Top 5 things teacher's want for Christmas.

Teacher gifts are NEVER expected....EVER!

With that being said I am sure you do the same thing I do at this time of year and think- OMG what am I going to get her/him?!?!  Here are a few ideas that may be helpful!

Here is a list based on items I have received in my 10+ years as a teacher.  I always LOVED everything that came from my students.  Although my favorite were handmade items- but that's just me.

What NOT to get teachers....
1. candles- I have enough to light every room in my house continually from Christmas to New Years. They are pretty and smell divine but if I have to store it then I may not keep it.

2. Christmas knick nacks- Yes they are cute and sweet and that snowman is just darling but I have a whole tree of ornaments my children have made and probably enough to furnish another tree.

3. Homemade food- as yummy as the looked when you sent them to school is usually not how they looked after they made it out of the backpack.  Sometimes I was lucky and was able to salvage some items but most likely not.  Book bags get squished- it happens.  I had a student bring me a sheet cake in her backpack once......The back pack was on her back....upright.  Yeah, probably not a good idea unless brought in by a parent.  

4. Clothing- In particular pins! I have a ton in every imaginable shape and size.  Cute yes- storage- no.


What to get teachers...

1. New supplies:
Yes we are nerds.  That's why we are teachers.  We love new pencils, sticky notes, markers and YES! Mr. Sketchy markers! Buy in October when items are on clearance and fill a gift bag for your teachers.  They will LOVE you forever!

2. Gift Certificates:
Contrary to popular belief we do not live in the school.  We LOVE to go out to dinner or maybe for a surprise pedicure.  A GC for Barnes and Nobles is perfect! Just the right size.  Any coffee house GC is awesome too! One year my students gave me a GC for a local ice cream parlor- YUMMY! If the teacher has kids give them a GC for a place they can take their kids.  Free family time is awesome!

3. Handmade items:
 I LOVE handmade items from students or from their parents. Handmade scarf, lap quilt, mittens, hat.  I have even received a handmade doll from a parent who had a doll making business.  

4. ANYTHING with our name on it!:
I had a student make me a desk plate one year.  Thought it was the coolest thing ever.  The parent didn't think it took a lot of time but I LOVED it.

5. CHOCOLATE
That never gets old.  Yes.....chocolate.  We all need chocolate.

Craft room insanity!

You need what? ......When? .......oh boy!

That's usually how my crafting conversations go.  It's not because I can't figure out what to make or how to create it but my problem is just to the right of the front door.  The room that everyone pretty much ignores unless we have to make something.  The craft room.

Now my intentions are good.  I usually clean and organize this room right before Christmas on the one blessed snow day we usually get.  I tackle that room with 2 garbage bags and a boatload of Christmas songs.   Only this year, it's December 18th and we didn't have any snow days yet. (hence the Oh boy!)

My daughter's classroom teacher emailed me a few weeks ago asking if I could come up with a craft for their Christmas party.  If course, being the Krafty Teacherz I said yes and began my Pinterest search. I came across several awesome ideas (see Amazing-holiday-just-saying entry) and I decided to do the snowman finger prints.  I thought they were cool and something just a little unique (apparently the teacher's I work with did so too since I ended up seeing more of these snowmen than I ever thought possible)

Maybe it's me- As a mom I would LOVE to have ornaments  made by my child for every year they are in school.  As a teacher I barely had time for the curriculum never mind the "fun" stuff.  I didn't do a whole lot of crafts when I had a classroom and for that I give my deepest and sincerest apologies to not only my students but to their parents who were hoping for a little something sweet made from their little cherub and I dropped the ball.  I could think of a lot of excuses and many of them would apply but the truth of the matter is that I chose education over crafts.  I chose to work my little kiddos right up until the last bell of vacation.  don't get me wrong I did let them have holiday parties and birthday parties but for the most part I had to get the curriculum in.  I wish I did it differently.  I wish I'd let them have practice holding a scissors.  Even fourth graders have trouble with the grasp and accuracy of that hard-to-master-yet-looks-so-easy-tool.  I wish I gave them time to develop their creativity and was able to see their vision of the the world.  I know I must have done some classroom art projects with them but I just can't seem to remember.  I hope they do and I hope they liked whatever project it was.  

