I did it!!!! I'm a gerbil mama! (and class party freebie!)

My dog-sons officially got a sister today! Of course she'll be living at school... but for a few days anyway, Sam and Squeaks have a sister! I think I'm going to have parents and kids write down potential names at Open House next Wednesday and then we'll choose one from those the first week of school... for now, I'm calling her Roxie! :) (And don't be shocked if it stays that way after the name contest either!)


Thank you so much to everyone who shared their opinions with me about class pets. I truly appreciated your input! I think I'm going to have a kid each week write up a paragraph about what we did and learned for my blog (or maybe website... not sure yet) and it will be what "Roxie" saw us doing in class that week!

Ok... 2nd thing... I posted on my Facebook yesterday to find out how everyone organizes class parties. In the past, I've had parents sign up but then I ask them to bring specific things and I plan the activities. This year I want to try a different approach and have one parent plan each party and they will take care of organizing snacks, games, and help. I got some great feedback and ideas from people on FB and so, here's what I came up with:

I made this sheet which I'm going to have out at my Open House next week. On the "other celebrations", I will be the "Party Planner". Check out The Teaching Oasis for a class party sign-up without a "Party Planner" and a class e-mail list to put out at Open House! :)
All right... that's it! What do you think of my Roxie? :)