Dirty Dog

Brooklyn's First Bath!

This week I did a lesson with K on keeping clean and staying healthy. It seemed appropriate after I was out a week with the flu =/

She still isn't a fan

First, as an introducation we watched "Harry the Dirty Dog" via http://www.storylineonline.net/. I have really enjoyed finding dog stories to tie into my lessons and add to my brand. This is an adorable story, but it's read by my personal hero Betty White, so I don't mind watching it over and over again.

There is a related activities section and activity guide for each book, but I didn't use them. Instead we used it as an introduction to talk about the importance of being clean. We brainstormed why we thought it was important to keep clean.

Blue Ribbon Blogs

As much as I love blogging, I love reading a good blog.
I have shared my favorites before, but I wanted to highlight some of my favorites today.

First, unless you live under a rock or this is your first visit to my page I adore animals, especially the snuggly, lovable, kissable Pit Bulls. One of the best parts of 2012 for me was volunteering with NashvillePITTIE, which combines my love of education and dogs.

Blue Ribbon Books for Top Dogs

Every month I ask the teacher's to help me pick a "Top Dog," based on the character education word of  the month. (Read more about my character ed program here!)

Since I get to visit the classrooms once a month (if I am lucky) and often those lessons are dictated by teacher requests and student needs, I have been pondering ways to get the teachers to incorporate my words into their lessons and reach all of my students.

Show Off Your Goals

One of my new favorite things about the New Year so far is all of my friends that are starting blogs or making a resolution to write more ;)

For example, if you love dogs you have to follow/add to your Google Reader: http://nashvillepittie.blogspot.com/

One of my dear work friends, who is a true inspiration for health and fitness, has a wonderful blog:

mendingbodyandsoul

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Run. Not too hard. Pray A lot.

New Year, New Resolutions

YOU MUST READ: http://pittiesincity.blogspot.com/

Thanks to one of my favorite new blogs, http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/, Pinterest I found this adorable worksheet for students to reflect on the previous year and plan for 2013!

So, I had my kids in 4th-5th grade fill one out today and we made a super bulletin in the hallway to share.

Happy 2013!

Our festive dog!

I used the cards to spell out the date.

I still have more cards to add!

Some answers were super sweet. Greatest lesson learned "Love is above all." LOVE my kids.

Some were thoughtful and heartbreaking. "Hardest thing about the year: losing my dad" wrote one 4th grade student who lost her father this year.

My attempt at making blue dog festive.

Responsible Communication

I saw this on Facebook and just had to share. Way to go!!

Greg Hoffman is a kid who just got an iPhone from his parents. His mom, Janell Hoffman, wrote these [slightly edited] rules for its use:

What To Do When I Feel Blue

If you hadn't figured it out yet I love animals, especially dogs and cats. So there is a fun activity I did with a kiddo I work with individually:

We drew a paw and on each part of the paw my student wrote one thing to do when he/she is blue. The teacher told me she keeps it in her desk and pulls it out when she needs it! Yay!

Speaking of helping the blues, I got goosebumps of happiness when I saw that comfort dogs were going to Newtown to assist and comfort the survivors.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/comfort-dogs-arrive-in-ne_n_2316346.html#slide=1892097

 Animals are amazing. Wishing those in Newtown lots of comfort during this difficult time.

Banana Splits

I remember when I got Brooklyn she had a brother with her, and I was torn. One the one hand we thought we could only handle one and on the other we  didn't want to tear apart a family. The lady at the shelter reassured me saying, you are helping one and many people feel this way. If everyone didn't want to tear apart a family then they would always stay here.

As a child of divorce, my banana splits group always hits close to home. I wish I would have had a group like this. Here is how my banana splits group looks:

Our first group we do icebreakers and get to know you games, then in the following sessions we base  the group about the game "Splitsville."

 This is a super fun game that allows the kids to take turn creating banana splits, while answering questions about their feelings, changes that have happened, ways to relax, etc. Everyone in my group enjoys this game and I like the round table discussion that comes from it.

Last year I made banana splits at our last meeting, and although it was fun, it was messy and we didn't stay too focused. So this year we made paper banana splits, here's how they turned out. I love them.

Banana Split #1