All of the sixth-graders in the auditorium were cheering and dancing. Mrs. Spillane jumped on Mr. Johnson’s back when everybody realized it was going to work. Then it started …. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! The kids counted down every second. Screaming, jumping around, and yelling.

On Wednesday, Oct. 27, the sixth-grade class from Watertown Middle School watched a live half-hour webcast with Taylor Swift. The webcast was sponsored by Scholastic books.

She was in New York, and she was going to talk about the importance of reading, answer questions, and perform live. The sixth-graders were so excited about the webcast, but at first the teachers had some technical difficulties: one of their computers wasn’t working and they had to run and get another laptop fast so they wouldn’t miss a second of the webcast.

They quickly got a new computer and signed in to the website where the webcast would happen. It started to work! It was insane!

Mrs. Sullivan was dancing around the room and going crazy! Everybody counted down from a minute.

“It was so fun and everybody was screaming so loud!” said Taylar, one of the sixth-graders.

Nick Cannon, host of “America’s Got Talent”, showed up on the screen. He talked about how Taylor Swift was so generous to come and talk to us, using her own time when she could be making songs. The camera showed a big stage and two chairs. Everybody looked a little confused.

Kourtney, a sixth-grader, said, “It was pretty much like watching it on TV.”

Several other sixth-graders agreed with her. After Taylor came out, she started talking and answering some questions. The students found some useful information about her. They found out her favorite book, favorite song, and some memories she has from her childhood.

One sixth-grader said, “The things she was talking about and the questions had really nothing to do with us and reading, it was about her and her childhood.”

After all of the questions had been answered, she surprised the crowd with a concert, singing her new song “Mine.”

Evan, another sixth-grader, said, “It was beautiful!!”

Words of wisdom.

–Dec. 15, 2010–