March Madness. It isn't just a basketball tournament. It's also what teachers endure during an especially busy month. Technically, it sometimes extends into April, so I suppose you could call it "March Madness and April Angst." But let's not quibble over semantics.
You know the score. This year, St. Patrick's Day and Easter fall in the same month: March. At my school, so do progress reports and spring break. Talk about madness!
Want an easy solution? (Besides choosing only one holiday to celebrate?) Celebrate both holidays, but have only one party. And remember that Passover begins next month -- on Earth Day!
Follow these five easy steps for a memorable — and stress-free — March.
Step 1: Find a small playhouse or dollhouse (or make one out of cardboard). Set it down beside your door.
Step 2: Mess things up a little in your classroom. Leave a trail of footprints and paw prints, and at least one green item and one pink item.
If you have a smartphone, and a friend or coworker with a smartphone, temporarily change their name in your contacts list to "Lucky." Then have a conversation like this:
Step 3: Hide plastic pots filled with Lucky Charms cereal and plastic eggs filled with Trix cereal around the room.
When your students arrive, point out the little house and explain that Lucky the Leprechaun and Tricks the Rabbit just moved into the classroom. Read the text messages and tell them that Tricks lost his smartphone when he and Lucky were making mischief. Send your students on a hunt to find the missing food.
Step 4: Have your students make a rabbit and leprechaun with their hand prints. Or have them write about which one they would rather be.
Step 5: Help your students fill two containers with cereal and leave notes for Lucky and Tricks.
There. Doesn't that calm the madness just a little bit?
March Madness. It isn't just a basketball tournament. It's also what teachers endure during an especially busy month. Technically, it sometimes extends into April, so I suppose you could call it "March Madness and April Angst." But let's not quibble over semantics.
You know the score. This year, St. Patrick's Day and Easter fall in the same month: March. At my school, so do progress reports and spring break. Talk about madness!
Want an easy solution? (Besides choosing only one holiday to celebrate?) Celebrate both holidays, but have only one party. And remember that Passover begins next month -- on Earth Day!
Follow these five easy steps for a memorable — and stress-free — March.
Step 1: Find a small playhouse or dollhouse (or make one out of cardboard). Set it down beside your door.
Step 2: Mess things up a little in your classroom. Leave a trail of footprints and paw prints, and at least one green item and one pink item.
If you have a smartphone, and a friend or coworker with a smartphone, temporarily change their name in your contacts list to "Lucky." Then have a conversation like this:
Step 3: Hide plastic pots filled with Lucky Charms cereal and plastic eggs filled with Trix cereal around the room.
When your students arrive, point out the little house and explain that Lucky the Leprechaun and Tricks the Rabbit just moved into the classroom. Read the text messages and tell them that Tricks lost his smartphone when he and Lucky were making mischief. Send your students on a hunt to find the missing food.
Step 4: Have your students make a rabbit and leprechaun with their hand prints. Or have them write about which one they would rather be.
Step 5: Help your students fill two containers with cereal and leave notes for Lucky and Tricks.
There. Doesn't that calm the madness just a little bit?
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Come see what my class did to learn about Earth Day issues, and while you're here, download the free printables from Scholastic.
