Happy Halloween (on a school day)!

A friend of mine that is a 4th grade elementary teacher recently told me she used to DREAD when Halloween fell on a school day, because her classroom seemed to go crazy. But in the same breath, as a grin spread across her face, she stated it is no longer a day of dread! Her eyes sparkled when she said “I actually look forward to the creativity I will pull from my students on this day”! I learned that she started utilizing a sort of “creepy creative writing” activity. Now… “HALLOWEEN ON A SCHOOL DAY” no longer requires a straight jacket.

Below is a recipe for “Creepy Creative Writing” that will get students creative juices flowing, and at the same time help them focus and remain calm.

To spark the creative writer in your classroom this Halloween, incorporate a seasonal writing exercise. Creative writing allows students to use basic writing principles and class material in a fun and unique way. This activity can also be used to teach seasonal vocabulary. Consider jazzing up your creepy creative writing activity with festive paper, this will help to get your students’ creative juices flowing! Writing keywords on the blackboard can also help to provide students with some direction for the activity and focus in the classroom. Words like “SPOOKTACKULAR”, “CAULDRON”, “EERIE” “MOONLIGHT”…

Creative Writing for Halloween – incorporate this creative writing activity into any Halloween lesson plan.

Halloween Theme Papers – Use these spooky themed printable paper templates for a Halloween writing project.

Star in Your Own Halloween Story – Create your own creepy story to share.

A Halloween Who, When, Where Story – This writing activity is great for beginners and includes prompts to help young writers construct their Halloween story.

 

Make Your Mark

Steve Jobs made his mark, one giant positive innovative mark!

Make your mark, think positive, think big.

Laughs for the day:

 

See it. Stop it. Report it.

We love to see customers get creative with their “NO BULLY” campaigns. An Elementary School in Davenport Iowa is giving a debossed awareness bracelet to every student! One side says BE BULLY SMART – SEE IT. STOP IT. REPORT IT. The other side has their school name.

GREAT IDEA!

Students never seem to tire of these silicone bracelets, they are still a very cool, very effective way of spreading awareness.

 

Winners Never Bully

This weekend was homecoming for my two high school boys. (My younger son in white tie, pictured above with his buddies). It was a great weekend. Although their groups of friends are very nice kids, it was brought to my attention there was an issue with a few girls not being nice or inclusive to another girl surrounding homecoming weekend. Even though I do not have a daughter, it was very upsetting to me as I feel this is a type of “bullying” that happens all too often. There have been so many stories in the news of heartbreaking “bullying situations”. We as parents and teachers need to take action… even if the bullying is excluding someone from homecoming groups… bullying starts somewhere, and it’s up to all of us to stop it.

OCTOBER 24-28

Yes, this week is National RED RIBBON week. So along with drug awareness, many school districts across the nation are also recognizing this week as ANTI BULLYING WEEK.

We know teachers help spread awareness, kindness and love every day. For that we say THANK YOU and keep up the good work! Our children are our future; let’s help make it bright!

 

Warrior Girls

My sister (and business partner) just read a GREAT book that lead to a very interesting discussion. The book, Warrior Girls, is a fascinating look at girls sports. My sister and I have always been active and into sports, so we began talking about how youth sports have changed drastically since we were in school. During our elementary, junior high and high school careers, we played a multitude of sports, usually dictated by the season. The trend now seems to drive kids to “focus” on one sport at an early age. Kids are dedicated to playing that sport 11 months out of the year leaving very little time for other activities. The author of this book points out “those other activities will help build other muscles and reduce risk of a serious injury”.

Warrior Girls primary focus is “Protecting our Daughters Against the Injury Epidemic in Women’s Sports”. It is important to teach our girls (and boys) at an early age the importance of cross training and taking care of one’s body.

Any parent that has an active daughter should take a look at this book. Any parent that has a daughter that plays soccer MUST read this book.

Resources listed in the book:

For specific exercise: http://smsmf.org/pep-program

ACL tear prevention: http://injurytimeout.org/pdfs/ACL_PEP.pdf

 

School Recognized National Awareness Dates

JUST AROUND THE CORNER: Red Ribbon Week – October 21-31

JUST AROUND THE CORNER: Character Counts week – October 17-21

With these two important weeks being just around the corner, we began thinking of other awareness days/weeks that are relevant to teachers and students. Below is a list that we hope you find helpful.

National Day of Service/Patriot Day September: 11

Disability History and Awareness Month: October 1-31

National Fire prevention Week: Oct 10-14

National School Lunch Week: Oct 10-14

School Bus Safety Week: October 17-21

National Character Counts: Oct 17-21

Red Ribbon Week: October 23-31

Standard Time Change: November 7

National Veterans Day: November 11

National Recycling Week: November 7-13

National Family Week:  November 20-26

Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observed: January 16

National School Counseling Week: February 6-10

Random Acts of Kindness Week: February 14-20

Presidents Day: February 21

Daylight Savings Time: March 13

National Nutrition Month: March 1-31

National Library Week:  April 8-14

National Environmental Education Week: April 15-21

Earth Day: April 22

National Physical Fitness Month: May 1-31

National Physical Education and Sports Week: May 1-7

National Book Week: May 6-12

National Teacher Appreciation Week: May 6-12

National Teacher Day: May 8

National Music Week: May 7-13

Memorial Day:  May 30

National Flag Day: June 14

 

Happy Teachers Make Happy Students!

