DC highlights

Our trip was months ago, but here are a few highlights:

Yes, that student is impersonating my pregnant self.

Bad Attitudes R' Us--Now open at Monticello

Future UVA Students

Where is Napoleon?

Lincoln Memorial all to ourselves

Korean War Memorial

DC Cupcakes anyone?

Apparently, this young man did not have enough spending money so he resorted to playing his harmonica and begging. No big deal.

National Archives

New MLK Memorial

back!

Obviously, I have not been posting with the same regularity or frequency intended; however, life is going on in the classroom and there are some stories to tell.

For example, this was the answer to a test questions that was recently turned in:
Q: What advice did Cosimo de Medici's father give him on his death bed?
A: "the advice given to Cosimo by his father was to stay away from paparazzi and reporters."

Really!? Because I thought we were studying the Renaissance!

I shared my distress with a colleague and she wisely replied: "Cosimo's father was probably appalled at seeing a previous incident on TMZ and didn't want that happening to Cosimo again, thus inspiring the profound bit of insight on staying away form paparazzi and reporters."

True.

A few days ago a seventh grade student "called" a certain red pencil as they were being passed around for grading. I quickly jumped on that: "Excuse me. You will not be calling anything."
The student's witty response was: "What if I have to call my mom?"

We recently started our poetry unit. As much as I enjoy teaching poetry, with 7th and 8th graders it can often be similar to pulling teeth. In an attempt to teach the students how to break the poem down and analyze it, we read the poem several times looking for different things. After the first reading, I always ask for the basic/literal/surface meaning of the poem

Me: Ok, what is happening in this poem? What is this poem about?
Students respond like clockwork with a barrage of answers: "Death!" "God!" "Jesus!" "Life!"--none of these answers have anything to do with the poem.
This is where I stop and remind the students that we are not in Sunday School, and trite, one-words responses will not work.

Yikes!

focusing on the funny

I have a boatload of very un-fun work to tackle before the end of the week and out departure for Washington DC! Feeling very not motivated and filled with fatigue, I have decided to focus my attentions on the funny.

First, mispronunciations have been rampant in my classroom this year. I often repeat new words or foreign names multiple times and have the kids repeat after me to ensure they to don;t sound ignorant later, but there always a few that slip through.

1. Clergy is sometimes pronounced cler-GIE as in rhymes with Fergie.

2. Magellan is pronounced MAG-a-lin almost like Mary Magdalene. That is rough for the first person to circumnavigate the globe.

2. Today, Richelieu, Louis XIII's infamous, Machiavellian Cardinal, was pronounced rick-a-loo as in rhymes with "get a clue". Ouch!

When talking about the students packing list and dress code for the DC trip today, I had a male student ask if he could "bedazzle" his uniform. I told him that he was allowed to but that no one else in the class was. It was a wonderfully hilarious moment.

I think that is all the funny that I can come up with for the moment. Alas, I guess I will have to get to work.

things that ought not be said so many times

Below is a list of things that I find being said by me or a student way too many times. It should not be legal.

1. Me: "Stop grunting!"
I do not know what the deal is with middle schools boys and grunting/animal noises, but it is out of control. I do not like it. It is very unnerving.

2. Student: "I would _________ if Baby Freeman weren't here right now."
Usually the blank is filled with an action verb like "hit you" or "throw this." My response is usually something along the lines of "Baby Freeman thanks you, but let's just not do that in general."

3. Me: "I am sick of your pencil games!"
For some reason this year has brought with it much drama with writing utensils of all kinds--pens, pencils, mechanical pencil parts, lead, etc. There is swapping pencils, stealing pencils, more than I can keep up with honestly.

4. Student: "Mrs. Freeman, your stomach is so big. I think it just grew."
I don't quite know how to respond to these comments yet. For so long, comments about having a large stomach were strictly forbidden and offensive to the extreme, but now they are a fact of life. My, how one's perspective can change!

5. Me: "Start channeling the 9th grade, please!"
This is my response to any childish or foolish action that belongs in first or second grade yet has snuck into an eighth grader's repertoire. I have told my students that I am genuinely concerned for their well-being in high school if they cannot step up their game a little.

