My Homemade Advent Calendar

So, I know I have yet to blog about Shanghai, but it has taken me the entire week to recover from the copious amounts of.....ummmm, water I drank on the weekend. Right. Anyways. This week my friend Adrienne sent me this amazing online advent calendar, it is super neat, and I showed it to my students.  I was pretty sure they were not as excited as I was about it, but I showed them anyways ;).  I also explained to them what and advent calendar was, well our version of it, where you get to open chocolates every day for the month of December, and that the 24th is an EXTRA large chocolate because it is Christmas Eve.  I told them that this was my first year without one because it is much to expensive to send one of those in the mail - although I know my Mom is dying knowing she cannot send one.

The next day (today), I come into class, and two of my students show up at my classroom door.  The class has made me a HOMEMADE Advent Calendar.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!! AMAZING!! AWESOME!! I'm pretty sure I had tears in my eyes.

Yes, it is backwards, my camera is broken, so I took it with my Mac Book...isn't this just AWESOME!

This isn't just any calendar, this calendar has notes from students in each of the days leading up to Christmas.  It also has chocolates, and if you notice, the 24th, is extra big with a SNICKERS bar!! Just when you think the students don't listen to what you are saying....
This, made my day, week, month.  I cannot describe how thoughtful this is, I have only opened one note so far, and you know what it said? 

"Ms. Killens, No matter what mood your in, no matter what kind of day you had, or where you are SMILE" ~ I hope you enjoy your first Christmas in China."

GAH!! They've hit me right in the heart these kids.  And I love it.

So, for all of those bad days, we know we have them, for the tests I have to write, for the exams coming up, the unit tests I will be marking, I will look at this calendar and remember that these students care, they are thoughtful, and they listen. I hope I can continue to do the same for them, because all we want in this world is to know that someone, somewhere is listening, and has heard what we have to say.