Good-Bye Bastian

It was a tough day for the students of Room 308 today as we said goodbye to one of our classmates. Bastian left for Germany this evening, where he will be returning to his home town, and some old friends, at a new school there. It was something we all knew was coming, but that did not make it any easier for us to say farewell, as he was not going to be someone we might still see around on weekends or at the mall. However, thanks to the internet I am sure that we will still be able to keep in touch with Bastian in the future. Bastian came to our class quite worried about what school might be like in Canada. He, and his parents, told me that those first days in the fall were the scariest ones for him because he spoke almost no English, and his worry was that he would be excluded and treated badly. They were all thrilled with the reception that our class, and our community, gave Bastian. Much of his success here has to do with Bastian's great attitude, hardworking approach, and outgoing nature, but credit has to be given to the students in our class for how accomodating they were for him. They went out of their way to make him feel welcome, from the first students who shared their knowledge of Germany, to those who looked up or learned German words to share with him. It was a great experience for us all, and really rewarding to see how far he came with his grasp of English during the seven months he spent with us. Today we presented him with a scrapbook of photos and messages for him to take back home from Canada, and we had a Canada themed celebration. Thanks to Claudia, and her mom, we had a Canadian flag to give him as a going away gift, on which all of the students signed their names and left best wishes for him. It was a great event for us as a class, and one that, though sad, will stand out as amongst the most memorable days of the year. Thanks to everyone who sent in treats for the celebration, and extra big thanks to our pancake chef Carolyn Phillips. On another note...we have been exploring poetry in class, through song, among other approaches. We were taking some inspiration from an online, world music phenomenon called 'playing for change', so I thought I would include the link here so more of their songs could be seen. The ones we watched were One Love, and Stand By Me. It is inspirational music done in a very modern, and engaging way. Check it out http://playingforchange.com/ On the topic of our Biographies, we have worked on the rough copies of a few components of our books this week. We looked at the copyright page, and the author's page, and today we started writing the Origin's chapter of our biographies. The writing process will take place in class over the coming weeks, with the completion of unfinished chapters to be all that is done at home at this point. A checklist for assessment will be coming home to help guide the process once we have moved past the rough draft stage. Stay posted for more info regarding this project. Regards, Ray