Teach Me Daily: Atlanta: My Week in the South

My teammate and I got accepted to present at the NAGC (National Association of Gifted Children) in Atlanta. See, here we are listed in the convention catalog

We presented on the benefits of proficiency based grading for Gifted Students and our implementation process. This resulted in a week long trip to Atlanta, many more weeks preparing for the presentation as well as preparing substitute teacher plans for my classes while I was gone.

The actual time spent in Atlanta was a great experience! I went to a lot of great sessions and have so many ideas bouncing around my brain. But to be completely honest the trip was not all work and no play. I had a great time going to great restaurants, and enjoying local attractions.

Heather and I did an action lab that the conference offered that took us on a tour of the history of the civil rights movement. We went to the very first college for blacks, as well as toured Auburn Av., MLK Jr.'s childhood home, and Ebeneezer Baptist Church.

We also went to the High Art Museum to see the Salvador Dali exhibit. I had not previously know much about Dali except for his over-the-top personality and melting clocks.

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But after seeing his artwork, I was truly impressed at his intelligence. He was a man that was very interested in the newest theories, scientific and technological advances at the time. His art work represented the discovery of atoms and particulate matter, that matter is not solid and connected, but rather disconnected.

He also dabbled in painting work that was 3-D, Geometric and Fractal inspired, and even pop art influenced him. Though he claims that he left the "surrealist" style moving to classical art, it was evident that he just used the classical art style as a way to further his surrealism. There were so many amazing pieces of art work, and a huge majority of them were not just aesthetic but quite thought provoking.

A fellow GT teacher and I became pretty good friends during the trip, as she and I enjoyed getting out taking advantage of being in the big city. So her and I ended up at a lot of great restaurants and crazy activities... Including a haunted tour of Atlanta. If you know me it the biggest chicken, but it ended up being a lot of fun. For the most part it seemed pretty hokey, there was only one time
(ok maybe a few more than that) that I got a bit scared. Our guide gave us meters to use to detect the presence of supernatural beings. It ended up being pretty interesting hearing about a lot of different pieces of the history of Atlanta. And the best parts is I didn't even have trouble sleeping that night.

While I was in Atlanta there was a plethora of sporting events to attend. The Falcons played the Ravens, there were two hockey games, one basketball game, and the Georgia Tec. Florida Sate game. My new friend and I debated about going the the NFL game or the hockey game, the deciding factor was the hockey tickets were 15 bucks compared to the $120 football tickets. It was a lot of fun, I had never been to a hockey game before, and knew nothing about it. We were fortunate to have gotten seats next to a guy who plays in a "beer league", and clued us in.