I've gotten so many questions on Instagram and emails regarding Desk Pets, so I decided to put all of the info I have spread across my Instagram feed and other things I've wanted to explain right here in one organized place! This past spring I introduced Desk Pets to my students after learning about them on Instagram and TikTok. Desk Pets are erasers or squishie toys that students can earn. Teachers were using them as an incentive for student behavior, classwork, and homework completion. There are many different ways to use Desk Pets, but I'm going to explain how I used them in my classroom. Disclaimer: there is no "right way" to implement Desk Pets in the classroom. I have a feeling this will be forever evolving as time goes on!

I introduced Desk Pets at the beginning of March. I had the Desk Pets arranged on the green tray shown above. I was using these squishies and these from Amazon. (Later I added these take apart erasers, but my students didn't seem to love them as much as the squishies). (Something we noticed about the Squishies is they would get dirty after they had been handled for awhile. Students just rinsed them off in the sink, and this quickly and easily took care of that problem). I told them that when we had Fun Friday at the end of the week, they would get to choose a Desk Pet to keep at school. They had to show they were responsible to own a Desk Pet by having good behavior and following our Classroom Agreements, completing all of their classwork and homework, turning it in on time, and keeping their desks and areas clean. My students flipped! They were so excited! All week I had the students keep a list of their three top choices of desk pets. On Friday, I had students who previously weren't completing homework earn a Desk Pet! Obviously my students really bought into this incentive. Before I gave them their pets, we went over the ground rules: Desk Pets could sit on top of their desks in their homes, as long as they weren't played with, no trading Desk Pets, no letting others play with your Desk Pet, and no taking them home unless instructed to. Their Desk Pets could watch them work and they could read to their Desk Pets. We went over appropriate times Desk Pets could be played with, mostly before school or during Fun Friday, (that's when we do choice time and students can buy Class Passes at our Class Store), during free time, or at other appropriate times that I would let them know. If students didn't follow those agreements or broke our other Classroom Agreements, their Desk Pet would have to sit in the Day Care Center for a day. 

Before I passed out the Desk Pets to the new owners, those students who earned one had to fill out an application. We went over all of the expectations on the Agreements sheet (this is found in the Desk Pets Pack, as well as an editable version that you can customize) and students signed the Agreements sheet. When it was time for students to receive their Desk Pets, I passed them out inside of their homes, (see below) which are small plastic containers that I bought on Amazon here. I was surprised that everyone who earned a Desk Pet got their first choice! (I had about five students who didn't earn one this time around.) The students filled out Information Sheets about their animals, (also in the pack), and I collected those and the Agreements. Before class, I traced and cut out different colors of felt squares for students to choose that would go on the bottom of the houses.  My students were so creative- some asked if they could use the felt as grass, water, or land habitat for their animal!  I also had squares of white construction paper available because one student asked if she could make a personalized sign to decorate the top of her pet's home. They were decorating and customizing their pets' homes! 

The first week with Desk Pets was smooth sailing. I had a few students who didn't earn one the first week work really hard to earn one at the end of the second week. At the end of the second week, during our Fun Friday, those who earned a Desk Pet filled out a Top Three Wish List, and I passed them out along with their homes. Students could choose a felt and paper square if they wanted them. Those who already earned a Desk Pet the previous week and completed all of the weekly requirements could choose three "accessories" to keep inside of their pets' homes. Students who just earned a Desk Pet had to wait until the next Friday to earn the accessories for their Desk Pet. The accessories (see picture below) were small erasers that I had organized into four categories- Fruits and Veggies, Sweets and Treats, Holiday Accessories, and Pet Accessories. If you have been teaching for awhile, you probably have piles of these types of erasers from Target Dollar Spot or other stores that you picked up for your prize box or just to hoard like me! Luckily I had been hoarding the erasers, and the ribbon containers I kept them in were from my old scrapbooking days. I originally bought them at Joann years ago, but I'm sure you could find them there or at another craft store. I found them online for you at Michaels here- much cheaper than the ones I shared with some of you from Amazon, and you could use a coupon and teacher discount! I had erasers from Target Dollar Spot and Oriental Trading, and I found others on Amazon and Five Below (in store, Five Below had limited big packs of erasers for $5.00!). Target Dollar Spot has some foods and treats right now in packs of six for $1.00, if you can find them at your local Target. (The Target link above shows other erasers that are fun, but a little too big to use with Desk Pets, but the picture shows the foods and treats if you want to see what they look like.) My daughter helped me organize the erasers into categories that made sense to me. I created the labels for each container are also in the Desk Pets Pack. There are also customizable labels in a PowerPoint file if you wanted to name them something different than what I labeled them. We continued each Fun Friday by passing out new Desk Pets to those who earned one for the first time and letting the others who already owned a Desk Pet choose three new accessories. 

