Survival

For many teachers the beginning of June signals "Survival Mode" as we see the end of the school year quickly approaching.

As I work to shut down our library by collecting, shelving, and inventorying all of the books, I am also looking for meaningful projects that the children can do on the computers. What I've been working on last week and this are "Thank You" books for their teachers. Each child makes a page and then we bind them all together into a book for the classroom teacher. These have been such a big hit!

I spend a bit of time getting the kids to focus on specific ways that their teacher has helped them this year so they don't all write how "nice" their teacher is to them. I also try not to help with spelling during this activity so it is an authentic piece of writing. Hence, we get things like, "You are the beast!" or "Thanks for teaching me regroping" or "You are the best tether." And really, the child who thanks her teacher for teaching her how to spell, and mispelling every word in the sentence! These are priceless.

If you'd like to see some examples of this project, click here.

So, as we survive during the next week or so, know that I'll be back soon with lots of ideas to keep you thinking over the summer as we plan for another successful school year together!

Take care,

Kathy Cothran

"The Original Gadget Girl"