6. Me: "Sticking out your tongue? Are you serious right now?"
Ok, so I have only said this once, and it was today. But the fact that I had to say it even once to an eighth grader is too much, and therefore, makes the cut.

While funny from a distance, I would challenge anyone to find the humor in the moment.

funny quotes so far

We have only been back in class fro a few weeks so I only have a couple of share worthy quotes so far. But based on my limited experience with my current classes, I have a feeling that there will be many more to come.

Male Student A (using both hands to wipe down the lunch table after his friends): "I feel like a single mom."

Female student B to Female Student C after lunch in a state of panic-stricken alarm: "We forgot to brush our teeth!"
Female Student C feigning distress: "Oh man."
(I think I found this one humorous because it is so congruous with the vanity of middle schoolers. And you have to laugh at that sort of thing or else they will grow up believing that type of vanity is normal or even acceptable, and we simply cannot have that.)

happy first day of school!

I cannot believe it is that time of year again. I am convinced that summer 2011 was sucked away in some kind of time warp. But alas, the first day of school has arrived and with it the school supplies, hand sanitizer, boxes of kleenex, fresh binders, and dividers. Even with all of the rules, expectations, and me doing all the talking, the kids still said the day went by quickly so I am counting the day as a success.

the countdown is over!

Yes, and summer is here! This year, my colleagues found some really creative and fun ways to countdown to the end of school. One fellow teacher gave me post-it notes numbered from 50 all the way down to 1 to countdown the last days of school. Today's post-it read, "WooHoo!"
Another fellow teacher helped me count down the last days of school with a line from one of our favorite shows each day--Sister Wives! Today's line was absolutely classic: Kody (the husband of 4 wives, for those of you who do not watch the show) on his daughters playing with Barbies, "The girls fight over the mommy dolls because they have four moms. [To Girls] Now girls, take turns playing with the daddy doll."

These creative countdowns made the end of the year come much more swiftly. And now, we can rejoice that summer is here!!!

the park revisited

Rumors of a time when the art teacher told the eighth graders she was taking them to the park to pick up trash then took them out to lunch at Dickie's BBQ Pit instead spread down from last year's eighth grade to the current eighth grade class. In the spirit of equity and justice, 8th grade students pleaded all year for a time when they too could go to "the park." But it couldn't be that easy. There needed to be a little bit of trickery involved.

This year, the art teacher and I coordinated. I came in with my mean face and insinuated that I needed to talk with the 8th graders. Then the art teacher stormed into the classroom on a rampage about how every year it was the same problems with eighth grade students thinking they were above the rules because they were the oldest. She even broke out the faltering voice/fake cry. Then we marched the whole class down to the principal's office. After a telling them that we were sick of their shenanigans and the fact that they probably couldn't even spell shenanigans, we told them we were taking them to the famed "Park." It was truly a remarkable ruse. All the performances were Oscar-worthy, except my own--I almost started laughing much to my chagrin because the kids were totally buying it.

It was a wonderfully carnivorous afternoon at "The Park."

bosom friends

"For in companions

That do converse and waste the time together,
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke Of love,
There must be needs a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners and of spirit;
Which makes me think that this Antonio,
Being the bosom lover of my lord,
Must needs be like my lord."

- Portia of Antonio and Bassanio in Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 4

As usual, reading Shakespeare with 7th and 8th graders has provided some beautiful classroom moments. As we read this text yesterday in class, I thought of Anne of Green Gables. Bringing this to the girls' attention, I said, "Look girls, Antonio and Bassanio are bosom friends!" The girls immediately started cooing and though immediately of Anne and Diana. The one boy asked, "They are chest friends?" The guys were totally left out of this comparison having not read Anne of Green Gables so I asked one of the girls to explain it in the most masculine way possible. One young man with two younger brothers got it right away: "It's like when you best friend is like your brother but you hate your real brothers." Exactly.

Who says only girls can have bosom friends? Or should I say chest friends?

