Yes Madame Peters, there is a Santa Claus!

300 000! Yes, 2 and a half years into the project we filled our third hundred thousand container. The students were excited but perhaps not quite as excited as the student teacher in my room.

We needed 255 to make the next landmark so between a couple of small donated baggies and scouring the school kitchen I was pretty sure we had enough. A few students counted them up and said we had 300 but had obviously forgotten we needed less than that for our pre-Christmas goal. I held on to the three hundreds bags until students returned from breakfast, reading announcements and the variety of other responsibilities that Grade 5 students have in a K-5 school. I asked the students how many tabs we needed to get to 300 000. While the others were tabulating in their heads, one bright little boy, who has been keeping careful count, quickly stated 255. I, then, one by one, held up our newly filled hundreds bags. With hardly a word the students rushed over to grab the empty 100 000 container that had been taunting them for a couple of weeks, opened it and started grabbing 10 000 containers while I started taking thousands and hundreds bags off of the wall. There was no doubt that they knew what to do.

I got them to take turns and they started to dump. We then arrived at the large water bottle with the 20 000 tabs that had been donated to us by the class from the other school. Pouring a large number of tabs through a small hole became a lesson in physics. Several less-than-patient students felt that cutting a large hole in the bottle was the best suggestion. Between the dear, patient intern, a meter stick and myself, we eventually maneuvered the tabs into the container. Exciting times! We had a total of 300 045 little pieces of plastic. I'll post a picture when I remember to bring my camera home.

Later that day, a little boy with a Santa hat on came in with a bag containing about 500 bag closures. The children decided to put it under the class Christmas tree as it was a wonderful gift.

My intern's supervisor was in a couple of weeks ago and she taught a lesson on estimating and rounding using...you guessed it...bread tabs. (I am now warping the minds of fresh new teachers with my plastic insanity.) He said that he had never seen a class so excited to do math. Her lesson went off without a hitch. Her supervisor returned the next week saying that I may be receiving a visit from the math professor in the Education Department at UNB. Evidently he had been spreading the news about our little quest to see what one million looks like. You just never know what will interest some people.


Pouring a ten thousand container into a hundred thousand container.



Neena and I trying to get the bread tabs out of the water bottle.

Merry Christmas to all and keep saving those bread tabs!!!

Bread Tabs Over the Net

Over the past two years and two months I have received bread tabs in a variety of ways. They have been left on my desk, on my doorstep and in my mailbox. They have been handed to me in large bags, small bags, plastic bags, paper bags and numerous other containers. I have received them from fast food restaurants, fellow church members, co-workers, hospitals, a donkey farmer, organizations to which various friends and family members belong and former classmates. This month, however, was a new experience for my kiddies and me. We received a substantial number of tabs via the World Wide Web.

Early in the month I received an e-mail from a teacher in the community in which I live. She taught Grade 3 last year and looped this year to remain with her students in Grade 4. Last year, she decided to collect 1000 bread tabs to show her students what it looked like. It, however, took on a life of its own and one thousand became two, three, four and so on. When the kids came back in September with all the tabs they had collected over the summer, she decided that she needed to find the class' collection a good home. The math coach in her school informed her of our little endeavor. She wondered if we might like to adopt their beloved plastic closures.

I believe that my response was a quiet, sedate, "YES!!!! WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THEM!" She and the other Grade 4 teacher from her school had asked if I could come in, so the students could present them to me, but, as I teach at the same time they do, that was impossible. As we live in the age of technology, my ever-so-wise principal suggested a Skype conference and then they could present the tabs to my whole class. The teachers from the other school agreed and a date was set.

The other school was to Skype us right after lunch, so we turned on our Skype and I put the screen up on the Smartboard. As I read to the children, while we were waiting for the call, I don't think they heard a word I said. Their eyes were glued to the teacher's name, waiting for her to sign on. Her status changed and a "She's on-line!" arose in stereo from the four corners of my classroom. Shortly after, we were face to face with the other class and a chorus of "Hi"'s and waves were arising from both groups. Several of the students from the other class knew me from a children's group at my church and immediately began to call me by my first name. Quickly, the other teacher reminded them we were at school and I was Madame Peters. I found it very difficult not to burst out laughing.

