The Eleven of ‘11

The following is a list of eleven categories of my personal highs (and lows) of 2011. In no particular order…

1. Best New TV Show(s):

                                   

Once Upon A Time

                    

Downton Abbey (Season one is available to watch on PBS if you haven’t seen it yet, but you should hurry, it’s not available after the 1st. Season 2 starts Jan. 8 here in the US.)

2. Best Book(s):

I’ve read a lot the past few months but these two stick out in my mind,

Divergent, yes, I actually like it better than Hunger Games.

                   

The History of Love

                     

3. Best Food:

                                       

Ethiopian food, had it in Chicago, delicious and totally new to us. Everything comes out to you on a big platter and you eat it by tearing bits of bread and grabbing the food with it.Try it if you can!

                                          

Zach and I learned to make Chicken Tikka Masala for ourselves using this recipe and it’s awesome!

Top 5 Favorite Christmas Songs

Zach is always picking on me, saying that anytime I pose a "What are your top 5 favorite...." question, that I always cheat and go over five. Well maybe I do (though I don't think it's cheating, it just means I love everyone/everything equally and don't want to leave anyone out because I'm a wonderful person). But today I'm going to limit myself to choosing my top 5 favorite Christmas songs. Which means that I have to go with my gut. Here they are in no particular order. 

Honorable Mention:
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
Blue Christmas – Elvis, though really it’s because I like the back up singer’s part
Christmas Don’t Be Late – Alvin and the Chipmunks

Now, Top 5 Christmas CAROLS (See what I did? Because Christmas carols and Christmas songs are different.)

I Figured It Out

Texas (and the country) has a huge deficit when it comes to educational funding. We just don’t have the money. Thousands of teaching jobs were cut last year and the ones who did keep their jobs have to deal with higher student ratios in their classrooms. So we have more kids in each room, fewer teachers and, don’t panic, the STARR test.

I figured out how to solve the problem. Well, part of the problem anyway.

This chart shows the salary of Superintendents in several districts of Texas. Keep in mind these figures are for the smaller districts (See the numbers under “Enrollment”? That really is the number of students enrolled in the entire district. We’re talking 1A.)



I didn’t know surperintendents were paid according to how many students were in their district. Why is that? They don’t actually have to deal with any of them. It’s not like they’re trying to teach in a classroom of 25. Why do they get paid for number of students but not the teachers?

But I digress.

Skinny B-tch

Yay for provocative titles. Now I’m going to put this out there and you can decide for yourself how you feel about it.

There’s something bothering me lately. You can find it on Pinterest. It’s called the “Fitness” section.

Now I realize that Pinterest, like all power, can be used for good or bad. You can pin anything from the internet you want (btw they said no nude pictures please, and yes I do report them) but here’s what I find really disturbing:

                       
   
 

    

That last one is just a flat out lie. Strawberry shortcake is delicious. I bet that girl in the picture doesn’t even know what strawberry shortcake looks like.

The Best Idea I’ve Ever Heard

I’ve recently read a couple of articles. One by a woman named Laurie A. Couture and another by her son Brycen R. R. Couture. (I wonder if he’s for real or just a Tolkien fan?). Here’s another one from Good Morning America. All of the articles are about “unschooling”. No, not homeschooling, unschooling. Why is there a red squiggly line under the word unschooling every time I type it? It’s totally a word.

The basic premise of unschooling is this: no assignments, homework or otherwise, no grades, no desks, no schedule, no routines, no rules, no chores. The students (is it still okay to call them that?) learn whatever they want, whenever they feel like it based on their interests and passions. I wish unschooling had been around when I was a kid, it would have been awesome.

If you read the articles (and I hope you do, don’t just take my word for it) you’ll find that Miz Couture hates everything about public education, especially the teachers. And for good reason. I have to agree with her, standardized tests aren’t helping anyone, desks are confining, and grades are a pain. Her basic reasons for revolting against the system are sound.

I think that unschooling is a great idea. I think life in America would be better for everyone if parents took their kids out of school and unschooled them at home. I’m just not sure how a single mother working two jobs is going to manage to find the time. I’m not sure that the children of parents who like to parent with television and video games would fare as well as the kids of parents who like to read and do crafts. I’m not sure household’s that require two incomes would be able to manage life on just a single income so that one parent, probably mom, can stay home with the little ones.