Since we only had a few months of school left, and I wanted to keep the Desk Pets excitement going, I decided to let them earn a new Desk Pet for April. I let them take their Desk Pets and accessories home on the first Friday of April, but I had them keep the homes at school. Those who earned a new Desk Pet the first week of April followed the same procedures they did in March- they listed their three top Wish List choices and turned that in to me the day before. Some students asked for new felt and paper squares for their new pets' homes, so I let them choose what they wanted. I continued the same procedures for every Fun Friday in April, letting those who earned a Desk Pet for the first time in that month fill out the Wish List and the Desk Pets Information Sheet. We skipped the Agreements page if they previously completed one. Those who already had a Desk Pet for April and completed their requirements for the week could choose three accessories. At the end of April everyone took their pets and accessories home, and we started fresh in May and repeated the process. 

As far as Desk Pets being a distraction, only two Desk Pets had to stay in the Day Care Center since their owners were playing with them during class time after a reminder to not play with them during classtime. That's the only time that happened for the entire three months. For this next year, I plan to use the small house shown below that I found at Dollar Tree in the toy section for my Day Care Center. I've seen some teachers on Instagram use these houses for students to keep their Desk Pets in. The tiny house came with four plastic animals behind each door. I think I'll put those in my prize box. 

The students were so motivated and excited to earn one, and they were so proud of themselves when they reached their goal! Students would send me messages about how much they wanted a certain Desk Pet, and I knew they were working hard to earn the one they wanted. Some who were completing minimal or no classwork and asynchronous work were getting Xtra Math and other assignments completed each day. 

My students gave me ideas for writing assignments that they could do with their Desk Pets. When we started our animal reports, I let them choose which animal they wanted to research. Several chose their Desk Pet species! Students asked if they could write narrative stories about their Desk Pets, and of course I said yes! You can see research and writing pages if you click on the preview here. I have some ideas for more writing activities to add to this pack, based on student feedback. The Desk Pets became an inspiration for writing time! If this gets kids excited about writing, I'm all for it! 

Next year I'm thinking of having the students keep their Desk Pets for a trimester, then at the end of the trimester, having them take them home and earn a new one. I think I'll follow the same procedures with students earning accessories each week, but maybe just one or two instead of three. 

Other accessories I've heard teachers use are these glass stones from Dollar Tree in clear or blue. I had a donation of a few of these Mini Brands and they even have Toy Mini Brands, but those can get expensive, even though they come with six in each package. Some of my students really got excited over those though! :)

The containers I linked above for the houses worked fine last year, but I picked up some of these at Target awhile back to try out next year. My local Target has been out of them, so I don't know if they are being discontinued, but they are a little cheaper on Amazon and larger than the square ones I used last year. If my students are going to keep their Desk Pets and accessories for the whole trimester, they might need a larger "house". You can also look at Dollar Tree for Desk Pet homes. Some teachers have storage containers in the kitchen section and plastic soap travel containers in the health/toiletries section. 

Since I already had tons of small erasers and all of the containers I used to organize Desk Pets, it wasn't too expensive for me to implement. The squishies and erasers aren't as expensive as some of the items I used to buy in my class store. I will also welcome donations from families if they offer to donate to the class. 

As far as organization for all of the Desk Pets information, I'm planning to use the binder shown below to organize everything. I have the Desk Pets binder cover in the pack I linked above, and I'll keep the Desk Pets Checklist, the Desk Pets Information pages and the Agreement pages in the binder. I bought these numbered binder organizer tabs (see second picture below) to keep each students' printables organized. Last year I had all of the printables paper clipped together and it was a bit of a mess! The Checklist will be in the front. I thought this could also be used as my classroom management/parent communication binder. 

