In my defense, December is a crazy (but wonderful!) month for me. First of all, I am a teacher and it is December:
So there's that.
Also in December, I have my birthday (a big one this year). Here is a pic from my birthday dinner:
I may be biased, but he is so handsome isn't he?? :)
Our anniversary is also in December, as well as the holidays (and holiday parties) of course! So while it is busy, I am loving it....I am thinking we could rename it 'Spoil Danielle Month' possibly? Seems to be a more accurate name ;)
Anyway, back to something remotely teaching related....since we have been up to so much since I have blogged, I decided I will split this into 2 posts. This one will be mainly about my main December classroom management and engagement strategy: Our elf!
I LOVE having a classroom elf for a couple reasons--one being it is just plain fun. I have heard some teachers don't like the idea of a 'naughty elf'. My response to that is our elf is not 'naughty', he is more 'silly'. He does things like sleeps in a tissue box, takes a bubble bath (in mini marshmallows), builds a Christmas tree with unifix cubes, etc. He also sometimes brings us things such as books or festive pencils. So nothing naughty, just something fun for the students to look forward to finding each day. Any time they are engaged and having fun, they are way more motivated to 'work' and learn!
The first thing we do is write a letter to Santa asking him if we could have an elf for our classroom. These are so sweet!
Just as evidence of what I was saying about student interest and engagement being key to motivating them, below is one of my MOST reluctant writers. He has no interest in writing time, and even in December it is still like pulling teeth getting him to write any letters/words--I am lucky if I can get a picture that is not just a scribble.
Do you see all that writing???? With no help from me! All of a sudden he had a purpose (motivation) for writing and he was ALL about it! He wanted Santa to give us that elf! :)
Next, our elf arrives in a very special package. I have our secretary or nurse bring it down in the morning as if it just got delivered. He comes with a special note from Santa explaining all we need to know to take care of our special elf.
My kiddos voted to name him 'Magic' this year. Each day we came in, we found what silly Magic had done today and wrote about it in our Elf Adventures Journal. You can download the journal for free by clicking on the picture below. Once again, their writing is awesome because they love it!
Next, our elf arrives in a very special package. I have our secretary or nurse bring it down in the morning as if it just got delivered. He comes with a special note from Santa explaining all we need to know to take care of our special elf.
My kiddos voted to name him 'Magic' this year. Each day we came in, we found what silly Magic had done today and wrote about it in our Elf Adventures Journal. You can download the journal for free by clicking on the picture below. Once again, their writing is awesome because they love it!
This is when he made a 'snow angel' in our glitter.
And as for behavior management, Magic works wonders!! I constantly remind them he is watching. And every morning he leaves a few notes on the desks of students that he thinks had extra special behavior the day before.
These are like magic! They will work SO hard to get a note from the elf the next day!
All of these items and lots more are part of my Elf Adventures Pack. Click on the image to check it out. It is so much fun!!
Whew that was a lot for now! I had a feeling I would need 2 posts for everything!! I will be back with December Part 2 shortly!!
