Winding down (frantically)

With 1.5 days left I feel like the world is spinning much faster than usual. I'm under mounds of exams to grade, have so many papers and supplies to sort/organize/recycle and I'm trying to duplicate some materials I've made this last year for the school to use after I've left.
So I had to stop and take a breather before this year slips away...

I think this will forever be one of my favorite pictures!

My students make me proud!

Wow, my Beginning and Prelit classes have made me so proud lately!

In Beginning ESL we've been reading an ESL version of Romeo and Juliet. They've been SO into it - I love seeing them excited about reading. Last week when they were reading the final story my classroom was SILENT for 35 minutes. ...This just doesn't happen. I was amazed. Now we're working on characterization. Today I gave them a whole page of quotes from the story to sort by character, and they also had to write next to it why the person was prompted to say it. They amazed me with their ability to make connections. Since they've worked so hard lately, I'm letting them watch Romeo and Juliet the 60's version on Wednesday. I was really surprised when they voted for the older version and not the 90's one with Leonardo Dicaprio. They said, 'Romeo and Juliet is a classic and you can't change a classic.' WOW. If this wouldn't make an English teacher happy, I don't know what would.

My prelit students have also amused and amazed me so much lately. A few weeks ago we read a book about dinosaurs, and 2 weeks ago we read about weather and I taught them how to use weather.com to find the weather in their native countries. So I was a little confused last Thursday when a few kids came in and said, "Dinosaur weather!" They asked if they could use the classroom computer, and then guided themselves to weather.com, typed in weather, and proceeded to show me "Dinosaur Weather" for Dinosaur, Colorado. What smart kids! They wanted to see what weather dinosaurs had. They did understand that it wasn't actually weather for dinosaurs in the past...but they thought it was pretty hilarious as did I. You can see if for yourself here: Dinosaur Weather. :)

What do you learn in an American school?

One thing I've been amazed by the past two years is the number of things I've had to 'teach' that I never expected. It has made me realize that there's a lot of things you just learn without realizing it and since it's the first time in school for most of my kids...they've had no need for this stuff before. Here are the most amusing / strange things I remember.

• When the bell rings at the end of a class it means you leave
• It also means that you should walk to your next class and that you're expected to be there in a certain amount of time
  
• You don't go home for lunch in the middle of the day
  
• How to use a pencil sharpener (both manual and mechanic)
• How to click mechanical pencils to get more lead
• Mechanical pencils are actually refillable too!
• The end of the pencil has an eraser
  
• But no matter how hard you try, you can't erase regular pen ink
• And also, not all markers are dry-erase either...
• Oh, and dry erase markers only erase on dry-erase boards
  
• How to use three-ring binders and three prong folders
• How to use a stapler and hole-punch
  
• How to open and use a lock (wow new immigrant students really struggle with this at first!)
• How to hold and use scissors
  
• How to open the glue bottle
• Oops, I should have also taught how to use only a little glue
• How to CLOSE the glue bottle
• Appropriate classroom behaviors-asking permission, raising your hand, not talking over the teacher...
  
• And finally, thank you for your enthusiasm but there is no need to stand on your desk to introduce yourself. I understand that you just want everyone to be able to see you, but we can see you just fine from the ground