Linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching with my 5 for Friday/Saturday and Head Over Heels for her Motivational Linky
Random Moments of my Week
#1 Smores Cones
Yesterday my class camped out. Our treat was creating a Solar Oven Smores Cone. Last year we made Solar Ovens using pizza boxes - and quite honestly everything was just warm, the wind kept taking off with the boxes, and the marshmallows turned hard. This year I needed something simpler and less messy.
Each kid got a sandwich sized bag with 14 mini marshmallows and a tablespoon of chocolate chips. I scooped these on Thursday night so it was easier to pass out. I was pleasantly surprised how one bag of mini marshmallows and one bag of chocolate chips fed all my students - we made 36 bags total.
In class on Friday I gave them each a bag, about a 9 inch piece of foil, and a sugar ice cream cone. They poured the bag out onto their foil and then layered the yumminess inside the cone. Then they carefully wrapped their cones in foil and stuck their foil cones inside their sandwich bag. They labeled their sandwich bags with sharpie, and handed them to me.
I have these plastic tubs in my classroom - about 18 inches by 12 inches. I lined 2 of them with foil, stuck the bags inside, and then covered them with another sheet of foil. We stuck them out on our ramp at 8:40 am, and after lunch at 12:20 the marshmallows had turned deliciously warm and gooey, and the chocolate had melted to bring it all together. The kids devoured them.
I'm sure a little extra time would have made it even more cohesive, but I didn't have more time with the minimum day. I love minimum days.
#2 Motivation :)
Motivation comes in all shapes and sizes, and I wanted to mention something relatively simple - Helpers :)
My class jobs include everyone in my classroom every single week. I am a believer that a student needs to feel responsible in the classroom, taking ownership of the classroom, and how it runs. I used to be a hog (aka control freak) and not share the responsibilities with the kids, but then realized that there were many many jobs they can do, and feel proud of themselves in the process. I take jobs seriously.
Here's my list of jobs - maybe you've seen me mention them before. I have 32 kids in my classroom, so I have 1 Star of the week (lights, phone, line leader, rocking chair sitter), 4 helpers (odds & end needs, paper stampers, sometimes passing out things), 4 papers (passing papers, checking off names, sometimes stampers), 2 doors (open/hold/close), 10 lunch baskets (2 per day carrying the basket), 4 agenda stampers (checking homework written correctly in the afternoons), 4 clean ups (giving fairy notes to extra clean desks), and 3 librarians (making sure our classroom library stays organized for everyone.)
At the end of the week - Friday's to be exact - we have a gigantic Paper Passing Out Party where EVERYONE has to help. The kids get a stack of stuff from the basket, and then pass them out to the correct desks. Everyone has to help, they are everyone's papers - so even if they don't want to, they still take that responsibility.
#3 Pizza
Just a random thought - how many of you also have Friday pizza nights? My family does every single week... 2 pizzas out of the freezer - one cheese, one pepperoni. Then we hunker down for a movie night. Pizza is on my brain since I just called Costco to order pizza for our pizza party next Tuesday...
#4 Teachers Care for Oklahoma
I am honored to help out with this bundle pack. My Algebraic Equations task cards are somewhere in there. :) Go donate!
#5 Pet Rocks
Like I mentioned, yesterday was camping day. I love camping day. I decided to do things a little different than last year though with the art projects. I picked up 2 bags of small decorative rocks at the Dollar Tree and gave my students a choice of 3 paints. They got to create any kind of animal they wanted. They got into it, and these were some of the results. I think they looked so good!
Hope you have a great day!
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