Washington, DC - Day 2

Today was an amazing day...It began bright and early at the Smithsonian Castle where we were divided into groups to visit one of the 19 different museums.  I was lucky enough to go to the National Zoo.  We spent the morning looking at ways we can use museums for authentic learning.  How better to have students understand man's influence on our environment than seeing the Bali Myna, a beautiful white bird  just about extinct because they are caught, caged and live in Balinese homes serving as a sign of wealth.  A Bali Myna can bring a poacher $10-20,000 apiece. We participated in behavior watches of the amazing birds to the right.   They are relentless nesters - no matter how many times curators remove their nests, they rebuild.  They are like teachers, no matter how many times the rules in education change, teachers rebuild their curriculums and teaching practices.  The Smithsonian has invited all teachers of the year to become Smithsonian Ambassadors - we will help to improve the dissemination of their vast collections.  This is an exciting opportunity for us.

This afternoon was just incredible.  We boarded buses heading to the Naval Observatory for a reception with Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the vice president.  Once there the secret service boarded the bus to check our credentials and we were ushured into the Naval Observatory's Library to wait for the buses to be searched by dogs!  The library is an amazing collection of books on astronomy and they have original books written by Galileo and Isaac Newton! Since highlighters were not yet invented, readers actually drew fingers pointing to the important parts.

Once everyone was cleared we reboarded the buses to head to the Vice Presidential Residence.  Dr. Biden was so lovely.  A teacher herself she spoke of the effects teachers can have on our nation's children.  Her speech was affirming to all of us.  Later after tea sandwiches and lemonade served in the Biden's living and dining rooms we were surprised with the arrival of the Vice President.  He spoke to us and shook everyone's hand.  He posed for a photo op with the group and even boarded our bus to say goodbye.  Videos to come tomorrow courtesy of my new Flip video camera - a gift from Target!  Tomorrow we are off to a day of Smart training!