Mis Estudiantes

It's the end of the school year, as you know from my previous posts, and in my classrooms that means major projects. The students have been working hard, and I have been so pleased with the results!

My Beginner's Spanish students had to create a board game of some sort. They had to get into groups and choose a chapter that we have learned this year and find some way to incorporate the vocabulary and grammar elements from that chapter into a board game. Some of their games were just amazing! I was so pleased with the results. The games are so well done that I will actually be able to use them in my classes next year. When I finish teaching that chapter I can have the students actually play the games that previous students made! Wow! Here are some photo highlights.

I'll start with my absolute favourite, La Isla de Oro-The Island of Gold. The students actually MADE this box out of wood. They made the little pirate flags and everything. The point of the game is that each student has a pirate, ship, and 8 crew members. They have to go along the "map" and make their way to the treasure. If they land on a red dot, they have to answer a grammar question, if they land on the skull and crossbones, they answer a vocab question. If they get the question right, they can keep going and they might get a bonus such as gaining a crew member, getting a chance to steal someone else's treasure, etc. If they get it wrong, there are penalties! They might lose a turn, they might lose a crew member, or they might have someone else steal their treasure! Once they make it to the treasure, they have to get it all the way back to their ship. The kicker is that they have to have the treasure, ten crew members, and themselves onboard before they win. It's trickier than you think! Everyone thought itwas the best game by far. Amazing!

Here's another that was quite good, Racopoly.

La Vida Loca-Sort of like Life and Cranium combined.

Magico-Umm...I can't really describe it, but it's actually pretty fun!

Meanwhile, my Spanish 11 students just finished learning the words for furniture and parts of the house. At this point, because it's the end of the year and the last unit, I like to do something fun with them. They create La Casa de Sueños-The House of Dreams. It's amazing to see these kids dream. I love the homes that they come up with. It's a great chance for me to see their personalities and let them have fun with it. They have to create a home and label all of the furniture in it. Then they give a presentation to the class in Spanish describing the home and what they would do in the various rooms. They also have to say each piece of furniture. It's fun for me and them and we just finished presenting them today. Here are some photo highlights!

This next one is pretty cute. These two are a couple...the ultimate high school sweetharts. They are pretty adorable actually. They made their house of dreams be a series of tiki huts in Africa! How cute is that?

This student made his house of dreams be a castle! El Castillo Amarillo!

These two girls had their house of dreams be a series of circus tents. They even had their own Tilt-a-Whirl.

This girl's house was under the sea...pretty cute!
This one had to be one of my favourites. His dream house was a VW Bus! He is totally one of those students that you see backpacking or driving a bus like that some day. He's actually going to Spain for the first half of the year next year...he's going to do great. His bed is a lobster bed. Why? Because it's him! Hilarious!

I really do love being a teacher. I'm so glad that I decided on this profession. As much as I complain about being tired, worn out, students getting on my nerves, or whatever else, my life is really blessed by being around high school students. I love to watch them grow and change into the people that they want to be. I have been teaching this Spanish 11 class since grade 9. Next year they will be in grade 12 and I can't wait. It has been an amazing journey with them. I look back on what they were like in grade 9 and it is simply amazing to see the transformation. Today one student made me smile and laugh. They were working on reviewing for their final exam and suddenly he walked up to the front of the room. I just looked at him and he said, "Guys, we've been together for quite awhile now. We know this class is fun, and we've had fun learning. Let's continue the fun in the summer! We need to have a pool party! Mercedes-Kathryn-it's going to be at your house! Everyone write down your phone numbers...I will organize it. Señora Sowerby, you have to be there. You and your husband just have to come! We can continue the Spanish fun all summer!" Although I won't be going to the pool party, I have to say that moments like those totally brighten my day. I think my students are fantastic. I learn so much from them and although I'm excited for the summer, I also know that I'll miss them and by the end of it I will be ready to go back. My kids are the best!