Happy Holidays!

I'm going to share this week's adventure's through an array of pictures. I'll start with the boring. Even though it was the week before the holiday break, we did have some real work that we did. Here is the picture of our homework board for the week. The next activity I'd like to spotlight is one of my favorite activities of the season. Not because the art work turns out all that fancy, but because of the message that is conveyed with it. This goes hand in hand with the lesson I did based on Pearl Harbor in that it's purpose is to teach tolerance and acceptance. The more these children realize people are different and that's okay, the less hatred we'll have in the world.

In five of the different continents I have represented a different holiday. North America is Advent, South America is Christmas, Africa is Kwanzaa, Asia is Hanukkah, and Europe is St. Nicholas. Down in the Australian region I didn't necessarily represent a different holiday, but different customs. This season down is Australia falls during their Summer months so their customs are a lot different than our dreaming of a white Christmas. I also read them a New Zealand version of our Twelve Days of Christmas, thanks to one of my students last year for the gift whose family was from New Zealand, A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.

The next couple of pictures are going to come from our final holiday activity, the "Gingerbread" house building. It was certainly a fun project that some of the students took a little more seriously than others. There were certainly a lot of them that turned out cute but pictured below are two of the better pictures my phone camera took throughout the activity.

A few serious things to note upon. I have grades online entirely up to date with what I have turned in. I have given the students missing assignments reports with the assignments attached to it. I have told them I am giving them until the second day back to get those turned in. After that, anything that was due before the break will no longer be accepted. the only reason I'm making it the second day is because I know there is going to be at least one student who forgets it at home, so I'm just making the adjustment for that now.

Finally, I want to thank you (both parents and students) for all of the fabulous gifts, and for those that didn't, don't feel bad. It was certainly not a necessity, but I'll tell you, if there's ever a time that I doubt that I'm making the difference I set out to make, this season really tells me otherwise. I with I could pay it back tenfold because these kids deserve it. I truly do care for and appreciate each and every one of them and I hope that I was able to convey that message to them without having some kind of gift to give them. Unfortunately, having bought a house earlier this year, I'm not in a place where I could afford that, but I do love each and every family that I'm working with this year and whatever it is you celebrate: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa; or even don't celebrate, I hope you have a happy break filled with lots of family and lots of love because you all deserve it so very much!

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree." ~Roy L. Smith

Shakespeare Unshackled Character List

For those in my homeroom, you can ignore this post. I promised Mrs. Dezember's class that I would have the parts for the play we are doing in their rotation posted today. So here it is! I ask you to realize that of the 27 parts listed on the paper, the majority of you wanted 4 of them, so I took those, along with auditions, along with what I thought would bring together a great show, and here is what I came up with. I implore you all to do the best with the part you are given as I am currently thinking that we could produce a super incredible performance with the way I have it cast! We'll see you all on Monday excited and ready to start learning your music!

December 10, 2011

December 4, 2011

I seriously cannot get over how proud I am of my students for their three performances this week. I could not have asked them to do any better. With my theatrical experiences growing up, I tend to set the bar high when I create these performances, and even though not everyone is the actor or actress the next person might be, they never seem to let me down. This year was no different. They did fantastic and I could not be more proud! I am going to be sending home an order form for both DVD copies of our play and 8x10 copies of the cast pictures. Because we had students there on some days, and not on others, I am going to make both the Wednesday and Thursday performances and pictures available, in the event that you have a preference. Here is an example of what the cast pictures will look like. This is the Wednesday cast:
With the play behind us, we can officially move on with the school year. The homework for this past week is posted above. Remember this coming week we are going to be making masks. There are also some student who are involved in an assembly we'll be putting on this Friday. I will send a note home for to the parents whose students are involved giving you more information.

Only two more weeks til Winter Break and only 22 days until Christmas! Are you ready?

"Never be too proud of who you are and what position you hold because after a game of chess the kings and pawns are tossed into the same box." ~Unknown