Merry Christmas to All

All of the people who are subscribed to this blog hold a special place in my heart and in my life. Though I may never say this enough, or not at all, thanks for being you. During this Christmas season, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope that you all get a chance to soak in the things that matter in life; love, family, and faith. May the Christmas Spirit flow through you.

A Week in Sports' History

The week on November 7, 2011 has been a week that will go down as a week to remember in sports' history. The downside of this is that most of what happened is not good.

The Bad

News was made this week when former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested for sexually assaulting young boys while he was employed by Penn State back in the late 90's. This arrest has changed the face of Penn State University. Nine such young men, now in their 20's, have come forward with these allegation.

Penn State's head football coach, Joe Paterno, a legendary icon in the world of college football, informed his superiors of these events back when it happened. However, many people viewed this as not good enough, and Penn State fired Joe Paterno early Wednesday.

Mike McQueary, who has worked as an assistant coach under Paterno, saw one of these events take place. All he did was run home and tell his father. However, Paterno was the first one to be fired? I understand why Paterno was fired, people believe he did not do enough, which when it comes to situations like this, telling his supervisors is definitely not enough. But for McQueary to keep his job though he saw one of these events happen and did nothing about it seems questionable to me. But new reports say that McQueary is no longer coaching at Penn State.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that though I am a Michigan State fan, and I have often rooted against Penn State in football, Joe Paterno is the face of college football. This man has coached football for over 60 years. You heard me right, for over 60 years. Everytime Joe has been showed he has high spirits and a smile on his face. Just from seeing him on tv, he is the type of man that cares about anyone and everyone. His 409 wins is the most by any football coach in the history of the game. God speed Joe Pa



The Bad Turn Good

I did not follow this next story closely, but a player from the Washington Nationals baseball team was kidnapped from his home on Wednesday in Venezuela. Friday night, Venezuelan authorities rescued the player and returned him home. I am sure he is now under tight security.

The Good

Well it is definitely no secret that I am a huge MSU Spartan fan. On 11/11/11, Veterans' Day, Michigan State and North Carolina made history by playing a basketball game on the Carl Vinson Aircraft Carrier. The same aircraft carrier which is said to have buried Osama Bin Ladin at sea.



The special quest who were present at this game included President Obama, Magic Johnson, Pamela Anderson, Brooklyn Decker, Tyler Hansborough, and the most important guest of all, the men and women who currently serve, or have served our great country. These are the people this game was created for, and what a great game it was. On the back of everyone's jersey the initials of USA were printed where the names would normally have been.



Michigan State made it a close game against the number one team in the nation is front of the number one team in the world, but was unable to come out with the win. It is definitely a night to remember for all those involved, because it is not too often when two of the most storied college basketball programs play on an aircraft carrier.

A Question Worth Questioning

Last week a student asks me what the purpose of the school's 3R's are when nobody takes them to heart. In every class there is a small sign posted somewhere which tells the "3R's"

Be Respectful to Yourself

Be Respectful to Others

Take Responsibilities

For that particular class I thought that was a great question to ask, so today I asked the class that same question. None of them responded respectfully, which does not surprise me what so ever.

However, I think this is a great question to reflect in ourselves.

"Be Respectful to Yourself" I believe may be the hardest one for anyone to ask themselves. I know because I tried it myself today. What does it mean to "Be Respectful to Yourself"? As I think about it, I think of the number of times I have second guessed myself and put myself down for it. That is not being respectful to Myself. Confidence and belief in oneself to live their life the way they want is being respectful to one's self.

"Be Respectful to Others" This is the "R" which I think is slowly disappearing in today's society. People are too often easily offended. Why would anyone want to live their life on edge ready to pounce on something they dont like. This country was founded on the belief that we have the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Who am I to take those rights away from anyone. I have my own personal beliefs, but I only hold myself to those beliefs and standards because they are personal.

"Take Responsibility" This is another "R" which I feel has been lost in today's society. Why are people so quick to point fingers? If I do something, I am going to take responsibility for my actions. I believe when you do that, people are more likely to trust you. But in today's society, responsibility is pushed on to people because of convenience. I heard a quote many years ago, I am not sure who said it, but it is one quote I try to live my life by; "A true leaders takes more blame than praise".

These three "R's" are something I would encourage you to think about and see what they mean to you.

Until next time my friends, thanks for "Mind Wandering with Jason".

Fear, Anxiety, Excitement and More

Right now I am a mixed pot of emotions. After having a summer off with nothing to do but think about this fall, I will be student teaching at Western High School starting September 6, 2011. I am scared to death, anxious, and very excited all at the same time. It is going to be hard for me to get any sleep between now and Tuesday.

Well I got the chance to be involved in some "Professional Development" sessions this past Monday and Tuesday. During this time I got to meet many different teachers and administrators at the high school. They all made me feel very welcome, and I walked out of those two days ready to start. I was pumped and ready to go. The guy who is allowing me to take over his class until December is great and very supportive, so I felt on top of the world.

