Nearing the End

3 days.  That is all I have left in my first year of teaching.  It amazes me every time I think about it.  Items are coming off the wall, desks and cupboards are being cleaned out, and the natives are growing restless.  Today was board game day in our classroom and tomorrow we have a busy day with the Talent Show and Movie & Popcorn Day.  I've been trying to think of a few special things to do for my students as the year ends.  I went to Pinterest (as always) and came up with these gems!

Today I put all my students' names in a hat and had every student choose one name.  Then they had to create an award for that person.

They turned out pretty cute!  And some of them got more creative than others with the award names.  On Wednesday we will roll out the red carpet (also know as the red butcher paper) and have them walk down to receive their awards!

Throughout the past week and a half I have been doing this little activity with the kids. To start out I wrote every child's name at the top of a paper and placed it at their desk.  Then the kids rotated through to write 1-3 words that described that child.  Positive words, I reminded them. Throughout the past few days I put the background up on my Promethean Board, have a child sit in the chair, and write the traits from the paper before taking a picture.

I love how they turned out!  Although the board makes it a little bit fuzzy.  I might just use the whiteboard or chalkboard next year.  I printed them at Walgreens (which has a 40% deal on prints right now!) and pasted them onto a blue piece of paper big enough for a 1" border.  The front has our school's name at the top and 2013-2014 on the bottom.  On the back I wrote "In the eyes of Room 44 I am..." in purple marker.  Tomorrow I will add the compliments onto the back so they can see what everyone said!  I think they'll be a cute little keepsake as well as a great confidence booster as they end the year.