Please check out another wonderful, happy teacher’s blog about our BragTags™. We are thrilled these tags are having such a positive impact! We want to thank “What’s the Buzz in 1st” for the positive feedback.

What a great idea to adorn the bulletin board behind your student computers with BragTags™. A perfect marriage of space utilization and eye-catching creativity!

 

Enter Contest – Cash Prize (and more!)

We are all excited to launch our first contest for teachers. Answer our question:

“How do you create a positive environment for better classroom management?”

AND WIN

Up to 5 great ideas will win a cash grant and prize!

A cash grant to fund your project.

A Flip Video™ Camera to capture your idea project.

The top 20 vote getters will all get a Teacher Pack of BragTags™

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Rewarding positive behavior in the classroom is effective, and should be easy and inexpensive. (Psst: If you need ideas, we have 8 that are easy, fun and creative!)

 

A Tribute to Steve Jobs

My aunt sent the below image to us the day Steve Jobs passed away. It made me realize she knew just how much Steve Jobs has meant to our company directly and indirectly. My father had the very FIRST generation Macintosh computer, when not much was know about Apple. We’ve come a long way since then, thanks to the visionary genius of Steve Jobs. We started our company with just a few Apple computers…a tower, a laptop and the ORIGINAL iMac called the Blueberry. Now, our fabulous graphic design team uses state of the art iMacs in our every day operations. It was love at first sight with us and Apple, and I, on more than one occasion, have taken it personally when Apple has not been on the top of someones computer needs or desires. Over the years we’ve given our employees, iPhones, iPods and iPod touches. Personally I don’t think myself or my partners would function efficiently throughout our day without our iPhones, iPads, iMacs, or iBooks. For us, it is more like a deep love than an addiction.

The whole thing is very sobering… a man who was worth 8.3 BILLION dollars and yet he couldn’t buy life. It is mind boggling and truly inspiring as we see how many MILLIONS of people he touched through his work. I’ve been in awe of Steve Jobs several times at Macworld conferences, starring wide eyed and hanging on his every word, as he introduced a new product. Even though we never met Mr. Jobs personally, as long time Apple users, it is feels like were part of the “family” and his death had more than a profound affect on us.

The apple logo decorates everything from the window of my car, to my son’s school binder. I’m hoping to update my Apple decals to this image!

 

Winter’s Tail

We had a request from one of our wonderful customers, that happens to be a wonderful teacher. She wanted us to design a custom tag for “Disability Awareness Week”. Her elementary school is in California and is recognizing Disability Awareness Week in conjunction with “UCLA’s Disability Awareness Week” Oct 21-Nov 1. This insightful teacher is running a contest in her classroom challenging her students to come up with a short 3 to 4 word motto for Disability Awareness. This topic struck a chord with us not only because awareness and education of disabilities is important, but also because it hits very close to home in our family business. My sister and brother-in-law’s son, Ryan is autistic (picture below in his brand new senior photo!). Ryan has accomplished so much in his 17 years… starting with helping all of us see the world a bit differently, more pure and truthful. Ryan runs track for his high school and gets thunderous cheers by his teammates – that have come to understand and love Ryan. It has not always been easy for Ryan, but he has persevered and thrived. If the virtue of compassion can be taught in the classroom BRAVO! With this in mind, I researched UCLA’s “Disability Awareness Week” a little more, and soon became immersed in the IMPACT one week each year has made on thousands of student with and without disabilities. I hope it catches on in every school around the world!

At our customer’s request, one of our fabulous graphic designers, Rene, came up with an adorable tag based on the movie “Dolphin Tale” – a true story about an inspirational dolphin named Winter – that sports a prosthetic tail. After seeing the heart warming movie myself, I came up with some fun tips for anyone to incorporate into your own “DISABILITY AWARENESS WEEK”! It’s not to early or too late to jump on the Oct 21 – Nov 1 bandwagon of education and awareness!

1. Read the book “Winter’s Tail” in your classroom. Encourage your students to get involved in a program that helps people (children) with disabilities – learning, physical or both. Have each student wear an awareness tag all week as a reminder.

2. Show the movie “Dolphin Tales”, then talk to your students about acceptance and compassion. Ask how the movie relates to a person with a disability. Let them eat small bags or bowls of popcorn during the movie without using their hands.

3. Run a contest in your classroom challenging students to come up with a motto for “Disability Awareness” for your school. The winner(s) get inexpensive “YOU ROCK” crazy bands.

Quote for the week of Oct 21 – Nov 1:

“DISABILITY IS NOT A ‘BRAVE STRUGGLE’ OR ‘COURAGE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY’. DISABILITY IS AN ART. IT’S AN INGENIOUS WAY TO LIVE.”