Yay! Today was our workshop for Dr. Harry Wong and his “First Days of School” lecture. David and I had the day off together so we could attend. The workshop was in Longview on the LeTourneau University campus. We hardly ever go to that part of Longview…I thought we were going to need GPS, hehe, but my sense of direction pulled us through even when David started saying, “Are you SURE we’re going the right way?” 
Oh my goodness, it was so crowded! We were in their new auditorium, and they told us there were nearly 2000 people in attendance. We were causing traffic jams on the way in like Longview has never seen! As you might imagine, the audience was nearly entirely female, meaning that every line to every bathroom was like, 30 people long at minimum. I can’t stand waiting in line for the bathroom. I don’t know why.
The workshop was really good! Most of the stuff Dr. Wong covered was stuff I actually remembered from using his books in teacher ed classes. His main focus is the idea that if you develop and implement procedures for your students, they will behave better because they will know what to expect and how they are supposed to react in every circumstance. I agree with this from my own experience. These ideas would also work very well in parenting situations, I think, because when kids know what you expect from them, they then have the tools to know how they should respond.
It was really good….not good enough to pull me back into the classroom…haha…but very enjoyable. I liked seeing him in person! (The next famous people I plan to meet — Jon and Kate from “Jon and Kate Plus 8″…I can’t wait to see them in November!)
David and I kind of cheated though. Dr. Wong spoke for the morning sesson, and another guy….Guy Doud, I think….was supposed to speak for the afternoon session. This session was on building relationships with students. I don’t know…most of those topics end up being crazy “touchy-feely” ideas that only work in a perfect setting. David and I agreed that we’d rather just skip out on that session and go eat a leisurely lunch somewhere! We also figured that with 2000 people trying to get out of the parking lot at once that we’d spend half our time just trying to leave campus. So, he might not get his CPE hours for today, but oh well. I hope we at least get a half day credit! (not that my CPE hours even matter!)
We went to Pietro’s for lunch. It is this Italian place in Longview. They used to be in the mall…MALL PIZZA!!!….I love it. I am mentioning them mainly because of their tiramisu. WOW! It was some of the best I’ve ever had, and I put tiramisu in my life as often as possible. It was perfectly flavored and delicious. The place is family-run, and they told us that this was “authentic” tiramisu. Delicious!
Oh, I am so ready for real tv to return. We’ve been watching our way through the first season of “30 Rock” (great show) and it’s got me ready for some new stuff! I am just craving the return of “Pushing Daisies.”
Plus, having the new season of “Monk” and “Psych” is also whetting my appetite for the new stuff. “Psych” is just becoming one of the shows that makes me laugh the most.
PS- On our way back to Marshall, our vulture was walking around on our sidewalk. Yay vulture!
