Back to School

The beginning of the school year is so much fun but also so draining...I have spent so much time working on classroom stuff that I don't even feel like I am enjoying my last days of summer...But I love it! I will share some more pictures of my classroom shortly but I wanted to share this great idea I had at the end of last year! I was at a wedding where they had all of their guest put a finger print and their name on a tree that they would hand in their house to remember all the people who had been a part of one of the most special days of their lives....SO..

I took the idea and applied it to my classroom! 

I will have each class I teach add their fingerprints in a new color each year! How awesome will this be when I have been teaching for a long time... : ) On the back I will put my fingerprint in each color and write the school year next to it so I have a reference guide!

This is a quick way to remember all the lives I have been apart of and have had the chance to teach! The kids loved it and I bet my kids this year will be so excited to have the chance to be apart of this! And my old students can always come back and see that a part of them will always be in my classroom! They can always come back to see me! 

I can't wait! : )

By request, here are the materials and directions!

Materials:

-1 Canvas 

-Acrylic Paint (green, turquoise and brown)

-Cute Ribbon

-Hot Glue

Directions:

1. Using the turquoise and white acrylic paint, create the sky on the canvas.

2. After drying, I traced the tree onto the canvas. You can paint by hand too if you choose. I found clip-art of a tree using Google, and then used our Promethean board at school to trace the tree onto the canvas. After tracing the tree, I used a brown paint pen to paint the tree. This can also be done with acrylic paint and a paint brush.

3.When the paint has dried, use green (I used a variety of different shades) to paint the grass at the bottom.

4. Afterwards, I used hot glue to glue a thick ribbon from Hobby Lobby to the back of the canvas to hang it from in my classroom.

5. Each year, I have the students add their thumbprints to the tree and then, when it is dry, I have them write their first name next to the print with a thin black sharpie marker. 

Very easy!