A Yule Tide Top Ten

Tis that time of year when Christmas spirit is flowing through the hearts of people all over the country. In response to this time of year here is another Top Ten list of movies (make sure to check out Kyle's blog for his Top Ten) with the theme of Christmas.

#10 Home Alone 2

Even though this movie is about a boy who tried to wart of burgulars, there is a strong Christmas theme which brings the family back together.

9 Look Who's Talking Now

The third movie in this series focuses on the dogs and their quest to find a spot in the home during Christmas. Mikey starts to doubt the existance of Santa Clause but get a surprise in the end.

#8 Muppet's Christmas Carol

A Muppet's twist on a classic!

#7 How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Dr. Suess' classic which has been turned into a movie starring Jim Carey. Not quite as good as the cartoon, but I cannot consider the cartoon version a movie so the Grinch is back here sitting at number 7

#6 Jingle All the Way

Great movie featuring none other than "The govenator" Arnold Schwartzenegger, and also feature comedian Sinbad. This movie shows what a father is willing to go through to get the hott holiday toy of the year for his son. Great movie!

#5 Santa Clause

What happens when Santa Clause falls off your roof and you are required to become Santa? Not sure, watch this movie and see how Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) handles his new career.

#4 A Christmas Story

This is a movie classic, not just for Christmas movies, but movies in general. This movies makes you remember what it was like to want something special for Christmas.

#3 Earnest Saves Christmas

This is one of my all time favorite CHristmas movies from my childhood which I still watch every year around this time of year. Earnest finds himself helping Santa and two of his elves with trying to keep Christmas magic alive.

#2 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Another installment in the National Lampoon movies. Clark Griswold hosts his family for a Christmas where nothing goes right. Very funny movie

#1 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Such a classic movie! I don't think that I could ever grow bored of watching this movie. Rudolph is another childhood favorite which I watch every year during Christmas season. I often quote this movie often, my favorite line is "There is something I forgot to tell you about bumbles, bumbles bounce."

Obama's Education Reform (A Rant from Yours Truly)

I have been doing a lot of research on this for an upcoming school paper. As a potential future educator I see more harm then good in his plan.

First part of his plan is to create more charter schools. Charter schools are very similar to public schools. These schools are publicly funded and enrollment is free into these schools. The difference is that charters schools have a little more freedom in the way that they set up their schools. The hope is that these schools' success is better than their public school counterparts. However, recent results show that these charter schools perform at or below average on standardized testing. Not to much difference from the public schools.

Second part of his plan is to hold teachers accountable. This is a great idea if it were not for the way that teachers would be assessed. Teachers would be assessed by their student's standardized test scores. So wait a minute, if I do a good job in teaching my students, and they go into the test and decide that a) they do not want to take the test seriously, or b) they have test anxiety which causes their scores to go down, I am help accountable? I cannot think of a successful way of weeding out the bad teachers, but standardized test scores are not the way.

In fact, it is my personal opinion that standardized test should be used solely for the purpose of college entry, not in measuring the success of students. Most of the time the success of students does not show in test scores. Billy could not add or subtract when he comes into a high school class room. By time the test comes around Billy can add, subtract, multiply and divide, but Billy does not know how to solve an equation. The teacher or student is not successful in that case? Learning is a life long process and it takes some people to learn longer then others. As a teaching student, I am often encouraged to look for small successes of my students and build on those. Education is a process and a teacher can only do so much being that he or she is not the first to teach the student nor will they be the last. (Sorry this paragraph was a rant)

Finally the third aspect of Obama's education reform is year round schooling. This part I agree with. The reason our schools are set up the way they are now is because farming was more prominant and young boys and girls were needed to help on the farm, which is not the case now. We are the only industrialized country that does not have schooling year round. I admit, as a young boy I enjoyed my summer breaks, but I often chose not to think about school during that time. A lot of knowledge is lost in this time. Year round schooling does not mean go to school for every week all year long. What most schools do around the world have classes for two to three months and have a short break (usually about two weeks).

