Pic o' the Day #17

Celebrating Christmas with freshman Class 8.

Every year, we have a few traditions. Every student get a strip of colored paper. They write one thing they want to hold onto from this year and one thing they are looking forward to in the coming year. If they want, students read these to the class and then they are joined together into a paper chain. Every year the chain begins with a piece from the previous year. That way, our memories and dreams are not only tied together with each other's ,but they are connected with prior Christmases as well as future ones.

This tradition started for me when I had no ornaments for my tree in the early 90s. I loved the look of paper chains and have watched the tradition grow to include many friends over the years.

At Christmas, we also do a gift exchange and sing 12 Days of Christmas. For the song, I separate the class into four groups. Group 1 has the first day of Christmas, Group 2 has day 2, etc. First, we listen to, I think John Denver and the Muppets. Then we all sing the song. There is a twist. When it's your group's time to sing, you must stand up. By the 12th day, students are bouncing up and down. And everyone gets up for "5 Goooolllldddden Rings"

It's a nice way to end the term and loosen students up before the exam.