Friday Fragments: Episode #280

The bits and pieces of my mind tonight are holiday and happiness related.

Tonight, the Difference Makers and I had our annual Ding-Dong-Decorate-and-Ditch event, which basically means that we ride around town in a big van, jumping out every now and then 

to throw holiday decorations up wherever we see fit and "speeding off" before detection. 

The kids love it, of course.

The man whose house the kids were decorating in this photo came outside and pretended to be mad; he was a sweetheart and thanked the kids. I'm not sure whose night it made the most :)

This year, we also left plates of homemade cookies that were donated to us for the occasion. 

The kids had a ball, as usual, and we ended the night eating Subway 

(thanks to a kind elf who donated a giftcard) 

and homemade hot chocolate. 

All in all, it was a great night.

After more than a week of inside-recess recently (due to below-zero temperatures),

our students are on the verge going stir crazy;

we've had to be on top of our games to keep things fun but educational.

At school today, we also had a "white elephant" gift exchange, 

for which I made this awesome, pipe-cleaner ornament for a boy whose name I'd drawn.

Fantastic, right?!

(Especially for eleven o'clock on a Wednesday night.)

Afterwards, we taught the kids how to write thank you notes,

and they really worked hard on them.

We also gave our students $400 "fantasy dollars" to "spend" 

on-line for Christmas presents for their family members. 

It was a lot of fun for the kids and provided them practice with not only math but computer skills (copying/pasting/hyperlinking/using spreadsheet tools, etc.).

Students were very engaged!

Thank goodness Santa's watching!

One more day until Christmas break!!!

Oh, and if you're wondering what to get your child's teachers, 

just send your kids to school with fresh schools supplies;

I am so tired of kids not having their own pencils, notebooks, etc.

Believe it or not, I was even expected to provide a white elephant gift 

for a student who came to me to tell me he'd forgotten to bring one. 

I offered him several creative options, with supplies,

 but he ended with, "Can I just put a pencil in a bag?"

Guess what white elephant gift I received.

(No; I'm not kidding.)

I'm ready for a break!

Speaking of breaks, it's time for you to break out your fragments!

Link up below: