Where has the time gone?

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Last week was so crazy with the Educator Conference that I really didn't get a chance to post. Yesterday I woke up at 9:30 and was back in bed by 8:30. But I'll start at the beginning. Or where I left off anyway.

Last Saturday we went to Wolf Trap to see 3 Broadway Divas and the National Symphony Orchestra. First we went to a Japanese steak house with food that was sooooooooo amazing. Sat in the front row, center section. It was phenomenal. After (and before) we got to hang out in the Encore Circle - that's how uncle Mark rolls ;)



On Sunday I took the Metro into the city and met Mary Sue. We went to the Holocaust Museum and the Natural History museum. The Hope Diamond was at the NHM so I waited in a line 10 people deep on all sides of the case to get a couple pictures of that and the other amazing jewels in the exhibit.



Monday I worked on getting ready for the conference, ditto for Tuesday. Monday we were also informed that the Liaison Hotel had made a mistake and they could no longer house our conference. It could have been total chaos, but everyone worked together so well. Wednesday I went to dinner with the fabulous Jen Lawless, who was in town for the conference.

Thursday was crazy. The people who came to the conference were fantastic. Even after having been immersed in C-SPAN for 3 weeks already, I still learned so much from all the presentations that were given.



Thursday afternoon I picked up the most fantastic dress from Ann Taylor.



Then we went to this fabulous dinner at Art & Soul. It was great to get a chance to sit and talk with the other teachers. I got to sit with Karen Rehder (sp?) who is a StudentCam genius. :) Afterwards Jen and I walked to the White House before heading in to watch Dance Moms and go to bed!



Friday we gave our presentations. It was fun, Dan and Mary Sue's presentations were excellent, and even though I knew what they were working on I still learned a lot. The work sessions and small group work time were great.



Hearing the others' ideas was inspiring. After most of the educators left I had the opportunity to sit with Council Bluffs social studies teacher Ryan Loots and discuss Iowa education in particular. It was great to get another perspective on the direction education is heading in our state. I gave him info for the ICSS and demo'd Google Maps.