Warm Fuzzies

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in case you didn't know. :) Every six months my church holds a meeting called General Conference up in Salt Lake City. This conference is broad casted worldwide. Today the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, gave a talk about service. He mentioned a great idea that a group of children carried out. The children were challenged to carry out acts of service that would give them "warm fuzzies" in their hearts. Every time the children accomplished this task they got to place a "warm fuzzy" ball (aka craft pom-pom) into a large jar. In no time the children had filled the large jar and became addicted to service. I think I'm going to try giving this ingenious idea a try in my home and classroom. After all, don't we all need more "warm fuzzies" in our lives?

Wall Mural

Last year my principal granted me permission to paint a mural in the hallway outside of my classroom. I was hoping that if I painted I would not ever, ever, ever have to move classrooms again. My mom came and helped me. My idea was country field meets a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom/Seasonal tree of sorts. We painted the rolling hills and ground a green with polka-dots and stripes to add interest. The tree is all brown, with black detail... it looks like a bare tree. We cut out leaves from a variety of green papers, crunched and folded them too. I die cut the alphabet in a variety of styles then stapled the leaves and ABC's on top of the tree branches. It's fun. If I'm feeling ambitious I have the kids design fall leaves and post them up in the fall. I take all the leaves off for winter, add some for spring, and deck it out again for summer.

Library Basket

The librarian at my school is one smart gal. She provides us with a basket to store the children's library books. The children check the books out then put them in the basket when they're finished with them. On library day I have 2 children carry the basket to the library. The librarian returns the basket that day and the cycle goes on. It's smart, isn't it?

Lunch Bin

Here is a photo of where I keep the children's lunches. The children put their lunches in the bin first thing in the morning. When it is time for lunch I have 2 students carry the bin up to the cafeteria. When the children get to the cafeteria they retrieve their lunch from the bin. Simple and easy! Oh, I got the bin at Target.