Adam Chiocca shares and blogs here.

Happy Halloween! This is a silly holiday in which kids dress up as super heroes, villains, cartoon and movie characters and such. My own boys will be: (1) Bumblebee, the Transformer; and (2) Mario, from Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo video games). What I like to teach in ELL (ESL) is that there are certain traditions that happen (at least in New England, USA), but they may not be nice, and I always recommend that you not partake. You see... as an ELL Teacher, I just want students to know and be aware of what's going on around them. For example, on Halloween night, you may see that eggs have been thrown all over the side of a car. You may also see toilet paper in someone's trees and bushes. These should not even be called traditions, but more appropriately pranks. Naughty kids may throw raw eggs on things like cars, so that when the owner comes out the next day, he/ she finds dried egg on his/ her car; which, by the way, is very hard to clean off. Thus, it's a prank. Toilet pa...

What is the MEPA? Well... it's the Massashusetts English Proficiency Assessment... and I like to call it the "MCAS for ELL." Basically, it is the major assessment for all ELL students in Massachusetts. All ELL students take this test, as well as the MELA-O (Mass. English Language Assessment - Oral) in the Spring, but new students who did not take the Spring MEPA need to take the Fall MEPA. So... it should all start this October 18th, 2010. Please leave a comment. Thanks, Mr. Chiocca