Once again, Halloween Activity Night did not take place this year at my school in China. My absence made it a bit difficult to organize the event. I’m the one to fully get our English Association members signed up for all the different rooms, work closely with the club president to supervise volunteers, make the list of supplies, loan out my costume wardrobe and pull together all the permission that’s needed to do this on the campus. For 5 years, Halloween Activity Night was a hit among students, teachers and their families . . . .

. . . . until Covid stranded me here in January, 2020.

Last year, Covid restrictions in China didn’t allow such large gatherings and this year, I haven’t been present to get the ball rolling.

Also a shame is that my freshmen will not be getting those first lessons of introduction to the many traditions found in my American small-town culture surrounding October 31st. Nor will the second and third years be receiving more instruction about activities, vocabulary games and history points to share with their future students. October was always Halloween month in my classroom, with my graduated students often sending me pictures of what they were doing as novice teachers in their own schools to introduce Halloween culture to their pupils. Seeing them use some of my lesson ideas, then creatively add their own, was such a rewarding feeling.

So what’s a teacher stuck in America to do?

Lesson plan and prepare for next year!

Yes, I took full advantage of our Trick-or-Treat traditions here in my small town, which went into full swing on October 30th after last year’s community night was canceled due to Covid spreading concerns.

Getting Ready for Halloween:  Carving a Pumpkin

Let me share with you all my Youtube postings and WeChat send-offs to my Chinese friends, colleagues and students. There are several topics so let’s start with the first one: Carving a pumpkin, or Making the Jack-o-Lantern.

The Results?  A former Student Shares

One of my former students, Angel, made full use of the above videos by showing them to her class.   After that, they tried their skill at making Jack-o-Lanterns on their own.   The results are fantastic, as you can see. 

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The highlight of the night, of course, is Trick-or-Treating. Watch this space for what video offerings I posted this year and will be showing my students in Luzhou next year. There are a lot of them, so be ready to enjoy what’s coming next!