January 2009 Today’s Catholic Teacher  Idea of the Month:

Happy Birthday, School!
Everyone loves a birthday party! Celebrate your school's birthday: Choose a day during Catholic Schools Week (January 25-31, 2009) or designate the date of its founding or the feast day of the school's namesake. Invite students and parents to send "presents" that will be raffled off to raise funds. Students can design and display birthday cards. Close by treating students to an appropriate snack as they salute the birthday of their
school.

—Gail Harvey, St Saviour School, Brooklyn, NY


December 2008 Today’s Catholic Teacher  Idea of the Month:

Advent Retreat Day
We set aside the last day before Christmas break as a student retreat day. Teachers collaborate with grade partners to plan age- and grade-appropriate activities for the retreat afternoon. In so doing, we focus students’ attention on the real reason for the season. A school-wide prayer service in the church creates a quiet, prayerful atmosphere on that last, otherwise hectic, day before the holidays begin.

—Sr. William Adele, principal, St. Luke School, Glenside, PA

November 2008 Today’s Catholic Teacher  Idea of the Month:

A Special Pre-K Prayer
Before the day's beginning prayer, ask the children to hold God in their hands (put their hands together in prayer) while they think about him and pray. End with the Sign of the Cross and ask the children to "hold" God for a final time. Tell them to give God a kiss and blow him back up to heaven. To do so, they kiss their hands and blow, wiggling their fingers as they let God go.

—Erin Seymour, St. Martha School, Louisville, KY
 

October 2008 Today’s Catholic Teacher  Idea of the Month:

Pumpkin Saints on Parade
Following a detailed study of saints, students can take advantage of pumpkin harvest time to transform pumpkins into likenesses of their favorite saints. Use paint, cloth, beads, yarn, and other favorite craft items. At our school on All Saints Day, the other k-8 students enjoyed table displays of our sixth graders’ pumpkin saints on parade.

—Ellen L. Boyd, Father Andrew White, S.J. School, Leonardtown, MD


September 2008 Today’s Catholic Teacher  Idea of the Month:

Catch your students being Christ-like every day of the week. Ask students to focus on using their minds through which Christ thinks on Monday, their hands through which Christ serves on Tuesday, their voices through which Christ speaks on Wednesday, and their hearts through which Christ loves on Thursday. Recognize students with certificates on Friday.

─Nancy Cheesman, St. Lawrence School, Indianapolis, IN

Share your experience with other teachers. Send your Idea of the Month to mnoschang@peterli.com