B.C.E.

Yes, that's right. Yesterday I taught the Best Class Ever. But before explaining, I am so excited to welcome Uncle Gary to the Team! It is better late than never, Uncle Gary!

Uncle Gary, my dad's brother, wrote a wonderful memory about Dad in the post Thinking about Dad. (So did my mom, Aunt Maxine, and Uncle Raye.) It was so touching to read his words and I'm incredibly grateful for his participation. The forum is still open so please write any memories you have of my Dad. I look forward to the chance of getting to know him better everyday.

So, back to the Best Class Ever, which will be known as B.C.E. from now on. I had been struggling with the Jaguares, the oldest group in Las Mangas. Attendance has dwindled and interest almost lost. They are 17 year olds, so that is understandable. They are thinking about more important things like graduating high school, their boyfriends/girlfriends, and what's going on in the world. (Really!) I wanted to enliven them a bit and bring some reality back into English class.

To start the B.C.E., I chatted them up in Spanish, asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up. Sarai wanted to be an artist, Lidia a professor, and Erika a lawyer - a girl after my own heart. I reviewed question words (who, what, where, when, why, how, and which) and then laid out the assignment. FAUX INTERVIEWS for their future careers! (Genius!)

Each girl was going to write 5 questions for another student in class and act as their interviewer. The other student plus me were the "board" of the company and would ask peripheral questions and help make the final decision: Will she get the job?

We set up the class like a proper conference room and had each interviewee take her turn entering, introducing herself, and answering some tough questions from her peers, like:

• Why is it important for the world to have lawyers?
• What is your favorite class to teach?
• Why do you want to be an artist?

And a couple doozies from me:

• Would you defend a murderer?
• If you had no materials to paint, what would you use?
• What is more important - creativity or always being right?

Each interviewee answered a total of 8 questions, all in English! After we escorted them out of the room, we decided as a team whether or not we would offer her the job. Of course, all girls were hired! I was so proud of them! They even told me how much fun they had in class today.

Tcha! Best Class Ever! High five!