Doors, Doors and More Doors For Teacher Appreciation Week

Still looking for door decoration ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week?  Here are a few more ideas I dug up that were done at my school last year.  Honestly, the doors turn out to be masterpieces!  It's almost like looking at a large scrapbook page when you see some of the details!  I think it's safe to safe the teachers always feel very appreciated during the week!

The first picture was my door last year.  See what I mean?  Tons of work and details!  In case you are unable to read the message on the door, it says:  "The wind told the grasses, and the grasses told the trees.  The trees told the bushes, and the bushes told the bees.  The bees told the birds and the birds sang clear, Mrs. _______ is the best teacher of the year!" 

I don't care what you say; Cricut or no Cricut, cutting out all those letters and gluing them to the door would take FOREVER!  All of my students had their picture taken and placed either in a flower (at the bottom) or in an apple on the tree.  I must say, I was super impressed!!

"Mrs. __________ COOKS up great classroom fun!"

On the door are attached some small kitchen items with sayings. 

"Thanks for OPENING our minds and filling them with knowledge." - can opener

"You have showed us love and SERVED us well." - spatula

"Your RECIPE as a teacher wins the grand prize." - recipe cards

"Here's the SCOOP, you're the best! - ice cream scoop

"There's not a GRATEr teacher than you!" - small grater

"There's no way to MEASURE your influence in our lives." - measuring cups/spoons.

If you wanted to use this theme, I am sure you could come up more sayings, but those were the ones posted on this door.  Oh and yes, that is also a real apron hanging on the teacher on the door.  Way cute!

"Mrs. _________, we're NUTS about all you do for our school."  Various packages of nuts were them taped and glued all over the door.  With this phrase, it would be perfect if you needed to decorate a secretary's door.

 "Tweets and Twitters for Mr. _________ the cool guy."

The students were able to decorate a bird to attach with a special message of thanks for their teacher.

 "We aren't LION Mr. __________ is the PRIDE of our school."

If you happen to snap a few pictures of doors around your school and would like them to be featured, please send me an e-mail or leave me a comment.  I love to see the creativity going on in other schools!

Thirsty? Grab a Drink to Give as a Gift!

Since my last post included a pop bottle, I thought I would continue on with the pop theme.  Here are some more gift suggestions including pop (or soda, depending on where you live!)

First of all I have to send a shout out to one of my college friends, Adrianne, who is the author of Cog Works.  Not only did she provide you with FREE printables for parent volunteer gifts, but some of these could even be adapted to become a teacher thank you gift.  Thanks Adrianne for sharing!

Source: (Volunteer) Thank You Gifts

Make a tag that reads:  "My teacher is AWesome!"  and attach to the top of an A&W 6 pack or liter bottle.

Source:  My Mix of 6

"You're the apple of my eye" and other catchy sayings to attach to (non-pop)drinks from Darling Doodles.  Soda pop tags can also be found HERE.  Oh and can I just say, she has the greatest ideas for gift baskets for all occasions!?!  I will definitely be visiting her site the next time I am in need of giving a gift!!

Even though this next one isn't pop, it's close enough.  I wish I knew where this idea came from, but I found it on Pinterest without a link back to the source. :(  Let me know if you know where to find this idea so I can give credit.  Anyway, judging from the picture, I would say to fill a cello bag with lemon flavored items such as Minute Maid pink lemonade, Lemon Heads, lemon drops, crystal lite packets, lemonade flavored bubble gum, etc. and attach a tag saying: "When life hands you LEMONS, make lemonade!"

Sticky Pop

What a clever and useful teacher gift idea!  Sticky pop!

Take an empty, clean pop bottle and cut a slit down one side.  Stuff glue sticks and Easter grass (as filler) into the bottle.  Cover up the slit by wrapping a label around the pop bottle and you have yourself a simple teacher appreciation gift.

This great idea comes from The Organized Parent.

Here's another stuffed pop bottle idea from Cricut.  Think of all the fun things you could put inside!