It was brought to my attention that calling it a "Desk Pet Adoption Center" and referring to adoption on the Desk Pets sheets might be hurtful to students who have been adopted, making them feel like their experience is being equated to finding a home for an animal. I have friends who are adopted, and it never occurred to me that this might be hurtful. I don't want to possibly hurt anyone's feelings, so I changed the sign on my Desk Pets tray to "Desk Pets Rescue Center, and instead of students "adopting" a pet, they can "rescue" them. (All of the labels and pages in the Desk Pets Pack I made come in "adoption" and "rescue" versions depending on which is appropriate).

Desk Pets brought my class so much excitement and joy during what was the worst year we've ever had. If you are thinking about doing Desk Pets next year, I think you should jump right in and give it a try! There really isn't a right or wrong way to use them, and like everything else with teaching and life, you live and learn, tweak things, and make it work better for you. I hope this very long post has been helpful to you as you get started on your Desk Pets journey. Let me know if you have any questions or ideas about how you will use them. And let me know how it goes next year if you do use them! I know using Desk Pets in my classroom will be ever-evolving based on the ideas and needs of my students. 

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Inspired Owl's Corner

What I've Learned

My first day of school twenty years ago looked much different than it does today. Back then, the students would walk into the classroom on the first day of school and find the desk with their name tag on it.  The classroom rules were posted and I taught the students the rules and procedures they were expected to follow. After a few weeks of school, I would form groups and tell students who they would be sitting with. I was the Queen of my Queendom, and the students were expected to obey what I said. I learned over the years that I could accomplish the same goals in an easier and more effective way and empower my students at the same time. Today I want to share my how I changed my ways and enriched the environment of my classroom.

Student Seating

Every year I let the students choose where they would like to sit on the first day of school. When they walk in the door, I tell them to sit wherever they feel most comfortable. It's important from me to observe my students' interactions with one another. This also helps to relieve some anxiety, since they are able to sit next to their friends. I am able to see which students work well together, which students work a little too well together, and which don't get along and shouldn't work in the same group.

The Perfect Classroom

After a few of the typical getting-to-know-each other activities and a tour of the campus, I bring the students back to their seats and ask them to close their eyes and visualize the perfect classroom. I ask them what kinds of things they would hear other people saying in a perfect classroom and what would they see happening in a perfect classroom? I also ask them how it would feel in a perfect classroom. I have them think about these questions for a minute, then I ask them to work in pairs to discuss their thoughts. Next, I have pairs form into groups of 4-5. Each group is given poster paper, and they write down the statements everyone in their group makes. I walk around the room and observe and refrain from commenting on their discussions. After students are finished brainstorming, we post the charts and discuss them. They usually talk about hearing only positive comments being made, no put-downs, students working nicely together, sharing, etc. Everyone comes to the agreement that we would all like to have the perfect classroom, and in order to achieve that, it would involve everyone working hard to create the positive environment we've imagined. I leave the posters up to refer to as I'm teaching the first few weeks of school.

Student Created Classroom Rules

Have you ever had your students create the classroom rules? You have to save your pretty classroom rules posters for the second day of school if you do this! I have students work in groups and come up with the rules they think are important to have in a classroom. After everyone brainstorms and records their ideas, we discuss them as a class. I tell them I will take their ideas and compile them into 5 or 6 classroom rules. Surprisingly, the rules they usually come up with fit into the rules I have already established. We call these rules our "agreements", since everyone helped to make them and agreed to follow them. (I also added these agreements to my Class Dojo behaviors). Students really buy into following the agreements because they helped create them. Empowering our students to have a say in the rules they are expected to follow makes our time in the classroom easier.

Forming Collaborative Groups

After a month or so of observing students working in pairs and groups,  I like to form permanent collaborative groups. I ask them to write the names of 5-7 other students who they think they can work well with. I promise them that I will do my best to choose at least one of those students to be in their group. I make a really big deal about their permanent groups. It's always fun to form the groups using candy or some other non-traditional way of grouping. I have also used gum, cookies, and animal sounds to create collaborative groups. Another idea for grouping is to have a picture or sticker of one animal, insect, sport, or any other theme for each group you are making, pass them out, and have students get into their groups by category. Students love variety and novelty!

I have created a pack for you to download HERE if you would like to use some of these activities in your classroom. The picture above is a really fun grouping activity involving farm animals and is included in the pack. 

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I hope you've found some ideas you can use for creating a positive classroom community. Be sure to check out the previous posts and freebies in this series by clicking on the pictures below.

