An update on the situation

Of course, it's been so long since my previous update that I forgot blogger uploads pictures in reverse order. I'm too lazy to reorder all of them so let's just do this reverse chronologically. The majority of this post has to do with the seniors graduating in just a few days. My advisees are seniors so I've got a little of the mother hen letting the babes out of the nest syndrome going on here. Let's just get on with the pictures and I'll wax philosophically later.

The advisor group together for the last time (during advisor group anyway). I have to give credit where it's due here. Notice that each kid holds an animal. Well, I had been considering some sort of gift to give the kids when they leave. Buying gifts in Mussoorie sucks because a lot of the shops sell a lot of the same things and once you've been in one you've seen all the others. So when I was visiting the cousins in Malaysia this winter Jess really wanted me to make stuffed toys with her and the girls. I've been out of it for a while but she motivated me enough to do it and I was inspired to make one for each of my kids when I got back to India in February.

M with her "cuddle"-fish. The others were remarking how the tentacles remind them of her hair. I told them she was mysterious and intelligent like the cuttlefish. And, like the cuttlefish can change colours (see pics below) M takes on various different roles in and out of school.

N receiving her long-legged fox. She's sly and clever much like the animal. Little does she know though that the legs are made from a pair of underpants gifted to me this Christmas.

D with her bear. A quiet, studious and fashionable bear (I mean c'mon, it's wearing argyle).

A with his striped tiger. A noble creature able to blend in and fade into the background but when it stands out it can really take your breath away. A has been seen around school three days after the fact still carrying the tiger to each class.

True to form J shows up ten minutes late to the meeting to get his sloth.

Which of my advisees is calloused, scaly and mean but still manages to be undeniably cuddly? T of course.

B was very perplexed by the event in general and especially by the fact that I made him a bunny wearing skinny pants and suspenders.

Other N got a cowboy frog inspired by her rowdy and rambunctious personality. Little did I know that she would choose to go to Nevada in the coming months.

Easily the most obvious animal. M got a panda wearing a pink dress. There is little I can say to describe M to you if you don't already know her. Suffice to say that she is a personable, caring and wonderful person. A panda in a pink dress suits her perfectly.

The kids were very confused as to why there was a bunch of animals on my desk that morning until Other N counted out 9 of the toys and 9 of them. I teach for those kinds of "A-ha!" moments.

On to some other close ups:

Rawr!

T's t-rex.

The colour-changing process.

With graduation looming on us the class flag was unveiled on Saturday at a special tea. The class name 'Luminescence' is on the bottom and the class animal, the phoenix, is in the foreground. It looks a little wrinkled only because the whole thing was quilted in a sort of fiery pattern.

From my last advisor night. I told the kids to get dressed up and meet me for dinner. I did not tell them where we were going and I ended up taking them to one of the more posh places in town where you (usuallly) don't run into other Woodstockers, Kasmanda Palace. I say 'usually' because it was the school chaplain and his wife's anniversary the same day. I remarked when we saw them leave for dinner that it would be embarrassing if we ended up in the same place. Lo and behold that when we stepped into the dining room there they were and I certainly got red (how unlike me). It was fine though. We went out onto the terrace and they got our group buffet rate.

I also did a reprise of my chemistry lab with the wee ones. Less explosive than last time I had more hands on activities for the kids this time. We made slime, oobleck and watched a few science videos. Fun was had by all.

And so thus my time at Woodstock is slowly winding to an end. My AP kids took their exam and I'm fairly certain a majority of them will do well on them. Since I still have them for a few weeks I've decided to do labs and I think I may now be regretting it. An entire day of labs is more stressful, I dare say, than being locked in a cage with a bear on rollerskates (wait, am I on rollerskates or the bear?). Now do that for a whole week. Let's just say that I think some of these kids are more suitable for online simulations and thought experiments. I can only deal with so much broken glass on a daily basis.

So yeah, don't expect me to get emotional about leaving. I'll miss the kids and I've learned a lot of things in my time here but it is time for me to personally and professionally move on to new things but I will not forget where it was I got my start.