Thank you for visiting #ksedchat. We welcome all educators to our chat that runs Mondays at 8 p.m. Central. Though many of our educators have their homes in Kansas, all teachers are welcome to pop in and join in on the learning.
Katherine, third grade teacher at Christ the King in Wichita. Christmas parties were always my favorite, but I did have a great room mom all through school, so picking a favorite is difficult! #ksedchat
I teach 2nd, my favorite party were the end of the year ones. I loved my 8th grade trip to Worlds of Fun. Won myself a giant stuffed Taz. #ksedchat He is still kicking it around as a reading buddy 22 years later.
Hey, I'm Bill and I teach undergrad computer tech at K-State Polytechnic in Salina. My favorite school party was the time they showed Hitchcock's film "Psycho" as a Christmas treat for the Jr/Sr high students. I was terrified for weeks! #ksedchat
April Owens 4th grade Osawatomie and my fave class party was in 5th grade when I drew the number for the gift that I brought to our Christmas party. #KSEdChat
Hey All!! Miss B here, from Arma, KS @ Northeast Elementary! I teach 5th Graders! My favorite class party growing up was the Christmas party!! Iām a sucker for Christmas music and all the good feels around the holidays! #ksedchat
Heather from Neodesha. 6th grade! Not a holiday party, but my favorite parties had to be the end of the year book-it parties because pizza is life. š #ksedchat
Hey #ksedchat Iām Cassie Nix & I teach middle school technology in KCK at #turner202strong. I think I liked the Halloween parade and seeing everyoneās costume.
A1: My favorite holiday has always been Christmas! I just love the magic of the season. Itās been great reliving it through my kidsā eyes! #ksedchat
A1: My favorite holiday growing up, was probably Christmas. However now my favorite holiday, is Thanksgiving! I love the feeling of going home to family, and kicking off the holiday season! Itās a soul warming kind of holiday! #ksedchat
Does Neewollah count? ššš§”š»Itās a week long Halloween festival that just wrapped up in Indy! Hereās my fam in the Kiddie Oarade last Friday. #neewollah#ksedchat
A1: my fav holiday growing up was my birthday. Now itās Christmas. Still have lots of fun on my birthday though. Also today was my dogs birthday, also pretty fun š #ksedchat
A1: as a kiddo, my dad would take me trick-or-treating, some special time with him and a bonus of getting to dress up! As an adult I love Thanksgiving, I now get to prepare it and live doing that for my family #ksedchat
A1: favorite holiday was Christmas Eve lots of family and food at my grandparents. Now, itās graduated to Easter because we get to do hunts with the kiddo! #ksedchat
I used to like the Valentines Day parties. Taking an old shoe box and decorating it as a mail box, with a hole on top for people to drop in Valentine's day cards & small candies. I should bring this back for college students. #ksedchat
A2 hardest thing growing up was deciding what to be for the school halloween party. Now its all the hidden prep work that a teacher puts into getting ready for a classroom party #ksedchat
A2: As a kid, finding the right vibe for candy and treats was hard. As an adult saying NO to most treats due to #celiacdisease. As a T helping the kids who canāt afford them still feel involved and getting them support for it at home. #ksedchat
Hello sorry crashing the party late! Courtney in Frontenac and Iām Principal at Frank Layden Elementary and favorite holiday Valentineās Day! #ksedchat
A2: As a kid I always felt like the outsider.
As a teacher, yeah we haven't had any classroom parties yet; treats the last ten minutes for a birthday, but feeling like all the control is gone. #ksedchat
A2: The hardest thing as a kid was sitting through the normal part of the day to get to the party. Now I teach middle school & the kids want to celebrate but we have a normal day. They still bring sooooo much candy. #ksedchat
A2 Valentineās parties were the most challenging as a kid, will they like the card...too muchš A2 As a teacher now everything about a party is challenging: allergies, diversity and backgrounds, safety policies, health and wellness regulations etc. #KSedchat
A2: As a S, I think the hardest part was feeling like I didnāt have as nice of costume/treats/valentines etc. because I came from a low SES, single mother home. Feeling judged by my peers.
As a T, I think following through with classroom management/order admist chaos!
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A2: Hardest part as a kid is getting older and thinking you are too cool for the parties, when deep down you really want to join in on the fun. #ksedchat
Q2: my mom is a teacher so she could never attend my classroom parties because she had finals and what not but she did bring sweet dissection labs to my class. Hardest part as a teacher... decorating. #ksedchat
A2: As a kid I always stressed about bringing the best treat! As a teacher, for a long time it was helping others understand parties arenāt a waste of time. They build relationships and memories! I feel this is changing with more support from admins. #KSEDCHAT
A2: waiting for it to be party time was the hardest, the anticipation was excruciating. At middle school we donāt have scheduled classroom parties anymore, finding the time to celebrate becomes difficult #ksedchat
A2) as a kid, hardest thing was getting a book of Lifesavers when other kids got Hotwheels at Christmas.