Education reform is not as easy as Obama is trying to make it seem. I hope Congress and the President are able to come up with more effective ways of reforming the current US educational system. But what do I know? I am only still learning about education.

Top Ten "Scary" Movies

This list was definitely easier to come up with then my top ten comedies. Many of these movies have sequels and they are just as scary. I went with a lot of older movies. Make sure to check out Kyle's blog for his top ten scary movies.

#10 Poltergeist
They're heeeeeeeerrrreeee.

#9 Satan's Little Helper
This movie has an interesting story line. But this movie can be shown to be very scary.

#8 Saw

The story lines are rivoting!

#7 28 Days Later

My favorite zombie movie. Definitely very scary!

#6 Leprechaun

I would not want to take his lucky charms.

#5 Friday the 13th

ch ch ch ah ah ah A killer that has the coolest name ever (Jason). Definitely a classic!

#4 A Nightmare on Elm Street

A killer that attacks people in their dreams. "Freddy's coming"

#3 It

This Steven King classic is definitely among my top favorite horror films. This movie has created a phobia of clowns among many people. Very good movie!

#2 Child's Play

This movie still creeps me out to this day. My future children are not going to get any dolls at all!

#1 Thir13en Ghosts

Interesting story line with a lot of sudden apperences from ghosts which will make you jump throughout the movie.

Top Ten Comedies

Once again folks, here is another version of Kyle and Jason's Top Tens. This time we are doing Top Ten favorite comedies. This is probably the hardest list to come up with, but with some luck, I think I can pull together my favorite ten. Just a warning, if you were to ask my my favorite comedies on a different day, they could be different.

#10 Earnest Scared Stupid (This is more of a comedy then a horror film)

#9 Happy Gilmore

#8 The Flintstones

#7 Billy Madison

#6 Son-in-Law

#5 Jack

#4 Mrs. Doubtfire

#3 Due Date (New movie that I recently saw in theaters, I laughed really ahrd during this movie)

#2 Super Troopers

#1 Kung Fu Panda

Top 10 Actors .... Jason Style

Well picking my top ten favorite actors was not an easy feat. I am going to list my favorite starting at #10. (Pictures will come later)

#10 Kenan Thompson

Kenan is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live. However, his roots are with a Nickelodean show called "All That." From this show he was featured in a spin off called "Kenan and Kel" and starred in the movie "Goodburger."

#9 Heath Ledger

Heath can be seen in a number if films. These films include and are not limited to "A Night's Tale" "Ten Things I Hate About You" "Brokeback Mountain" and "Batman: A Dark Night" His death was a sad event for many movie lovers.

#8 Woody Harrelson

The name is a familiar name in the world of movies. Some notable titles include "Zombieland" and "Kingpin."

#7 Chris Farley

Chris Farley is one of the many actors who used Saturday Night Live to help boost their acting career. Some notable films Chris Farley has been in are "Tommy Boy" "Black Sheep" "Beverly Hills Ninja" "Almost Heroes" ect. Farley, unfortunately, also met an untimely death about ten years ago.

#6 John Candy

John Candy is one of the all time best funny men. His film credits include "Uncle Buck", "The Great Outdoors", and "Home Alone". Of course this top ten honor is given many years after his death.

#5 Tim Allen

Tim Allen, a Michigan native, acted for years in the television show "Home Improvement." From that point he acted in a number of movies from "Santa Clause" to "Wild Hogs." He is also the voice of Buzz Lightyear from the "Toy Story" movies.

#4 Bill Murry

Bill Murry is an over all funny actor. He has been in movies ranging from "Caddy Shack" to "What About Bob" to "Ghostbusters." He even made a cameo in "Zombieland."

#3 Will Smith

Will Smith started off by playing a character by the same name in "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," a popular television show in the 1980s to the 1990s. He went on to star in a variety of films in a variety of genres. Some of my favorites are "Men in Black", "Independence Day", "The Pursuit of Happiness", and "I am Legend".

