 Whelp, for good or for bad, Team Awesome had their first school photos taken last week. Thankfully we were the first and therefore there were no chocolate pudding mustaches or ketchup smears on our shirts. The children were all very patient when it came to waiting their turn (something we have been working on) despite how excited they were. I think the whole experience was a bit of a disappointment for some of them as I was asked a few times afterwards if that was it (insert confused look on small child's face here). I'm not too sure exactly what they were expecting. If the photos you receive shortly are not what you were expecting, we will have a second chance to get it right on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Mrs. Pettigrew will be in our classroom after lunch on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to sing, dance, act and do art projects with Team Awesome while I try to get caught up on things (imagine a hamster running on a wheel). Mrs. Pettigrew is expecting her own little Team Awesome member in a few months and will be replaced by another wonderful teacher after the winter holidays. But until then, we are going to enjoy all the activities Mrs. Pettigrew has to share with us!  Did your child come home tonight and tell you they had germs? More specifically, did they tell you they were covered in Mrs. Bowden's cooties? If so, they weren't far off the mark. For children germs are invisible things that cause them to get sick. Remembering to do things like washing their hands or covering a cough may not come easily. With the sneezing and sniffles that seem rampant in our classroom throughout the year, using a visual tool that demonstrates how germs spread and the effectiveness of different hand washing and cleaning methods early in the year seemed like a smart idea. Enter the Glo Germ Classroom Kit! This morning I applied the 'fake germ' powder, which is difficult to see, from the kit to my hands without telling Team Awesome. I followed our normal routine, handled the usual things in the classroom (including hugging the children), and then we used the black light, which causes the powder to glow, to track where the 'germs' had dispersed. We were amazed at how many things we touch in our classroom and how far the germs had spread! A few children even had some in their hair. I then washed my hands and we looked at them under the black light again. Unfortunately, I did not wash my hands well enough to get rid of most of the germs and they were still visible. So we watched a video on how to wash our hands properly and another one on how germs are spread through sneezing. Although we will need to revisit hand washing often, I know Team Awesome now has a better understanding of how illnesses are spread. |
