t finishing her work at school or that she was just messing around at home and should be finishing in half the time. Nope. That’s how much there is. Her teacher didn’t say this, but she also didn’t say that it shouldn’t be taking that long. In fact, she complimented Tweety on being a very smart little girl. Yes…thanks…now about the hour plus of homework….

Really, isn’t this too much? I know state tests are coming up next week, but come ON! If they haven’t gotten it by now it ain’t gonna happen! The teacher is trying to make sure they are not nervous in ANY way. Well you know what? If they do not feel the nervousness of the adults around them they will not know that it isn’t just any other test!

I really feel bad for the students who don’t “get it” or whose parents do not encourage them through the homework.

This is an occupational hazard too. After spending 7:30 until after 3 with students the LAST thing I want to do is come home and stay on a kid about work! Part of the parenting job I know but still! Accountants, do you truly enjoy doing your own taxes after you have been doing the taxes of everyone else? OK, bad example they probably do. You numbers people…geeesh!

So many articles say that a child should not have over 20 minutes of work each night.

I DO SEE THE POINT OF HOMEWORK. THERE IS VALUE!

Seriously though, she’s SIX!

I searched the ‘net for homework standards. There are all sorts of articles condemning homework as ineffective. I disagree. It has its place and it has value. However, so does time to develop as a child. So does play time. Where we are, students have PE once a week. They have recess everyday, but that isn’t the same in my book. Playing has value!
From MSN Encarta Columns:

So the next logical question is: Does homework really help kids learn? It depends on who you believe. A study by Dr. Carol Huntsinger, professor of education and psychology at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, says kids who get more homework in preschool and kindergarten get better grades later and go to more prestigious colleges. But a study by Dr. Harris Cooper of the University of Missouri says kids who do more homework in elementary school don’t score one bit better in the standardized tests now administered by many states.

In any case, if kids are now doing 134 minutes of homework a week, that comes out to about 26 minutes a night (33 1/2 if they’re only getting homework four nights a week). To me, that doesn’t seem like such a load. Which raises the real question: How much homework is too much?

Puzzled parents might find it useful to know the teachers’ “ten-minute” rule-of-thumb: The right amount of homework is ten minutes for first graders, 20 minutes for second graders, and so on up. By that measure, sixth graders should be doing about an hour of homework a night–roughly twice what they are doing now, according to the Michigan study.

A comment on another site put things in perspective and said what I’ve been thinking:

“I think any homework for a first grader is crazy. They have our children for eight hours a day, the child needs ten hours of sleep, an hour for dinner, there is also the 1-2 hours of getting ready for school and traveling time to and from. So that leaves three hours for chores and for them to just be kids. I think the only work that should come home is things that were not completed in class. There should be no work specifically assigned for the home. That being said, I do make my children complete their homework, I just grumble about it.”

I’m just glad that Tweety has the ability to do it and usually has a good attitude. Pretty days like we have had lately make it hard though. She’s usually in tears by the start of the second hour.

Thanks for reading my rant. Have a nice day. It’s Wednesday…all downhill from here!

Did You Know?
High school students are suffering an epidemic of back, neck, and shoulder injuries due to all the books they have to lug around in their backpacks. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons made this announcement in 1998.

Carley Update

There are obstacles to deal with but she is doing well.

From the family:

Sorry we didn’t get yesterday’s info posted. But, yesterday Carley was taken off the ventilator. She did great !!!!! Dad got to hold her for at least an hour before he put her down. After being off the vent for a couple of hours her blood gases were still holding strong. (Which means that enough oxygen is being circulated through her body without the vent?) She has still had a fever and a blood test revealed an infection (serratia) which is being treated with an antibiotic. The staff does not seem to be too worried about it so we are not either. She has had a little pain but is handling it very well. They still give her pain meds as needed. They took her off all but 1 medication (milnirone- for her heart) and took her catheter out. Today will be her last dose of this heart medication and hopefully there will be no reason for her to stay in the ICU. Hooray !!!

Another cool web tool

Started using Picasa a while back.  It is a simple photo editing program by Google that now has a web-album feature that makes online storage and linking easy!  (It’s free!)  Here’s a pic of Djembe as he was leaving for the symphony concert:

You can even link whole albums:

Haiti 2002

Update on Life and Cool New Web Tools

Hi, hello, howsya?  Not keeping up with this thing like I used to.  Update on life…We’re one step closer to things being what we want when we move.  I get to have the experience of teaching at the college level!  It is only a part time adjunct position, but I’m really excited about it.  My days are still open for high school teaching so I’m continuing that search.