#2 Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks can act in almost any genre of movie. When people list some of their favorite movies, there is a good chance that a Tom Hanks movie may be on that list. Some of his movies are "Big", "Joe vs the Volcano", "You've Got Mail", "Castaway", "Forrest Gump", "Saving Private Ryan", "Apollo 13", "The Green Mile", and so on and so forth. In my opinion, he is one of the greatest actors of all time!

#1 Robin Williams

This man can do anything in the world of acting. His T.V. credits include "Mork and Mindy" and he portraits an antagonist in an episode of "Law and Order" which you would have never expect Robin Williams to pull off, but he portrayed the role flawlessly. He is the voice of Genie in the "Aladdin" movies. His movie resume include some of my facvorite movies of all time, "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Hook", "Toys", "Patch Adams", "Jumanji", "Jack", "Night at the Museum" and I could go one for quite a bit. He is my favorite actor and I never dislike anything that I have seen him in.

That is my Top Ten list. Make sure you check out Kyle's list and feel free to make a list of your own.

"THE Week"

This weekend marks the key college football game that I have been looking foward to since ..... April, Michigan State vs Michigan. Both teams are undefeated with Michigan State being ranked #17 in the Associated Press Poll and # 16 in the USA Today's Coaches' Poll and Michigan is ranked #18 in the AP Poll and #17 in the Coaches' Poll. This is going to be a game and a half! I am very confident with my Spartan team and I really believe that the defense can stop Denard Robinson. Michigan's defense is among the worst in the country and the Spartans will put up some big yards and score a lot of points. The only part of Michigan's game that worries me is the passing game. MSU's secondary has not really been tested this year yet. Dane Crist made them look bad when Notre Dame came into town, but hopefully that was a wake up call.

Michigan State's defense has already recorded six interceptions this year, this matches ALL of last year. Two of the interceptions came at the hands of Greg Jones. If you have not seen him play you should (even though I only know of one person who reads my blogs and he saw Greg Jones personally (Hi Kyle)). The run defense has only allowed 3 rushing touchdowns this year. Last week, the MSU defense held John Clay under 100 yards rushing for the first time in 15 games for him.

Michigan State's offense features Kirk Cousins at quarterback, this guy is a very good player. He has completed a little over 60% of his passes and has thrown only 4 interception. The offensive line has been giving him plenty of time to make plays. Le'veon Bell is a GREAT freshman running back who has been gaining yards in tons, he has 7 TDs this season already. Edwin Baker is another running back who is averaging about the same stats with Bell. The receivers have been amazing also, B.J. Cunningham, Charlie Gantt, Mark Dell, ect. One of those receivers is Keshawn Martin who can make plays at any position. Throughout his career he has scored touchdowns by reception, rushing, punt return, kickoff return and one other way that I cannot think of right now.

Know as I finish up saying the reasons why I think Michigan State will win I want to leave with a video of a play that gave Michigan State momentum up to this very day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdCbC36Qyk

The Wonderful Feeling of Fall

This is the time of year I love. The air starts to cool down, leaves start to change color, Halloween decorations start popping up, you hear the crunch of the leave under your feet, and college football is back in session! But with the coming of fall come the return of school. This year is exciting because this is my last year of classes before I start to student teach! I am really excited about getting to start my life here in just a few short years.

This past week was my first week back to Baker College after having a month to rest my brain. I started the quarter off with a Geography class. I enter the room to see that I had numerous friends that I would be able to share this class with for the next ten weeks. After that class, I headed over to my English senior seminar. There were only a couple of people that I did not know in the class but I knew a majority of the class. Come to find out, I am the only guy in the class (no complaints here). On top of that, one of my all time favorite instructors at Baker College is teaching the class! The next day it was onto Language and Culture after a long day of work in the L.S.S. The instructor in the class seems to be a great instructor, but that does not matter when a good portion of the class is a bunch of whiners. These people made a big fuss over everything the instructor was doing. I almost walked out of the class. How can people be so rude? But the good thing about this class is that there is a special someone in this class with me ... To the next day I had the second installment of Geography and onto my Math Senior Seminar, in which my fellow classmates have been stuck with me in a number of classes over the past year and a half, so we know each other well. The instructor in this class is another one of my favorites instructors at Baker.