After the basic introductions were completed, the other class presented us with a large water bottle, the kind you put on a water cooler, filled with 20 023 bread tabs. A cheer arose from my class. The other class had counted by 25's and then double counted. We showed them how we had arrived at our total by showing them a ten's bag, a hundred's bag, a thousand's bag, a ten thousand's container and a hundred thousand's container. The kids loved the latter. So cute!

I stopped by the school the next day and picked up the bottle. My kiddies were thrilled when they arrived on Monday and the bottle was sitting by my desk. With that addition and more from The Pita Pit, the hospital and a variety of other sources we regrouped our little hearts out and arrived at a new total. We have currently collected 271 315 wonderful little pieces of plastic. Another hundred thousand's container is just around the corner.

I have one other interesting development to report. My students have become well aware that plastic tab closures come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A few decided to begin pocketing the more unique ones. To help prevent the pilfering urges, we have started a museum of all the different kinds. When a child finds one that they think might be different, they bring it to me now. Then we take it to a piece of paper and compare it to all the forms and figures that we have traced. If it isn't on the sheet yet, they immortalize it by tracing it on our collection sheet. This seems to have solved the problem. I have often said, I have never ever had a boring day teaching. One always has to be on one's toes.

Word Is Spreading and Numbers are Growing

What a wonderful birthday surprise I received this week! A lady from the Fredericton Pita Pit called my school.

She said that someone had stopped into the restaurant at the beginning of the summer and asked them what they did with their bread tabs. The response was a confused, "We throw them out." No doubt followed by an inside-the-head voice saying, "What else would we do with them?" Anyways, this person told them all about my class' project and the crazy teacher that was leading the charge. They said they would be happy to save bread tabs for us. This secret advertiser for my cause never returned to the restaurant, so they called me and asked if I still wanted them.

I went over to The Pita Pit a couple of days later and was presented with a bag that, I am estimating, holds about 4 000 bread tabs. Yes, you guessed it, I thanked them profusely and immediately began to think of how excited my dear little kiddies would be. They said they would continue saving them and that I could just stop by every now and then and get them. They also donated a couple of gift certificates to my school.

I have always loved the food at The Pita Pit but am sure I will be eating there more often now. This is the third restaurant to join us on our journey to one million. Who says that corporations don't have hearts? The local branches in my area certainly do!

Thank you to The Pita Pit and the mysterious stranger that told them about our quest. I know some grade 5 students and a teacher that think you ROCK!

Year Three Begins

My goodness I love my job!!! My kiddies are just too cute. Once again they have bought into the bread tab collection project and we are on our way.

On the first day of school, I once again posed the question "Do you think we will make it to one million bread tabs by the end of the year?" Once again, at least three quarters of the class raised their hand to indicate that, indeed, this was totally within our reach. I am still trying to decide if it is optimism that brings about this response or complete lack of understanding about how much one million really is. I suspect it is a delightful mix of the two. I love the can-do attitude of 9 and 10 year-old children. I can only hope that this belief that nothing is impossible will stick with them throughout their academic and post-academic lives.

I am most fortunate to have a very enthusiastic intern in my class. I explained this crazy idea I had about trying to collect one million bread tabs for no reason other than to show children what it would look like. If she thinks I am completely insane (which I can't help but think she must) she has been kind enough to keep that opinion to herself. She even brought in some bread tabs to support the cause. I believe I may be warping the minds of the next generation of educators.

Nonetheless, over the summer, a variety of wonderful people handed me a variety of small and not-so-small bags of bread tabs. The first day, students estimated the number that were poured on their tables and then began filling the various bags. The frenzy that develops of combining tens, hundreds and thousands is really quite amazing. It can also be very telling as to the amount of work we have to do in the upcoming year. One student quickly informed me that five tens make one hundred and two hundreds make one thousand. A former colleague informed me that he wished that money worked that way. Hmmm, me too! I stayed at that table, by the way, and taught a quick lesson on how each place value is ten times the one before it. I'll stick close by that table in future counting/tabulating classes.

