cure for spring fever part I

First of all, let me just say that school's out for the summer!!! Yee haw!!!!!

Whew! OK! I did manage to take some pictures of lessons during the last few days of school, although spring fever was running at an all-time high! Even though the energy level in my classroom was through the roof, the children still found concentration in lessons like plant polishing...


The materials laid out from left to right:
*Q-tips
*Plant polish (we used diluted neem oil)
*small dish for polish
*waste container for used Q-tips
*damp sponge in a dish
*dusting cloth

The child wraps the dusting cloth around her first two fingers by folding over the left side, then the right side...

and finally folding down the top. Pretty fancy, huh?!

Wiping off the dusty leaves is satisfying work. The dustier the better! The child knows how fragile the leaves are - she's being very careful!

Next, she squeezes a few drops of polish into the small dish.

She uses a Q-tip to gently apply the polish to the leaf. I'm not sure if neem oil is the best stuff for plant polishing, but it sure does make the leaves shine! The child puts the used Q-tip in the waste container. When she's all done polishing (the child can polish as many leaves as she'd like), she empties the waste container in the trash, puts the dusty polishing cloth in the laundry basket, and wipes the polish dish clean with the sponge.

You're probably thinking, Ooooo... what a strict teacher! Keeping her students cooped-up inside when they're nearly dying of spring fever! Actually, FYI, it was cold and rainy and sometimes even snowy outside. Can you believe it?