The rest of Snowflake's Adventures

As I've previously shared, we have a classroom elf.  It's not tied to any holiday and I have not mentioned it's a scout elf for Santa, but rather our visiting elf for December.

The third graders love it and it's pretty precious. Plus I planned out all the elf's adventures beforehand, so there wasn't any thinking or frantic planning in the morning.

In honor of Star Wars, 

I definitely looked up the opening lines from the original films and made it my own.

I happened to have scarf in my purse and used a patterned straw to mimic a light saber.  I timed this the release of the new movie since many of my students are fans.

Tuesday was a spirit day, so naturally Snowflake got in the festive spirit:

One of my students brought me a teddy bear (who we named bear), so I decided to use it for a game of hide and seek:

We also experienced yet another pencil drought, so it was Snowflake to the rescue.

As I'm sure every other elementary school teacher can attest, every so often it seems that all of the pencils in the classroom disappear. I swear they eat them. We had some pencil stealing drama the day before, so I problem solved with new pencils for everyone.

Our final day with Snowflake meant the introduction of a new elf, Candy:

One of my sweet students got me a robe for the elf.  However, since I have the non-traditional sized elf, the robe didn't fit. Three Targets were all sold out, so Amazon Prime to the rescue!  

The new second elf arrived the night before the last day of school (December 21st), so it was perfect timing.

The kids loved the two elves and had a great last day. I wrote a goodbye note from Snowflake on snowflake stationary.

All the elf props went into a box into the garage for next year. I also snagged some props and another outfit for the elf after Christmas on sale at Target.

I fully accept that I'm now "that teacher". 

Weekends are made for this...

I'm a type A person. I love my to do lists and quite frankly, would be a little lost without them.  There are a thousand different things I could be doing, but instead I choose this:

I choose to ignore grading, laundry, cleaning, and a dozen other tasks in favor of taking me time.  I advise you do the same.  Go find a book and get lost on a literary adventure.  Your list will still be there when you're done, I promise.

Mickelson Exxon-Mobile Teacher's Academy (MEMTA)

If you have the opportunity and are eligible to apply for this fellowship, I strongly encourage it!

I had the privilige of representing my state (yes, I was the sole representative from my entire state) during the summer of 2012.  I loved the opportunity to network with fellow 3-5 teachers from around the world.

(Laura and I organized a surprise flash mob as a thank you for NSTA and Exxon.  Ponchos were involved. It was epic.)

We not only learned about science, but did science and math.  It was like science camp for grown ups!  For more information, visit NSTA's website!

(On a side note, we stayed right across the water from New York City and had evenings free to explore!  I caught a showing of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, was on the jumbo tron in Times Square, visited the 9/11 memorial and took a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park!)

(Plus, I met the Mickelsons!  They're also Arizona State Alums, so we're showing some Sun Devil love)

Apply! What do you have to lose?