Going Local Before Going Global

As the school year progresses, I have tried to instill an interest among my students for the cultures of the world. It seems that most of them are only interested in the world at home, so I borrowed an idea from a fellow teacher and decided to create interest in the local with hopes to approach the global by the end of the school year; thus, I introduced Fantastic Felix to my classes.

Felix is a class mascot, and some of the students have really taken to him. He appears in blogs that my students are creating about their personal culture. Felix is a true Neville Tiger, and he has been seen at football games, basketball games, and the cafeteria. He has created an instant connection for the students, and they are having fun sharing him on their blogs.

While I could hope for a bit more writing in their blogs, it is good to see students interested in at least one of our class assignments. They are even looking at other students' work and commenting on the things they write. He hasn't been a total success, but if just one student develops his/her writing ability, then he has done his job.

Felix with Daphne and Pickle at Thanksgiving.