I'm thinking about how much fun my kids would have giving something like this to their friends for their birthday or Christmas gifts!  Too cute.

Gifts (for coaches, secretaries and parent helpers)

Judging from the title of this post, I hope I haven't left anyone out!  Whew!  What a mouth full!!  In case you aren't aware, today is secretary appreciation day.  Don't worry I am posting this in the morning so you still have time to get something together.  This year I decided to make a class book for each of my elementary school's 2 secretaries.  The pages in the book say:  "I think you're a great secretary because you __________ ."  I was a little nervous of the first grader's responses! :)  Here are a few samples:

...are funny and really nice.

...give us cookies.

I also included a little treat (Skor candy bar) with a tag that read:  "Our school really SKORed when we got you for a secretary!"  My daughter who is in middle school wanted to take some to her school's secretaries too.  Nothing like showin' a little love!

My same daughter recently completed her basketball season.  The season lasted forever and her coaches were both super cute.  Both coaches are young moms and with the hours of time they spent coaching games, driving to games and attending practices, we wanted to do something to show how much we appreciated their willingness to help out.  I came across this teacher gift idea thru Simply Savvy, and decided to change it up a bit to make it more coach friendly.  A few changes in the words, and wa-la:

 I grabbed two clear plastic paint cans from Michael's craft store for $2.00 each and filled them with candy (as labeled on the tag). 
Last, but definitely not least, I made my parent volunteer some thank you gifts.  This idea comes from Event Trender.  Put a green apple and jar of homemade dip in a clear cello bag, add a tag and hopefully it gets the message across of just how much I have loved and appreciated my parent volunteers this year!

See?  I told you...amazing helpers...9 to be exact!

Recent Spelling Activities

I thought I would take a break from my teacher appreciation door decoration posts to fill you in on what spelling activities we have been working on in my first grade classroom.  Recently my grade covered the OU/OW words.  I grabbed this activity from Babbling Abby at The Inspired Apple.  Where do I start with her?  Her talents totally inspire me to become a better teacher!

My kids wrote an OU and an OW sentence and illustrated each (as seen above).  I made a cow and mouse poster, which are now displayed in my room for the students to refer to.  Later in the week, I had my kids write about a time they got an OWie.  Trust me when I say that EVERY child has a story about that!! 

The kids enjoyed writing their stories, but even more so, they loved illustrating their hurt bodies and putting a band-aid on their owies.  I am going to have to stock up on cute band-aids just for this writing activity!

I didn't use this "My ouch story" paper, but it definitely a cute one to use! 

You can grab a copy of the paper at What the Teacher Wants.

Here are a couple of Owie stories from my students:

 And here are all of them, proudly displayed on the hallway bulletin board.

I came across these perfect little posters (via Differentiation Station) to reinforce R-controlled words (OR, AR and IR/ER/UR).  This is just one of the 3 posters, so head on over to grab all 3 for your classroom.

I printed them out, backed them with construction paper (to add more color), laminated and have all 3 currently hanging in my classroom.  I can't tell you how often I see my students looking at these as a reminder of how to spell a word.
Last week our words were "double o" words.  As spelling practice one day, we used Froot Loops for the OO's. 

 You can grab your free copy from First Grade Wow.

I told the kids if they were able to all get 100% on our spelling test, we would celebrate by having a cOOkie & bOOk party! 

Put the word party with anything, and the kids get excited.  Apparently this trick worked, because EVERY SINGLE STUDENT got 100%!!  I was so proud of them!
I found these "You are one SMART cookie on TpT for $1.00 if you are interested, otherwise I am sure you could create your own little sign.

This time of year I find to be the hardest because the kids are all so ready for summer and things get a little crazy!  With that being said, this time of the year is also my FAVORITE as far as what my kids are capable of doing and what we teach.  I will be sad to let these cute kids go in a month, but for now we are still learning while squeezing a little fun in too!

To the BEARY best teacher!

