This is America

If you read yesterday's post on the Underground, you know we spent the day in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.  It was quite a serene and quiet place to be the day after elections.  It's hard not to spend time in D.C. without feeling a strong sense of American pride.  Here are a few of my observations.

1) Even on a "down" day, I felt like a tourist.  So many monuments to not be touched, velvet ropes to not be crossed, and armed guards protecting... I'm not sure what they were protecting.  I appreciate the need to keep "tourists" like myself from interrupting the business of America, but the distance between the governed and the governors has grown even since I first started taking this trip fifteen years ago.

2) There's too much gravity.  We took our students into the House Gallery.  I told the complaining students "It's kind of like going to Chicago and stopping by to see Wrigley Field just to see it even if there's no game."  The floor of the House was empty save the dozen other tourists who must have a better Representative than us; they got to sit in actual legislators' chairs.  I walked into the gallery sympathizing with my low-riding students.  I had to keep a grip on the waist of my pants to keep them from falling after removing my belt in order to enter the empty chambers.  Thinking it fun to "root for democracy" I encouraged a student at the end of our group to start a wave.  Security guards squelched it before it even got as far as me.  We were shuushed quite a bit on Wednesday.

3) Our country is divided, but I still visited D.C. with thankfulness that on the day after a contentious election in which nearly half of the population wanted a different outcome, we could tour our nation's capital without fear of violence or unrest.

4) America is about moving forward.  We've got quite a bit of nastiness in our history that shouldn't be ignored.  It informs us as we move into the future.  It is the ideal that all are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights.  It is the realization that we can elevate the individual and society without sacrificing one for the other.

Quote from the FDR Memorial

5) Things are going to get better, even if they get worse.  We spent our day with three-hundred almost adults.  Sometimes teaching is frustrating, sometimes it is hard.  Sometimes you want to give up and sometimes you want to quit.  But on a trip like this, you're not so much a teacher.  You get out of the way and watch.  Watch how the students interact with each other.  Watch them take the time to say thank you to a bus driver.  Watch them exchange friendly conversation with tour guides and security guards.  Watch them learn at their own pace of their own accord.  Watch them admire the monuments to our nation's history.  And take comfort in the hope that one day they too will be admired for their contribution to this American society.

Mr. Underground Goes to DC...again.

What would a normal sane person do the day after an election?   Be thankful and get back to work right?    Probably... but that's just not how the TU rolls.  We decided to head into the heart of the action...downtown Washington DC.    We volunteered to chaperone a government field trip to the nation's capital(also went to Capitol)

The day started off about 4:30AM rather iffy when I forgot to wear a belt.   It ended when our bus collided at highway speed with a bench.  Yes you read that right, a bench that must have fallen from another vehicle and sat square in the middle of US 29S.   Some quick moves by our driver who went by the name "DC" (not a joke) helped us avoid disaster.   Minor damage and all were safely returned home in one pice, barely.   I returned home with some welcomed souvenirs and of course, space ice cream.  Other than complaining about the low temps and some straggling the group of 200+ AHS students behaved in an exemplary manner.  More on this tomorrow.  

The best way to bring you the action, or lack of action , from DC on the day after the election is with photos.  Enjoy.

 

Sweater vests are always a good call.

 Recognize this?  

1st correct answer in comments section wins a free TU T-shirt(if they ever get made)

 Student: "Why do they have a guy with a bowling ball in here?  TU:  "Ooof.?"

 It truly is an awe inspiring building in so many ways.  We are lucky to live so close.

Recognize this?  Click here and skip down to the Features section to read more

 Apotheosis of Washington

 "Wait what?  A coffin in a pickup bed?  No students...that is completely normal"

 Only memorial believe it or not I've never visited.  I get a lot of TJ in town.

So many quotes to like but this one stuck today.  From FDR to Congress in 1935

NCSS National Conference Day 2

 The day began early began with a pleasant jog with friends.   Got to see the mall by dawn with no one else around.  Highly recommended.  Then off we went to the convention center.  Shortly before arrival we saw something unexpected when a woman tripped and fell on the sidewalk.  Hard. Those nearby helped her up and I was relieved because I was pretty sure she was dead.  It led to some interesting conversation about the effect cities have on people and their behavior.  For the record, this TU member does not enjoy cities much. 

So as we made our way through our sessions on our second day of “Dimensions on Diversity” it seemed a common topic mentioned by many presenters was poverty.   It is a topic not addressed often enough in educational conversations but one that is confronted daily by classroom educators, education reformers, and most sensible people.  One would think it would rarely leave our collective conscience but it seems the opposite is true.  The problem is hard to ignore walking the streets of our nation’s capital where you are never far from those living within its grasp.  We are fortunate that our own community suffers to a far lesser degree but suffers none the less. 

Other less profound reflections on our visit:

-Another day of presenters.  Some great, some good, and some not so great.  Glad we went.

-Unlike yesterday, there was no bounding up the stairs it like I did a day earlier.  The convention center is big and we saw all of it.  Lots of up and down.

-When the 10th presenter told me they ran out of materials because they were told to make 25 copies, it got annoying.

-Many people in the exhibitors section are only there to promote and push their products.  We learned quickly to avoid the flashier booths as those people are not teachers and have far less in common with ourselves.   Target the plain with more substance.

-Perhaps next year we'll attend a conference and pass out cards promoting the TU as some did for their sites.   That would seem out of character. 
-Dyson Air Blade.  Whoa.

-The C-SPAN bus was pretty sweet.  

-If we go a few months without seeing a flashy TV screen Kiosk, that's OK with us.

-Escalators are big scary monstrous inventions.  Maybe that's why we like them better than stairs. 

We'll use tomorrow to regroup and then share some more thoughtful insights of what went on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yd3ouQsPFY

No visible cracks

DC Convention Center. 

Mr. Dyson...nice work.

Cards for self promotion

2012 is  a long ways away.

"Of course we'll ride the escalator"

The "secret staircase"

Hard to tell what this was until its dark