city at night

city at night

Monday, August 31, 2020

Teaching Memories

Does anyone here remember the ditto machines (properly called "spirit duplicators") that teachers used back in the 70s to run off worksheets and tests? 

As I was cleaning out my attic I came upon a notebook filled with "spirit masters" that I used in my early years of teaching Spanish at the junior high level.  After years of sitting in a hot attic, the masters have bled together, but I couldn't resist tearing a few out of the notebook, taking photos of them, and sharing them with you.  I admit immodestly that I was rather impressed with the amount of time that I took drawing these pictures.


Now, after a lot more experience and traveling, I see some mistakes or words that I might have taught differently.  For example, galoshes (wow! that's an old-fashioned word I don't think anyone uses anymore) are "chanclos", not "chanclas".  A "chancla", at least in Mexico, is a flip-flop or slipper.  Also, in Mexico the word for glasses is "lentes" instead of "gafas".  ("Gafas" are more commonly used in Spain.) In Mexico a jacket is more commonly called a "chamarra" rather than a "chaqueta".



I could have added a few more words here, such as "codo" (elbow) and "rodilla" (knee).


These pictures really gave me a chuckle.  I certainly wasn't lacking in imagination


Look at some of these characters!



I think the cook was a disciple of Julia Child... "and let's add a little more wine."


There is a lot of detail in this picture!


I still had the worksheet that went along with this picture.  There were a whole bunch of questions such as "Who is dancing?", "Who is singing?" and "Who is the movie star?"

Get a load of that movie star!



I also found a worksheet that I used to use when we were studying food vocabulary.  It was called "La Carta Loca"... The Crazy Menu.  The students had to find the words that did not belong on the restaurant menu.  For example...

Jugo de naranja
Pan
Dos huevos con pulgas
Té o Café

(Orange juice
Bread
Two eggs with fleas
Tea or Coffee)

***

Sopa de cejas
Hamburguesa
Papas fritas
Helado con frutas

(Eyebrow soup
Hamburger
French fries
Ice cream with fruit)

***

Arroz con pollo
Ensalada de frutas
Esponjas
Batido de lágrimas

(Chicken and rice
Fruit salad
Sponges
Milkshake of tears)


😀 Buen provecho... Bon Appetit 😀 



3 comments:

  1. Those drawings are terrific! I especially like Eva. If you had ever gotten tired of teaching, you could have fallen back on a career as an illustrator.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Meredith. I rather doubt that I could have found a job as an illustrator since I never had an art class in either high school or college.

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    2. That just makes your skills even more impressive!

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