I'm Obseussed!!

I've been having so much fun in the classroom lately I havent had much time to blog at all!  My apologies!!  But I'm going to make it up to all of you loyal blog followers by posting some great ideas for everything and anything Dr. Seuss. 

Each month in our class we focus on a different author.  Dr. Suess is not only great for beginner readers but the theme can be integrated into all different areas of the curriculum.  This past Friday we even had a party and invited parents to come and play with Oobleck, read stories, play games and see the showcase of the students work, ohhh... and of course enjoy some delicious snacks. 

Easy Cat in the Hat Snacks- icing, oreo, and red candies

Beyond Zebra inspiration for making a sentence using the after Z alphabet

Our Green Eggs

Fox in Socks Game

Thing One and Two

Learning about Adjectives with the book My Many Coloured Days

Barthelemew and Oobleck inspired- corn starch, water and food colouring

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue fish with fish candies for graphing.

Best Christmas Gift Ever...

I am very fortunate to have generous parents in the schools I have worked in.  Over the years I have been given Gift Cards varying from $20-$200, Swarovski Crystal Ornaments, Cooking Items, Chocolates, Candles, Body Lotion, Cd's, Movies, Books, Mugs, Journals, Pens, Lunch Bags, Water Bottles, Jewelry, Booze, Homemade Treats, amoung many others.  For every bought and made item I am truly grateful and treasure each thoughtful gift. 

The last two years I have started a new tradition that not only benefits my current students, but future ones as well.  I put up a Giving Wreath on my classroom door, it has tags that have an item and its price.  I put items from $5.00-$50.00 of items that would benefit the classroom.  The parents and students enjoy choosing an item and buying it for the class in lieu of a present for myself.  I find this gives parents a sense of relieve when they see the suggestion as then they dont have to rack their brains for a gift for the teacher.  By no means are parents obligated to purchase anything from the wreath its nearly a suggestion if they wish.

Priceless

Glue sticks for the year $89.00,

construction paper $54.00,

stickers $28.00

Changed lives of children... Priceless



Classroom Money

I have used a classroom money system in my class in the past. It was definetly a learning experience... 

Here is a list of what I did...
1. I printed off different coloured and quantity bills.
2.  The children sewed their own wallets
3. We learned about money, currency and place value. 
4.  I explained to the children that if they meet all the expectations for the week they would receive $1, if they didn't they would only receive .50cents.
5.  Every Friday I would give out the appropriate amounts to each child and they would either save it for the "store opening" or could put it into a bucket.  The buckets was used to collect money the children wanted to donate towards a classroom party or special priveledge. 
6. Every month I would open the Classroom Store which had items priced. (My rule of thumb was, if it cost me $2 it would cost them $2).  The children would then spend their money or could save it for another month to purchase a more expensive item like a book. 

Things that went wrong...
1.  Some children were bringing items in from their home and selling for Classroom Bucks to other students
2.  Some children were stealing Classroom Bucks from other childrens wallets
3.  Some children were not motivated by the system
4.  Some children always donated their money to the bucket and therefore didnt have any more left to purchase items from the Classroom Store.
5. Some children never donated their money to the bucket and yet still benefited.
6.  It ended up costing me over $300 for the year to run. 

The infamous "F" word

Since I teach a primary grade, its bound to happen one day, someone brings the "F" word into the classroom. When I first heard a student say " I know a really bad word that starts with "F"  I jumped right in, saying " if you know some inappropriate word, please do not share with others,  if you choose to do so, I will have to speak with your mother and the princpal" .  End of story, or so I thought.  Nope, the very next day (after warning his mother he may or may not know the actual word I am thinking of) I hear him saying,     "I cant tell you the word, cause the FRIZ will get mad, but Ill tell you on the weekend".  Of course the kids are curious, and he finally gives in and says "okay, okay its F....A.....R.....T!  hahah I had a good laugh and took a sigh of a relief.  Its not a word I neccesary want in the classroom but definetly better than I was assuming.

The children in my class also refer to the "S" word as some sinister word.  It being Stupid!  Which yes, not a great word to use, there are lots of other adjectives you could use to describe learning all the names of Europes countries, or the use of cheap glue from Dollarama, but this being said its atleast its not worst "S" word there is.  Gotta love the younger grades for their innocence!! 

Freaky, Frightening, and Fun

Personally I love Halloween.  Its always mayhem in the classroom during the day.  The kids are excited about the party, there is lost and broken costumes, teachers paranoia about too much sugar, and lots of crafts, games and spooky music.  Here is my infamous Witches Brew recipe...

I bottle of Orange Fanta,  4 scoops Vanilla Icecream, plastic flies or spiders (optional), and of course the cauldron!!  They love it.  Have a Safe and Enjoyable Halloween

Keeping with the Times

Okay I feel that I'm a pretty cool teacher and try to keep up with the times...

I know who Optimus Prime and Yoda are.
I always have toys, books and kid stuff in my car.
I know how to make Bakugans rip,
and love a good field trip.

At Halloween I give out tasty treats,
and often play Bob Marley beats.
We watch spooky movies
and make some delicious orange smoothies

I have all the best toys,
and gross, funny books for boys
I play soccer at recess,
and dont get crazy when theres a mess. 

But there are some things I just cant take...
I mean they dont have to take their DSI everywhere for goodness sake....
And what about these Skecher shoes,
I mean they are full of colours, sparkles, lights, I'm surprised they dont report the news. 

Some kids lunches are so full of junk
and don't even try to give me attitude punk!
But at the end of the day you have to be with the times
and be able to spit out the rhymes!!