What do paper cranes have to do with English class?
Ihad completely forgotten about the quart-size glass jar that held a colorful assortment of paper and foil artwork. My 2-year-old granddaughter had unearthed it from a pile of things cluttering my office – books, folders, knickknacks – things that I needed to shelve or put away after my retirement from teaching. When Samantha brought the jar to me, I relived a wonderful teaching moment I had enjoyed. This jar had been a gift from one of the 6,000 students I had taught in my 35-year career. It had mysteriously appeared on my desk a few weeks after I had taught a literacy activity to my senior English classes. I had copied a page from a book telling how to make origami animals, and my students were to follow the directions provided. The catch was that the directions were in Japanese, and not one of my students was fluent in the language. Immediately, I was flooded with loud protests. How could they be expected to succeed, much less understand something with incomprehensible directions? W
