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The Most Humble Christmas List

12/15/2023

Lesson planning for the last week before Christmas Break is an obstacle course of candy cane hurdles and sugar rush spirals. After nearly a decade of teaching, I have learned to not attempt to control the "crazy train", but instead become the conductor and turn that “crazy train” into a “Polar Express”.

My students, who are ESL students, come from all over the globe and their holiday traditions are varied as they come from different religious and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, I used that last week before break as a "crash course" on the American traditions of the "Holidays' '. We talked about Santa Clause, Haunakka, Kwanzaa, Christmas Trees, Dreidels, and Gingerbread Houses.

My high schoolers were so engaged and eager to learn as they continue to learn and transition into their new culture. They were excited to learn new vocabulary, practice “Seasons’ Greetings”, and sing-along to Christmas music. Their childlike excitement inspired me to extend the lesson and include more activities that one would not consider “high school level”.

The first activity, I must admit, is extremely elementary, but something in me told me that my students would enjoy the activity…and that activity was, writing a letter to Santa. I printed out a gorgeous template and added additional scaffolding to support my ESL students (sentence frames, visuals, word banks). Then, I did a “live writing” in front of them in order to teach them proper formatting for a letter and how to make pleasantries before jumping straight into your “want list” for Santa. Once finishing my modeling I asked, “Ok, before we begin, who has done this before?” and to my surprise, not one of them had. I smiled and said, “How fun!”.

As I circled around the room helping with spelling and unknown vocabulary I saw all of my students being so attentive to every detail. I reflected back to my middle school teaching days and how many students at that age were so over the idea of Santa or any other whimsical idea or innocent fun and they would often scoff at an activity such as this. But, not these students. They indulged in the activity and I caught myself holding back some tears as I read their “wish list”. Their wants were so simple as many of them asked for chocolates, a teddy bear, and a new pair of shoes. There were no “IPhone 15s” on their list nor a new “Playstation 5”. Their lists were the most humble that I have seen in my ten years of teaching.

Those letters further inspired me to create some further classroom magic by buying some Gingerbread House making kits for the students to assemble on one of our last days together. None of my students had done this activity before and I shared with them that I hadn’t either as it’s not something that in my own culture that we do regularly! They were excited to share a “first experience” with me and they worked gingerly with their fragile supplies and built beautiful little homes without licking any frosting.

This last week before break was a special one. I enjoyed bringing some festive joy to my students who have endured so much already in their short lives. It was a pleasure to give them a space of childlike joy and celebration. We delighted in simplicity, ate the chocolates that they asked for from Santa, and enjoyed the community and friendship that we have built across cultures, religions, and languages.

Broke out my "Mrs. Claus" jumpsuit for the occasion.

My kids loved building their own Gingerbread House. They even refused to eat it, but instead carried it around as a prized possession.

A few of the finished houses. I love how detailed they got...down to the doorknob. lol

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Disco Balls and Dying Carnations

12/7/2023

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Aphrodite flags my mirror and sparkles in the sunlight.

David as a shepard boy, two birds, and a sleeping kitten flag the other side of my mirror. All three of these pieces were thrifted and I love them.

A wall of gifts and treasures.

Two of my newest items; both thrifted. I found this darling bear at an Estate sale.

Kilmt's "The Dancer" is new to my bedroom and I love how the disco ball casts light on her in the afternoon.

Green tassles added to my white bed canopy.

The top of my bookcase has become a sort of altar of all the things I love. Here is a glimpse of one corner. Can you spy my mom and dad's prom photo?

"The Light of the World" by C. B. Chambers. This piece of art captured my attention a little over ten years ago. I saw it for the first time hanging in my Spiritual Director's office while in the convent. I found this copy at the thrift store and he's been with me since.

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The Most Humble Christmas List

Disco Balls and Dying Carnations

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The Most Humble Christmas List

Disco Balls and Dying Carnations

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