Class Awards & Gifts

This morning was the big day I've been both anticipating and dreading.  I've been working hard on some special items for these kids and today was the unveiling.  I've been excited to see their reaction; but, very nervous because I have to talk in front of parents!  I'm great with the kids, but you put adults in the room and I get tongue-tied and self-conscious!  These kids know my sense of humor and personality; but, you parents only see snapshots of me.  With it all, it went GREAT (at least I think it did!)

As I've been telling these kids, they are a very special batch.  I have the privilege of working with amazing kids every year; but, only every few years do I get the opportunity to work with an exceptional class that comes together as this batch has!

We started our morning with "candy" awards that represented personalities.  I know some of the candy wasn't always the favorite candy; but, it was more about the personality trait representing the students.  This was a hard task because so many awards could have been given to so a lot of different students.  I think my favorite ones were the awards I described and the students knew exactly who would get it ~ yep, we ALL know who our "baseball minded" kid is!

Next, I presented the students with a project I hope they will cherish for many years to come!  A month ago we took time to write one word we felt described each of our classmates.  I took those words and created a word web for each student (and myself).  Printed, framed and wrapped, these became a going away gift for the students.  My hope is when they are feeling down on themselves, they will return back to this item and remember what their classmates thought of them and have a little pick me up!  Here's what the class thought of their teacher:

Lastly, I gave the students a very special coloring book.  What's so special about a coloring book?  Well, it's all about them!  I spent A LOT of time trying to get this as close to perfect as I could; but, I took pictures from throughout the school year and made it into a coloring book for the kids.  They seemed to be impressed with this I think.  Here's a sample picture of our book:

Original Image from our field trip

Color book page from the picture to the left

It's a very bittersweet day today!  Looking forward to summer vacation; but, I really don't want these kids to grow up and move on to 3rd grade.