Service Project Idea & Super Bowl Sale

Hello all of you wonderful teachers, parents, and followers! I am having a hard time believing that it is already Super Bowl Sunday and the first weekend in February. Where did January go!?

Speaking of February...what better subject than Valentine's Day. Instead of having Valentine's Day parties in our school, we do something a little different. It is suggested that each class in our building completes a service project that the counselors determine. Don't get me wrong...we still exchange Valentines and do some fun educational activities. But I love the idea of the service project as it teaches responsibility and kindness. Sometimes I feel the kiddos do not experience completing an act of paying it forward in school as much as they could. Anyways, in the past, some projects we have completed is writing letters to men and women in the military and collecting shoes to help make water in Haiti.

Since the week of February 10-14th is known as "Random Act of Kindness" (RAK) week, we are going to have our kiddos complete a board where they complete random acts of kindness throughout the week. Click here to download the FREE Random Acts of Kindness board. (A blank board is included, which you could use for your students to fill in RAK ideas of their own.)

I am going to have incentives for my students who complete so many boxes within the board. For example, if my students fill out 1-5 boxes, then they will receive a ticket (Refer to the
Back to School Sale & Some Free Classroom post for more information about the ticket incentive I do within my classroom). If my students fill out 6-10 boxes within the week, I will give my students a piece of candy from the candy jar. If my students fill out all 16 boxes, then they will get to spin the class wheel, which contains even more prizes, such as a night of free homework, sit by a friend for a day, etc.

Click Here for more ideas on how to incorporate more RAK ideas in the classroom.

ALSO, DON'T MISS OUT!! For a limited time, Amy, Shelley, and I have a TOUCHDOWN of a deal going on in honor of it being Super Bowl Sunday!! Visit our stores to check out the AMAZING deals, especially my Game Day: Addition & Subtraction math game my kiddos love to play during football season!

What does your school do for Valentine's Day? Have you ever completed a school wide Service Project? If so, I would love to know what your school did.

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to follow us on Bloglovin'! :) Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

By the way...GO BRONCOS!! One of the players was from Wentzville (the school district I work in), so it is hard for me not to root for the Broncos. Also, who doesn't love Peyton Manning!? :)

Let's Spread Some Happiness

     Hello darlings!  We have all spent the weekend with our minds in shock and our hearts broken over the recent events at Sandy Hook.  It could have been any of us and any of our schools.  It should have been none, but sadly, we live in a fallen world and tragedy is a part of it.  All we can do is mourn and try to comfort others.  In times like these, our country draws together, as we remember that through all of our differences, we are all the same.  We are human and we love.  We love deeply.  I pray that you and your family can find peace and strength for the coming weeks, but that you will not forget.  If I have learned anything with my own brother's tragic death, it is that the world moves on.  In a few weeks, we won't hear about Sandy Hook on the news any more, but those families will still be suffering.  Please continue to send your prayers to them.

    I know when I go back into school today, I am going to hug each and every one of my 24 children.  They are like my own kids, and I just want them to feel safe and loved.

     So, let's spread some happiness around.  I recently posted about our RACKs from last year.  Well here are some pics of what we did this year for our Random Acts of Classroom Kindness.  It is not too late to start!

We made festive pencils for a second grade class. (and we sharpened them!)

We helped some Kindergartners at recess tie their shoes.

 We cleaned the cafeteria for the custodians after all lunches were over.

I thought my kiddos would complain about it, but they LOVED it and they were even fighting over the brooms!

We gave some read aloud books to come 5th grade classes.

 We gave a Geyser Tube to a 4th grade class.

We also helped kindergartners with math and played a math game with them.

So spread a little love.
Love,

RACKS: Random Acts of Classroom Kindness

Hello darlings!  Last year, I came across some Random Acts of Kindness ideas on Pinterest.  I know lots of teachers are now taking that idea and doing it with their classrooms.  My kiddos absolutely LOVED being sneaky and performing R.A.C.K.S around the school!  (Random Acts of CLASSROOM Kindness).  I am super excited to get started this year and make it even better!

Here are just a few of the ideas from last year....

We gave hand warmers to our recess monitors!

We gave a few packs of flashcards and a game to a classroom.

We made fun pencils with pipe cleaners and bells for a classroom.

We gave a read aloud book to a class.

We gave a teacher some treats.

We helped the school secretary sort teacher mail

I teach the importance of giving to my kiddos and stress to them that we give to others because it is the right thing to do and it makes us feel good inside.  We do not give to have someone say thank you.  In fact, we try to be anonymous as much as possible.  We don't want people to know it is us!

I made a different version this year that you can download for free.  It is done in Word so you can edit it as well.  I ONLY ask that if you download it, you COMMENT with at least one idea for a RACK!  Let's help each other!

Happy RACKing!