The Counting Continues

Here we are at the end of December. The kiddies are home dreaming of what Santa will bring them and I have visions of 500 000 bread tabs before the end of the year dancing in my head. I wonder if there is a support group for this. Last week was a bread tab counting extravaganza. I kept my promise and invited the students, that had left my room, back and we had an estimating, tabulating, place value considering, rollicking good time. Forty grades four and five students all huddled around tables in my room, counting tens, hundreds and thousands. My intern from UNB, the teacher from the other class and I wandered around replenishing the tables as the sandwich and freezer bags got filled. The grade fours were very cute. Never having done this before, exclamations of "I already have one hundred" rang out around the room. The grade fives, to their credit, just smiled, said nothing, but looked at me with a "One hundred is NOT a big deal" look on their faces. By the end of the class, the kiddies had counted and bagged 16 870 bread tabs! Quite a feat! We had had estimates of between 15 000 and 20 000, so not bad at all. We are currently sitting at 465 355 bread tabs. Only 34 645 left to get to the halfway mark. We have moved ahead much faster than I predicted. I appreciate all the donations. I couldn't do it without you. While I have been enjoying my kiddies and the things the Christmas season brings to an elementary school, the staff, parents and students of Sandy Hook Elementary have been consistently in my thoughts and prayers. When I looked around the gym on the last day of school, as we all sat in our PJ's, drinking hot chocolate and singing Christmas carols, I could not help but think of that dear school that could not celebrate Christmas together, but rather are just trying to figure out how they can move on. Please keep them in your prayers as well.

Year Four Begins

Year Four is off to a roaring start and our fourth hundred thousand container has been filled. Once again family, friends and the amazing school community has flooded us with bread tabs. I am amazed by the continued and consistent support. My year began with a very excited class of 29 grade 5 students, who have watched this plastic collection grow since they were in the second grade. Several of them have sent in tabs via older brothers and sisters that have experienced this quest for one million first-hand. It is amazing how quickly groups of 10, 100 and 1000 can be counted by highly motivated Grade Fivers. When the students realized that we had enough to fill the next hundred thousand container, a cheer went up that drew interest from the class next door. Although none of them had been there before when "a big container", their behaviour was exactly the same as every other time. Little hands were plunged through the tabs, handfuls of tabs ran through fingers like pirates with gold and smiles that would make a crocodile jealous lit up the room. Due to class numbers over the limit, changes occurred and I now have 20 students in my room. As I was, sadly, sending some of my dear wee ones to another class I was a surprised and amused to hear their greatest concern. "Madame, if we go to the other Grade Five, does this mean that we can't come back for the one millionth bread tab celebration." While trying not to giggle,and yet feeling empathy for their very real concern, I assured them that they most certainly would be invited back. I also talked to the other teacher and asked if I could invite them back some time for a math class. She, with a smile and a laugh, said that I most certainly could. The little sweeties left my room with slightly lighter shoulders. One of the amazing custodians at our school came in and noted our fourth container. She said, "At this rate, you will definitely reach one million before you retire. What are you going to collect next?" Oh my heavens! I can't even begin to think about that!!! Our most recent total is 413 638. The picture up top is of how we show this on the bulletin board. Only 586 362 left to collect! Thanks for your continued support.

Another Successful End Of Year

I guess the title is a bit ironic, as it is just about time to start a new year. I had every intention of posting the year end total in June, but procrastination reigned. The picture above should give you some idea of what 382 052 bread tabs looks like. The large buckets each hold 100 000 and the smaller buckets each have 1 000. The bags hanging on the bulletin board are part of the count. This year, my dear little Gators, collected 178 364 plastic closures. One of my previous year's students brought in about 8 000 on her own. When I think back to the first year, when we collected 33 354.5 tabs, and one of my students informed me that, at that rate, it would take another 29 years, I am pretty pleased with how we're doing. In fact, I think people are actually beginning to believe that we will get to one million some day. A lot of people are asking, "What kind of celebration are you going to have when you get to a million?" The answer is that I really have no idea whatsoever. I have 3 grocery bags of tabs ready to greet my new Grade 5 kiddies. Thanks for of your support!