Embrace [the Now]

What we've been learning: I have always wanted to teach The Great Gatsby. It was one of my favorite novels in high school, but unfortunately I have never had the opportunity. My love for the 1920s came out during my US History unit on the time period.

We started off learning about how they talked during that time period. I printed off a list of jazz age vocabulary. First, the boys drew illustrations for six of the terms. They loved doing this and even included a comic strip story in some of them and hidden messages for readers to discover. I love it when they take my ideas and make them ten times better.

Then, they wrote dialogues using ten of the vocabulary words and presented them in class.

They did research about the positives and negatives of the time period. They looked up information separatley and then came together to make a poster with the positives and negatives of the time period.

The boys presented their poster and vocabulary drawings to the girls, because we had a big 1920s murder mystery party to end the unit.

In December my family did a similar party for New Year's Eve. We used Shot in the Dark Mysteries to purchase the package. Christin and I bought a similar one set in the 1920s.

We spent all Tuesday night this week decorating the apartment and getting treats for the evening.

Wednesday was the big party day. Everyone showed up in costumes, and we had an awesome time taking pictures and trying to figure out who killed Dahlia. We also spoke like they did in the 1920s. "Who bumped off the dumb dora?" Photo credit for these pictures below to the lovely Helina.

Making history come alive will help my students to never forget what they learned. How are you making textbooks burst to life?

Con mucho amor.

Where I've been: Just like last year, I flew to Costa Rica during Semana Santa. This year was extra special, though, because my parents and sister joined me there. By the grace of God, Krysta and I had the same week of spring break. We decided to take advantage of the awesome coincidence and show mom and dad around Costa Rica. It was a busy week, but such a blessing that we got to spend it together exploring a country I love.

San Ramon: Our first stop was San Ramon, the town where my host family lives. We got to spend time with the teacher I helped back in 2012. Her name is Cristina, and she even brought her new baby. It was so fun to catch up and see her. While we were waiting for her, we explored the central park and got my favorite Cosechas milkshakes and smoothies.

We ate dinner at my host family's house, and it was such a dream for my real family to meet my Costa Rican family.

I also got to bring my parents to my church in San Ramon. I was trying to translate the sermon, and my parent's got to see a baptism.

After church we went to my friend Lucy's house with KFC for lunch. It was a nice time laughing and sharing with people I love.

Arenal: We spent our first day at the volcano hiking around the national park and the hanging bridges park. It is very humid in the rain forest. We were sweating bullets as we adventured through the parks. We didn't get to see much wildlife except for a few snakes and lizards. I kept asking the park maintenance people if they had seen any sloths or monkeys that day, but no one had.

Flat Stanley also joined us on our journey. This is the second time I've gotten Flat Stanley. We found this mini replica of the hanging bridges that was just his size!

Although the trees and forest were beautiful, my favorite part was soaking in the hot springs. My first and third trip to Costa Rica I went to "hot springs," but they weren't very warm. This pool was huge, and it felt so lovely. My mom, dad, and sister said it was too warm, but I could have spent another few days floating in the warm water.

We got to see some amazing wildlife on our way from Arenal to Tamarindo. Although it was a long drive, it was one of my favorite parts of the week. It made me realize the beauty in Costa Rica.

Tamarindo: Unfortunately we picked the busiest and craziest week of the year to travel in Costa Rica. Most of the beaches were so crowded, but we went to Bahia de los Piratas, a beach my host brother has taken me to several times.

We spent lots of time walking around the town, eating yummy food, and relaxing in the condo.

Monte Verde: This was my first real time in Monteverde, and I loved it. I wished we had spent more time here. The weather was much cooler than the 90+ degree heat in Tamarindo. We stayed at an amazing lodge with beautiful gardens and hammocks.

We also did ziplining in Monteverde. It was my fifth time doing ziplining, and this one was the craziest and most intense. We had to hike up a mountain and two of the lines we were hooked up on our backs. It was one of the most terrifying things I have ever done. There was also a tarzan swing, which I did not think I would do. I got suited up just to check and see, but before I knew it the door was open and I was free falling. My throat hurt so much from screaming, but I guess God knew I needed to work on taking some steps of faith.

San Jose: My sister studied abroad in Costa Rica for a month, and she still keeps in contact with one of the girls from her program. On my parent's last night we attempted to go to the National Theater and a market, but everything was closed for Semana Santa. We ended up going to a little coffee shop and talking with her.