I stole this video from B. Sorry, B- I'm always stealing stuff from your blog.
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Some of the things I've been looking forward to have come and passed in the last few weeks, chiefly the election, and also the second of two sessions I copresented with Dr. Keeler at national academic conferences. So let's recap:

1. I got to dress up as Betsy Ross for Halloween with my third graders. They have been learning about Colonial America, and some of them have been creating a virtual museum about colonial clothing. They learned enough about colonial clothing to ask me questions about my colonial underwear. Oh my. I'm glad to see that my students are actively applying their knowledge to real-world situations. =)

2. Obama won. I was looking forward to staying up all night watching the election results roll in, eagerly anticipating the inevitable sleepy Dan Rather-ish commentary of the "if a frog had sidepockets" variety.

3. Conference #1, the National Educational Computing Conference in San Antionio. We presented on Project-Based Learning from Kindergarten to College. Read more here! Seriously, it's interesting, official, and this link makes me sound smart.

4. Conference #2, Dr. Keeler and I presented Technology-Based PBL (project-based learning) for the Young Learner. This was presented at the National Council for Social Studies annual conference in Houston. Click here for our PowerPoint presentation, audio from our presentation, and pertinent links. I really liked this presentation because it showed off my students' hard work.

While I enjoyed everyone's fabulous Halloween photos with their adorable children, I feel sad that I don't have anything likewise to share. I didn't have the heart to dress Cocoa up this year (see Wendy?), but I did get dressed up with my fellow third grade teachers at school. We are currently teaching our students about symbols of the United States, the election, and colonial America. So we had Uncle Sam, George W. Bush, Hillary, and Betsy Ross. Who knew that my Nauvoo dress would come in handy as such a versatile costume? (Thanks, Sister Hatfield!!!)

Keeping with the patriotic theme, I hope that everyone makes it out to vote today!!! I am so grateful to live in a country where we can have a voice and make a choice. It brought tears to my eyes to see my third grade grade students, who come from a very low socioeconomic area, actively research the candidates and make an informed choice about who they support. These young kids are so excited about democracy, about voting, and about making a difference in their community. 

If you want to have a heartwarming experience, click here to view my school's patriotic morning ceremonies. I'm a little partial to the third grade video from September 26th and the fifth grade video from September 12th. =)