This activity, also, is a great way to read the personality of my new students. Certain students rush to get the bags full so they can get more to count and "beat" the other groups. Other students count methodically and carefully and are all about making sure they are doing everything "right". Still others count away as they chat with table mates and happily hand completed hundreds and tens bags to other groups to help them reach their next goal. This is the group that I feel will never develop stress-related ulcers.

Last but not least there are the organizers. These little sweethearts have a plan. They want desperately to fill tens, then hundreds, then thousands bags with one colour of tabs. Two of my precious wee ones managed to count, slowly and carefully, 500 each of purple and yellow tabs. They decided it would be okay, as they had equal amounts, to mix these together in a thousands bag. They informed me that their goal is to fill a ten thousand container with equal amounts of purple and yellow. They even tucked their thousand away so that no one would pour it into a "regular" ten thousand container. I believe I may have mentioned once or twice that my kiddies make me laugh.

I even had a teacher from the Grade 2/3 class come up to me and inform me of a conversation in her room:

Student A: May I take these bread tabs up to the grade 5 class?

Teacher: Of course you may.

Student B: Oh Madame Peters is going to be so excited when you show her those!

Later in the day, the student met me in the hall and said "Remember me? I'm the one who gave you the bread tabs!" I assured the little darling that there was no way I could forget.

Our beginning of the year total is 224 888 bread tabs (If I am permitted to count the secreted-away bag.) Yes, in two partial math classes, my 23 little terrific tabulators counted 23 100 plastic closures. The faithful 2-litre ice cream container is once again almost full, so the fun will continue soon.

Life is never dull when you work with students. I am a very blessed lady.

Our Total for 2010-2011

Just in case anyone was wondering, this is what 200 000 bread tabs looks like. The clear container holds 125 litres. Our final total for the year is 203 688.

Since school has ended, I attended a family get together and was given at least 6 000 more but next year's kiddies will count those. Receiving that many tabs from family just proves that insanity is genetic. Thank you to all my crazy supportive relatives!

200 000!!!

WOW! Who ever would have dreamed that by the end of this school year we would make it to the 200 000th bread tab. Actually we are beyond it by a few thousand. We began the year with, what I believed to be, a very exciting 33 354.5 bread tabs and I just assumed that that total would be the norm. I am very happy to say I was wrong. The kids and the community have turned into tab collecting machines.

Earlier on in the month, I received a phone call that went something like this:

-Hello. Is this Wendy?

-Yes.

-Well, I'm not sure if I have the right person. Are you a teacher?

-Yes.

-Um. Do you teach Grade 5? ( I was beginning to wonder what kind of telemarketer targets Grade 5 teachers.)

-Yes...?

-I must have the right person. Well...do you collect bread tabs?

-YES! You absolutely have the right person!

The wonderful lady on the other end of the phone ended up being the wife of my favourite donkey farmer. (Although, I must admit, he is the only one of whom I'm aware.) She was inquiring as to how she could get them to me before the end of the school year. After chatting

a bit I found out that she worked with my niece. She told me she would "lug" the breadtabs out to the car and I must admit that my heart began to beat a little faster. You don't have to "lug" a couple of hundred breadtabs. There ended up being over 6 000 breadtabs in that delivery. Once again, I wish those donkeys a long and healthy life.

Our total was at 198 921 and I decided that, even though the year was quickly drawing to a close, I should probably buy a new 100 000 container. I giggled to myself when I ran into one of my students at the hardware store and informed her as to for what I was shopping. Monday, at school, she informed everyone of the purchase and said that all she had bought was a mat. Two years ago I never would have dreamed that a child would see buying a Rubbermaid tote as more exciting than a doormat. I guess it's all about perspective.

Bread tabs continued to trickle in and then the big day arrived. I was reading "My Side of the Mountain" to my class and a couple of my little sweethearts were counting away as I read. I estimated that there was enough in the ice cream bucket to reach our goal but I never said a word. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept an eye on them and began reading a very long chapter from the book in which my students were completely engrossed. About halfway through the chapter one of the girls blurted out "Madame Peters!" and I knew they had made it but decided to be ever so slightly sadistic.

