Room Parents Blog

Enchanted Learning

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:18:52 GMT

Chock full of ideas

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/

Class Parties – Resources

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:52:31 GMT

Make Your Own Bingo Cards DLTK’s Crafts for Kids has some good craft ideas, but it has a wonderful make your own custom bingo cards section. You can choose the size of the board, the theme and even replace some of the pictures with words such as the teacher’s name or kids’ names. Kids like bingo, and it is even more fun if you have a little "thanks for playing" prize – lollipop or sticker.

http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo/bingo1.asp

Kaboose

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:48:30 GMT

This site is a little cluttered, but scroll down to the Craft Finder box that lets you specify the theme, age, amount of time available to search for crafts.

http://www.kaboose.com

Craft Elf

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:48:02 GMT

Craft Elf has some easy, fun ideas. You can search by theme.

http://www.craftelf.com

Gifts for end of the Year

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:47:01 GMT

For the younger grades where you are in the classroom frequently, a photo book of the year is a wonderful gift. You can ask parents to upload pictures to a photosharing site such as Picasa or Kodak Easyshare or Shutterfly and have someone put the book together.

Teachers always appreciate writing from the students. You can create a book with the following prompts:
•    I will always remember Teacher X....
•    Teacher X will always remember me....
•    The best part of this year was....
•    I loved learning...
Send the blank pages and directions home via backpack about a week before you need it back and don’t forget to send reminder emails to parents.

Families could send in a favorite book from the child for the classroom library.

Give teachers a stress relief/spa themed basket:
•    a stress-reducing candle
•    stress reducing body wash
•    hand/body lotions
•    hand soaps
•    foot lotions
•    pedi supplies
•    teacher’s favorite treat- from the list provided in the fall
•    gift cards

Silver charm bracelet with "gift box" charm – recognizing the "gift" of the year

Cookbooks

Decorated flowerpots from Melissa Madden – 781-821-2750 with a plant in them.

Parent Contact Information

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:46:12 GMT

Google Docs can be an easy way to organize parents’ contact information. Parents don’t have to have a Google account. You can share the link to the document and everyone can access it.

https://docs.google.com

K1

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:00:02 GMT

Leave some comments here for K1.

Teacher Appreciation Website Resources

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:05:40 GMT

http://pensandneedles-lynn.blogspot.com/2010/05/teacher-appreciation-weekday-5.html

http://leightheo.blogspot.com/2010/05/teacher-appreciation_04.html

http://www.skiptomylou.org/category/teacher-appreciation-ideas/

http://room-mom101.blogspot.com/2010/03/teacher-appreciation-door-decorations.html

Gifts

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:18:24 GMT

Gift cards to a coffee shop
Favorite snacks, magazines
Ice cream gift card
Plants
Tea or coffee in a mug
Lunch
Prepared dinner from Camilla’s or Whole Foods
Fruit basket
Homemade baked goods as special snack for whole class
Guilty pleasures day – parents brought/sent in items like chocolates, popcorn, magazines, etc.
A book or two for the classroom connected to the curriculum
Basket with baked goods – muffins, biscotti, cookies, etc.
Ask parents to send in a small item related to the teacher’s interests – cooking items like a spatula, hot mitt, towel, crossword puzzle book, etc. Fill a basket with the items.
If your teacher likes to cook, have families send in a favorite recipe.
Breakfast – coffee, breakfast treat using favorites list
If your teacher has a favorite candy, buy a bag of small sized candies, give each child one, and ask the children to surprise the teacher with the candy throughout the day.

(also see Gifts – End of Year, and Milestones - New Baby Gift Ideas)

Milestone - New Baby Gift Ideas

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:14:11 GMT

Have each child bring in a favorite book for the new baby and put in a basket.
Have the children write advice for the new parent and collect the writing in a book.
Assign each child a letter and create an alphabet book for the new baby.
Once the teacher returns to week, provide a frozen meal once a week for a month or so.

Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:13:38 GMT

Decorate the classroom door
Have all the children bring a flower and fill a vase
Make cards for the teacher. You could include prompts such as: I love Teacher X because…, I love my grade because…, Teacher X has taught me…, etc.
Poster with words describing teacher (get the words from the kids)
Collect pages from kids describing what they like best about their teacher (send pages out the week before) and make a laminated book. (Take to Kinkos, for instance.)
Buy light colored pot and use indelible markers for the kids to sign the pot before putting in a plant.
Make a poster with the words “Teacher X, We’re Stuck on You Because” and collect quotes from the kids (via email) that you put on post-it notes and attach to the poster.
Make an acrostic poem. Take the letters of Teacher X and send parents an email giving each child a letter and asking that they get a word or phrase from the child that starts that letter. (Pia might get E and say "excellent" or "energetic" and Ben might get T and say "Teaches fun things" or "Takes time to explain"). Parents email you the words. Use the words to create the poem: “T is Terrific and Teaches fun things” “E is Excellent and Energetic”, etc. Print the poem on nice paper and put it in a frame.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:23:54 GMT

Use the “favorites” sheets that you receive at the beginning of the year to give you ideas about what your teacher would like. Also, if you are asking parents to help their children make cards/pages for a book, etc., at least a week’s notice is very helpful to all parents. It’s also a good idea to send a friendly reminder the day before people are to send in an item. Also, don’t forget to ask your parents to volunteer to send in/make items. The two room parents don’t have to do it all.

Funds

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:20:25 GMT

Many room parents collect money at the beginning of the year to cover the whole year – December gift, end of year gift, teacher appreciation and any incidentals. $30 seems to be an appropriate amount to suggest. This can work well because people only have to remember to collect items once.

Craft Ideas

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:18:41 GMT

You will get plenty of ideas if you simply Google "craft ideas kids winter/Valentine’s/etc", but here are some sites to make the searching a little faster.

Class Coffees

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:17:03 GMT

Instead of doing individual class coffees at someone’s home, several grades held grade level coffees at Chickering in the science room in the morning (8:30 – 9:15ish). There are some definite advantages – easier for working parents to make the coffee, great for parents of twins or triplets, nice to see other parents in your child’s grade, and all the room parents could divvy up who brought what items and easy to make any grade-wide announcements.

Asking For Help

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:16:33 GMT

Don’t forget to ask the parents in your class for help. Most people are happy to volunteer for something simple. If you need hearts cut out for the Valentine’s Party, ask if anyone can do it. Most of the time, someone will volunteer.

K5

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:15:57 GMT

Leave some comments here for K5.

K2-K3

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:14:57 GMT

Leave some comments here for K2-K3.

K3-K4

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:14:23 GMT

Leave some comments here for K3-4.