Getting my Socks Knocked Off....or scared off.....

The day has finally come..........THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! Wahooooo! Today was a chillax day - just yearbook signing and graduation. Well, my duties were to check off students after they cleaned out their lockers and in the process I got to sign everybody's yearbook. And guess what? This was news to me, but I even got one....for free!! So I had all the students sign my yearbook as well. Yep, I pretty much felt like I was back in high school all over again. Well, I mean, I am, but, well, you know what I mean..........

It was awesome! A fun day to be with the kids and joke around with them outside of the classroom setting. Oh my heck! Speaking of....... So a couple kids came and got me to check their locker. So I opened it....and my heart about stopped.....!!!! One of my students, Jentry, was inside!!! Oh man, I'm even laughing now still just thinking about it. He totally scared the crap out of me! And I have no idea how he even fit inside. Well, they got a few good chuckles out of that one. Jentry....he's quite the character. He's a bit difficult to understand sometimes, but he says the most random funny things! Like in my yearbook he wrote, "Miss Anderson, don't put twinkies on your pizza." Gotta love it!

Field Trip to Los Hermanos

Yesterday I took my students to Los Hermanos to practice using their Spanish. They had to order their food in Spanish and speak in Spanish with each other as much as they could. I have about 100 students, but since it was an optional field trip, only about 30 actually came. 30 students and me!! It was quite the adventure and experience! I'm really quite proud of some of my students and taking the opportunity to use their Spanish as much as possible. Others just came for the food :) I think they all had a good time.

It was a last minute field trip and I wish I would have planned some other ones during the year, but there's always next year, right? And I have ALL summer to plan and prepare. It was such a blast though. I was sitting right in the middle of all my students so I could hear them all and observe. I gotta say, I really love young people. They are so much fun to be around and interact with. And it doesn't hurt that I'm not that much older than them either!!!

Scandinavian Days

So every Memorial Day Weekend, they have a Scandinavian Days Festival in Ephraim, UT to celebrate all the Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Finlandians, and Icelanders. I'm more partial to the Swedes :) The Anderson side of the family usually goes to enjoy the festival as well as pay respects to ancestors at the local cemetary. So Lisi, Dexter, and I, accompanied by our Uncle, Aunt, and Grandma all went down together to have some fun. We ate some delicious Swedish meatballs for lunch and wandered around for a while. And I couldn't resist taking a picture with this fiercesome Viking!!

Mariachi and Mexican Puppets

So this is what Lisi and I do at night when it's late.....bahahahahahaha!!

I got these puppets out to take to my Spanish class the following day, but I think we had more fun with them than my students ever will! What a riot!

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Better late than never, right? That's what I told my kids (and I refer to my students) for their cinco de mayo fiesta we had yesterday and today. It was a three day process. Day 1 - Paper maché piñatas. Day 2 - Paint piñatas. Day 3 - Fill with candy and bust open. It was super messy but super fun. It's just so entertaining watching my students blindly swing at the piñata. Hey, but I had to do it as well. It kind of makes you feel like an idiot. Here's a few pics of some of my classes with their beyond creative piñatas. Notice the Beatles?

History of Cinco de Mayo-

Most people believe that it's Mexico's Independence Day, but I'm here to correct that myth. After the Mexican-Spanish war and a few civil wars within the country, Mexico was in debt. They owed France, England and Spain money, but they refused to pay it - they said they would pay in 2 years. Well, these other 3 countries didn't like this so they decided to invade Mexico. Except that France not only wanted their money, but also to take over. England and Spain didn't agree so they withdrew. France invaded the city of Puebla with 7000 troops while the Mexicans only had 2000 troops. Mexico defeated the French with a bold victory. Even though the French came back and eventually established their monarchy in Mexico, the Mexicans were given hope and courage by winning the battle of Puebla, which took place, oddly enough, on the 5th of May. It is now mostly a celebration that has been very americanized and commercialized.