As a teacher, the hardest thing is getting students to pay attention to needs of others before themselves. My students are too afraid of "looking bad." #ksedchat
A2: As a kid: My parents were teachers at the high school and never came to my parties. As a teacher: trying to do anything productive the day of the party. All day long my class acts like this..#ksedchat
My favorite holiday growing up was prob Halloween and Christmas. As an adult my favorite holiday is Christmas because I love being with my family during the Christmas season. #KSEdChat
A2- Hardest thing as a kid for parties was that there were not enough of them.
Hardest thing as a teacher is not really allowing them anymore, no treats, no food. Activity over treats.
Which I deal with by bringing in my Nintendo 64- #MarioKart#ksedchat
The hardest part was waiting for the party to start. As a teacher, it is keeping my class on task until party time. Also, worrying about whether they will have enough treats or a game to play. #KSEdChat
A2: I was naive that holidays were fun for everyone. I never understood that not every kid had Santa visit, or had a cool costume handmade or Easter baskets at multiple houses. As an adult itās the opposite I now see this and it breaks my heart. #ksedchat
A1. #ksedchat
Favorite holiday growing up was probably Christmas. Although we had a birthday on Valentine's Day and a birthday on Independence Day making them pretty special too. As an adult I like Thanksgiving, especially if it's low-key.
A3: I love being surprised by my students' costumes. I always tell them to not tell me until Halloween. In Frontenac, we have a tradition of parading through our downtown. The whole community comes out and watches. It is pretty cool! #ksedchat
One time I dressed up as Antarctica (yep the whole dang continent, and yes, I am thankful Facebook wasnāt a thing back then).
I am excited for any costume my middle schoolers wear (they are so hesitant to participate!!) #ksedchat
A3) we usually made our costumes when I was a kid. I remember being Raggedy Ann. My mom pulled yarn through hose forever to make my wig. Today I love the creative homemade costumes still. #ksedchat
A3: my favorite costume as a kid was when I was Glinda the good witch with a huge pink poofy skirt. I love when kids are original! One of my students last year was a side table with a lampshade on her head š #Ksedchat
A3: My favorite was my Princess Leia costume. I wore a piece of Walmart silk wrapped around my body, hair in buns, & carried Mace Winduās purple lightsaber. Completely incorrect but I adored it because my Momma made it for me.
Today, I love a good pun costume from Ss. #ksedchat
A3: I think it was a TMNT costume when I was 10. I LOVE the new Cardboard costumes. My family really gets into them. #ksedchat They did something like this last year!
A3: I was Eeyore one year and it was my favorite!
I had a student dress up as a minecraft character for Fun Night this year and that was awesome! #ksedchat
A4 my favorite costume would have to be a Pokemon in the 1st grade. Now I love seeing Ss dress up as their role models or what they want to be when they grow-up #ksedchat
A3:I have so many! My mom handmade my costumes and usually I was part of a duo. One year I was Raggedy Andy and my friend was Raggedy Ann; as an adult now itās all of them! Just love seeing kids and the community celebrate together #ksedchat
Q3: Tie between Dorothy and a handcrafted (by my aunts) Little Bo Peep costume complete with hoop skirt! Last year one of my kinders was in a minion costume as big as her that her mom made her.. it was awesome! #ksedchat
A3: As a kid. Kindergarten-Baby Bop from Barney the Dinosaur. (I know, totally cool!š) NowāI just love the see really creative costumes at the 6th grade level. The kids that really go for it for their last Halloween school party. #ksedchat
A3: Favorite costume~ Princess. Even had the huge hat to go with it. And when my candy bag broke, instant solution. This is the first year in 8 years Iāll be at a school that kids get to dress up. So Iām excited about all of them! #KSEDCHAT
I do remember Halloween of my 6th grade year, when I went Trick-or-Treating lots of people told me I was too old to be.
