'Tis the Season...(or Thank God for Pinterest!)
Yeah, so I couldn't decide on a title. I wanted to be festive, but I also wanted to show that Pinterest was my very good friend this week! I really love this time of year: having seasonal music playing in the mornings when the students come in; stressing the message of kindness throughout the day; asking students if they are spreading kindness or sadness; having a little extra social time with my colleagues!
Of course, as I mentioned last week, there is a higher level of energy this week, but it has been a pretty good week! The social studies project the students are working on with Mr. Daniels' class has been going pretty well (there have been a few hiccups with having 4 students collaboratively working in a Google Slide presentation...well, several actually, but who's counting :-) I think this has been a fun experience for the students, and I look forward to finding some more ways to join our classes.
But now, on to Pinterest! This Friday, we will be having a classroom celebration before leaving for the winter break. In the past, the 3rd grade classes have had a Polar Express Day. We would do some math and reading activities that correlate to the book, wear pajamas, have hot chocolate, and even have a special ticket for each student that we would punch when doing the different activities. However, we have been encouraged to put less stress on a Christmas-centric theme out of respect for those families who may not celebrate this holiday. So, Pinterest to the rescue! After some "research", I settled on more of a "snow" theme for our party. We will be playing a couple games: snow pong and snow bowling (both of which might just so happen to bring in a few math skills we are working on :-) We will also be decorating some stained glass snowflakes that we will use to beautify our windows. And what would be a party without a treat? The students will decorate a snowman sugar cookie to go along with some hot chocolate!
Snow pong will have the students bouncing ping-pong balls decorated with snowmen faces into cups (also with faces) with different point values. Students play 3 rounds and total up their scores. Snow bowling follows the same general idea as regular bowling, but this shouldn't cause any damage to my floor and walls :-) It was a bit of prep work, so I'm hoping the students will enjoy the party!
With this season of kindness, Pinterest has also helped me with a gift giving idea for the students' families. The students are making candle holders decorated with tissue paper and ribbons. Coincidentally, another one of my 3rd grade teammates is also doing the same gift (there is a very good chance that she talked about it during one of our team meetings and I wasn't being a good listener...).
Follow up to our kindness chain: our chain has tripled in size and is slowly making its way across the ceiling!
Mindfulness thought for the week (another shoutout to Tom J Deters and the ProYou podcast for this awesome visual that was posted on Facebook this week):
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Of course, as I mentioned last week, there is a higher level of energy this week, but it has been a pretty good week! The social studies project the students are working on with Mr. Daniels' class has been going pretty well (there have been a few hiccups with having 4 students collaboratively working in a Google Slide presentation...well, several actually, but who's counting :-) I think this has been a fun experience for the students, and I look forward to finding some more ways to join our classes.
But now, on to Pinterest! This Friday, we will be having a classroom celebration before leaving for the winter break. In the past, the 3rd grade classes have had a Polar Express Day. We would do some math and reading activities that correlate to the book, wear pajamas, have hot chocolate, and even have a special ticket for each student that we would punch when doing the different activities. However, we have been encouraged to put less stress on a Christmas-centric theme out of respect for those families who may not celebrate this holiday. So, Pinterest to the rescue! After some "research", I settled on more of a "snow" theme for our party. We will be playing a couple games: snow pong and snow bowling (both of which might just so happen to bring in a few math skills we are working on :-) We will also be decorating some stained glass snowflakes that we will use to beautify our windows. And what would be a party without a treat? The students will decorate a snowman sugar cookie to go along with some hot chocolate!
Snow pong will have the students bouncing ping-pong balls decorated with snowmen faces into cups (also with faces) with different point values. Students play 3 rounds and total up their scores. Snow bowling follows the same general idea as regular bowling, but this shouldn't cause any damage to my floor and walls :-) It was a bit of prep work, so I'm hoping the students will enjoy the party!
With this season of kindness, Pinterest has also helped me with a gift giving idea for the students' families. The students are making candle holders decorated with tissue paper and ribbons. Coincidentally, another one of my 3rd grade teammates is also doing the same gift (there is a very good chance that she talked about it during one of our team meetings and I wasn't being a good listener...).
Follow up to our kindness chain: our chain has tripled in size and is slowly making its way across the ceiling!
Mindfulness thought for the week (another shoutout to Tom J Deters and the ProYou podcast for this awesome visual that was posted on Facebook this week):
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
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