~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥~

May 8, 2012

★~Today’s Quote:  Always be a little kinder than necessary. James M. Barrie

★~ Teacher Appreciation Day: 

‘Thank you’ to the teachers that make a difference in the lives of children, and for the hard work they do each day. Today we acknowledge and appreciate the challenges and skill involved in teaching, and applaud the efforts of teacher everywhere. El Morno Aussie Antoinette fondly remembered a principle she had in grade school named Mother Annuciata, but nicknamed Mother Annuncifarter. Naturally another Facebook friend had to comment, ” Hahahahaha, instead of The Flying Nun, your school had The Farting Nun.”  Did El Morno just sink to a new low?

★~ Have a Coke Day:

Have a Coke Day in honor of Dr. John S. Pemberton  who first sold his secret elixir to Jacobs Pharmacy in Altlanta, Ga today in1886. It was originally used for medicinal purposes.

I  drink and celebrate Coke every single day!

Coca-Cola is delicious and refreshing, cold and crisp, as pure as sunlight. When you are thirsty, what you want is a Coke, the best friend thirst ever had. Coke is just around the corner from everywhere, along the highway anywhere. It makes us smile, shows us the real side of life, and adds to our lives. I would like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, I would like to buy the whole world a Coke, because Coke is IT-the real thing. Whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, you think of ice cold Coca-Cola. When Coca-Cola is a part of your life, you can’t beat the feeling!

Cheers Dr. Pemberton!

★~ Empañada Day:

What the Heck is it?

Well…

Wikipedia says:

An empañada (not to be confused with the Portuguese empada) is a stuffed bread or pastry. The name comes from the Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread.   is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing.

In Spain, empañada are usually large and circular in size and are cut into smaller portions for consumption, whereas in South America empañadas are normally small and semi-circular.

El Morno friend Judy makes the best empañadas in the whole world. I made jam filled empañadas when I was about 16 and I think they were pretty tasty…I would not know how tasty because our Great Dane ate them all. ALL. Every last one. Santana hated me. No mom, I am still not over it! Empañadas are a lot of work to make and after my tragic, and traumatic empañada incident, I never made them again.   I would head to a Mexican restaurant or give Judy a call and see if she will invite you over for dinner even if she is not making empañadas to quote my son, “Everything you eat is good at Judy’s house.  Everything.”

★~ Today in History: 

♥~ 1952 – MAD Magazine debuted. It is, in the publisher’s own words, “America’s longest-running humor magazine, besides TIME.”

♥~ 1970 – On the cover of LIFE magazine: U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew. The feature story about him, “Stern voice of the silent majority – SPIRO AGNEW KNOWS BEST.”

♥~ 1978 – The feat of climbing Mount Everest without oxygen was achieved by Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner and Austrian Peter Habeleron this very day.

♥~ 1996 – Aerosmith’s Get a Grip was the #1 U.S. album. The tracks: Intro, Eat the Rich, Get a Grip, Fever, Livin’ on the Edge, Flesh, Walk on Down, Shut Up and Dance, Cryin’, Gotta Love It, Crazy, Line Up, Can’t Stop Messin’, Amazing and Boogie Man.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1926 – Don Rickles comedian, actor: Kelly’s Heroes, CPO Sharkey, Beach Blanket Bingo, The Rat Race, The Don Rickles Show, Daddy Dearest, Toy Story [film series

♥~ 1940 – Toni Tennille singer: group: Captain & Tenille: Love Will Keep Us Together, The Way I Want to Touch You, Lonely Night [Angel Face], Muskrat Love

♥~ 1940 – Peter Benchley author: Jaws, The Deep, The Island;

♥~ 1964 – Melissa Gilbert actress: Little House on the Prairie, The Miracle Worker, Her Own Rules, Murder at 75 Birch

★~ Did You Know: 

I find Finland Educational system fascinating and it works for both teacher and student.

♥~ The school system is 100% state funded.

♥~ In Finland teachers only spend 4 hours a day in the classroom, and take 2 hours a week for “professional development”.

♥~ Finland has the same amount of teachers as New York City, but far fewer students.

♥~ All teachers in Finland must have a masters degree, which is fully subsidized.

♥~ Teachers are selected from the top 10% of graduates.

♥~ The average starting salary for a Finnish teacher was $29,000 in 2008. However, high school teachers with 15 years of experience make 102 percent of what other college graduates make.

♥~ There is no merit pay for teachers

♥~ Finnish children don’t start school until they are 7.

♥~ They rarely take exams or do homework until they are well into their teens.

♥~ There is only one mandatory standardized test in Finland, taken when children are 16.

♥~ All children, clever or not, are taught in the same classrooms.

♥~ The national curriculum is only broad guidelines.

♥~ Finland spends around 30 percent less per student than the United States.

♥~ 66 percent of students go to college.

♥~ 93 percent of Finns graduate from high school.

♥~ Elementary school students get 75 minutes of recess a day in Finnish versus an average of 27 minutes in the US.

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Hope all the teachers out there fell fully appreciated today! Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday! If you have a morno moment leave a comment! Odd Loves Company!