Seeking Imperfection

I love working in an elementary school. Yesterday the older grades got to go to an assembly. We had a guest storyteller named Bob Thomas. He came and told stories and tap danced. It was really pretty cool - the kids really enjoyed him. He told simple stories, one of his grandmother and another about an older man who taught him to dance. The kids got into it a lot more than I would have thought they would. He had a lot of the kids go up on the stage with him and he taught them a few simple tap moves, and they performed together. Afterward, one boy came sitting down near me telling his friend, "that was awesome!" I thought it was cool that a young boy would find doing a silly dance number awesome. There were some older men and women in the crowd, who I'm not sure if they were invited by Mr. Thomas or by the school (I got into the assembly late) but after he was done he invited the kids to ask the "seniors" questions. He got them started by asking them how old they were when they first saw a tv. One lady said 25! 25 is hard for even me to imagine, even though I remember my dad telling me about when they got a tv. He told the kids they had an assignment to go and talk to older members of their families and ask them to tell them stories about when they were young. It sounded like a good idea to me. My dad and my grandmother have told me stories before, but maybe I should encourage them to write them down. Or maybe I should. In any event, it sounded like it could lead to some fun conversations. Here Bob gets you started.

One of the things I've always loved to do is read books out loud. It has always struck me as odd as I have social anxiety (fear/anxiety of social situations) and I generally try to avoid putting myself in the spotlight. I do not like to do oral presentations. However, I've always liked to read aloud - I will even volunteer to do so. I've been told several times in my different classroom settings that I read really well. A lot of times I'd be the one who would read because others wouldn't. Sometimes other people would volunteer to do other things so that I would read. It is one of the things I enjoy doing the most. I've joked that maybe I should just become a professional storyteller, and I've had people tell me that I probably could. If Bob is any indication, though, then first I need to learn to tap dance! LOL

Basically, I found it pretty cool that even older kids could enjoy something as simple as sitting around and listening to stories. But I guess in a way that's why I like reading blogs too. It is fun to share stories with each other. Thank you for stopping by to listen to mine. :)