It took me a long time to realize how important this was.  My son was growing up during my first few years of teaching and somehow I didn't seem to notice the lack of trinkets.   His daycare sent home plenty of adorable ornaments and poems.  I don't know I missed not getting an ornament while he was in elementary school.  I just know that one day while my daughter was in Kindergarten I received her beautiful handcrafted ornament and I was shocked that it took me so long to realize what I had been missing.  Luckily we had moved to a new town after my daughter was born and the K and 1 teacher's both believed in making class ornaments.   When I received the email from the 2nd grade teacher I knew that I HAD to do an ornament.  She did not specify, but for me it was a definite.  We were doing an ornament...period.

Tomorrow is the big day.   I took a 1/2 day off from work because this is important.  Not that teaching my inner city kids is not, but, sometimes you need to put your family first and do what needs to be done.  I can't wait to see her excitement when I walk in the door.  Little doodlebug is going to be so excited that her Mama is in school and helping with this craft.  I have an awesome co-room mom who stepped in to help me and is totally on board with what we are creating.  I think she may even be more excited than I am!

I'll post the final result tomorrow but as for now please remember to take the time and do something with your students,  Something creative and fun.  They are learning so many skills and it gives you the opportunity to learn so much about their world.

As for my craft room....yeah it's still a mess.  Guess I'll have to do the same thing I did for Halloween- sew up some curtains and cover the entryway!    

8 more days and the Freak in the foyer will be gone for the year!

Yes 8 more days until I can finally go to bed without bolting upright thinking "Crap! I forgot to move the elf again!" THANK GOODNESS!

It's not that I don't like the elf.  He is cute in a pixie meets Kewpie kind of way.  It's the constant pressure of finding cool places for him to turn up.  Just moving to different spots would suffice but NO! Now friends are posting the tiny little devil in the "bathtub", going fishing for goldfish crackers and yes even taking a cruise with Barbie.

You would think that with having an pseudonym like Krafty I would have all sorts of ideas up my sleeve....well I don't.  I suck at this! Most nights I can barely remember to undress before bed never mind remember to move the demon leprechaun from ....(well you know).  I rely on looking at friends posts and copy their ideas from the night before and praying that their kid didn't tell my kid what theirs did.

Some ideas

<--- More ideas- I think this is the best?


In my attempt to alleviate some of this burden I recruited my older son to be the mover of the elf.  He had some great ideas but I would hardly think my daughter would enjoy seeing her precious elf wrapped in duct tape and surrounded by army men.  In a good attempt oldest child moved the elf and proceeded to open EVERY cabinet door.  Every door.  Youngest child was amazed! She thought it was the funniest thing since she the time caught her grandmother passing gas. (true story)  Well who ended up closing all those doors and drawers?  Not the weird-o in the red leotard that's for sure,

Well eight more days.  Eight more days until our funny little elf disappears and leaves behind a present for our family on Christmas eve- PJ's.  Now I can't complain about the PJ's.  Let me tell you know this tradition started....

On my eldest child's first Christmas I was so excited to have him open his presents.  Hubby surprised me with my first digital camera and It was perfect.  Little junior amazed at the Christmas tree.  In his 8 months he had never seen anything like it and playing with the packages was so much fun! Well hubby decided that he was NOT going to wear a T shirt or PJ's for the opening of gifts.  "That's silly- We are the only ones here- Who's gonna know that I am in my briefs"  Well sunshine, guess what...EVERYONE knows! Who do you think held my beautiful and happy baby boy as he tore open his gifts? Who showed him how to play with the toys as mom snapped a photo of every single moment of Christmas morning? Oh yes- Underwear Daddy!  Thank goodness for photo editing.  I wonder if I can photo shop the Sasquatch chest hair too?  

So now our friendly house elf leaves four beautifully decorated packages filled with brand new jammies for Christmas eve and all is good in our home...until next Thanksgiving.      

Observation Procrastination

What is wrong with me? Am I the only person who procrastinates every time I have an observation? I have a pre-observation phone meeting tonight with my principal and do I have anything set? NOPE!

I know what I am planning on doing with my kiddos and BELIEVE ME I am not resting on my laurels.  I have in my head what I want to do and by tomorrow night everything will be written out nice and pretty-like and all my papers will be copied and what needs to be laminated will be all set and ready to go.  (Thank you personal at home laminator I purchased on Amazon.com using my Ebates)

Then during the observation the small group I am working with will look at me in confusion.  (OMG!) I will think "Why don't they get it? Was I too fast? Are they bored and this is their bored look? Is this too easy?"  Eventually at some point I will end up switching gears and going in a completely different direction from intended lesson- leaving behind those beautifully laminated and hand colored cards.

