So Long, Farewell

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching.  Yes, the time came to say goodbye to my adults.

I started the class in the same way I always did...asking them how they were feeling.  I have found this is a great way for students (both old and young) to practice conversational English in a natural setting, and it also allows me to get to know them better.  Several times students would talk about things they did outside of class, like line dancing, or discuss an achievement of their child’s.  Otherwise, the students would state an emotion, such as happy or angry, and we would have a little conversation as to why they were feeling that way. Yesterday was a little different in that the majority of my students stated they were feeling sad because class was ending.  Cue the sad music.

Anyways, I digress.  The class started off with a tinge of sadness, however, the moment was fleeting since we were learning about Christmas.  We played a nice game of Bingo (because who doesn't love a nice round of Bingo?) where they happened to learn about the fabulousness of a nutcracker (one of the tiles was a nutcracker).  My explanation was simply not doing it justice, so I had to pull up pictures and videos of a nutcracker so they could understand the purpose.  I think they were still a little confused but seemed to enjoy the idea of a fancy nut opener solely centered around Christmas.

After Bingo, I explained to them the joys of Christmas sweaters, both cute and ugly.   They then designed their own ugly sweaters and voted as a class (or that was the idea at least) on whose was the ugliest.  There was a nice mixture of gaudy cuteness, overwhelming holiday cheeriness, and plain ugly.  The plain ugly (a dirty sweater with holes and a weird face in the middle) won the contest.  To be fair, I was the only person who got to vote, so the results were a little skewed.

Once the activities were finished, it was time for the goodbyes.  I wrote each student a personalized note thanking them for being such good students and included personal anecdotes from the semester.  It was not much, but I could see how impactful it was for the adults.  One student even said she was going to keep it forever and frame it.  I always say the best kinds of teachers are those who actually get to know their students, such as by asking about their day or how their extracurricular activities are going.  I also received a few gifts in return.  I was gifted a lovely fruit cake, some clementines, and a handmade ornament.   I was instructed no less than 4 times to eat more rice cakes that one of my students had made (food really is the national love language here).  They were absolutely delicious, so I had no difficulty with this.  As a sidenote, the rice cakes were grilled and had a beautiful smokey flavor to them.  I also received countless “thank yous” and hugs from my students.  I even had one ask for a photo with me, just the two of us! The English they learned in my class may have been minimal, but it was obvious they had enjoyed themselves over the past 4 months, and that is all that matters to me.

I may have only been with them for one semester, but I did notice a great deal of growth in my students’ abilities, whether that be an increased language proficiency or confidence in their skills.  I will sincerely miss seeing them each Friday!

First 2 photos are from my last class. Last 3 are from various classes over the semester.