Texas history = mirth

"On the Texas History trip, there was a lot of mirth."
- Seventh grader's vocabulary sentence after Texas History Trip

The sentences my students write for their vocabulary homework never lie. (Seriously, they are surprisingly candid in those assignments.) Our annual Texas History Trip was 2 weeks ago and was full of mirth and merriment, as usual. Here are a few of funny pics I am submitting as evidence of mirth and the good times had by all.

iPhone on the Battleship Texas--just like in World War I

State Congressman's office
Like my hair?

malcolm is in the building

After studying the Civil Rights movement this year (always a hi-lite), I was reminded of one of my most hilarious classroom moments:

Last year when we got to this lesson in our history text, we were talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and their differing ideas on integration and how racial equality should be achieved. Our book featured this very well-known picture of the leader of the Black Panthers:
Sure enough, I look up from the text and this is what mine eyes see:
Borrowing one of his female classmates' glasses, this student was able to recreate Malcolm X's look very convincingly. I laughed out loud. Who says middle schoolers are too old for costumes in history class? And to my great surprise and merriment, Malcolm even came back to visit at a later date.

my personal inferno

I am sure that if an Dante had been an English teacher he would have made the final circle of hell a place where you had to teach middle schoolers how to research in the library. I am using hyperbole, of course, but am partially serious. Trying to teach seventh graders how to look something up in the encyclopedia, find a book on a given topic, and write an MLA citation/works cited page never fails at being the most trying day of the year. I remember being astonished my first year of teaching when a student came to me and told me that Emily Dickinson was not in the encyclopedia. At first, I had a moment of panic until I realized that he had the E encyclopedia. Never in a million years would I have thought to explain that when looking up a person in the encyclopedia, one always looks him/her up by his/her last name. Now of course, I explain that to students before entering the library, but it never fails that I get at least three questions about why Abraham Lincoln (under A), Stonewall Jackson (under S), and Winfield Scott (under W) are not in the encyclopedia. Attempting a works cited page comes with a whole other host of issues and obvious questions.

There are simply some things that cannot be explained. I can say it, I can model it, but I cannot explain it. It is simply common sense and following instructions. In an era where every form of communication and searching is lightning fast and totally passive, research in a library becomes a foreign concept. (And I did feel like I was speaking a different language today.) Add hormones to the mix and it is just too much. I am sure Dante would agree.

nothing is inappropiate with God

"How handsome you are, my lover? Oh how charming! And our bed is verdant."
Song of Solomon 1:16

One of the things I love about our school is that we read the Bible every day. In fact, the whole school reads systematically through the whole Bible one or two chapters at a time. Having been there for a while now, I can truly attest to what an amazing treasure our Bible time is each morning.

Today I got into an interesting discussion with my eighth graders in Bible about some of the passages that are left off of our Bible reading schedule. (We strategically skip Song of Solomon, long and detailed passages on circumcision, and a few other like passages.) Today they brought up why we don't read certain passages, and I got the question, "Is the passage inappropriate?" A good and very thoughtful question leading to a great discussion. "No, it is God's word so it cannot be inappropriate." I explained that no passage of Scripture is or should be off limits to you as a child of the Heavenly Father, but there are some passages that are more delicate than others: passages that should be dealt with by your parents and passages that might be awkward for mixed company. But no part of God's word is inappropriate or off limits. I always encourage my kids to read the skipped passages at home and talk to their parents about what they mean. I personally find it very comforting that God deals with uncomfortable issues. The graphic passages, especially in the Old Testament, remind me that God is capable of dealing with a whole lot of mess, and all of sudden, my mess doesn't look quite as bad. And as the transcendent and eminent Creator of the universe, I love the reminder that nothing is off limits, out of bounds, or inappropriate for God.

Later today I gave the seventh graders an assignment to include an encouraging Scripture verse on a get well card for our custodian, Mr. Jackson. Then came the inevitable question: "Can we pick from anywhere in the Bible?" Hearkening back to my conversation this morning, I responded with a hearty "Of course." Sure enough, one naive student began exploring Song of Solomon.

"Mrs. Freeman, what does verdant mean?"
"Verdant means green or fertile. Why?"
"Because this Bible verse says, 'Our bed is verdant.' What does that mean?"
After my long pause and hesitation to answer, the student asked, "Oh, is it inappropriate?"
"No, it is God's Word so it is not inappropriate, but it is delicate and awkward in mixed company."
"Oh," was her quick reply. "I will just look it up in the dictionary."

At that point, what could I do but laugh?

the S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G bee

the proud participants

Today was our annual school spelling bee. This is always a rather exciting day for me, and the more years we have participated, the cooler it gets.

