Award Inspirations: A Little Bit Goes A Long Way

I can't even begin to put into words how wonderful all of the parents were in my classroom this year. My room mom ... well I don't even know where to start. From organizing parties to volunteering weekly to helping out in the classroom, she has gone above and beyond in every way possible! I wish there was some way I could keep her daughter and her next year.. and the next.. and the next (along with many others in my class). I knew I had to do something special for her but coming up with an idea was hard. Because part of our science curriculum deals with plants AND their family has a garden of their own, I decided to put together a little planting basket.

I bought a pot, seeds, gardening gloves, gardening utensils, and I made some cookies {always have to add something sweet}. On the pot I wrote "Thanks for helping us grow." I had my students each draw a picture of themselves and label it with their name. Another way to do this is to have the students do a thumb print and decorate it, but since we had done something similar on bookmarks for Mother's Day I thought we would try something a little different. I think it turned out well and Anne loved it!

Not only did my room mom go above and beyond, but so did many other parents in my classroom. With so many wonderful parents to thank and so little funds I decided to bake some of my grandmother's famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It was a fun way to recognize many of the parents in my classroom to say 'thank you' and I think it made everyone feel appreciated. A little bit goes a long way.