Thriving in EFL

It’s been actually 9 years that I have worked at this school, but with a break in between.

This year has been the toughest for me at different levels.
My mom passed away in 2021, then my brother last December, and my dad this January.
Even though I believe I will see them again someday, it did affect my wellbeing.

Even before that, I had been struggling with some mental health issues.

Long story short, due to my mental health I had asked the primary principal and the English coordinator to give me just one group this year; and they granted it to me. But then, in mid September, they decided it was a good idea to give me another group of a different grade.

You have no idea what an internal battle was unleashed inside me. Add in my family’s passings and the students’ behavior…

That’s why I haven’t posted in here.

After months of struggle, anger, resentment, and therapy, I finally (and just recently) realized there was no point in holding the grudge. That simple change of mind was liberating.

It’s been 24 years of teaching for me. I just wanted to post a little something about it today, that is Teacher’s Day in Mexico.

In the pictures: the school’s acknowledgement that I have worked there for 6 years and a beautiful silver coin, and some of my Teacher’s Day gifts.

If you’ve read this far, I really appreciate it! 💕 Hope you are doing well!

“You must read the text, write the number of the question, and write only the answer.”
“You mustn’t do any other kind of thing.”

This is the second time we worked on reading around the room (although it was actually outside the room ☺️).

This time it worked out way better than the first one, around Thanksgiving Day.

I told the kiddos I knew they could behave and carry out the activity correctly. Gladly they did today.

Last time they were pushing each other around and some of them were even shouting to each other.

We tried again; it worked. We have to teach them, not just the curriculum, but social and life skills.

😊💕

When kids, their parents, and your teacher partner celebrate your birthday.

My desk full of creative cards.

The classroom decorated.

Kids behaving better than usual.

Hugs.

Gifts.

“Happy Birthday” song sung three times in a day.

And when a “you are a really good teacher, don’t forget that” message lifts you up.

Grateful for these moments.

I’m feeling overjoyed with these first verbs quizzes!!!

I used to teach verbs with an alphabetically ordered list. But you might guess what a mess that was.

Today, with the first verbs quiz done in this school year, I’ve seen much better results!

31 out of 33 kids passed the test!
Most of them understood the verb forms.
And this just by giving them the verbs ordered by groups. For example: this week it was: “past with a; past participle with u”.

Awesome!

Today is Mexico’s Independence Celebration Day! 🇲🇽

Yesterday at school we had a celebration with a Flag ceremony; during recess people sold quesadillas (tortilla filled with cheese), esquites (boiled corn kernels), and churros (a kind of a long stick-bread covered with sugar). We played Lotería (a kind of Bingo).

A friend lent me this dress, typical from Michoacán, a state in Mexico. Many teachers and students wore something Mexican.

I didn’t have the chance to celebrate it last year, so it was nice. 😊

Teacher friends! Join Jenn from starting August 14th for her free, cameo program ”Finding Your Student Engagement Formula Challenge". She teaches the four keys to student engagement (part of her signature “Student Engagement Framework”) and will help you create a lesson plan for the first day of school using those keys.

To join, visit studentcentereworld.com/formula

Better late than never!

St. Valentine’s Day bulletin board display.

Photo 1: I like how the display looked like stained glass.

Photo 2: Zoom in.

Photo 3: I liked how this student thought of a different way to decorate it.

Hearts by

Time for another TpT Sitewide sale!

I just uploaded a new product: Irregular Verbs Presentation with photos.
It's a way to introduce students to these kind of verbs with an image which shows their meaning.
All the verb's forms are included: present (singular and plural persons), present participle, past, and past participle.
Also, there's an example sentence included. Check it out at the link in my bio.

If you've read this far, thank you. I have a little something for you: a TpT card gift.
To enter the giveaway you must be a current follower, and please answer the following question in the comments section of this post:
What do you wish I could make for your EFL/ELL elementary class?
I will send out the card tomorrow evening (Feb. 8th).

Thank you so much!!

My mom passed away recently.

That, and the fact that hybrid teaching is terribly hard, are the two reasons why I´ve been so quiet lately.

It's true, isn't it? We usually speak such kind and lovely words at a funeral... but we should tell them at birthday parties.

Anytime, actually.
Even if that means feeling awkward and seeming awkward to others.

I have been telling everyone who is meaningful to me that I love them.
You never know when you can't tell them anymore.

And yes, let's show it, too.