This year, my class spelling bees were quite entertaining. In seventh grade, we have one clear winner but kept going back and forth for the runner-up position. It came down to two girls: one you would expect and another you totally would not because she acts as though she is too cool for things like spelling bees (but I know better. . . no one is too cool for spelling bees). The girl you would expect to win kept getting her word correct then missing the championship word or spelling without thinking and getting easy words wrong. As a result, the girl you would not expect spelled her words incorrectly THREE times so that the expected one could win. She had to think harder about misspelling "slaughter" and others than spelling them correctly. What a shame.

In eighth grade, four out of six students desperately wanted to win the title of Class 8's best speller and compete for the school title. The competition was fierce. One student among the four was first to get out on "prattle." At first she hoped that everyone else in the round would get out so that she would have another chance, but when her hopes were thwarted and her classmates spelled their words correctly, she rejoiced with those who rejoiced and mourned with those who misspelled. It was really sweet to see this biblical truth so clearly in action in our class spelling bee. It finally got down to two spellers, and things got really intense. One would get it, the other would miss, then the one would miss their championship word and vis-versa. We get going and going until one student remarked, "Man, this is better than a Cowboys game!" As a teacher, when your students compare professional sporting events to any activity in a classroom, it is a major victory. Anyway, we went through 19 rounds and I called--no true winner; we needed 2 representatives anyway.

This morning was the fateful morning of the spelling bee. It was really great to see 10 bright eyed students with an allegiance to language that clearly glorifies the Creator of the written word. This week I felt a special burden for my kids to understand the importance of language and feel a loyalty to it. First, we talked in class about last week's story on 60 Minutes about Jared Loughner, the shooter in the recent Tucson tragedy. While certainly insane, his friends explained that Loughner was a Nihilist and did not believe that language had no meaning. I was reminded that those ideas that life and language are meaningless have very real consequences. Then in preparation for the bee, I thought about how Christians should have a special affinity (a word one student lost on today) for language because of the nature of Heavenly Father. First, God created the world with words: "Let there be light." His power is showcased and channeled through his language. Also, Jesus Christ is called the "Word": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." Jesus Christ is God's power in action at Creation and is called God's Word. Then, God communicates to us through written language in the Scripture (which is powerful and sharper that a two-edged sword). Of all of the ways he could communicate, he chose the written word. We have a special obligation to know and understand language just so that we can know and understand our God. Lastly, God cares about our language. Ephesians 4 says, "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth" but instead to build one another up with encouraging and truthful words.

the winner (right) and alternate (left)

The bee went really well this morning. It went for quite a while; the winning word was "boutique." There was one student who I know wanted to win so badly; he was so careful and thoughtful with every letter he said. Unfortunately, he got out on protagonist; he spelled it "protaganist." But I know he will never forget how to spell it; he was writing it in big letter across his papers today. Believe it or not, the spelling bee has inspired many more thoughts, but for now, I am simply overwhelmed with the power of language in our daily lives and am glad to have the privilege of being an English teacher because I have the pleasure of exploring that linguistic power and nuance with pre-adolescents every day.

self-government

"The government which governs best governs least" -- Thomas Paine

Self-government is a theme in my classroom every year. It recurs throughout American history in the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, the debate over states' rights and the Civil War, and even in the Texas War for Independence. Self government is the classic debate between Jefferson and Hamilton: can the people be trusted to run their own lives or does the government need to step in? But self-government is also the resounding theme of classroom management: can you control yourselves or do I need to step in with rules and control your behavior for you? In other words, self-government is my mantra and my soapbox.

On the first day of school when I am going over the rules, I talk to my class about why little children have to raise their hands in class--because they do not have the self control to refrain from interrupting the speaker and one another. Hopefully in seventh and eighth grade, we can have a discussion without interrupting or rude behavior, and in that case, hand raising is not necessary. However, if the students cannot govern themselves and chatting, interruptions, and immaturity abound, I will be forced to govern them and only call on students with raised hands. Same goes for behavior outside the classroom: the little ones have to walk in a line because they lack the self control necessary to walk in an orderly fashion. Seventh and eighth graders, on the other hand, have hopefully reached the level of maturity where they can walk from class to class like adults without supervision because they can be counted on to supervise themselves. If I am ever called out of the room for a minute, I will simply tell my class to continue what they are doing and "Self-govern." Sometimes this works out better than others.


