Literary Sherri is Getting Nerdy: 12 Days of Nerd Libs

It's that time again . . . time to link up to Mel & Gerdy's weekly nerd libs! The theme this week is "The Twelve Days of Nerd Libs" and it really made me chuckle because I was true to the spirit of mad libs and filled in my word categories before peeking at the story, yet my results could be (almost) entirely true!



Granted, I never have Puffs Plus Lotion at school. I always seem to have tissues that are sliver-thin and feel like sandpaper. Otherwise, substitute "gray" for "purple" and this could really be a day in my life!

Click here to visit the linky and read other teachers' 12 Days of Nerd Libs . . . or to add your own!

And don't forget, today is a Day of Giving Back in many TpT shops! 50% of my sales today will be donated to KIVA. Visit my TpT shop here . . . and click here to visit other TpT shops that are giving a portion of their sales to their favorite causes and charities today!

Happy Sunday!

Literary Sherri's Holiday Traditions with Secondary Smorgasboard

Here's a (not-so-secret) secret about me: I LOVE family traditions, both in theory and in practice . . . which is why I am thrilled to be linking up today with ELA Buffet and Desktop Learning Adventures' Secondary Smorgasbord to read about other teachers' favorite traditions!

 

In my family, we have several holiday traditions that I can't imagine skipping! The weekend after Thanksgiving is all about the decorations -- putting up the tree, getting out the Christmas music, sending out the holiday cards. Yes, I still send cards via snail-mail! I love receiving Christmas cards, so I want to keep brightening others' holidays by sending cards to their mailboxes! We never miss our annual Christmas-light drive, with hot cocoa warming our mittened hands and "The Carpenter's Christmas Portrait" crooning in the CD player!

 

On Christmas Eve, we gather with several of our dearest friends for dinner. Not just any dinner, but dinner prepared by one of our sweet friends, Karen, who is a professional chef and who never fails to amaze us with her Christmas Eve feast, starting with shrimp cocktail (and festive cocktails of the liquid variety!), ending with scrumptious cheesecakes, and somewhere in the middle we enjoy crown roast or prime rib or some other such deliciously perfect entrée. This is Karen's gift to her friends. In return, we each bring a dish and a gift for her to take to the Ronald McDonald House the next day so the families staying there on Christmas Day have a nice meal to come home to after a long day spent at the hospital with their little ones. Among other dishes, I always send a huge bowl of my Cranberry Salad . . . a family favorite that graces the table on both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

I contributed this festive recipe to the "The 2014 Secondary Teachers' Holiday Recipe Book" (which is free, by the way):

 

 

Christmas morning in my home starts with holiday music and cinnamon rolls to wake everyone up, followed by stockings, gifts, and finding chocolate initials hidden in the tree (a nod to Dutch roots). My favorite gifts to open are the ornaments we always exchange with one another, trying to choose ornaments that symbolize something meaningful that happened during the year. In this way, our tree tells our family story.

 

After gifts, we prepare either a turkey or ham dinner for all those we know who don't have somewhere else to be on Christmas Day, sending everyone home with plenty of leftovers to make sandwiches, potpies, soups, and other various left-over meals (our favorite leftover meal is turkey fajitas!) At the end of the day, after everyone has gone home with their gifts and leftovers, we crash by going to a movie. It's a nice way to end the day, with pumpkin pie waiting at home after the movie!

 

We attend two other huge holiday get-togethers after Christmas Day, which I love because I adore the idea of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which starts on December 25th . . . and it gives us a chance to make oliebollen -- homemade Dutch doughnuts -- for our extended family! I always feel a bit melancholy the day the tree comes down and the Christmas music and movies get packed up . . . but I'm always grateful for another year of memories to add to our "family Christmas!"

 

In my classroom, I love the annual tradition of reading "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" and the wonderful discussions we have afterwards about the meaning of winter holidays -- all winter holidays! (Click here to check it out!) I give each of my students a gourmet-flavored candy cane with colorful curly-ribbon and a "No Homework" coupon attached . . . a "No Homework" coupon from me is a really big deal! Students get to trade it for any one homework assignment they choose from January-May. I also give my students the gift of no homework over the holiday break. Students work hard and I want them to return to school in January rested and ready to dive in diligently . . . and I want them to enjoy all their own family traditions and get-togethers . . . so I do not assign homework over the holiday break. It's my little way of keeping the spirit of Santa alive for my middle schoolers!

 

Drop me a note and tell me about your favorite traditions with your family or your class! You can also check out other Teacher-Bloggers' favorite traditions here: 

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Holidays!

Looking for a Few Good Teacher Appreciation Gifts?

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . decorating, tree-trimming, baking, addressing cards . . . and holiday shopping is near the top of so many of our to-do lists! When I taught 6th grade in an elementary school, gifts from students were the norm. As a Middle School teacher, I've never received more than 2 or 3 gifts a year from students. But I know many parents feel anxious about giving their children's teachers an affordable yet meaningful gift, so I thought I'd share my teacher's perspective on holiday gifts from students . . .

Teacher gifts are always lovely tokens of appreciation and I'm truly grateful for every one, but the truth is, some gifts are just more practical than others . . . meaning some gifts get recycled or donated very quickly. (Sorry, folks, but my cupboards only house so many coffee mugs! I'm immensely grateful you thought of me, but the mug is going in a donation box!)

Gifts that I tend to donate because I just have too many of them include mugs, soaps, lotions, candles, teacher-y knick-knacks, anything that says #1 Teacher, and boxed chocolates.

Gift cards to Barnes and Noble are super-useful and especially appreciated because I can buy books for the classroom, which I absolutely love! It’s fun to write the name of the student who gifted the book inside the front cover and remember her each year when students reads that book!

 

Other gifts from students I have especially enjoyed over the years include instrumental holiday music CDs that I can play in the classroom, a beautiful set of Egyptian cotton hand towels from a student who had travelled to Egypt (an unusual gift, but I still use them more than a decade later and they are as soft and beautiful as ever!), and anything personalized (hello, Etsy!)

I do have a small collection of beautiful (non-teacher-y) tree ornaments that I treasure each season as they go on my family tree. Reminiscing each year about the student who gifted the ornament – Isabella gave me a beautiful hand-painted glass ornament from her family trip to Turkey and Robert hand-picked that snowman ornament because he noticed I especially like snowmen – is always a lovely part of the treasured tradition of decorating the Christmas tree and I love thinking of these students decades later and wishing them well as they decorate their own trees with their own families!

 

Of course, the gifts I have kept the longest and treasured the most are the hand-written notes of appreciation received from both students and parents that remind me why I chose to become a teacher! The 10-year-old holiday card from Brandon that says, “Thank you for introducing me to mysteries. Reading is my new favorite hobby!” still makes me all smiles and the card from Amanda’s mom that reads, “Thank you for caring enough about Amanda to help her improve her reading skills. For the first time in a long time, her confidence is growing and she is talking about becoming a teacher herself. The best thing is, she believes she can teach! Thank you for giving her that gift!” just melts my heart every year when I re-read it!

 

 

Click here to read "What Gifts Do Teachers Like to Receive? Teachers Tell All the Best and Worst Presents from Students..." over at my friends' blog, Created for Learning, where Jonathan and Lisa share the good, the bad, and the ugly from 19 fabulous Teacher-Authors!

I'd love to hear about a favorite gift you gave one of your children's teachers -- or an especially meaningful gift you received as a teacher!

 

Happy Gift-Giving!