I was 6 foot tall at the time and looked much older, but that really didn't make me feel too good about myself. #ksedchat
I remember dressing up as a tiger and matching my mom as well. My students donāt get to dress up but my favorite costume for my son has been the baby horse from a few years ago. #KSEdChat
That's okay. I don't throw parties, either, but I do celebrate learning. Sometimes we celebrate the end of a unit or large project with a game day. I like to find ways to get kids thinking, laughing, and interacting. #ksedchat
A4 i remember some of my teachers adding decorations and others not so much. This year I have spiderwebs on my door, and in my room. Small decorations do a great job of getting the Ss excited for the holiday #ksedchat
A4: Minimalist decorating both then and now. We have some Jehovahās Witnesses so we donāt decorate until the day of. We do scary crafts like pumpkin and spiders but no actual Halloween decor. #ksedchat
A4: I donāt remember much but I feel like there were some decorations? Definitely a small Christmas tree. I donāt decorate for holidays because I have students that donāt celebrate various things for various reasons. #KSEdChat
I remember when my mom used to make a big deal about not giving candy to older kids. Now, I think it's nice they feel comfortable enough to go out there and still be young! Let's stop forcing kids to grow up so quickly! #ksedchat
A4: Our classroom was never too decorated, but that may have been due to being in a Catholic school. Before Fun Night we had bats and pumpkins in the hallway. I haven't done much in my room. #ksedchat
I have the opposite problem. I always get mistaken for one of my students. Itās a bonus on Halloween though. At the nursing homes we parade at in town, residents are always trying to give me the candy they give the students. šš» #ksedchat
A4: just like now depends on the T and how they decorated. I remember always having a Christmas tree. One teacher had a nativity scene and as a kid didnāt think much about that because I had one at my home. #ksedchat
A4: One of my elementary teachers had this fake fireplace that she would break out after Halloween and whenever we did read aloud we would gather round the fire.
The only thing that I decorate as a teacher is my door for the Deck the Halls competition. #ksedchat
A2. As a kid, the hardest part was not being the teacher's pet or popular kid. As a T the hardest part is seeing kids have higher expectations than I can meet and being disappointed when we actually had such a nice opportunity to have fun. #ksedchat
My favorite costumes were the ones my mom made for me. I was an Indian in kindergarten and a clown in 5th grade.
My students don't usually wear costumes. One has been wearing this Chewbacca coat around since the weather got cooler though. #ksedchat
I have to checkout early but your homework tonight #ksedchat is to make a #gradingpaperschallenge video!
Letās show @mrronclark_ and the world that Kansas teachers know how to have some fun while inspiring their students!
Share it on all your social media!
A4: Then: Kid Art. Everywhere. Now: Ancient Egypt History +Halloween= Mummies! I love combining curriculum and Holidays. Christmas, Hannukah, Chinese New Year! #KSEDCHAT
Q4: My classrooms growing up weāre often āfallā themed. Our community was rather conservative in this regard.
Today, I keep my classroom in reflection of ālightheartedā Halloween - no witches, spells, or controversial decor/themes. This year our theme is Monsters Inc. #ksedchat
I think the key is that the celebration is meaningful. My grade school son loves reaching goals and celebrating with his class. It just has to be authentic no matter the form. Sometimes a note, sometimes a phone call home to celebrate. Ss need positivity in many forms. #ksedchat
So, is anyone else surprised @KsCommissioner didn't wear a suit and tie for this? Yeah, us too š¤·āāļøš¤·āāļøRandy & @braddeputy had the fun opportunity to test out 2nd grade boat designs at Rosehill. The students have been studying properties of matter & engineering. #KansansCan
Q4: I also think the S culture has changed in regards to Halloween. Growing up, Ss my age (at least to my knowledge), werenāt exposed to the movies/shows some students tell me theyāve seen today. I remind myself itās my job to expose Ss to age appropriate Halloween fun! #ksedchat
A5: Itās going to be a little chaotic, lean in. Make sure you take five minutes at the end of the whole thing to reflect on what worked, what needs tweaked, and how you can improve next time. #ksedchat
A4) My childhood classroom had holiday-themed artwork that every child made.
My current class (A college level design class) made hand-carved jack-o-lanterns. I don't have any current pics yet but here are some examples: https://t.co/uDlrYKDIII#ksedchat
A5: Be prepared. Have back up activities & snacks, in case (when) something doesnāt go according to plan! Take a class picture before you leave, so you can remember the day years later! (One of my most precious teaching possessions!) DRESS UP WITH YOUR KIDS IF YOU CAN! #ksedchat
What a great chat! We can't wait for next week! We want to learn from you and your district! Start taking pictures this week of what makes you proud to be a KS educator! Let's learn about the amazing things happening across our state! #ksedchat#ecet2ks
A3. As a kid, my favorite costume was a cheerleader outfit that my aunt made for me. I felt so powerful and sporty! As a T I love seeing kids dress as characters from a favorite book. It's art, not two look alike even if they are wearing the exact same costume.
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