Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!!

Can you believe it is the middle of June? YIKES!!

I just got home from NYC late Sunday Night. What a fabulous trip I had with some girlfriends from college. It felt as if we never sat down! We walked from sun-up to sun-down and at the end of each night, dropped in to bed only to get up in a few hours and do it all again!! Diane S, it reminded me of San Francisco!!

I looked forward to so many things on this trip, one of which was seeing the Newsies on Broadway!! It was AMAZING and I can't wait for it to come to Minneapolis to see it again. As I watched, I was reminded of all the young boys we teach who are interested in things like music and theater and dance but aren't given the opportunity to pursue it because of social norms and pressures. It was pretty incredible to watch a cast of men perform a manly show on Broadway! LOVED IT!!!

We also spent time at St. Paul's Chapel and 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero. We all have our stories about where we were when the events of this day took place, I was a high school freshman sitting in class and watching the events unfold on tv. The events of September 11th changed me deeply, and I have been waiting 10 years to see Ground Zero. It was incredibly moving and hopeful. Each night we would ride the Staton Island Ferry away from NYC and the new Trade Center Building would be lit up, red, white, and blue. I couldn't get enough of that sight and what it stands for. In a country WAY TOO DIVIDED, I was drawn to the hundreds around me taking in the same sight.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a middle schooler at heart and therefor was unbelievably excited to learn that Justin Bieber would be performing on the Today Show on the Friday Morning we were in NYC! My friends and I took the ferry in to the city at 3:30am and road the subway to Rockefeller Plaza. We were thrilled to be in sight distance of the stage until we realized we were actually at the back of the stage.... We stood on tip toes, eagerly trying to get a glimpse of the Biebs leg during rehearsal.  Believe me, we had no shame as we stood around thousands of middle school girls doing the same thing!! :) Eventually, we used our adult brains, and found a way around to the front of the stage, although the view was virtually the same.... nothing! We listened, we screamed, we raised our cameras above our heads and snapped with fierce speed, hoping to catch a glimpse of that signature hair and angelic voice! But alas, we were not successful. The video below is what we might have seen had we not sacrificed our sleep and sanity and instead stayed home to watch it on TV.... oh well, life is about experiences!!

I suppose I should start writing about how to use blogs in my classroom!! Ha, I am easily sidetracked as you can see!!

Well, I have used blogging two different times in my classroom. My first year of teaching I used it during a Social Studies Unit on the Middle East, students responded to questions I posted each week. I felt like it was successful, but it ended up being alot of work for me as many students did not have email addresses computers at home, etc. I think that when all students have email addresses of their own, blogging will be easier to integrate into the classroom. I used blogspot last year as a replacement for my teacher webpage. If you can't tell already, I like to write and speak in narratives and blogspot was the perfect outlet for me to describe to parents and students what was going on in the classroom. I like to think that hoards of people read my blog every day, however, that is just the wishful thinking of a blogger at heart!! Either way, blogspot was an easy way for me to keep my website updated, it fit into my life and personality.

Speaking of wishful thinking, I suppose it is wishful thinking to assume that you have read this far through my blog!! So, I will leave it at that!!

Enjoy your week!

Stacey