teacher appreciation gift

this can be used as a teacher appreciation week gift

or a thank you gift for the end of the year...

whatever you are looking for.

such a simple idea, but i think it makes a huge impact.

nathan took a terra cotta planter,

some fabric scraps (from my stash),

mod podge,

paint brush

he cut the fabric scraps into smaller strips

and then mod podged them to the planter.

easy, peasy.....but a wee bit (ok, a huge bit) messy.

next he transplanted a pretty purple petunia into the pot.

it came out adorable.

he also made a card for his teacher.

he bought a pack of "extra" gum.

and wrote on the inside of the card

"thanks for making this year 'extra' special"

and taped the pack of gum to his card.

he also took a cupcake and placed it into a small jar that he bought at the dollar store.

the whole gift came out so cute and sweet.

he was pretty darn proud of himself....

as well he should be.

i think he teacher appreciated the sweet gesture.

(i know i would have).

hand print tree for teacher appreciation week

another fun thing that my co-teacher and i did this semester

was work with the students to create a really awesome surprise for their teacher.

while their teacher was on vacation, my co-teacher and i planned to help the students

surprise their teacher during teacher appreciation week.

the students had a blast with this little project.

and it was so much fun for us as well.

we made a hand print tree and then added some super fun

and cute extra details that really made this project awesome.

i took used brown paper from a roll and painted a tree without leaves

then i added some green paint for grass and painted the words

"thank you miss sheets for helping us grow!"

i brought some paints and paint brushes from home

and had the students paint their hands and place them on the tree

(for the leaves).

we also had the kids sign their names by their hand prints.

my co teacher and i also put our hand prints on there (because, 

the teacher taught us a lot this semester and was such a wonderful mentor teacher to us -

we said she helped us grow too).

then we made flower petals and asked the students to write

one thing that they loved about miss sheets.

their answers were so sweet.

(again, my co teacher and i each wrote something too).

mine said "you are awesome!!"

we glued the petals together and made flowers out of them and attached them to stems

then glued them to the bottom with the grass.

these came out so sweet....i think i loved it more than the tree....but it's a close call ;)

next i took some blue paper and made some clouds

and yellow paper for a sun

we wrote

"happy teacher appreciation week...may 4-8, 2015"

and the room and grade on them.

all the teachers that walked up and down the hall that day commented on how

great it was and how surprised she would be when she came back from vacation

and saw it.

i was actually subbing about a week later when she saw me

and told me how much she appreciated and loved it.

me with our handiwork.

sometimes all it takes to make someone feel appreciated 

is a little smile, a note of thanks, a card, or a sweet (sincere) compliment.

why not make someone's day a little brighter?

i swear it will make you feel a little happier as well.

art using recycled newspaper

this art lesson was taught by my co-teacher this semester.

we were discussing earth day with the students.

my co-teacher read them a book about trees and recycling paper to help save trees.
then she handed each of the students a sheet of recycled newspaper.

she requested only that the students make a tree (because we talked about them), after that she said they could use their imaginations.

once they had their pictures cut out and glued to the paper, they colored them with markers.

the cool thing was you could still see the print from the paper through the marker.

each student again showed how creative they were.  they all made trees and then several of them cut out other things, like cars (from the advertisements), a picnic table, etc.

the finished craft was awesome
and perfect for earth day.

earth men (cute earth day craft)

this semester i had the opportunity to work with a great

first grade class.  i was assigned to work with a sweet little girl

who is struggling a bit with her reading skills
(i will share the strategies I used with her in future posts).

while in the classroom, we had certain activities that we had to do for a grade.

one of those activities was called "large group instruction"

which basically meant we had to work with the whole class.

my co-teacher and i decided to do earth day activities because the

assignment was due the same week as earth day.

i'm sharing my activity today

i will share my co-teacher's activity in a different post.

all you need to make these little guys are:

blue circles (about the size of a paper plate)

small white circles (two per man)

small black circles (three per man)

hand and shoe cut outs (found online, but i can't remember where - sorry)

red yarn

black and green construction paper

tear the green construction paper into little bits of scraps and glue them to the blue circle.
glue the white circles and then the small black circles on top of the white circles for eyes
glue another small black circle for the nose.
glue the red yarn for the mouth

next, cut the black construction paper into about one inch wide strips.
fold the strips of black paper in a zigzag, accordion fold.
glue the black strips to the back of the blue circles.
color and cut the hands and shoes
then glue them to the other end of the black strips.

you can leave the black strips unfolded if you like.
you can also leave the hands and shoes white.

this little earth man is one cool dude with a mohawk 'haircut'

this one is a girl with a cute little bow on her head.

this one had its hands on top of its head and was made to look like it was walking on its hands.

a moustache!

a cowboy with a beard.

the possibilities are endless...

these were really fun to make

and the kids had a blast putting their own creativity into them.

we also enjoyed quite a few rounds of earth day bingo.

such a fun day (not only for the kids, but for me and my co-teacher as well).

paper plates + paint + ziploc bags = butterflies

 Pretty Swirly Butterflies

all you need is:

paint

paper plates

ziploc bags

craft sticks

black construction paper

pick a few shades of paint

and put a dollop or so on the paper plate

then put the paper plate into a storage size ziploc bag

have the kids spread or "finger" paint the plate.

all the fun, without the huge mess.

for a bonus, kids can practice writing their letters in the paint as they mix the colors together.

try not to smear the colors all together - the paint will turn brown and not be as colorful.

take the plate out of the bag and set it aside to dry.

you should use a different bag per plate.

using black construction paper, trace and cut some bodies.

when the paint dries

cut the paper plates into cute butterfly shapes.

glue on the body

also glue a craft stick to the back of the butterfly

i recently made these with a pre - k class that i was subbing.

the kids loved them

and the butterflies came out super cute!

you can use this same method with a multitude of crafts.

it was so much fun

(i even made one)

did ya miss me?

i'm back.....

i'm finally done with the semester.

most of it was fun, but it was

long and a lot of work.

i had to write numerous lesson plans,

raise a virtual child (for my psych class),

write papers - tons and tons of papers,

do field work (which means going to

elementary schools and working with children),

and so much more.

it kept me quite busy.

and if that wasn't enough...i still worked as a sub

with head start and pre - k counts.

and run my kids here, there, and everywhere

there were days when i felt like i never sat down.

i think i read so much that my eyes would pop out of my head.

but you know what...as much as i love complaining

and being overly dramatic -

i truly did love it all.

it wasn't easy, but it's been worth it.

and here's little look of what we've been up to....

i was awarded as a presidential scholar for my academic success

see all that hard work did pay off - hehehe. 

my motley crew....who cheered for me - literally - as i walked across the stage
to accept my award.

"go mommy!"

then it was zach and sarah's turn to shine....

they were inducted into the national honor society.

proud momma moment

not to be left out...

nicholas and nathan both won first place trophies for playing darts.

me teaching first grade....fun times!

nathan started playing baseball again.

oh yeah, i almost forgot....

i turned 43 {gulp}

 the hubs bought me these beauties

and these too.

i think nathan pretty much sums it all up.

until next time!


*fyi...you can keep up with my family via instagram  @charlenejuliani