| Christmas biscuit decorating, Christmas with the Kranks, and a secret santa Christmas party. Friday was a very festive day in my classroom. Since it was the end of Week 9/10, we were one of the last classes to join the bandwagon of not doing academics and rather celebrating the holidays. Up until Thursday I had my students finishing their assessment tasks for both English and geography (more to come on content, curriculum, and actual teaching later). However, as of Friday, all resources (textbooks, laptops, etc.) were not going to be available for teachers to book and use. Therefore, the festivities began. The students loved it. Lesson 1 with 8.8 went swimmingly as they decorated their own Christmas biscuits with icing and a variety of different sprinkle and lolly toppings, and Christmas with the Kranks played in the background. Lesson 2 and 3 consisted of a Christmas party and secret santa exchange, completely planned by 8.1. I made a holiday punch pretty common in U.S. classrooms, and the kids LOVED it. They were a bit weary, as they thought I was putting butter in the punch bowl, when really it was mango sorbet. I was also a bit weary because I had to compromise with all of the ingredients with an Australian equivalent. However, it was delicious, and it went very quickly. The second big hit was the strawberry santas and group Jell-O shots (non-alcoholic of course). The kids brought in so much food it was definitely impressive--lots of sweets, fruit, a chocolate fountain, chips and biscuits, cheese and crackers, a pork dish, dumplings and spring rolls, and so many lollies. The secret santa was adorable, and everyone brought in a gift as they were supposed to. And then after a lesson off, lesson 5 was the last time we will see our 7.8 students. We watched Christmas vines on YouTube, per their request, and they decorated Christmas biscuits and played board games as desired. Catherine even found a trolly to wheel our games and biscuit making supplies around all day; it was quite the talk of the school. All in all, it was a day of celebrations, and it was a day that reminded me just how much I enjoy being in the presence of the students I teach and a mentor teacher who has become a friend. |