Teacher Appreciation Blog

Almost in every country in the world they celebrate Christmas. In Asia, Africa, Europe, whole of America, everywhere! So with all those different backgrounds it is not possible that Christmas is celebrated the same everywhere. In Europe it is wintertime during Christmas and in Australia it’s summer! So that has to have an influence on the way people celebrate Christmas. Read about the different ways people in the world celebrate Christmas.

Brazil One tradition is to create a nativity scene or Presépio (the straw bed of Jesus). Nowadays presépios are set up in December and displayed in churches, homes, and stores. Papai Noel or Father Noel is the gift-bringer in Brazil. According to legend, he lives in Greenland. When he arrives in Brazil, he usually wears silk clothing. A huge Christmas dinner includes turkey, ham, coloured rice, and wonderful vegetables and fruit dishes. Devout Catholics often attend Midnight Mass. The mass has this name because the rooster announces the coming day and the day finishes at 1 AM on Christmas morning!
On December 25th, Catholics go to church, but the masses are mostly late afternoon, because people enjoy sleeping late after the dinner called Ceia de Natal or going to the beach. Decorations include fresh flowers picked from the garden. Fireworks go off in the skies over the cites and huge Christmas “trees” of electric lights can be seen against the night skies in major cities such as Brasilia, San Paolo, and Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil there is folk dancing and singing and the festivities go on until January 6th, which the Brazilians refer to as Three Kings Day.

The Czech Republic Celebrations for Christmas begin with the visit of St. Nicholas on December 6th and end with the visit of the Three Kings. In Czech Republic, St. Nicholas is called Svaty Mikalas and is believed to climb to earth down from heaven on a golden rope along with his companions: an angel and a whip-carrying devil. In Czech Republic, a girl can tell her future; it is said that according to tradition, by putting a cherry twig in water on December 4th. If the twig blossoms before Christmas Eve, the girl will marry sometime during the year. The famous King Wenceslas of the Christmas Carol was a real King in this country. His goodness and his beliefs in Christianity infuriated his mother, and his brother murdered him on the Church steps.
Christmas is a quiet and peaceful religious time here. They fast for one day, and have baked carp for Christmas dinner. St Nicholas visits, and brings good children gifts. At midnight, most families go to Holy Mass or Pasterka as it is known. On Christmas Day, the churches are filled with evergreens and Christmas Trees and tempt each other with tales of a mythical golden pig.

Australia Christmas in Australia is often very hot. It is not unusual to have Christmas Day well into the mid 30 degrees Celsius, or near 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A traditional meal includes a turkey dinner, with ham, and pork. A flaming Christmas plum pudding is added for dessert. In the Australian gold rushes, Christmas puddings often contained a gold nugget. Today a small favour is baked inside. Whoever finds this knows s/he will enjoy good luck. Some Australians and particularly tourists often have their Christmas dinner at midday on a beach; Bondi Beach attracts thousands of people on Christmas Day. Other families enjoy their day by having a picnic.
The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition which commenced in 1937. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve, where tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing their favourite Christmas songs. The evening is lit by as many candles shining under a clean cut night sky. Australians surround themselves with Christmas Bush, a native plant which has little red flowered leaves. Christmas shopping is often done in shorts and t-shirts. At many beaches Santa Claus even arrives on a surfboard!

Ethiopia The Ethiopian Christmas known as Ganna is celebrated on January 7th. This celebration takes place in ancient churches carved from solid volcanic rock and also in modern churches that are designed in three concentric circles. Men and boys sit separately from girls and women. People receive candles as they enter the church. After lighting the candles everyone walks around the church three times which may last up to three hours. Food served at Christmas usually includes injera, a sourdough pancake like bread. Doro wat, a spicy chicken stew might be the main meal. Baskets decorated beautifully are used to serve the wat.
Gift giving is a very small part of Christmas celebration. Children usually receive very simple presents such as clothing. In Ethiopia Christmas day is January 7, so on Christmas Eve the city is crowded with pilgrims from all parts of the country. They remain outdoors all night, praying and chanting. In the morning, a colourful procession makes its way to a nearby hilltop where a service is held. Three young men march at the head of the crowd, lashing whips from left to right to keep the people in line. Those who worship are fed with bread and wine that has been blessed by priests. After the service is over the rest of the day is spent dancing, playing sport and feasting.

Teacher Appreciation Week will start May 2nd 2011 in the US but Xmas is a good time to show you favorite teacher how much you love him or her.

You don’t really need to spend too much money on your Xmas gift for your teacher, what you really need is imagination and patient to make some of the following ideas:

 Teacher appreciation printables: Coloring diplomas, thank you notes, custom Christmas Cards, bookmarks, ¦.
 Hand print crafts: as well as a really personalized gift they are really fun to do. You can use your hands to picture a Nativity scene or a happy snowman. Whatever you want.
 Custom items: you can use any plain and useful object and paint it with your teacher’s name. Mugs, umbrellas, teapots, flower vases, pencil cases, etc.
 Classroom appreciation gifts: you can join your classmates and make something special all together. My favorites are:
1. Make a classroom cookbook. Each child produces his or her own page with a favorite recipe, a drawing or photo, and a special message to the teacher. Laminate the pages, punch and put into a pretty binder.
2. Make a classroom memento book. As above, but each child should produce a page of their favorite memory of the teacher or the year, a drawing and a photo of themselves (with the teacher if possible).
3. Make a DVD. If one of the parents has a video camera and basic editing software you can put together a class DVD. Take a snippet of footage of each child (perhaps singing a song, recounting a favorite experience at school, or just saying why they love their teacher). If possible add some class events or shots of the classroom, and package the DVD nicely.

Finally, remember that sometimes much expensive the gift is doesn’t make it better.

Despite the huge number of unemployed youth in the nation’s labor market, few are willing to go into the teaching profession.
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola said last week -How many of you graduates want to teach? Nothing would please me more than to have a degree holder in Mathematics do a training program in teaching methods and teaching our secondary school students Mathematics,. Even business schools directors are encouraging graduates to become teachers, in words of Director of Etisalat CSR Centre -Many of our brilliant youngsters don’t want to go into teaching, he said. -In the 60s and 70s, the best brains in each faculty ended up staying on as teachers. But that is not the same today.
Youngster are completely appalled by the idea of becoming a teacher because they believe the profession is not well respected and population do not show their appreciation despite the intellectual abilities of teachers. Young people are attracted to professions that give them lots of money which doesn’t include teaching.

Although Teacher’s day is not a settled commemoration day in Nigeria. Teachers all over the country are enjoying their comfortable profession as Sola Lewis, an English teacher at Topmost Private Schools. -I never wanted to be a teacher initially, he said. -I tried to get into the university several times to no avail. I found myself in a college of education studying English Education and even then, I continued trying to get into the university. But when I finished, I got a job in a private school and the pay was alright. Then I got promoted before coming to Topmost School and I am very comfortable where I am.