After fours days of of preparing myself to start, I realized that I do not think I am ready to student teach. I am scared to death now. Luckily, I will not take over a class until the 3rd week of school, but I am still scared going in. I am not sure if I am scared due to the fact that I will be teaching hundreds of kids, or if I am scared because at the end of March, I will graduate and enter the real world. But on the other hand, I have wanted to get out on my own for years now, so I should be excited right?

Yes I should, I really should be excited. I am going to accomplish something that no one in my family has accomplished yet and earn a bachelor's degree. I am going to have the ability to get in and inspire young people to go on and do great things. I will be able to see them grow in intellect and ability throughout the time I am able to teach them. I want this so bad because it was a teacher that saw the potential in me and inspired me to make a difference.

But yet here I am, sitting down at 2:00 in the morning, with SportsCenter playing quietly in the background, scared to death. Why?

I apologize, but writing is a form of therapy for me, and right now I need it. I hope once I get into the classroom and meet my students I will be fine. I am sure once I create a lesson of my own and teach that lesson, I will be fine. I am also sure that if I have a beer or 5 I will also be fine. Once again sorry for my ranting.

AFI Top 100: 78

The Big Reveal

Today is the long anticipated and most important day for me personally. Today I get my results from the test I took for teacher certification. I am currently anxiously awaiting to receive the email which will enclose my future as an educator. If I pass both subject areas, I will be eligible to start teaching in the fall. If I do not pass either one of the test, I will have one more opprotunity to take the test before I am scheduled to student teach in the fall.

The day of the test prove to be a little bit better than the day I took the Basic Skills Test for teacher certification. The morning of said Basic Skills Test was for lack of better word rough. The night before that test I went to a Detroit Tigers baseball game, and since I was in the company of some drunk people (none of which were driving) we made a stop a Denny's which delayed my return home until two hours before I wanted to wake up to get ready for the test. When I awoke two hours later, I stumbled to get ready and headed out to my car. As I turned the front yard light on, I was surprised by a cow standing in my front yard. Well after I finally got to the testing site. When I got in my testing room, I noticed the seating arrangements did not cater to my ..... um ...... well have you ever tried to fit a large ball into a small square hole? Well picture that with me tring to fit into the desk. Anywho to sum up this long drawn out story, I took the test through a rough morning and past all the areas of the Basic Skills.

These Subject Area Tests I took happened on a better day. I got better sleep, had a nice breakfast, and no cow in the front yard. The two test themselves (both Math and English) proved to be very difficult. Michigan currently has the highest standards for teacher certification, and the test shows this. Each test took me approxiamately two and a half hours to complete. Here a month later I await my results.

Well I started the blog a few days ago before I got my test results, my test results are here. I passed both of my subject area tests, leaving me to only finish out my degree before I am a certified teacher. I am very thankful for passing the test, and look foward to finishing this degree.

AFI Top 100: Still at 59

Well I am starting the second week of a brand new semester. After my first weekend doing homework in this new semester I asked myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" I spent every moment, minus the needed time to eat, sleep, and other needed breaks, to finish my homework. The sad thing is, after looking ahead to what is coming, this is by far my easiest weekend of work. Bye Bye Sanity. The next nine weeks I expect to be very stressful as I prepare to end my career as a student at Baker College.

This coming Saturday I will be taking my content area certification tests, which is stressing me out. If I am unable to pass these test, there is only one more chance I have at taking the test before I am able to student teach. So between the pressures of homework and my upcoming certification test, stress has gotten the best of me. Someone once told me that writing is a good stress reliever, so I am hoping that writing this blog will relieve some of the stress.

"Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness." ~Richard Carlson

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterward." ~Spanish Proverb

"Sometimes a headache is all in your head. Relax." ~Hartman Jule

"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths." ~Etty Hillesum

Quotes taken from ;"The Quote Garden"

Half Way There

As most of you may already know, Kyle, Ashley, Caytie, and I embarked on a journey to watch every movie on the American Film Institutes' list of the top 100 movies of all time. That list is here.

Well the past two weeks I have been on Spring Break, and I took the extra time I had to catch up with everyone else.

When we started the list I have watched 17 of the 100 movies. Those 17 are:

The Godfather

The Wizard of Oz

Star Wars

It's a Wonderful Life

E.T.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Sound of Music

King Kong

A Streetcar Named Desire

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings

Jaws

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Saving Private Ryan

Forrest Gump

Titanic

The Sixth Sense

Toy Story

As I continued to progress through different movies on the list, I have been introduced to some great films, actors, and actresses. On the other hand, I have also watched movies which have left me scratching my head on why the movie was chosen to be on this prestigious list. I think what would help me understand the reasoning for the rankings, would be knowing the criteria in which the movies were judged. I will be emailing the AFI, and if I get any reply, I will be glad to share that criteria.

After watching some of the movies on the list, I have now watched 59 movies including the movies I have previously seen. It is hard for me to choose which one I like best, however, it is easy to pinpoint the film which I enjoyed the least. Kyle and Ashley felt the same way about this particular movie, the movie being 2001: A Space Odyssey, ranked number 15 on the list. Other than that particular movie, all the others have been at least somewhat enjoyable.