That is it for now so until next time take it easy and GO GREEN!

What is this?

Wow I think for the first time ever I finish my homework in a short period of time and now have nothing to do before I return back to work and school on Tuesday. Thursday, during the 5 hour break between work and class, I treated myself to dinner and a movie. Dinner was great and I saw "Grown Ups" which has a star studded cast and was fun to watch. I realized something after the movie, and it is best put in the words of Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber" ... "Wow your one pathetic loser." Eh oh well, it was nice just to get out and have a relaxing afternoon.

I went to the Chinese Buffet on West Ave that day for dinner. When I received my fortune cookie, I quickly popped it open to see what my fortune was. "You will be reunited with an old friend." Well believe it or not today, three days later, I was reunited with an old friend from Baker who moved to Vegas months ago. I am not sure if you would count that as an old friend, but he is old and he is a friend so it was great running in to him and catching up.

I know I am more then likely just typing this and submitting it to the information super highway and nobody reading my post. Which is cool with me. Sometimes just being able to type out your thoughts and ideas is a great stress reliever.

Good Day!

AHHH Glorious day!

I am a fan of most sports, and I could sit hours on end watching them, especially Michigan State University Sports. But today brought about some great sporting events across the globe. Earlier today in South Africa, The USA soccer team took on ALgeria in group play. The US had to win this game to make it to the next round (They had tied their first two games against England and Slovania). It appeared that the US was going to end up in a tie, when less then a minute into stoppage time, Landon Donovan kicked a rebounded in for the winning goal!!!! What a story book ending for that game, but the test is just beginning.

I am a closet tennis fanatic. I really started to enjoyed tennis when I watched the epic match between Roger Federer and Rapheal Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon championship. Rafeal Nadal overcame the king of the tennis court to win his first Wimbledon title. Now it is two years later and Wimbledon is once again holding their championship. After The US won their game this morning I switched over to the tennis matched and I quickly learned of the EPIC tennis match that was taking place. When I started to watch the game, John Lisner and Nicholas Mahut were in the fifth set tied at 25 games a piece. When I left watching the games it was four hours later and the game was tied at 59 games a piece, The match started yesterday, picked up today, and is now postponed until tomarrow. THIS IS CRAZY! A 10 hour tennis match and there is no end in sight. WOW

What a great day to be a sports fan!

Thoughts

If you are reading this then welcome to my blog. A few of my very good friends have one of these blogs, so I decided that I would give it a shot also. I do not live a very exciting life so why exactly do I need a blog? The reason is ..... well honestly I am sitting here at 10:00 on a Friday night with nothing to do.

I am really burned out with life right now. No vacation for over two years is starting to take a toll on me. But I received a complement that really gave me the extra shove I needed to keep on keeping on (as Joe Dirt would say). I was told that I am very good at what I do and that I am such a great person. Those are the types of comments that make me wonder if I really am. I constantly wondering if the person I am today is the person I want to be. I wish I had more confidence, I wish that I am not such a push over, I wish more stick-to-it-tiveness. My life is great as it is right now, my family is amazing and I have THE best friends anyone could ask for. But the traits I listed are things that drive me nuts about myself.

I am currently house sitting for my mother as she heads for her week long cruise along the coast of Mexico down to Panama. Mother's Day is the weekend, and it is going to be weird not to have my mom home for the day. But I believe it is very important that all of us treat our mothers , or mother figures in our live, like queens, not only on Mother's Day, but as often as we can. A fact that few people know about Mother's Day is that the holiday can be traced back to my hometown of Albion, MI. There is a sign standing in Reager Park right along Ionia Street that tells the story of the first Mother's Day. So to every mom out there, thank you for everything that you do, you all are indeed very special people.

Today I finished my observation of a special education program. All of the kids that I have encountered during these observation are all very cool kids. They were nothing but nice to me and welcomed me into their classrooms. The rest of the school appeared as if all the students could break out into song and dance at any moment. A very typical Disney type high school with "attractive" kids walking all over the place (this is a rant for another day).

I will end my blog here today. Have a great day!