Why do I leave it behind? Because my students NEED ME.  They need the real me that they know- not this Stepford teacher that doles out stickers like lollipops at the bank.  They need me to laugh, rumple their hair, and make the crazy faces I do when teaching my little cherubs.  This is how they learn.  In my stomach I will feel like I screwed up because I deviated from the lesson.  I'll think "oh Crap! Now i'll have to document WHY I deviated" but in the end my kiddos will win.  They will walk away from the group with a smile on their little faces and a few stickers.  I will have a sweat stain on my blouse and a pit of doom in my stomach.

Why does being observed have to be so gut-wrenching? Why can I create/publish my own blog, create quality teaching materials from scratch, and figure out how Adsense works yet I can't navigate Bloomboard?  I feel like such an idiot!  I know my stuff yet to get me to try and verbalize my thinking and I sound like porky pig on fast forward.

My hopes and prayers are that my boss gets it.  Fingers crossed that she is one of those awesome people that really and truly get how unique our position is and how thinking on our feet is a necessity. Lesson plans are a good guide but real teaching is student driven.  Sometimes that is forgotten.

Heading off to prepare SOMETHING for my phone call.  Wish me luck!

I have a second grader in Connecticut

Good evening.

On this night of 12-14-2014 I am cuddling with my daughter.  We cuddle together most nights but tonight is special.  You see, today was the second year anniversary of the second worst school shooting in America.  The only school shooting ever in Connecticut.  As she snuggles in closer and her kitty creeps onto the bed I am thinking of those children.  Those forever babies that will never be home to cuddle with their moms and kitty's again.

My daughter is in second grade.  Yes- the year of the Sandy Hook school shooting she was in Kindergarten.  Just like those babies.  Although we live 45 minutes away from Sandy Hook there are constant reminders.  The security guard posted in my school foyer, the classroom keys I am given because the doors are always locked and I need to get in somehow, the magnetic strips that cover the locking mechanism on the door.  All of these are small results of that fateful day.  

Someone very close to me was a first responder to Sandy Hook Elementary that day.  He was there before the children were removed from the school and stayed until the investigation was over.  Two years later and he still has a rough time processing what happened.

 It infuriates me whenever a new conspiracy theory is released regarding that day.  Stemming form initial reports made from ill informed news media outlets theorists think they KNOW what happened.  They know nothing.  They don't know what happened because as they publish their work of fiction from the "apartment" over their mamma's garage my friend was there physically on the grounds and in the melee of frantic parents praying for a glimpse of their child.  My friend has seen things that he can NEVER unsee.  Nightmares that are so real and unavoidable.  

No Sandy Hook was not a hoax.  We lost so many beautiful lives that day but thanks to the quick thinking of the principal and office staff so MANY more were saved.  God bless them all.  

Hug your kids a little closer tonight and even though they are giving you a rough time going to bed, (like mine is right now) count your blessings.  At least they are here and able to hug/kiss/snuggle.

Amazing Holiday & DIY classroom ornaments- Just saying!

Hey there! Again it's taking me way too long to post.  It's not because posting has not been on my mind but quite the opposite.  I have been so involved in our school's craft fair and now I'm on to obsessive over my classroom observation.  I have no idea why I thought it would be a great to schedule both within 7 days (actually withing 5 days) but apparently I am a glutton for punishment.  I guess maybe I could go for the sympathy vote??? Who knows.

Anyway- during this whole craft fair process I have become acquainted with so many cute ideas to do in the classroom.  I would LOVE to do all of these but being a travelling teacher I rarely have time for one craft a year.

The first little nugget I found is something that I am actually doing in my daughters classroom on Friday (yes can I squeeze one more thing in??)

Hand print snowman   

In an ideal world I would LOVE to do this! A variation would be to use magnets- Just something a little different.  

Bottlecap snowman

This cutie pie is made with dried glue! 

Glue snowman

Keeping this one a large photo because shortening it would not do it justice! 

snowman keys

All of these are so adorable and fairly easy to make.  I love being able to have students bring in items from home to make their craft.  It just shows them that a craft can be made from anything.  They don't have to make a special trip to the local big box store to make something cool.  

PS- As far as my awesome holiday- I HAVE to share that I have been starting to use Ebates and have been getting back $ hand over fist! Seriously.  Just got back $20. on my last shopping order.   Here is my referral link if you are interested.  Takes 10 seconds to sign up and you can shop at all your normal stores.  

Sign up for Ebates here!