El Dia de los Muertos

I have been teaching  Spanish at a little elementary/middle Catholic School.  I don't have my own classroom, instead. I have a little box with wheels and a handle that I cart around.  At first one might, especially if one were accustomed to having their own classroom, think that this sounds horrible.  It isn't though.  I feel like a grandparent teacher.  The other teachers work hard to train their students, then twice a week I swoop in and play games and have fun with them and then leave before they get fussy. I use puppets, I sing with them, I dance with them, I joke with them and although it is a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun.

A few weeks ago, a really cool holiday took place, the Mexican holiday,  The Day of the Dead.  An important part of this tradition is building an "ofrenda".  This is essentially a little altar, piled up with "gifts" for the visiting spirits of honored and loved relatives.  For my oldest class, an 8th grade class that I actually teach everyday, we celebrated El Dia de los Muertos, and as part of the celebration, each kiddo created an ofrenda for one of their deceased relatives.  They were beautiful!  Not only did they bring in the things that are traditionally in an ofrenda but they created papel picado (colorful tissue paper with designs cut into it) at home and we painted some calaveras (colorfully painted skulls that symbolizes the Mexican's ability to laugh at and make fun of death).  The classroom was colorful and their ofrendas were thoughtful and sweet.  I actually got choked up grading them.  What made really made it nice was that all my students did a good job and I am so proud of them, and blessed to have so many awesome little students.