The other day, I stepped out to speak with another class about a discipline issue and was gone longer than expected. As a result, I was a full 7 or 8 minutes late to class. When I finally got to class, my heart leaped for joy at the sight of eighth graders governing themselves. Sure enough, they were sitting in a circle in the center of the room (as we often do for literature), and they were taking turns reading aloud from The Count of Monte Cristo and telling back what they read. One student had even taken his place on my teacher's stool (while that seat is normally off limits, under the circumstances I allowed it).

My goal is to train my students well enough that I can sit back in what Charlotte Mason calls "masterly inactivity": allowing the children to get their hands dirty in the text placed before them, walking alongside and guiding them. Outside of the classroom, they should understand what is expected of them and do what is right no matter who is or is not watching. Because that is self-government and it is the right thing to do.


I think TJ would have be proud of those young minds self-governing.

a middle schooler's favorite book

Every year if you were to ask one of my students what their favorite book was, it would be a toss up between The Count of Monte Cristo and The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. And may I just say, that they have excellent taste, because these happen to be two of may favorite books too. But right now, we are entrenched in The Count of Monte Cristo and loving it. In fact, if all we did all day was read CMC (our affectionate nickname for the book) my kids would be totally content. For a group of kids who generally do not espouse a love of classic literature, this says a lot. I will never forget one student I had a few years ago who struggled with language arts getting so into the book that he came in one Monday morning and said, "Mrs. Freeman, I accidentally read ahead in The Count of Monte Cristo" (this being expressly forbidden since it becomes too hard for them not to give away the plot twists for their classmates).

"Oh really. How far ahead did you get?"

"A Hundred pages."

Accidentally reading ahead a hundred pages from a kid that does not normally enjoy reading is a pretty ringing endorsement if you ask me.

The book is about Edmond Dantés who is wrongfully accused of being a Bonapartist and is thrown in prison for 14 years. After his escape, Dantés takes on the role of Providence to punish those who took away his happiness and rewarding those who were good to him. It is a classic suspense and revenge story with tons of great twists and turns. In our reading just this week, the plot started to get really think so I made a character web to hopefully help everyone keep all the characters and their relationships straight.

It looks like a twisted mess and I love it! I can't wait to add more to it as we read. The blue ribbons represent the main characters' connections with Edmond Dantés and his aliases, and the white ribbons represent romantic attachments.

One of the best things about reading this book is showing them the movie afterward because they feel so jipped. Until I read the book, I like the movie, but so much is left out it is not even funny. The movie covers about 125 pages of the abridged version (535 pages) of the story that we read. Entire plot lines and characters are left out including my favorite: Monsieur Noirtier, the former Bonapartist who is paralyzed and can only communicate through blinking his eyes and yet his cunning and passion make him one of the most vivid, dynamic, and active characters in the book.

This year, one of my students came up with one of the most thoughtful insights about this book which has totally enhanced my reading of the text. In Bible a few weeks ago, we studied the story of Joseph, a man who seemed to have everything going for until a few people plotted his demise. From then on, Joseph is thrust into some extremely difficult circumstances over a period of many many years. One very astute kid observed that this was much like Dantés whose life was ruined thanks to a few scheming friends. Both face devastating circumstances and eventually become one of the most powerful men in the land. Like Dantés, Joseph is reunited with his brothers and even tricks them to get his younger brother and father to come to Egypt. But unlike Dantés, Joseph trusts God's sovereign hand over each situation and had an eternal vision for his life: "But Joseph said to them, 'Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them" (Genesis 50:19-21). Dantés on the other hand, takes matters into his own hands enacting magnanimous generosity or cruel vengeance individually concocted for each of his friends. Slowly, we watch Dantés turn into a monster until he is introduced to forgiveness, mercy, and love. This striking contrast between these two Biblical and literary characters is so inspiring--and the fact that it came from a middle school kid makes it that much better!

Take a seventh or eighth grader's advice and read CMC; you won't regret it.

recently funny quotes

From one of the nightly pillow fights in DC:
Student: "You hit me in the Gettysburg!"
I don't know where your Gettysburg is but apparently it hurts.

