Because...
...I get to wear a Chinese tunic for the first time ever.
...I see kids from all over the world dressed in beautiful, colourful Chinese outfits.
...I make dumplings (another first).
...I can say "Happy Chinese New Year" in Chinese. (Guo Nian Fa Cai everyone!)
...I do calligraphy.
...My husband does calligraphy and writes our names better than a Chinese (!!!).
...I hear kids tell Chinese stories like a pro.
...I watch the Lion Dance.
...I watch the Dragon Dance.
...I learn a lot.
...My Indian student gives me an Indian dress for his birthday. :)

Some of my Grade 2 students were thinking and wondering today about endangered animals. They came across this picture. Their thoughts and wonders turned into a poem. 

I see water.
I see bears.
I see melted ice.
I think the bears are stuck.
I think more ice is going to melt.
I think the ice will crash.
I wonder if the polar bears are sad.
I wonder if the polar bears feel lonely.
I wonder if the polar bears are yelling 
for help 
in their own 
language.

Loved it! 

Same Grade 1 ESL student (yes, the one with hands like a water sometimes) comes into the class and sees the board filled with writing (we had been brainstorming in the morning). 

Him (in awe): "Wow! Much writing! Good brain!"
Me (slightly blushing): "Who, me?"
Him (shaking his head in disbelief): "Noooo, the students!" Then he gets an idea: "You can drink some chocolate milk. Makes the brain better. Mix and think!" 
Me: ?!?!?!?

I was helping one of my Grade 1 students today to colour a picture (while trying to teach him some English in between) and he was struggling to hold the pencil properly. It kept slipping off his tiny sweaty hand. 

Me: "Hold it tight. It won't slide anymore."
Him: "It's like a water. All time my hand is hot. But all people have hands like a water sometimes..."

Oh, yes, we do... We all have hands like a water sometimes...

The presentation below represents the visual support for the workshop "Teaching with Kids' Needs in Mind" which I created as a follow up (and final exam) to the Special Education course within the MEd International Teaching @ Framingham State University. I got an A+ for it. :)