Very Very Shank You.

Today was the last day of lessons with my Grade 5s and 6s at three different schools. On Wednesday, I do a switcheroo with another teacher and start at three more schools. Since I taught these guys last year as well, the departure of the Grade 6ers was a little more difficult to take yet it was one of my 5s that almost put a tear in my eye. One of the most boisterous of students handed me the classes' tribute sheet and then did a little dance and impersonation of me. So awesome.

Before I get to the tributes, here are some travel posters that they've been working on all month and made presentations this week. Coming up is Spain.

As you can see, they're fairly similar. I copied pages from an Atlas and then they embellished them. Here are some representing France, Brazil, Greece and Australia.

Only a couple chose Canada (it wasn't part of the textbook) so they got some stickers of mine to use.

It was the kids who chose America that I really enjoyed. All of them expressed a desire to "I want to eat Hamburger" or "I want to drink Cola".

The Statue of Liberty holding a hamburger and the guy bungee jumping down the Grand Canyon are my particular favourites.

Now let's bring on the tributes! The Grade Sixers at one school hadn't prepared anything so they wrote a farewell on a piece of paper after they'd performed their presentations. (In all fairness, I returned to that school twice afterwards so they had some reason to be ill-prepared.)

There were some highlights though.

One of the teachers felt bad about this so at the end of the day, the kids put together a Sayonara Sheet fresh with origami. 

The Grade 5s at the same school were on the ball and presented me with these really nice Autograph cards with each and every student mentioning an item that they like (one of the lessons.) I've shrunk it down cuz it takes too long to white-out all their names.

Now if they'd only used the English spelling of my name and not the French. C'est la Vie.

Another school prepared their send-offs in advance and I got an envelope full of cards that said pretty much the same thing with next to no English whatsoever. (It's the thought that counts.)

Today's school had indeed prepared in advance and since I had time to kill after the presentations, I asked them to draw a picture. This is what they came up with. First up the Sadako fans, honouring one of my more popular lessons.

Frozen, of course.

And then there were some portraits of me. I think they capture my essence quite succinctly. First beardless.

Just as a reference point, this is what I normally look like at school, though not necessarily wearing a mouse upon my head.

And my scruffy look as seen through the eyes of my students...

The last three are my favourites. My Charles Manson look, my happy look and the kid who wants to shank me!

Please before any grammarians weigh in, their spelling and grammar IS atrocious because, much to my chagrin, we are mandated to NOT teach them the basics.