Celebrations and Villains

Hey everyone!  It always amazes me when I look through my pictures how much has happened since my last post.  English Week was a blast.  I was so impressed with the students from every level.

Here are Ciara and I, resident gringos at San Nicolas.

On Monday all the little kids were the stars.  We started with Sala Cuna, the 0-2 year olds.  They did a song called "Pet Store" and they definitely brought the house down.

Medio Menor, 2-3 years old, did Old McDonald.  All the groups also did some of the warm-up songs we do every day.  Big hits were "Open/Close" and "My Arms are for Hugging".

The Medio Mayor kids, 3-4 years old, did a song about the people in a family.  They were definitely the loudest.

The pre-kinder and kinder kids did some of the songs I've been using all year, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, and the hello song.  Everyone did so well, I am one proud teacher!

On Tuesday the 1st through 4th graders had a poetry contest and since I don't teach those grades I was replacing the teachers that do.  This picture is from Wednesday when my 7th and 8th graders had their spelling bee.  They were pretty nervous but did a great job.  They also did some performances all together as a class, the Cha Cha Slide and Little Cabin in the Woods, a campfire song I learned in scouts.

We finished on Thursday with the high schoolers.  The seniors did a really nice tribute to Alicia and sang "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone".  Alicia has been so great this year, I'm very blessed to have her as a department head.

Friday was Teacher Day in Chile.  We had classes in the morning then there was an awards presentation for the teachers.  I got most relaxed.  Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it was nice to be recognized.

Then all the teachers went to El Rancho, a huge patch of land that has a restaurant and an orchard on it.  We had lunch there and sang Karaoke, it was a blast.

Our teacher band performed as well.  I'm their newest addition!  We played a great set, Play That Funky Music, I Feel Good, Oye Como Va, and a few other songs in Spanish that I really enjoyed.

Pablo, Juan, Rody, Paolo, Alfredo, Alexis, Mauricio, and me.  A wonderful group of friends, all of us misfit musicians.

Our classes continue to be fun and a little crazy.  The medio menor kids are learning the numbers 1 through 3 so I had them lay on the ground.  Sofia decided at this point that the 3 didn't need to be connected anymore.

I often draw inspiration for lessons from the English books we have on hand in the library.  I found one the other day about hide and seek, so I read the book, made a power point with the rules in English, and had Medio Mayor practice counting and saying "Ready or not, here I come!"  I also dug up the Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie song by Jay & The Techniques on youtube.

Alvaro, probably my favorite student.  He's this little ball of energy that can barely speak Spanish but he belts out everything I ask them to repeat in English.  He's quite the mover, we have a lot of fun.

This past Friday we had Cafe Concert.  It's an opportunity for each grade 3rd through seniors to show off what they've been learning in music class.  We had everything from The Beatles to Jesse y Joy.

I was once again impressed with the dedication from the students.  They were really passionate about their singing and playing, we have some very talented musicians.

It was a really fun night.  It was cool to see our students doing what they love.

Last night was the annual ChACE Halloween Party!  I came as Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.  I found most of the stuff in second hand stores in the city.  The dress was definitely the best find.  A little work with some scissors and I think it came out quite nicely.

Pumpkin-spewed guacamole, courtesy of Sarah's creativity.

Here's our group of Disney villains!  Gaston, Captain Hook, Cruella DeVille, Malificent, Ursula, Scar, and the hunter from Bambi.  Great job everyone!

Check out those horns.  Great commitment, Dan.

The new ChACE crew did Mario Kart, and they did it very well.

Sarah and Ciaran made some clever gravestones for the yard.  All in all a fantastic party, I was really impressed with all the creative costumes we saw from the Chileans.

We have a short week coming up (woohoo!) so this Wednesday Ryan and I are heading to Pucon for some adventure.  Come back for volcano climbing, cave exploring, and undoubtedly some fun in the river rapids.