things were really busy at work in november, all of it building up to a big exhibition we had on december 1st. this year our school's designated official focus is on english, so there was a bit of pressure on us to put something good together. we ended up with a huge wall display where each class had its own poster focusing on a specific theme with it all tie together as one big english neighborhood. we were also videotaped teaching one lesson and played that on a loop on a big television. somehow the final product maybe wasn't as impressive as we'd hoped, but it sure was a lot of work and i think we were proud of ourselves just that we completed it as we'd envisioned.

i like the girl's hair and overall was happy with how it turned out. here's a better look.

the exhibition wasn't just for english, all the individual classes and specialty subjects had various projects on display for the parents who came to see.

as well as these displays, there was also a long program of performances by all the classes and different singing and music classes in the auditorium. because the lunch room was occupied with all the projects, rather than have a regular lunch, instead we all had 김밥 (kimbap), which can most easily be described as korean sushi, but without raw fish. it's a staple for picnics or any situation where you'd take a bagged lunch along. in order to make all the roles to feed the whole school, some of the mothers came in and had an assembly line going in the kitchen.

after lunch it was time for the performances, some of which were hilarious

the best part was when the two boys in the center spun their arms around building up imaginary power, and then shot it towards the other kids, who all dramatically fell to the ground. hilarious!

you have to know the two students (donna and steve) featured in this picture to appreciate just how great this is. they're basically the most boisterous boy and girl i have in fifth grade, and i'm sure they just hated being partnered together, which of course is why i enjoyed it so much. all year the fifth graders have been dealing with the fact that the boys and girls are starting to like each other, but they don't know how to deal with it (usually it's by fighting with one another). so throwing them in to dance with one another was just too funny.