Just another manic Tuesday

I was right. We didn't really accomplish anything academic today. We were permitted to let the kids watch the inauguration coverage on TV, so most teachers used that as an excuse to do nothing, and the kids as an excuse to talk and ignore the coverage. I do not have a TV in my classroom; even if I did, I don't have cable. I have an LCD projector and live stream capabilities from my second computer, but no sound.

So, my first two classes had to take tests today. I know. I'm the mean teacher. And then the ceremony actually took place during my planning period. About a quarter 'til 11 I went across the hall to watch it on the television with Ms. Clark's class, and to get warm since my classroom was freezing (and every classroom on my side of the hall). I ended up going to lunch with them, having no lunch responsibilities today (woohoo) and then getting my 4th period class for a total of 15 minutes. So, I couldn't make my 8th graders take their tests today. But in my 5th and 6th periods we did go over a grammar review for their test, and they all had to write a paragraph about "Where were you when Barack Obama became president?" And I live streamed footage from cnn.com to have on in the background. But, overall, a wasted day.

So, then I got to thinking...

Every lifetime has historic moments. Moments where later you ask, where were you when...? This was the impetus for my students' essay today. In my parents' lifetime, they went from 48 states to 50. They watched a man walk on the moon. They endured the assassination of a president, and then a prominent civil rights figure. They lived through the civil rights movement, and Kent State was practically in their backyard. Vietnam. Woodstock. Protests. And that's just up through my sister's birth. Then tack on the next 35 years of stuff.

And in my lifetime:
1. The Challenger and Columbia space shuttles exploded (almost 20 years apart).
2. The Berlin Wall came down.
3. The Soviet Union fell.
4. Terrorist attacks on 9/11/01.
5. Virgina Tech shootings.
6. Branch Davidians in Waco.
7. Free trade in Cuba and China.
8. Fall of Saddam Hussein.
9. Hubble Telescope/Mars Rover
10. Nintendo releases...especially the Wii
11. Barack Obama was elected and peacefully installed as the first black president.

These are just events. Don't even get me started on technology. I still can't quite believe it that when my nephew was 3 and someone was on the computer, he would ask, "Are you checking your e-mail?" He's 13 now. And he has a cell phone. And has had one for a couple of years. And he'll probably drive an electric or hybrid car when he grows up. DVDs will be passe', and a DVR will be a standard feature on cable packages (if cable even still exists). iPod technology will be standard in vehicles, and having 12 gigs of storage space will seem so tiny--how did we ever survive with so little storage space? he'll say. And some other technology will come along which will cause him to say, "What did I do with my time before I had a _____________?"

Amazing. I feel old already.