Next Sunday will be the start of a busy week for Henry The Hand, the Champion Handwasher and mascot for National Hand Washing Week, which runs December 6-12.

There is a “Hand Awareness” School Program that schools can purchase to help promote the importance of hand washing and keeping healthy. The school kit provides 1000 stickers, 400 fake tattoos, a DVD and CD, and much more.

SmileMakers also has several products that not only promote hand washing, but other preventative measure to avoid sickness:

Health Habits Bulletin Board Set
This bulletin board set motivates students to partake in health living and taking steps to avoid sickness like “Drink plenty of water” and “Move your muscles” and “Wash your hands to keep them clean.”

Health Poster Set
This poster set includes 5 charts that cover hand washing, dental health, My Pyramid food chart, healthy habits, and parts of the body.

Fields Organics Kids Hand Soap
These organic, antibacterial soaps were made with kids in mind. Gently enough to use every day, this soap is perfect for any classroom or school wash area.

As Thanksgiving meals continue to digest in many bellies today, the panicky excitement of the holidays begins to bloom.

At SmileMakers, we have all the holiday stickers, pencils, decor and toys you’ll need in the classroom this season.

December Holiday Sticker Assortment
This 100 unit sticker assortment package has stickers commemorating Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, as well as one stating “Feliz Navidad.”

Holiday Pencils
Choose from dozens of designs that include Christmas Trees, Snowflakes, Santas, Gingerbread Houses, Peppermints and much more!

Holiday Toys and Giveaways
Looking to give your students a little something for the holidays? SmileMakers has dozens of toys to choose from like power bracelets, holiday pal rings, reindeer rubber ducks and winter prisms. There is a toy to suit any K-8 classroom.

The New York Times’ Learning Network published an intriguing blog post today related to the stress-levels of students during the holiday season.

Today, teachers and students across the nation are traveling or gearing up for tomorrow’s festivities; hopefully looking forward to seeing loved ones and eating too much pumpkin pie.

Photo Credit: pauladamsmith

But loved ones and the holiday season affect people differently, and SmileMakers would like to know if you (as teachers) notice changes in your students’ performance or behavior during the holiday season.

Do you notice that some students react to the holidays differently than others in the classroom?

Do you as teachers notice a difference with your energy in the classroom during the holidays?

This Thursday is a day for people to reflect about what they are thankful for.

And as America continues to fight through this down economy, many are thankful for the most basic of needs, which leads us to ask:

How do you teach your students to give thanks this time of year?

The National Education Association recently listed a number of ideas for teachers to use to help children learn the importance of giving thanks.

Photo Credit: xybermatthew

We’d like to know what you do in your classroom. If you could, please leave us a note in the comments section and share your ideas.

Are you an educator interested in environmental science or marine biology? Then you may want to look into Papahānaumokuākea ‘Ahahui Alaka‘i (PAA).

PAA is a new leadership program sponsored by the staff of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on the Hawaiian Islands.

According to the Papahānaumokuākea website, the program:

“…is a 10-day experiential leadership program that brings together teachers, business people, policy-makers, and other community leaders interested in learning and being inspired by science and traditional knowledge management practices.”

The deadline for nomination is January 4th, 2010, with the program beginning on June, 12^th, 2010.

Papahānaumokuākea is the largest conservation area in the United States and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world.

Sometimes all it takes is a symbol of a teacher’s pride in a student to motivate them to excel.

Lily Tomlin as “Edith Ann” once said, “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.”

With younger students, teachers can send kids home with stickers to remind their students that they have accomplished something great in their teacher’s eyes.

As a special treat, teachers can also use stickers as gifts for the holidays; something your students can take home over holiday breaks, besides homework!

Here are a couple holiday-themed sticker sets that will brighten your students’ day:

Disney Princesses Christmas Sticker Assortment

Diego Christmas Assortment Stickers

Disney Cars Christmas Sticker Assortment

Glitter Hannah Montana Christmas Stickers

Four teachers were named U.S. Professors of the Year earlier today by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The recognition is part of the U.S. Professors of the Year program, which “salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country - those who excel in teaching and positively influence the lives and careers of students.”

In addition to the four national winners, state-level Professors of the Year were recognized in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

To find out who today’s winners are, visit the U.S. Professors of the Year Awards Program website

Sport Stacking is a relatively new concept where players stack, unstack and restack plastic cup-like objects.

The creator of the Sport Stacks company, which creates equipment for the sport, is a former elementary school teacher and claims the sport has educational benefits. According to the company’s website:

“Sport stacking helps students develop bilateral proficiency equal performance on both sides of the body. By increasing bilateral proficiency, a student develops a greater percentage of the right side of the brain, which houses awareness, focus, creativity and rhythm.”

Here’s a short YouTube video from the Guinness Book of World Records of a young competitor setting the world record for the fastest timed sport stacking at 5.93 seconds.

SmileMakers carries Speed Stacks in blue, green, pink, orange, purple and red. We also carry the StackMat Competition Timer, and Speed Stacks Sport Pack in 15 and 30 sets.

Does your school’s physical education curriculum include Sport Stacking?

This past Sunday kicked off American Education Week (AEW), which according to the National Education Association (NEA):

“…spotlights the importance of providing every child in America with a quality public education from kindergarten through college, and the need for everyone to do his or her part in making public schools great.”

This year marks the 88th Annual American Education Week where each weekday, the NEA will focus on various aspects of school like Open House Day, Parents Day, Education Support Professionals Day, Educator for a Day and Substitute Educators Day.

How will your school commemorate American Education Week?

Food Fight!

We’ve seen food fights on the big screen, in our kitchens and maybe even at school. Most food fights are just adolescent mischievousness and don’t end with the pranksters being hauled away in a paddy wagon.

But last week, 25 Chicago Middle School students were arrested and put in jail (some up to 8 hours behind bars) for participating in a cafeteria food fight.

According to a New York Times article, the mother of two of the students who were arrested and jailed said, ““You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn’t had a food fight?”

The article further states that school officials met with the parents to explain the food fight from their point of view.

As educators, do you think arresting and jailing the students was too harsh or necessary?