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Reinventing the First Day of School

8/25/2015

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Aren’t we always reinventing ourselves somehow? We are children, young adults, parents, students, and teachers at different stages of our lives. Situations reinvent themselves also. Our holiday gatherings with family look very different now than they did thirty years ago. Even though I have been out of the classroom for two years, I am still very much aware of when the teachers in my district are starting the new school year, so my thoughts were indeed with them yesterday.

I remember anticipating that first day back with joy and excitement, at times maybe some apprehension. It was always wonderful to see everyone and hear about summer travels and happenings. I would spend the summer thinking of new ways to reach my students and new ideas to share with my colleagues - gathering new books, rethinking procedures for meetings, reimagining strategy charts, etc. And those ideas would fill many conversations for that first week and beyond.

Yesterday, my activities here at home for the first day back weren’t all that different from what I experienced in the past, just reinvented to fit into what I now do. Even though I wasn’t physically with my fellow teachers yesterday, I sent good wishes and thoughts through email and text messages. I still thought about the new books I wanted to share with teachers by working on a project I am involved with at my local reading council, and I still thought about sharing the latest in classroom strategies by working on details for our state’s annual reading conference that I am chairing.

I think there will always be a “first day back” for me, but it will continue to reinvent itself with each passing year.

Best of luck to all of you for a wonderfully rewarding year!


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On Broadway

8/4/2015

3 Comments

 
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When I was growing up, my parents would travel to New York about once a year to have their violins refurbished or to purchase music, strings, or bows. Sometimes my sister and I were invited to go along, and we were always treated to a broadway show. I have fond memories of seeing musicals like Fiorello!, No Time for Sergeants, and Half a Sixpence.  I remember one night, as we walked back to our hotel, being able to peer into a theater as the doors were opening at the end of the show and getting a glimpse of the cast of Camelot (with Julie Andrews) taking a bow. What a thrill that was!

Going to New York City for a show was always something I looked forward to, so it is understandable that I felt a little guilty when my daughter recently reminded me that she had never seen a Broadway show. I remember taking her to see shows at the Valley Forge Music Theater (before it became a shopping area) and at People’s Light and Theater Company in our home town. We had been to Philadelphia to see The Nutcracker many years ago, but Broadway had escaped us. I knew right away I had to do something about that! So, bright and early one Saturday morning a few weeks ago, Ann and I drove to Trenton to catch the New Jersey Transit line to Penn Station. We met my son and daughter-in-law for brunch, then just the girls walked to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre for a showing of Beautiful, the Carole King Musical. We had fantastic seats for a fantastic show! The music, especially the tunes from Tapestry, brought back such wonderful memories.

As the three of us chatted on the way back to the station, we decided to make going to a show on Broadway a yearly event. I guess it’s never too late to bring an old tradition to a new generation, or just make new memories.


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