Here are 2 examples of how you could incorporate bears to your teacher appreciation door.

"__________ is the BEARY best teacher!"

You could add the students' names to die cut bears or even a head shot of each student.  If you wanted to add a treat, you could glue on some cinnamon bears, gummy bears or even Teddy Grahams.

Fish Themed Doors For Teacher Appreciation

"Mrs. Moon's School is cool!"

Use die cut fish to write each student's name on.

This door is a little blurry, but it reads:

"We think you are the greatest!  From all your little fish in the sea."

This door involves the students.  They choose a fish to decorate as they wish and then it is added to the door.

"Thank you for helping us swim through the deep waters!"

Fishing for FUN!  This wall display, which could be adapted to a door, looks as though it was created for an office staff.  I love the 3-D fish suspended in the air!

"What a great catch!"

To be honest with you, I 'm not so sure about the phrase on this door, which reads:  "Little fish, big blue sea", but I LOVE the 3-D look of all the elements added.  Check out the sand bucket in the bottom left corner and the streamers that could be used as seaweed.  Super cute!

Extra, Extra, Great Teacher Appreciation Doors!

Keeping with the Teacher Appreciation Door theme, here are a couple of EXTRA ideas...sorry, bad joke!
We think you're EXTRA cool!  (Attach pieces of Extra gum to the door.  I love how there is tin foil on the top and bottom of the door to represent a piece of gum.)

Using the same EXTRA word, you could do a door that reads:

"Thank you for going the extra mile!"

Celebrating Volunteers and Teachers

As the end of school is right around the corner, two very important weeks are coming up: April 15^th starts National Volunteer Week in the U.S. and May 7^th starts Teacher Appreciation Week.  I'm pleased to share that my friends at VolunteerSpot.com are celebrating your good work with a
$500 Do Good sweepstakes and Starbucks gift card giveaway.　
You can win for yourself and for your favorite school! (Must be 18 to enter. Promotion is U.S. and Canada only.)　

About VolunteerSpot:

VolunteerSpot saves time (and stress) and makes it easy to organize teachers, parents and volunteers with
FREE online signup sheets and volunteer scheduling.

Save time and plan all your end-of school activities online (without frustrating reply-all email chains!)!

Simply organize

• Special events like field day, carnivals, and graduation　
• End-of-school parties
• Field trip chaperones and supplies
• Club tournaments, concessions and swim meets
• Library, recess, garden and cafeteria volunteers

With all you’ve got to do in the last few months of school – get more help with less stress from VolunteerSpot.
Don’t forget! Enter the VolunteerSpot Do Good Sweepstakes NOW for a chance to win Starbucks gifts for you and cash for your favorite school!

Happy Planning and Happy Volunteer & Teacher Appreciation Weeks!

Candy Themed Door Decorations

Holy cow!  Has a month already passed since I have been on here?!?  Yikes!  I guess that can only mean one thing...it must be spring!May 7 - 11 marks Teacher Appreciation week and since that is a little less than a month away, I thought I would start getting some ideas out there, starting with door decorations.  I will also be posting some gift ideas for parent volunteers and teachers in the weeks to come, so check back for more ideas!  For now though, the pictures of doors I have to share are from talented volunteers from my school or pictures that have been e-mailed to me.  If I have a source, I will make sure to include a link.  If you have a picture of a door that you have done or one from your school, and you would like it to be shared with others, please feel free to send me an e-mail too so that I may feature you! 

You're A Life Saver!  Tape or glue individually wrapped life savers to the door.

 Mrs./Mr. ________'s class are the flavors of the rainbow.  Attach rainbow circles to the door with a picture of each student inside of a circle.

 Many & Many Thanks! (M&M's)

 Thank you for helping us become SMARTIES!

