There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays...

So like millions of people, this past week I ventured onto an airplane and traveled to see family. (Of course, as an educator I needed to leave in the middle of the vacation week because $$$!) This happened to fall on my sister's birthday! Woohoo! She's one of those kids that always felt ripped off having her birthday so close to Christmas. Her friends weren't always around for birthday parties and every gift seemed to be wrapped up in Santa paper. Eeek. I digress. (If you've been reading my blog, then you should know this happens all the time!)

So there I was in Northern Connecticut, braving the elements: -6 with windchill and snowing. I was with my 10 pound dog, Mabel (poor thing). She's never experienced bathroom time with snow! Once again, I digress.

The best part of the trip was a webinar I recorded with my nieces (ages 6 and 8). We even did a "dress rehearsal" to make sure that everyone was comfortable with the activities. The theme was, "Let's Get Crafty" (check out my last blog post) and the idea was to show how easy it can be to incorporate science into your arts at home or in the classroom. We had such a great time! My nieces really stepped it up- they were excited, but confident, relaxed, but poised- and they even reminded me of some of things I forgot to mention!

What I really want to say in this blog post is that sometimes with younger students we set the bar too low. Did I expect the webinar to go so smoothly and for them to be rock stars? Nope. (You weren't with them at the market the night before- GASP!) But why not?! I think we need to give our kiddos way more credit when the pressure is on. They can be capable of much more than you'd expect.

In conclusion, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday, no matter how much snow was on the ground. And of course, don't forget to watch the webinar!