I had the awesome privilege of passing through Kandern for a few days on my way home from Spain in mid June. Part of my reasoning for this detour was so that I could drop off the majority of the luggage I'd taken to Spain with me, and the other part was to take some dedicated time to say goodbye to some very special people. It was such a gift for me to be able to surprise the middle schoolers at their year-end awards ceremony, attend graduation and watch my first seventh grade class turn their tassels, and have some time to say goodbye to the friends of mine who will not be in Germany this August when I return. I enjoyed running the old familiar trails of the Black Forest with my friends, and I also had the opportunity to hep students study for their finals and participate in several planning meetings for this upcoming school year.
A special family I've taught - the first of this "Kingdom" to graduate!
What a joy to have known and loved these girls since they were in seventh grade!
The first of my reigning "Dynasty" to graduate!
My small group girls graduated this year!
The first of this "Kingdom" to graduate!
These grads (along with several others not pictured) were in my very first seventh grade class at BFA. Words can't express how grateful I am to have been able to stick around to see them graduate!
It's been just a little over two weeks since my time at ECA officially ended, so I thought I'd take a moment to share briefly about our final day together and graduation.
While I am not a high school teacher, I did supervise several high school study halls. This didn't necessarily provide the right atmosphere to get to know them on a personal level like my middle schoolers, but it at least gave me the chance to meet and interact with most of the high school students. However, since seniors were not assigned to study halls they are probably the class I knew the least.
Graduation day began with an all-school awards assembly during which we honored students' achievements and recognized departing staff and students. From art to sports to music to academics to service, there were many accomplishments to be celebrated! The middle school choir ended the assembly with a surprise performance of one of my favorite songs, "Happy."
Departing staff
Middle school choir singing "Happy"
The graduation ceremony took place later that evening. The fun-loving, familial dynamic of this class was evident as they shared memories and addresses in both Spanish and English, laughing together over inside jokes and pausing to wipe away the occasional stray tear when things got a little too real. Each student was recognized for their personal achievements and they shared their future plans with us via a music video they'd put together. To end the ceremony, we staff took the stage and sang "The Lord Bless You and Keep You," our special prayer for the seniors as they began the next part of their journey.
ECA Class of 2015
Staff song
Following the ceremony we all enjoyed appetizers and refreshments outside in the huge tent. It was a bittersweet time of celebration and mourning as the students enjoyed their final hours together as a class and said their farewells to the underclassmen.
With my good friend and fellow science teacher, Sophia
If you have been following my blog for any length of time you already know I LOVE dressing up for spirit days and costume parties. Here at ECA I have been itching to get dressed up for something special so you can imagine my excitement when my favorite week of the year, Spirit Week, finally arrived in April.
Monday's theme was Pajamas. Even though it's pretty warm here I donned my fleece cupcake PJ pants and put on a brave face, knowing I would be sweating soon. It paid off, though, because I won the award for best staff costume that day!
My prize-winning PJs
I need a pair of these slippers
Tuesday was Decade Day, so I brought back the sock hop costume with a DIY poodle skirt and a cardigan. Since the staff didn't really coordinate any group costumes I was happy to match with my friend Marie today.
On Wednesday the theme was Mismatched, which was super easy. All I had to do was open my closet and grab a few random items to create the look.
Thursday's theme was sports, and I was lucky enough to borrow a friend's German soccer jersey to represent the Fatherland. One of my students is from Argentina so naturally we had a friendly rivalry going on that day!
Representing all the sports!
We can't all be World Cup winners ...
On Friday we wrapped up the week with a day at the polideportivo, our local sports complex. Students competed in various track and field events and we teachers ran the events while cheering them on. Naturally I helped run the shotput and discus, and in between flights I made it over to the track to cheer obnoxiously for my students who were racing.
A flight of middle school sprinters prepares for takeoff
I love races!
Demonstrating the proper form for shot putting. Not.
Refereeing for girls' discus in our makeshift throwing ring.
High jumpers go over the rules before taking the plunge
Middle schoolers did great at high jump!
More middle school sprinters
These eighth grade girls tied last year and nearly tied again this year!
As you can see I am very passionate about track and field. I love these kids!!
Third quarter with my seventh graders has brought a slew of fun, exciting activities relating to the human body. Typically I teach this unit through group projects, but my smaller-than-average class size meant I had to change things up a bit... so everything I did this year, I did for the very first time! Thankfully I had Pinterest and TeachersPayTeachers to inspire me and provide lots of resources along the way.
We went through the major body systems, identified and examined the organs, and investigated how they are all interrelated to keep us alive. I taught a lot of the major content and vocabulary through lecture and discussion, and then we explored various aspects of the human body through experiments, games, and YouTube videos that left a few of them feeling rather queasy! Eyeball dissection, anyone??
We started with the skeletal and muscular system to give us a framework for the rest of the body. The students voted on a name for our life-size "mascot" and each time we studied a new system, Steve earned a few new body parts. In the beginning we labeled each part, then removed the labels as we memorized all the names.
Skeleton Steve was a work in progress!
While studying the digestive system, we simulated the digestion process through a relay race that was adapted from an activity I'd found on Pinterest. The students thought it was both hilarious and disgusting at the same time...
To wrap it up the digestive system, we enjoyed brownies that tasted much better than they looked! ;)
Only the best for my students!
When it came time to learn about circulation, I really wanted them to see visually how the blood vessels were the transport system for substances within the body. I found this free game and they played in teams of two. The object of the game was to be the first team to move all the oxygen from the lungs to the body cells, the carbon dioxide from the body cells to the lungs, the sugar and proteins from the intestines to the body cells, and the waste from the body cells to the kidneys.
The circulation game!
It wasn't nearly as boring as their body language would suggest!
We also had a lot of fun learning about the brain, the nervous system, and our sense organs. We watched clips from the show Brain Games, made "thinking caps" (pattern here) to learn the areas of the brain, and conducted experiments related to taste, smell, sound, and light.
Middle school means wearing these awesome hats!
Wearing thinking caps while watching a BrainPop video on the brain - brainception!
Mapping the tongue and looking for a connection between taste and smell
Observing and describing the effect of light on the pupil (she had to look deep into my eyes!)
We also got our hands dirty with some actual specimens, as a student went to the butcher and acquired some "leftover"pig parts. It was pretty neat for them to see with their own eyes the actual body parts they'd been studying - the lungs, liver, and heart for example. They also got to see and feel the difference in texture, structure, etc. of the trachea compared to the esophagus and they got quite a nasty surprise when, after squeezing the esophagus, some undigested food oozed out!
Warning: my science class is not for the faint of heart!
To wrap up the unit and give the students an opportunity to extend their learning, we created cereal boxes "advertising" a particular body system. I wish I could take credit for this project but the original idea came from TPT - I just modified it a bit to meet my needs.
For the front, they had to come up with a creative cereal name and then draw and label their system.
On the back they had to describe a common disease or illness that affects their system. They did research on causes, symptoms, treatments, and prevention of the condition and then had to summarize the information into a quality paragraph. Language arts connection!
For the other panels, they recreated typical cereal box features such as the ingredients list (naming the organs and their functions) and fun facts about their system - more independent research for them.
Overall, I was quite proud of their final product, and am excited to give them a chance to present their work to the rest of the school in our upcoming school-wide science gallery in April!
It's hard to believe we are now in fourth quarter! Our final areas of study will include zoology and ecology - characteristics of the animal kingdom and the relationships between all living and non-living things.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers over this last quarter!
