Just. Keep. Swimming.

Wow, what a week!  Last weekend was a relaxing weekend for Tony and I.  I think we must have needed it, because one of the nights, we went to bed at 8 o'clock and woke up at 11 the next morning!  Although many who know me know I can sleep like a champ, please believe me that this is not our normal.  Anyone who knows Tony knows that he is definitely a morning person most of the time.  I've learned to go with the flow as opposed to trying to fight it.  For whatever reason we slept in last week, it was sooooooo nice -- a luxury we should definitely relish now, in our life before kids!

That extra sleep helped me gear up for my week!  This week was my school's Festival of Nations.  Students and teachers alike spent much of the week preparing in many ways.  In my room, we were hard at work to continue the transformation of my classroom into a paradise "under the sea."  Which sea, you might be asking?  And, perhaps you're also asking, what does that have to do with Spanish?   Well, I have answers for both of your questions.  My students and I were focused on the Caribbean Sea, more specifically the areas around Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.  We had several middle school classes help us with our transformation and the result was quite spectacular!
 The part you can see in the back of the pictures was a sea cave that the students created.  There were two sections to the caves, and both were lit up by black lights (hence the eerie bluish glow).

One of our middle school Science classes created the animals you see hanging from the ceiling.  They learned about animal classification and had to identify their animal by its common and its scientific name.  They also had to list three interesting facts about their animal.  Many were very colorful -- even though hear you mostly see the backs.  The backs of the animals were black because in the water when something swims by, sometimes it is hidden in shadow.  Another middle school Science class created a game/display that told which animals are found at different depths of the sea.  Very interesting!  Finally, a sixth grade Math class that meets daily in my room (their teacher "gets" to travel all over the building holding classes) helped by painting some of the sea paintings around the room and by making signs in Spanish (and some in Chinese!) about what they could see around the classroom.

My students did a little research, and found information regarding how living near the Caribbean Sea can affect life.  Some explored ways in which the Caribbean Sea influences art, music, and dance.  Some looked into whether or not these islands had seen any ill-effects due to the most recent BP oil spill.  Others did more island-specific research.  All in all we learned A LOT, and had a great time doing it!  Thanks to all the students' hard work, our room came in first place!  I am truly humbled, because there were so many great exhibits around school that night.  My classroom was actually part of a bigger group -- Latin America.  That part of our group was upstairs, they were the land, we were the sea underneath.  The upstairs was set up market-style and there were plenty of goodies to buy!  There was an awesome Post WWII New Orleans exhibit, a Japanese tea house, World War II Japan, The Black Forest in Germany, Greece, Brazil, Africa, and probably some that I am not remembering as I type.   Aside from the room displays there was also a cafeteria full of delicious food.  It was truly a multi-cultural night.

Tony showed up to give his support and we were able to snap this shot in my room's photobooth!