"Please wait until I finish the chapter."

"But Madame Peters, we..."

"I'm almost done the chapter and then you can tell us what you have to say."

"But, Madame Peters we have..."

At this point I walked over to her and whispered in her ear that I knew we had reached our next milestone but that I wanted to make the others wait to find out. We shared a secret smile and even though she was practically vibrating, she sat quietly until the chapter, that seemed to have no end, finally finished.

I then asked the dear little girl if she had something that she wanted to share with the class. "WE HAVE 200 000 BREAD TABS!!" came flying out of her mouth before I barely finished the question. A cheer went up from the class and a student grabbed the empty 100 000 container and moved it to the middle of the floor. Other students began grabbing ten thousand containers from in front of my desk and thousand bags off the wall. I actually had to raise my voice and ask them to slow down a bit. I was afraid that some of my smaller students might get trampled in the fray.

After they poured them in, the cutest, most spontaneous thing happened. They all gathered around the bucket and began to scoop up tabs and let them drop through their fingers. Then others began to plunge their hands to the bottom of the container to feel what 100 000 felt like. The only way I can truly describe what I saw is to ask you to imagine a group of very poor starving pirates that had dug and dug for a very long time and finally hauled up the biggest treasure trove in the world. Oh my kiddies make me laugh!

Just to top off the excitement of the day, as the pirates were running their hands through the plastic booty they had acquired, one of my students from last year popped by for a visit. His great big eyes nearly fell out on his cheeks at the sight before him. He couldn't believe what this class had amassed. I reminded him that now there were two classes collecting, his and the present class, and that word was spreading of our project. He promised that he would go back to his school and spread the word of the latest total.

At our school, finishing Grade 5 is a really big deal. It means that the students leave the confines of our little community school and go into a larger nearby town to attend middle school. Not only that, but depending on whether they go to French Immersion or the English program, they get separated and go to different schools. Therefore, the parents do it up big and truly celebrate the scholastic career of their little darlings. There is a Dinner and Dance at the Lions Club, which the students have begun calling the DAD.

As I arrived at the DAD, I saw all the students arrive in various forms of transport from motorcycles to tractors. (I did say they do it up big!) A parent of a mischievous little tyke in my class came up with a sparkle in her eyes and told me that there was a surprise inside for me. Now I know where her son gets that sparkle that I've come to know and love. I went inside and this is what I found:

A CAKE SHAPED LIKE A BREAD TAB!

I couldn't believe it! The years on the tab are the years that these kiddies have been at our school. An added bonus is that this particular mom is a FABULOUS cook and the cake was as tasty as it was surprising.

Well, my little darlings are done for the summer and I will miss each and every one of them horribly. They were a wonderful class but, although I did shed a number of tears, I know I will see them again. I am confident of this because two of the Grade 5 students, every June, do a little recap of their Grade 5 year at the year-end assembly. At the tail-end of this year's speech a wonderful young boy informed me and all that were assembled that they would all keep saving their bread tabs and when we reach one million they will return and pour them into a pool and go for a swim. Have I mentioned that my kids really make me laugh!

The Little Things in Life

It is wonderful when you can find joy in the little things in life. This happened for me today, as well as a group of Grade Four students.

Today was Music Festival day for the choir at our school. Unlike most schools, our choir is made up of the bulk of our Grades 3-5 team. I stayed behind and looked after the Grade 4 students who were not in choir, as well as those from my own class that stayed behind. As there were not very many students, it was difficult to think of something curricularly relevant to both grades but not totally new, so as to not leave the choir members behind. Hmmm, place value is always important.

We went to the library and browsed and signed out books and then returned to my room. According to the clock on the wall it was time for math! When I mentioned this I heard an ever-so-quiet groan. (Loud groans are not allowed in my room.) There was a rather large box of uncounted bread tabs sitting by my desk. I went and grabbed them and began to teach the Grade Fours about our quest for one million. They were so cute. They knew that this was a Grade Five project and that they were being given a chance to take part in it too. All of a sudden math didn't look so bad after all.

