I've gone back and forth about posting anything about September 11th. It still feels so fresh to me. I can't watch footage of the events without getting teary. I can remember the day so clearly like I'm sure many of us can. I can't imagine being in the classroom that day and holding it together. It was my junior year in college and I had just turned the tv over to the today show when the second tower was hit. A friend of mine was in the Navy reserves and no one could find him during this time. It was just a scary time. It's the most vivid memories I have about college. I feel like that time just after September 11th kind of stood still. About 13 months later to the day, I found myself at ground zero. It was my first trip to New York so I don't know what it was like with the towers. But it was so unsettling seeing the damage. I still feel a twinge of sadness when I see the towers in old episodes of Friends or other shows shot in New York. I can't be the only one that feels this way.
Every year on September 11th our principal on the morning announcements discusses the events of that day. I teach at a k-8 school so the older kids understand more of what he's talking about. I've never really talked about it with my class. It still seems so raw and fresh to me even ten years later. I have no idea how to even talk about it with my little ones. Do you discuss this with your class? How do you talk about those terrible events? I'm not sure I could without tearing up a bit and I don't know how I feel about that. I would love to hear about how you talk to your students and how you feel about those events even ten year later. Please share! I would have a linky party if I had any idea how to do that.
Side note if you happen to have the National Geographic channel you should check out the interview with George W. Bush. It was really interesting to see the events of the day through the former president's eyes. It has no commentary just his story. This is a link to more information and some videos. 9/11 interveiw
I teach Kindergarten and I assume this year they will have seen the flags and some of the coverage of the anniversary. I am going to let their parents explain it to them. We are celebrating tomorrow with wearing red, white, and blue, a schoolwide moment of silence, and collecting money for the memorial at Ground Zero. I always make an I Love America poster with their handprints around it, so we are doing that tomorrow. I don't think I could discuss it without tearing up, either (but singing the Star Spangled Banner makes me cry, too!).
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