We were talking about Thomas Jefferson's quote: "That government which governs best, governs least," and I was explaining that Ralph Waldo Emerson tweaks that quote in Civil Disobedience when he says, "That government which governs best governs not at all."
And one of my students asked: "Wait, he tweeted it."
The thought of Emerson on twitter cracked me up.

One of the vocabulary sentences that was recently turned in to me for the word instill:
"How can I instill in my little sister the beauty of math?"
Now that is a devoted student.

Locker Art

A sculpture of twisty-ties recently found decorating an eighth grader's locker.

On the bus last week, one explorer told me, "My teacher has a Beyoncé."
"Really?" I replied. Trying to figure out what she meant, I asked, "Do you mean she as earrings like Beyoncé or a picture of Beyoncé."
"No," she retorted exasperated with my ignorance.
"What do you mean your teacher has a Beyoncé?"
"You know. . . someone who is going to be her husband!"
"Oh!" I said, quite relieved. "You mean she has a fiancée!"
Great rhyme. I never would have thought of that one.

moments with TJ

Since our return from DC (which was wonderful and I will write more about later), I have instituted a new routine in the classroom: Thomas Jefferson moments. I call them Moments with TJ, but that is only because Thomas Jefferson and I go way back. The kids understand that they must call him Mr. Jefferson because they do not know him as well. This new routine was inspired by "Polite Moments" when we would start each morning of the trip with one of George Washington's Rules of Civility--amazing! Moments with TJ simply consists of the reading of and reflection upon an inspirational quotation from our third President. The quote from yesterday is a new lifetime favorite:

"In matters of style, swim with the current; on matters of principle, stand like a rock."

Amen! Well-said, Mr. Jefferson. More inspirational and hilarious moments from DC to come. . .

substitute

As I have been preparing for the Washington DC trip and the substitute that will take my other classes all this week, one of my seventh grade students who is probably most looking forward to my absence next week reminded me of this children's book that I used to love when I was little.
Miss Nelson is a sweet and kind teacher with a horrible class. But one day when they arrive to school, the class is surprised to find an evil substitute in her place. The substitute looks and acts like a witch--wart and all. And she whips those kids in shape. The class is so relieved and thankful to have the kind Miss Nelson back in the end that they would never dream of misbehaving again. But on the last page in the illustration, you see in the corner of Miss Nelson's room an ugly black wig just like teh evil sub's. Ahhh, the great plot twist , of course, is that Miss Nelson was the evil sub whipping her class into shape.

I tried to find a copy of the book this week to read to the seventh grade just for fun, but alas, I was too busy preparing for my real sub. I wish that I could dress up and be my own substitute next week--it would be a lot easier and a lot of fun ;).

looking forward

keeping it cool with Cornyn

This week has been a whirlwind of preparation for the much anticipated Eighth Grade Washington DC Trip! I am really looking forward to some teaching outside of the classroom and some quality time in my favorite city. But I will be more excited on Saturday morning after we have gotten on the eighth graders through security and all of my preparations will be done (because by Saturday morning it will have to be done, and whatever is not done, I will just have to do without). There is nothing like a deadline to inspire you to get your act together.

getting colonial in Williamsburg

The kids are so excited about the trip. We started a countdown on the board weeks ago. But it always cracks me up the things they look forward to. From the way they talk, you would think that they were way more excited about riding on a plane (many of them for the first time), staying in a hotel, and getting to wear something other than their uniforms in the evening than anything else. As much as I can hype the Capital, the Lincoln Memorial, the Portrait Gallery (which is my favorite place), Mount Vernon (and getting to see the key to the Bastille), colonial Williamsburg, the battlefields of Gettysburg, Arlington Cemetery, the White House, and countless other amazing things we will see and do, they will have no concept of the coolness until they get there and see it for themselves. Traveling with these students is such an amazing opportunity to open up an entirely new world to them--a world where leaves change colors in the fall, where government is a real job that people do, where patriotism and sacrifice are honored and sacred, and where history is actually real.

Even though just thinking about it stresses me out tonight, I cannot wait to introduce a whole other crop of kids to the beauty of Virginia, the coolness of our nation's capital, and the reality of the history that until now has only existed in books.

exploring Mt. Vernon