Day 66- Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and Modern Technology

Today was another one of those days where I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.  How exactly would I go about making some sort of donation connection to the ABBA entry of yore?  I thought about what I had written and why ABBA had made my day.  I realized that I probably could have written about ABBA at least enough days to fill a month last year, not just a day, and one word kept running through my head.

JOY.

I like to surround myself with things that bring me pure unfiltered joy.  I plugged "joy" into the search on charitynavigator.com and found a more than suitable answer to today's donation question.  My contribution has been made to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.  After reading this little blurb on charitynavigator,

The Ordway is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading nonprofit performing arts centers and Saint Paul's most elegant and inviting performance space. The Ordway's Music Theater and McKnight stages attract diverse audiences with an array of productions showcasing the finest in American musical theater, world music, dance, and vocal performance. Education and community engagement are integral to the Ordway's mission, with major initiatives including the annual Flint Hills International Children's Festival and Ordway Education programs that serve over 50,000 students annually. The Ordway also sponsors the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, a professionally guided academic and artistic environment that trains aspiring pre-professional performing artists.

I was sold.  I was even more delighted when I went to the actual website for this organization.  While many of these sites ask me to "donate!" or "give now", this one simply requested that I "give joy".  Do they realize that's precisely what I was hoping to do?

http://www.ordway.org/

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It's quite simple today, really.

My curriculum is cyclical.  There are all kinds of fancy educational language ways to make this sound fabulous.  What it really boils down to is that fact that I am teaching my kids the same kinds of skills over and over again.  This is wonderful because I get to watch students progress throughout the year and (hopefully) get better and better at what they are learning.  This also keeps me on my toes.  I am constantly looking for creative ways to make learning "the same old thing" more engaging.

I am, in essence, in a constant process of trying to reinvent the curriculum wheel.

Modern technology has really helped me out today.  It has taken me from "How in the world am I going to sell this to them again?" to "This week will be fun!"  I have a PowerPoints full of links to songs and fables.  I have great notes written out in a pretty way with pictures and colors and fonts.  I have a school district that allows me to use You Tube.

Mama's gotta wear her flats this week... she'll be working it!  (In case it isn't clear... ahem... um, I'm "Mama" here.)

Thank you, modern technology, you made my day.

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