I informed the Grade Fives that it was their job to make sure the Fours did their job properly. The Fives, who by now have lost some of the thrill of the count, all of a sudden became very serious bread tag counting mentors. The race was on! Could they get them all counted before the choir got back from music festival? I loved watching the smiles on the faces of the newest batch of tabulators.

"I've got one hundred already!"

"So do I!"

"Hey we have 700!"

"We have 300 over here! Can we have a thousands bag?"

"We never have fun like this in our math class." (I had to turn around and hope that my shaking shoulders didn't reveal my uncontainable laughter at this comment.)

Before you knew it there were two, three, four...nine thousands bags and wait...yes...ten hundreds bags. "WooHoo we have ten thousand more bread tabs." Everyone took turns pouring a bag into the ten thousands bucket. The container got labelled Counted with the help of the Grade Four Class. The recess bell rang but there were still tabs to be counted. Some of them just wanted to stay in and count, but I am a huge proponent of "kids needing fresh air", so out they went.

After recess we had five Grade Three students join our merry band and on we moved. The Grade Fours explained the procedure to the Threes and quickly began stacking up bunches of tens. More bags of hundreds were created. Tables of students cooperated and soon bags of thousands were filled. We ended the count, after much regrouping and scrounging on the floor for stray plastic closures, with a grand total of 159 218 bread tabs.

UNBELIEVABLE! I want to once again remind you that we started the year with a total of 33 354.5. My little students and their enthusiasm for these little pieces of plastic are just a couple of the things that make me a very happy teacher. It's the little things in life that count!

(By the way, we had only just moved from counting and calculating into silent reading for about 10-15 minutes before the choir returned. Just in case you were wondering.)

People Are So Generous!

I realized that I had not added a comment about my class' plastic collection odyssey in awhile and thought that, perhaps, it was time.

Our official count is currently 137 663 bread tabs. However, we have fallen behind a bit in our counting and we have several good sized bags and our faithful 2-litre ice cream container filled and waiting to be added to the tally.

The latest chapter in the saga took place at a bowling tournament to raise money for the Turnaround Achievement Awards. Several teams of teachers and District Office staff were involved in this event and fun was had by all. (56 is a perfectly acceptable score for bowling. Isn't it?)

A friend of mine is in charge of all the league bowling, and a variety of other things, at Kingswood. She has been faithfully asking the folks at the snack bar to put aside any tabs for her crazy friend. One of the ladies that bowls in one of the leagues just happens to be the

manager of the local Burger King. Somehow, the topic of my project came up and this wonderful lady became interested. She has been asking her staff to save all the tabs from their buns, etc. for us. What a wonderful boost for our collection!!! The best part was that this lady was at Kingswood that night (her score looked just a smidgen different than mine) and I got to go over and thank her personally. She said that it was nice to put a face to the project and that she would keep it up until my friend, Patti, asked her to stop.

Just a little note, after some members of our District Office won a couple of the large door prizes at the tournament, I went over to excitedly tell them that although they may have won hundreds of dollars in prizes I had received hundreds of bread tabs that evening. One, normally kind, individual stated that perhaps it was time for me to take a nice vacation in a special area of the hospital. He may be correct, but nonetheless I shall persevere!

As well, a gal from the community, who supply teaches at our school, brought in a grocery bag of tabs from the hospital cafeteria where her mom works. Wow, do we have a lot of counting to do! If I do end up on vacation at this hospital at least I'll know that I will be contributing to the continuation of my project.

The one other development since my last posting involves the friend of a father of a student. I'm not positive of exactly how it works, but my understanding is that this fellow makes deliveries, of some sort or another, to several restaurants. He has been gathering bread tabs from these places and giving them to the father of this student in my class. She has been bringing in about 200 bread tabs every two or three days. They are really adding up! I have sent him a thank you card containing huge thanks from the class. It constantly amazes me what people are willing to do to help with educational development of children. People are so generous!