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Pedo...

This week's topic for Cuéntanos is "El momento más embarazoso de mi vida..."

Naturally I started it all of, although I won't reveal it here, it involves the work pedo. As the students walked in, they were greeted with the sounds of Ely Guerra, but on the board it said pedo=fart. Of course that caused a whole flurry of chatter and they were instantly desperate to know what my story would and began speculating. I told them the whole story in Spanish using actions at times to help with understanding and many were surprised they were actually able to understand the entire thing. I made it simple enough that they all actually laughed at a story I told in Spanish. For my class, that was a major accomplishment and I was so happy that they we were able to engage in that way. 

On another note, I found this via Pinterest and being very familiar with the nuances from Spanish spoken in Mexico, I quickly realised that I was very aware of all of these expressions. I don't think these are widely used in all the other Spanish speaking countries, but I may be mistaken. 

Nonetheless, it is entertaining.

¿Cómo se dice pen en español?

El Pretérito de la Clase

Every year around this time I end up teaching the Pretérito to my Grade 11 Spanish class, and amongst the various practice exercises, I customise one every year called the Pretérito de la Clase.
It is simply a series of sentences that reflect each one of the students in the class, be it their personality, an activity I know they are interested, basically anything that I can use to help identify them and set them apart from the rest. I write up each sentence, leaving out the name of the student and a blank where they conjugate the given verb. The pieces are cut up and stuck around the room.
Here is a snapshot of what the exercise looks like prior to cutting.

Each numbered sentence is put up in no particular order around the room. They must go around and copy the sentence, conjugate the verb in the Pretérito and figure out who I am describing. It was fun to see their reactions to information I put up about them. Some were shocked that I would knew all that about all the students, but I have my ears open at all times listening to what they are saying even if it seems like I'm not paying attention. They must forget all the talks we have daily and how much they actually tell me, or maybe they don't expect me to remember, but I do. 

Here are my students in action.