Behavior Management

I have seen all kinds of creative ideas for classroom behavior and management, but ultimately I think the teacher has to decide what works best for them and their classroom.  For me, I always feel like around the holidays, things get the CRAZIEST!!  That's when I like to throw in a bit more motivation to be good.  Since Easter is about a month away, I decided to use the same idea that I came up with last year for my class.  I filled an Easter bucket with Easter eggs and as I see good behavior, I tell a child to come pick an egg.  Not only do they get to keep what's inside the egg, but also the egg itself (which for some of my kids is as good as the prize! LOL)  So what's inside the eggs?  All kinds of fun surprises.  Pretty much anything that will fit inside.  There are stretchy lizards, bouncy balls, tops, mini highlighters, sticky frogs, erasers, and an occasional token, which is part of our school wide behavior program.  Last year I also included eggs filled with candy, but I decided this year that since that get enough candy here and there, to leave that out.   

 Like I said, I like to change things up depending on the holiday.  For Halloween, I have a pumpkin patch.  Basically I stick die punched pumpkins on the side of my cabinet and tell a child to go pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch if I catch them being good.  On the other side of the pumpkin is written what the child has earned.  You could change the prizes for your kids based on the age and appropriateness of your classroom.  For me, I chose to write things such as:  1 piece of candy, 1 ticket (part of my weekly management system), 1 token, pick from the prize box, etc.  The kids go wild for this stuff and do just about anything to get noticed and get picked for behaving well.  Works like a charm.

So how about you?  What magic tricks do you use to keep your students working hard, even during the craziness that the holidays sometimes bring?

Cat In the Hat Day at School

Even though our school didn't celebrate the book The Cat in the Hat today, my class sure did!  As I mentioned before, our school has a teacher reader exchange.  Basically every teacher in the school (principal included) chooses a book to read to a group of 25 kids.  The book can be a Dr. Seuss book, but doesn't have to be.  The day before the exchange, the teachers take their students around the halls to sign up for a book to have read to them by another teacher.  The sign ups are posted either on the teacher's door or in the hall next to their room. 

Most teachers also include a photocopy of the book so the younger kids actually know what they're signing up for. :)  On the day of the swap, the teachers are to read the chosen book and possibly do an activity to fill up the 20 minutes.  This can be somewhat challenging considering we are entertaining a group of students varying in ages from kindergarten - 6th grade, but regardless it is always fun.
Last year I read the story Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon and passed out fun sized (waterMELON flavored) Laffy Taffy candies.  I felt these went well with the story because of the MELON part, but also in this book the grandmother tells Molly Lou Melon to "Smile big and the world will smile right alongside you."  And as we know, jokes (like the ones on Laffy Taffy) make everyone smile!
This year I decided to read a book I think is great fun too...Diary of a Worm.  Seriously makes me laugh!  I thought about giving out gummy worms or doing some activity to tie it together with the book, but ultimately I went with a Dr. Seuss idea.  We made these Cat in the Hat snacks (as suggested on my prior post).

The kids really enjoyed making them, but loved eating them even more!  I had to of course make them with my own students when  they returned to class!
The other part of this Cat in the Hat day came when one of the teachers on my team offered to let me borrow her how-to draw the Cat in the Hat DVD.  I'm not really sure where the DVD came from to refer it to you, but if you would like to teach your kiddos how to draw the cat too, I did come across this step-by-step tutorial you could follow from Fairy Dust Teaching.  What you'll need to complete this art project is:  white card stock or (12 x 18) construction paper, like what we used, and red & black markers (Sharpies).  And the result will be something a little like these cute buggers my firsties created.

They were so proud of their work, and they had great reason to be!  Aren't they the cutest things ever!?!
The last thing we did was to add a Cats In Hats poem to our poetry notebooks.

As always, we read the poem as a class and looked for rhyming words to highlight.  I try to add a poem a week to these notebooks, most of which I got from Just 4 Teachers to go along with our reading program Treasures.  Every once in a while I throw in a poem that goes along with something else we are studying, holidays, etc.  Pair the poem with a Cat in the Hat coloring page and we were set.

Hope your Dr. Seuss week is going well so far!