I would love to know how you create a sense of community in your classroom. Leave me a comment below!

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Inspired Owl's Corner

Last week in this post I shared how I strive to create a positive classroom community beginning on the first day of school. Right from the start, students need opportunities to build a sense of community and bond with their classmates. One thing I've found that has helped to create a positive classroom community in my classroom is sharing circle. Every morning after I take roll and lunch count, I call my students to come up front to the carpet and sit in a big circle. Students practice thoughtful, attentive listening while their classmates share one at a time. Everyone gets a chance to speak, and I allow them to pass if they would rather not share. Sometimes I have them answer the same question and other times I have them pull a question out of a bag. You can use any questioning prompts to get them to share such as: what is your favorite movie, song, book, food, etc. The ideas are endless! I like to change it up each day to keep it fresh and fun. 

Another activity for sharing is to have students pass around a card with pictures on it and ask them which picture they are feeling most like and why. There are no right or wrong answers. They always come up with the most unique responses.

If I don't give students a bag filled with prompts or a card to pass around, I give them something to pass around such as a stuffed animal or a plastic toy microphone. All eyes are on the person who is holding the item. 

Sometimes students don't want to share, and that's fine. I allow them to pass. After everyone has a chance to share, I ask if there is anyone who passed and would like to share. Most of the students who pass end up sharing at the end. 

What I love about coming together for sharing circle every morning is that I can get a quick glimpse of how my students are feeling. Sometimes students are having a rough morning, and other times they are going through something difficult at home. By knowing this first thing in the morning, I can give those students extra attention throughout the day. It gives me a heads up and I will know to be more patient with them if they are having issues. Their classmates tend to do the same when they are aware. When I consistently do sharing circle, I have less behavioral disturbances during the day. Students get a chance to speak and be heard first thing in the morning and are less disruptive. Sometimes we talk about issues that are going on during recess or lunch. It helps them to resolve their problems so they are better able to focus on their classwork and sets the stage for a positive classroom culture. 

At the end of the first day of school, I like to have my students get into sharing circle and tell about one positive thing that happened to them on the first day of school. It's a great way to end the day and send them home feeling happy about their new classroom. I spend about a week doing sharing circle first thing in the morning and the end of the day. After that, we get together for sharing circle in the morning only. 

I have created a Sharing Circle pack for you. I hope you find the tools included helpful if you begin using sharing circle in your classroom. You can download it for free HERE. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week! :)

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Inspired Owl's Corner

It's on my mind every year around this time... back to school and building a positive learning environment for my students. I really believe it begins on day one. Students come to school full of excitement and anxiety. We want to eliminate that anxiety first thing when they walk through our classroom doors. I have found it helpful to have a kickoff party on the first day of each school year. When students arrive, they are greeted by a sign on the door that says, "Welcome to the Greatest School Year Ever"! I show them where to put their belongings and ask them to take a seat wherever they feel comfortable (I don't assign seats until I have observed how students work with one another for a few weeks). There are balloons scattered around the classroom and goodie bags on their desks. They read their Letter from My Desk  from the previous year's students, which fill them in on our classroom procedures while I take roll and lunch count. They open their goodie bags on their desks, which usually include treats such as a Crazy Straw, Pixy Stix or a pencil with a "Greatest School Year Ever" label attached, a bookmark, homework pass, granola bar, and an eraser. Sometimes I bring cookies and Capri Sun. I usually change it up each year. Some of the resources I use are found in this pack.  

Throwing a party on the first day of school sets the tone for the the year. Students are excited to be in their new classroom and anxiety is alleviated. Sometimes they are shocked that we have a party on the first day of school. I always tell them that we have parties to celebrate the end of the year, and the beginning is something to celebrate too!

On the first day of school, I read a few books before or after transition times such as First Day Jitters, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, and This School Year Will Be the Best!.  I like to collect a writing sample on the first day, and either have students write about what they did over the summer or how they felt the night before the first day. These books are helpful to begin the conversation and get students ready to write. 

My students also participate in many different getting-to-know-you activities in partners and groups. I like to give them lots of opportunities to share and learn about their classmates the first few weeks, since that's how we will build a sense of community.

I've put together some of the resources I mentioned above in a Back to School pack for my readers. You can download your copy here. 

Be sure to check HERE and HERE for more Back to School ideas and freebies! 

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Inspired Owl's Corner