I went searching for a content filter to integrate with Firefox (THE best web-browser).  I found the FoxFilter add-on that seems to serve the purpose.  It is password protected and you can customize the settings. 

FoxFilter is a personal content filter based on user-defined
preferences such as keywords, filtering sensitivity settings and URL
exceptions and is password protected. Currently, FoxFilter has only
been tested on the Windows platform.

I also decided to download the email companion to Firefox, Thunderbird.  Thunderbird is very similar to Outlook, only more customizable.  I integrated a calendar program, Lightening, with it.  Mozilla has a stand alone calendar, Sunbird, that looked good, but I like having the calendar with my email.

To sync my iPod with my contacts in Thunderbird I found mozPod.  It syncs contacts with no problem, but I haven’t played enough to sync the calendar.  I know there are programs that already to this.  Currently the only calendar program I use is through Google, and I haven’t figured out how to sync that. 

Do I need all this?  No.  It simply amuses me.  I do like Thunderbird though.

powered by performancing firefox

Wednesday Carley update and praise!

As I read Carley’s update and view the pictures tears come to my eyes. She is such a precious little girl and so loved by her brothers. You could see the pain on their face as they held her hand and they couldn’t hold or kiss her. Please continue to pray and remember her brothers as well. This is really hard on them.

From the family:
Tuesday morning we arrived at Le Bonheur to have another CBC run to see if Carley’s white count had come down from 23,000. Our doctor came into our room a few minutes after the CBC was sent off and this is how our conversation went: “So, what did yall do, tell everyone to be praying specifically for her white count to come down?” “Uuummm, ABSOLUTELY! Why?” “Because we were hoping for 20,000 or just under to make a decision about surgery. Her’s is just under 17,000. When I saw that I knew how it happened. See her in surgery!” Isn’t that awesome? Thanks to all of you helping us petition our Great Healer on Carley’s behalf!

Carley is in the ICU now and will be for several days. Surgery began just after 8:30am and the doctors came down to visit with all of us when they were finished just before 3pm. She is stable for now, and we know that the next few days are critical. She is still on the ventilator and will continue to be until they get the pneumonia cleared out of her lungs. Thank you all for everything. When we get to see her again in a few minutes we will let all of you know. Prayers are being answered!

AI In review

C’grats to Sanjaya for his best performance yet. I’m still shocked that he has made it this far. He’ll probably make it through to the top 10. Wow to Blake! Love the song and love the voice. Jordin Sparks was awesome. Hard to believe she’s only 17. Lakeshia was good, but I wasn’t into the diamond song. She should have chosen the more soulful suggestion of Lulu. Gina, sorry, not a fan. Melinda, not flattering with the hair, but the voice rocks. Haley, apparently forgettable because I can’t remember how she did. Cute outfit though. Chris Richardson, I just don’t like his voice and the song was whiny. Stephanie, halfway through the song I took the dog out. It was boring. Chris Sly, didn’t like it. I liked his sense of humor at the beginning of the season, but it is time for him to go.

Now, let me address Phil Stacey. There’s something sexy about the whole bald look…but not on this guy. He just looks freaky! Trim the eyebrows and let a little hair grow, but I really don’t think it’s going to help. I’m not a fan of his voice either. He tries to be a rocker, it just doesn’t work.

Noone…I don’t like him. Apparently Simon didn’t either.

Carley update!

From the family:

God is AWESOME!! Carley made it throught the surgery and doing great!! We will be going to the ICU in about 45 min. to see her. Thank you so much for all the prayers. We will update her web page soon.

Keep praying!

Pics from the Shoals

Still around…

Yes, I’m still here. We spent the last few days at the Marriott Shoals. We had a few things to take care of in the Shoals area so we decided to take advantage of the new Shoals spa. I was very impressed with how affordable the rooms were. Very nice with the necessary amenities for a comfy stay. Great fitness room and the kids enjoyed the indoor pool. I imagine the outdoor pool would be really great during the summer months. The business center is handy, but I would prefer complimentary in-room high speed. It wasn’t expensive, but it is the principle of the thing. The private balcony was a nice addition. Great view from the rooms and the relaxing sound of the waterfalls by the pool added to the spa atmosphere that was almost “beachy”. Definitely a place I would recommend. Interested? Click the pic…