David Archuleta Concert

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Christmas concert in Salt Lake City.  David Archuleta was the special guest this year to sing along side the world renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

I went with my friend Courtney (who flew out from Connecticut), my cousin Calie, and my aunt Jenny.  We had such a great time, and the concert was incredible.  The backdrop was beautiful with cottages frosted with snow.  David's performance was just unbelievable.  His voice is so raw and so pure.  It's really amazing.  I feel very fortunate that I was able to get tickets.  I'm really glad he sang my favorite Christmas hymn, "Angels We Have Heard On High."  He also sang this Christmas song I've never heard of that was really cool.  It's called, "The Cat And The Mouse," and the song tells the Christmas Story from a cat and mouse's point of view inside the stable.

After the show, Courtney and I met up with my friend Kristin at Deseret Book where we had the opportunity to meet David Archuleta.  It was really cool meeting him.  He was so genuinely happy and friendly.  I spoke to him about working with my friend, and he was very excited.  Clearly, we are best friends now.

Pictures weren't allowed inside, but here are some that I found from last night that someone took.

Love,
Sean

Changing Behavior With Niceness

The high school habitat still continues to surprise and teach me new and great things every day.  Here is something I learned this past Friday.

At the end of the day, I have a peer tutor (a general ed. student that comes in to help and work with my spec. ed. students) in my class that has been kind of a nuisance.  He comes late almost every day, he sits in the back of the class, he makes inappropriate comments in the middle of class, etc.  I was going to pull him aside and give him the "Knock-it-off-or-I-will-transfer-you-out-of-my-class" speech.

On Friday, I was disciplining my class and having them work the whole class period because their behavior was unusually bad all last week.  I had each student paired up with a peer tutor in order for them to finish their work.  Well, this particular peer tutor did a FANTASTIC job.  He was on task the whole time, and just excelled at creating a learning environment for my students.  I was so impressed.  I decided that instead of telling him to quit the bad behavior, I would reward and compliment him for his good behavior (even though it was just that one day).  At the end of the class period, I pulled him aside and said to him, "[Peer Tutor], you work so well with [Student] today.  Great job!"  He smiled and thanked me for what I said.

I had this class again yesterday, and his behavior had changed dramatically.  He was sitting with the group, not making rude comments, and participating more.  I can't help but think that being nice to him is what he needed to hear from a teacher.  I learned that sometimes the best form of discipline comes through being nice.

And on a side-note: It's almost Christmas!

Love,

Sean

Christmas Festivities

Yesterday, I went up to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights with Warren, Jane, Jade, Matt, and Megan.  First, we at at The Pie (Yummy pizza) near the University of Utah.  Then, we headed to another restaurant for dessert down by The Gateway mall.  We got legit Belgian Waffles (Cinnamon with raspberries).  So good.

Finally, we made our way over to see the Temple Square lights.  It was PACKED!  We had quite the amazing adventure.  Something about hanging up on Warren because we were secretly talking about him and I thought he would hear, but Jane had already put him on mute.  Something about Matt throwing ice into our car.  Something about Sean accidentally (honestly, accidentally) dropping his drink out of the window on I-15.  Something about Sean's friends hiding his coat in a microwave at the Joseph Smith Building.  Something about singing the Twelve Days of Christmas back to the car.  Something about an incredible night with incredible friends.

Pictures and video blogs (vlogs) are posted below for your enjoyment.  For some reason, the embedded codes aren't working for me, so I've also put a link, so you can just click that and link to the video.

Vlog 1: Enjoying Christmas Time

Enjoying Christmas Time

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Vlog 2: Sean Finds His Coat...In The Microwave

Sean Finds His Coat...In The Microwave

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Love,
Sean

My 2010 Top 20 Christmas Songs

I love Christmas music!

Here are my top 20 Christmas songs for this 2010 holiday season. :)

1) Deck The Rooftop - Glee Cast

2) Melodies Of Christmas - David Archuleta

3) It's Christmas Again - Varsity Fanclub
4) My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears
5) All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
6) We Need A Little Christmas - Glee Cast
7) Jingle Bell Rock - Charice
8) Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World
9) Wish List - Neon Trees
10) Home For Christmas - Danity Kane
11) Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday - *NSync
12) O Come All Ye Faithful - Josh Groban (Feat. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

13) Do You Hear What I Hear? - Kristinia DeBarge
14) Home On Christmas Day - Kristin Chenoweth

15) What Child Is This - Andrea Bocelli (Feat. Mary J. Blige)
16) The First Noel - Josh Groban (Feat. Faith Hill)
17) Christmas Must Be Something More - Taylor Swift
18) O Holy Night - Carrie Underwood
19) Angels We Have Heard On High - David Archuleta
20) Wild Christmas - Chris Trousdale

Bonus: 
21) Where Are You Christmas? - Faith Hill

And there you have my Top 20 (21) Christmas songs for this beautiful and wonderful season.

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Love,
Sean

HT Message: Can We See The Christ

This month's home teaching message in the Ensign/Liahona is given by President Uchtdorf.  In this message tells the story of a child who sees stars in her ceiling as the light hits the metallic glitter in at a ceratin angle.  He compares this with the holiday season in that, there are many "glittery" things around that distract us from the true meaning of Christmas.  Lights, decorations, gatherings, etc. are all a lot of fun, but President Uchtdorf urges all of us to remember our Savior's birth, and His ministry here on Earth.

He sums up his message perfectly saying, "It is a season to enjoy the music and lights, parties and presents. But the glitter of the season should never dim our sight and prevent us from truly seeing the Prince of Peace in His majesty."

You can read the whole article online at lds.org or Click Here .

Love,
Sean

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Yes, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.  Christmas is rapidly approaching, and I went out and bought a little tree for my living room today.  It's simply decorated with colorful ornaments and candy canes.

Yesterday I went to a folk dance performance of "Christmas Around The World" at Brigham Young University.  I went with my friend Warren, and we really enjoyed it.  I think my favorite performances were came from Romania and Ukraine.  They were very joyful and exciting festive dances.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I love the spirit of Christmas.  Now, I'm going to get some hot chocolate while I listen to some David Archuleta, Josh Groban, and Kristin Chenoweth Christmas music.

Love,
Sean

Justin Bieber - Pray

I really respect and admire when popstars sing songs that are actually meaningful.  Justin Bieber has a new song off his latest CD release, "My Worlds Acoustic."  The song is called, "Pray" and it is very emotionally driven and inspirational.

Some lyrics:

It's in the papers, it's on the TV,
it's everywhere that i go.
Children are crying, soldiers are dying,
some people don't have a home.

But i know there's sunshine behind that rain,
I know there's good times behind that pain (hey)
Can you tell me how i can make a change?

I close my eyes, and i can see a better day,
I close my eyes and pray.
I close my eyes and i can see a better day,
I close my eyes and pray. 

For a pop song, it really puts things into perspective.  I'm really glad Justin did a song like this.  He has a huge limelight on him right now, and for his demographic (teenagers), I believe it's a great idea to send this hopeful message.  I also really think it's incredible that Justin not only put this song as a tract on his CD, but he made it a single.  I hope it catches a lot of radio attention soon.

Take a listen to "Pray" below:

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Love,
Sean

PS: My cousins and I met Justin Bieber's cardboard cutout this past weekend!