One of my favorite parts

As I was taking things off my classroom walls today in preparation for the end of the year, I found myself removing one of my class' most prized possessions - our letter from Mickey Mouse himself.

Chances are, you've seen this on Pinterest. From the moment I pinned this idea, I knew we had to try it! When we were learning about/practicing friendly letters this year, we each wrote to one of our favorite Disney characters. (I even wrote one to my favorite princess, Jasmine. I made sure to let her know that I still have - and sometimes use - my Princess Jasmine beach towel!) The kids were BEYOND excited when we got a response...and I have to admit, so was I! Our class received a letter from Mickey and each student got a postcard with their name written on the back "signed" by various characters. It was so neat! Here are the examples of the cards we received. I apologize for their blurriness. I am a little too tired to try and take better ones. Maybe I should say lazy...either way it's pretty sad!

This is the card all the girls got.

This is the card all the boys got. Again, sorry for the blur!

If you're interested in writing letters to Disney, here is what I did. Each child made a final draft of their letter using the ReadWriteThink Letter Generator. Once that was finished, I put all of the letters in a big envelope and sent them to this address:

Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

I made sure to request that any responses be sent to my school address, care of me. Disney did not disappoint! I sent off the letters on the Friday before our spring break and recieved the response package the Monday that we came back. It was such a great surprise to have waiting for us on our first day back from break! A word of advice: I think these are the only cards that Disney sends out, so it would be wise to have your students only write to one of the characters pictured above. Most of mine did, but I had a few who wrote to Woody, Buzz, etc. and they were a bit bummed when they didn't get an autograph from them. 

Why would you start a teaching blog? The school year's over!

Right you are, husband! Technically, anyway! For me, however, the new school year will begin in exactly 2.5 days when these not-so-little-anymore second graders head out my door on Thursday for the final time. Over the summer, my mind will be reeling with ideas and inspiration for next year. Don't gt me wrong, I plan to relax, veg, and totally forget about school on some days, but I really take joy and find so much excitement in getting ready for my new bunch of kiddos to come in August. It's just in my DNA, I guess. Summer just gets me relaxed, refreshed and pumped for the upcoming school year! I don't know what I'd do without this break. It definiltey helps me be a better teacher! I've deliberated about starting a blog for a while now. I stalk...er, follow so many awesome teacher blogs I wasn't sure if I could be as great as any of them. I probably won't be, but that won't stop me from trying! :) Join me on my new blog adventure...I hope you made room for seconds!