HIGHLIGHTS
The Question Tree.
This was literally the bane of our existence for the week. What started out as a posterboard tree with different English questions for kids to answer, earning them points which in turn would earn them prizes, turned into a production of the century (and as usual it was done w/ the least amount of common sense possible). It ended up that Dr. A and Oil fashioned a tree w/ a bamboo pole and real tree branches. Attached to the branches
by strings were over 300 colored paper leaves (well 600 as there were 2 per string). Each color meant a category of question, which was a great idea, but the best idea was hanging all of the strings onto the tree before any questions were put in the leaves. That's okay though because we got to print out all the different questions (and then reprint them because they decided it was important that the questions were in the same color ink as their category-ie orange leaves had orange printed text) and place the questions inside the leaves and staple them shut so the kids could open them and the question would fall out. All fine and dandy when you get to do it 300 times and then realize that the stapled questions rip when you open the leaves as they are attached to the staples. They also had 3 different levels of ?'s for the various age groups and wanted us to scatter the levels throughout the tree and write which level was which on the outside of each leaf. After a 5-6 minute 'discussion' with them we finally convinced them that it made a whole lot more sense to put the lower levels on the bottom and the higher levels on top so we didn't have to search the tree for questions. They finally agreed after restating our plan and making it seem like they came up with it. We had some great laughs making that tree.
by strings were over 300 colored paper leaves (well 600 as there were 2 per string). Each color meant a category of question, which was a great idea, but the best idea was hanging all of the strings onto the tree before any questions were put in the leaves. That's okay though because we got to print out all the different questions (and then reprint them because they decided it was important that the questions were in the same color ink as their category-ie orange leaves had orange printed text) and place the questions inside the leaves and staple them shut so the kids could open them and the question would fall out. All fine and dandy when you get to do it 300 times and then realize that the stapled questions rip when you open the leaves as they are attached to the staples. They also had 3 different levels of ?'s for the various age groups and wanted us to scatter the levels throughout the tree and write which level was which on the outside of each leaf. After a 5-6 minute 'discussion' with them we finally convinced them that it made a whole lot more sense to put the lower levels on the bottom and the higher levels on top so we didn't have to search the tree for questions. They finally agreed after restating our plan and making it seem like they came up with it. We had some great laughs making that tree.The best was when Dr. A thought our questions were too hard (ie Name a dinosaur or Name an endangered species) and printed off some of her own 'easier' questions. Some of which read: Name the 7 colors of the spectrum or There are 2 types of animals, what are they? (and she wanted the kids to say vertebrate and invertebrate)!! Wow, sometimes we wonder. Anyway, the kids seemed to like it, even though most of them had to be given the answers to the questions, and that's what counts!
Performances:
The best was watching all the kids perform whether it be singing, playing instruments, skits or dancing. Some of my favorites were 1st grade dancing to Barbie Girl, 4th grade doing the Macarena and 7th grade dancing to some hamster song. It was also so great watching the babies from Anuban 
(where the kids younger than 1st grade go (ages 2-6)) on stage dancing and singing. Some of the kids were dancing in homemade dog costumes while others were all punk rocked out. One little kid dance had some kids shaking it like they were on fire, while kids in the back were yawning and rubbing their eyes, while another kid was crying hysterically until someone took him off stage. There was some really great talent too (there's a saxophonist at our school who is amazing). I really did feel like a proud parent when my kids got on stage and then came up to me after all excited. 'Teacher teacher you see me you see me?' w/ plenty of high fives to follow. My P5/P6 were all really shy on stage which is funny, because when I had them practice what they were supposed to do in class they would be bouncing off the walls singing and shouting at the top of their lungs. The M3's (9th grade) were really embarassed too, because Rally made them all do a dance to Miley Cyrus.
(where the kids younger than 1st grade go (ages 2-6)) on stage dancing and singing. Some of the kids were dancing in homemade dog costumes while others were all punk rocked out. One little kid dance had some kids shaking it like they were on fire, while kids in the back were yawning and rubbing their eyes, while another kid was crying hysterically until someone took him off stage. There was some really great talent too (there's a saxophonist at our school who is amazing). I really did feel like a proud parent when my kids got on stage and then came up to me after all excited. 'Teacher teacher you see me you see me?' w/ plenty of high fives to follow. My P5/P6 were all really shy on stage which is funny, because when I had them practice what they were supposed to do in class they would be bouncing off the walls singing and shouting at the top of their lungs. The M3's (9th grade) were really embarassed too, because Rally made them all do a dance to Miley Cyrus.Our Booth:
The EP and 
Foreign Language Booth turned out to be a pretty good time. We had a bunch of activities that kids could pay to do/they were required to do at least 4 activities before leaving the booth go get credit for being there-so bizarre. These were: Eco bracelets (where each bead means something different about the environment), Chinese charms w/ Ann and Cherry, Crossword (aka Scrabble which they are obsessed with), 
the question tree and the English Clinic (kids literally paid to ask English teachers questions like "how do you say..." or "what does...mean?" which they can do any day of the week--however, it was funny because the sign printed off representing this booth read Englsih Clinic!). The best station though was Josie and my station where kids came and made Christmas and New Year's cards. Some kids got really into and I'm sure it's because of the amazing sample cards Josie and I made before the fair :)
Foreign Language Booth turned out to be a pretty good time. We had a bunch of activities that kids could pay to do/they were required to do at least 4 activities before leaving the booth go get credit for being there-so bizarre. These were: Eco bracelets (where each bead means something different about the environment), Chinese charms w/ Ann and Cherry, Crossword (aka Scrabble which they are obsessed with), 
the question tree and the English Clinic (kids literally paid to ask English teachers questions like "how do you say..." or "what does...mean?" which they can do any day of the week--however, it was funny because the sign printed off representing this booth read Englsih Clinic!). The best station though was Josie and my station where kids came and made Christmas and New Year's cards. Some kids got really into and I'm sure it's because of the amazing sample cards Josie and I made before the fair :)Overall the fair was great and kind of tiring. It was nice to see the kids in their
element and having fun being kids rather than students (although sometimes I think they forget they are students in class) and I got to meet a few of the parents of my students. They were really welcoming and interested in their child's progress and very excited to meet me. I also found out that Minie, Bam and Pun (3 of my students) are all brother and sister--what great family names. I'm not gonna lie though, I was a little sad that I put all that effort into my Future Boats and it was just hung in the back of the booth along with other future boats even though they made it seem like our future boats were going to be the only future boats.
element and having fun being kids rather than students (although sometimes I think they forget they are students in class) and I got to meet a few of the parents of my students. They were really welcoming and interested in their child's progress and very excited to meet me. I also found out that Minie, Bam and Pun (3 of my students) are all brother and sister--what great family names. I'm not gonna lie though, I was a little sad that I put all that effort into my Future Boats and it was just hung in the back of the booth along with other future boats even though they made it seem like our future boats were going to be the only future boats. 
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