Never Forget

I hesitate to say "Happy Wednesday," because this is such a somber day in our country's history. It is the 12th anniversary of September 11th, 2001, and though I will never forget the events of that day, there were plenty of things that reminded me of it all day. First, there were the thoughtful tweets that quoted George W. Bush, displayed the American flag emoji, or just gave a thoughtful shout out to both those who lost their lives that day, and to those who fight for our country daily.

My next reminder came when I stepped on the 40 Acres to walk to my 9am class. I walk right by the Tower and big grassy lawn to get to my class, and of course, the American flag was at half-mast, but there was also a beautiful display of mini American flags decorating the grassy area in front of the tower. I imagine there were people taking artsy pictures of it all day, and though I did not snap one myself, I snagged a few that were either posted on Facebook or Instagram, and I will share them with you guys, giving credit where credit is due, of course.

Photo credit: Alex Suchman 

Photo credit: Candace Byler

Photo credit: Connor Roane

I am strangely fascinated with September 11th, so the anniversary always sticks out a little bit in my mind. I hate that it took such a horrible event to draw our country together, but in the midst of a lot of political debate, it is so nice to feel that national unity for our amazing country.

Workout

After class I did a little bit of reading before hitting the gym for my usual Wednesday spin class. This will probably be my last Wednesday to attend this class for a while, as I am anticipating being up at Westwood High School next Wednesday at the time of the class. So I made sure to give this class today my all-out effort. Before my spin class, however, I completed 20 minutes on the treadmill, alternating five minutes of running at 7.5mph, with five minutes of walking at 4.2mph. It is a nice warm-up for a very sweaty spin class.

My spin class today was awesome, as the usual instructor was back in action. She had us attacking the hills, sprinting on flats, and climbing while seated. Attacking the hills is always hard for me, but it gives me such a feeling of accomplishment every time I push through the pain.

Ideal Bookshelf

And if you were wondering how I spent a majority of my Wednesday afternoon, it was spent creating my "Ideal Bookshelf." Last week in my UTL640 class, my professor showed us this awesome book titled "My Ideal Bookshelf." It is an absolutely incredible book that features the ideal bookshelf of many cultural figures, Hollywood figures, authors, and even fashion designers - books that "define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world." The books we read and display say a lot about who we are as people, and this would be such a fun first week of school activity that would give insight to the students as readers and people. And it's more than just putting together your bookshelf. You get to tell the story of why those books matter to you. This project calls for creativity and self-reflection, because let's be honest, who doesn't love talking about their own interests?

In the spirit of the book, I created my own "ideal bookshelf," that I plan on putting up on my teacher webpage that I will be creating in the next couple of weeks, as well as using it in my future classroom. Here is a picture of my ideal bookshelf, and maybe one day I'll tell you all the story behind the books. But there's just not enough time for that right now!

Have a great night!