Thanks For Reading

Best Spartan Moments of 2010

2010 was a great year for the Michigan State Spartans, and here are my Top 5 Favorite moments from that year.

#5 Michigan State's men's basketball teams returns to the Final Four for the second consecutive time and for the 6th time in the past eleven years which is best in the NCAA. Though they lost in the Final Four, the trip there was very memorable.

#4 Both the MSU Men's Basketball and Football teams bring home Big Ten Championships. For the basketball team it is their 2nd consecutive Big Ten Title and for the football team it is their first Big Ten Championship in 20 years.

#3 "Mousetrap". Mousetrap was the name of the fake punt which they ran against Northwestern to come back from a 17 point deficit to win the game.

#2 Korie Lucious' three point shot at the buzzer to beat Maryland in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Maryland looked good the entire game and with less then 20 secs left in the game, Maryland took a one point lead. Summers dribbled the ball to the other end of the court, passed the ball to Locious who runs around the defender jumps up lets the ball go and the shot falls in the give Michigan State the dramatic last second win.

#1 "Little Giants". It was mid-September and the Michigan State Spartans were hosting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an epic night time game. At the end of regulation the teams were tied and they headed into overtime. Michigan State won the coin toss and elected to get the ball second since both teams have one chance each to score points. Notre Dame kicked a foe;d goal to take a three point lead and then take defense against the Spartans. After the Spartans failed to get a first down after three attempts they line up to kick the game tieing field goal. The players are lined up for the try. When the ball was snapped, holder Aaron Bates stood up, passed the ball to Charlie Gantt who walks in for the touchdown and the win. No body saw it coming, not even I!

Most Memorable Sports Moment of 2010

I am still in a reflecting on 2010 mood so I thought I would write about one of the moments in sports that stood out most to me. Surprise surprise, this moment is not a Michigan State moment, though I will blog about my top favorite Michigan State moments from 2010.

The moment which stood out most to me happen sometime over the summer at Comerica Park in Detroit, home of the Detroit Tigers. Armando Galarraga was the pitcher that day, and what happened that day will go down in sports history.

In baseball there is a rare achievement known as a perfect game. For those of you not familiar with baseball, a perfect game is an achievement when a pitcher does not allow a player to reach base, so 27 at bats no player reaches first base. This is a rarity in baseball, out of the 100+ years of major league baseball, there have only been twenty some perfect games thrown. Galarraga finds himself in the 9th inning, one out away from a perfect game. The whole world has their eyes on this game to see some baseball history being made. Galarraga pitches the ball, the ball is hit to the first baseman, Galarraga runs to first base and catches the throw to force out the runner, however first base umpire Jim Joyce calls the runner safe. Replay shows that the force out beat the runner by a good couple of feet, which would have given Galarraga the perfect game. You could hear the heartbreak of Galarrage and fans a like with that call. Galarraga would retire the next batter.

The call was featured all over the news and ESPN. Umpire Jim Joyce received threated phone calls, and was under constant harrassment the rest of that day. Joyce was scheduled to officiate the Tiger's game the next day, he did not know what to expect. As Joyce walked out to home plate to collect the line up cards from both team Galarraga met him at home plate with the line up card and shook his hand forgiving him for missing the call the previous day.

This is one aspect at sports that I love to see. It took a real man to do what Galarraga did that day by going out and forgiving a man who knew that he made a mistake. Even though the game will not go down in history as a perfect game, it will go down in history as a moment of great sportsmanship.

The First Mind Wandering of 2011

We are finally finish with the first of 52 weeks of 2011. Many people see the New Year as a time in which they have the opprotunity to change an aspect of themselves. I always make tentatives resolutions every new year that does not make it past the first week; this year I hope will be different. My number one resolution for 2011 is to get in shape. I have always hated the way I look and often find myself feeling out of place in a area which is full of in shape people. Every other time I try to loose weight I do not see the results which discourages me and eventually causes my to go back to the status quo. Well this year status quo is not good enough. Here in a couple weeks I am going to see a doctor about diet and excercise plans that would fit my lifestyle, schedule, and budget. I realize this year more than ever that it is not about how I look anymore, but about my health. This is going to be the year for a healthier and (hopefully) thinner Jason.

Resolution number two for 2011 is finding an aspect about myself, or an activity that would make me a better citizen or a better person. I believe there is always room for improvement, and I hope through some thought, I can find areas where I can improve, for example I am going to try to see the glass more as half full than half empty.

Resoultion number three for 2011 is more of a goal that Kyle, Ashley, and I share. By January first of 2012, we want to watch the movies that we have not seen in the American Film Institutes' (AFI) Top 100 Movies of all time. We have already tackled this feat head on. At the end of my blog post this year I am going to keep you updated on the number of movies that I have seen at that given time.

If any one has resolutions that they would like to keep, let me know. I would be more then happy to give encouragement. It is best to tackle these with help from someone else.

AFI Top 100 Count : 21

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.

"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!