Motivational Continuem

Back to the Sucker Flower Pot...
I decided to up the ante to include a sucker pull. Now when students do their best with great success, they get to choose and pull a sucker from the flower pot. But wait... there's more! (That was fun! :) ) Now when students pull a sucker, they look at the bottom of the sucker in search of a red dot.

When they've pulled the red dot sucker, they additionally get a "treasure chest prize".  Oh lucky day! To entice them further, I sometime color the bottoms of the suckers in front of them - this brings out a moment of extra goodness. Mixing the dotted suckers with the non-dotted and placing them into the pot. It just gets them ready to do their best all over again.


(I love my treasure chest. It's one of the first classroom items my husband ever built for me and was made even better by a student many years ago when he took it home, painted and decorated it. Thanks, Izzy!)

By the way, did you happen to notice the jar of marbles next to my red marker? If you don't have a glass jar in action yet, get one now. Use erasers, marbles, fuzzy little whatevers to fill it with when you have a reason to reward the class. When the marbles reach the top, celebrate as a class and try to fill it up all over again.

Hope you find joy and motivation for yourself! ~ The Farmer's Wife

She's Crafty

I've been busy. It's an extension of the Bucket List.

Celebrate and Motivate

Making a sucker flower pot. 

I use this for reward/ motivation. At the moment, whenever a student scores a 100% on their AR test, they can pull a sucker from the arrangement. Use it however you please. 

I simply used a flower pot, 

foam ball that will fit into the top of the pot, 

and a big bag of suckers. 

Just place the foam ball into the flower pot and instert the suckers into it. Start at the bottom and work your way up.

The Crayon Wreath

I found this idea on Pinterest and followed the pin to http://momspartycafe.blogspot.com 

This wreath is currently hanging on my classroom door. I'll be doing more with this wreath and door decoration in next week's blog.

Birthday Balloon Wreath

This idea was also found on my new love, Pinterest. I created it this week in honor of my parent's birthdays. I plan to hang it on my classroom door each time we have a birthday in the class.

This below came from The Finer Things (click on the photo to go to their page.)

Simply use a foam wreath. Using pins, attach balloons of your choice. I added a birthday ribbon to mine, How would you personalize this wreath?

You Were "Mint" to Succeed

It's testing time, and the nerves are sometimes getting the best of us. Help keep your kiddos cool with this time tested method. A mint. Decorating a jar is a great way to give a little pep talk without saying a word, but feel free to tell them "you were mint to succeed".

Lucky Charms

The completed Charms of Luck bags. These went to my daughter's second grade classroom for the first day of testing, but I'm also making them for my third graders on our first day.

I've also prepared various other candies for the kids with stickers of encouragement. Hang in their guys, you'll do great!

Don't forget to treat em' right any chance you get. What they'll remember most is how you made them feel.

 

 These Bird's Nest Cookies were made with  one bag of Chow Mien noodles and one bag of butterscotch morsels. Melt butterscotch in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Mix in noodles. Scoop out into piles and shape. Place candied eggs in the center of your nest. Above I used malt balls, below chocolate candies. I added marshmallow Peeps to help the eggs "nest". 

Good luck Keeping Your Classroom Creative!

~ The Farmer's Wife