When we go to Germany, my most favorite town in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. To me it is a magical place that has managed to resist modern influences. This walled city is built high on a cliff to protect the inhabitants from the possibilities of war. I like to walk alone to the outskirts of the city with my steaming mug of gluhwein, find a nice bench, and sit for hours. The snow falls quietly around me and I am transported to a place with no time, where I am connected to the past and the present.
One day I was walking back to the hotel after one of my solitary sittings. I happened to look over the side of the wall. To my great delight I saw a gnome garden in someone’s back yard. It was wonderfully tacky and I fell in love with it. I said to myself, “One day I too will have a gnome garden.”
Now that dream has come to pass. Jimmy and I recently had our backyard fenced in. It is a large yard laid out in an L shape. Jim has his Japanese garden on one side of the L and my garden is on the other side. You cannot see his garden from my side, and vice versa. So, I have been working on my magical garden. I brag about my gnome garden to my friends. One of my favorite friends, Jeri Martin (our school librarian), even bought me a gnome! If you are thinking about buying me a gift, a gnome would make a great present!
Here are some photos of my work in progress. Don’t dispair! You too can have a magical garden!
My gardening area
Folk art sunflower
Fairy tree
Dragonflies in my Fairy Tree
Mr. Peacock
Beer bottle edgers
My gnome from Mrs. Martin
My catnip planter
For the birds!
Folk art flower
Stained glass butterfly
Merlin, my favorite gnome.
Mr. Fuzzles, my newest gnome
The traveling gnome in the Fairy Mountains
Snoots, who is not a gnome, but wishes he was
It may be easier to see them in slideshow form. Here is a slideshow!
Now that it is the end of the year, for the next 3 weeks I’ll be going to the 5th grade classes to present my Moving on to Middle School guidance lessons. The first thing I do is tease them about being 6th graders. I say, “Ha ha! You will be in 6th grade and everyone is going to pick on you!” To be honest, it is true. They will get picked on, teased, and tormented. I like to be the first to bully them with this information. That way they are prepared for what is to come (muhahah!).
For some reason, I cannot find any online resources to help kids transitioning to middle school. Therefore, I, Dr. Moon, will dedicate myself to putting together a nice guidance package for you to use with your 5th graders. You can start using it today!
I will be using Prezi for the presentations. If you don’t know about Prezi, it is an online presentation site that allows you to make killer presentations. It trumps PowerPoint and Keynote in its coolness. However, if you have a nice PowerPoint or Keynote that you made, Prezi can take those slides and instantly turn them into a Prezi.
The best thing about it is it allows you to embed files, like YouTube videos, photos, movies, etc. directly into the presentation. The Prezi lives online, not on your computer (unless you want to download the presentation – which you can). You can go to any computer in the world with an internet connection and your Prezi is instantly available to you – links, videos, music, and all! And since you are an educator (all you need is a .edu email), you can get an account for FREE! That is a $159 dollar value absolutely FREE! My favorite pitchman Billy Mays (the OxyClean guy) would be proud.
For Lesson 1: The Basics, click on the link at the top of this post. I am going to make a series of presentations, so check back for Lesson 2: Let’s Get Organized!
If you have any additional areas you would like for me to cover, email me at poppymoon@gmail.com.
Usually Test Administrator training is not so much fun. To help your staff avoid some common testing problems, please feel free to use my special Dr. Moon’s Test Training video. It’s fun and informative!
It’s Testing Time! Our school’s theme is Rock the Test! After some extensive Googling, I was unable to find any cool Rock the Test graphics and clip art. I have made some for you! Enjoy!
Some of you may not know that I am a lifetime Girl Scout member. I started as a Brownie (they didn’t have Daisies then) and worked my way up to earn my Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve. I am very proud of this award, because it is rigorous and time consuming. Here is a nifty fact: A Girl Scout who has earned her Gold Award immediately rises one rank in any of the U.S. military branches.
Gettin’ Pinned by Juliette!
My college, Centenary College of Louisiana, requires students to do 2 semesters of community service. My best friend Wendy and I lead a Brownie troop of six kindergarten girls. The highlight of the job was when we took the girls to Cold Stone Creamery to get a “behind the scenes” tour. If you have ever been to a Cold Stone, they have a big frozen marble slab that they mix ice cream on. One of the girls was VERY annoying, sneaky, and mean. While the rest of us were learning about the waffle maker, she secretly licked the slab. Tee hee! Her tongue stuck to the slab and the man had to get a cloth with warm water to unstick her. Wendy and I still reminisce about her. I think her name was Sarah. I wonder if she now has a fear of ice cream!
My mother is also a Lifetime Girl Scout member. She lead most of the troops I was in. She actually worked for the Girl Scouts of North Alabama during my teen years. She went to Mexico to Our Cabaña as a teen. I was a Girl Scout camper, camp counselor, lifeguard, and canoe instructor at Camp Trico for several years. We have both visited Juliette Gordon Low’s home in Savannah.
I guess you could say my mother and I are SERIOUS GIRL SCOUTS! We can cook a meal in a tin can, tie you in various knots, save you from a snake bite, splint a broken leg, read a compass, pitch a tent, provide CPR, and run a ropes course (to name a few). We can upright a swamped canoe in the middle of the lake. We have hundreds of badges to attest to our mad skills.
The sad thing about scouting is that girls are dropping out of this program. I think it is due to a lack of both adult leadership and national support. Girls tell me scouting is not “cool” and they only “make lanyards” and “sell cookies”. BORING! What they don’t know is the most exceptional women in the world started learning about themselves and others in their local scout troops. Their troops provided them with the tools they needed to become accomplished women of high standing. Some of my favorite Girl Scouts include Lisa Ling, Sandra Day O’Conner, Katie Couric, Lucielle Ball, Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Laura Bush, and Sallie Ride. Younger girls may be impressed to know that Taylor Swift, Abigail Breslin, and Dakota Fanning are also members of the sisterhood.
When I was 11 I went to the Girl Scout 75th Anniversary Shindig. It was held at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, Al. It was a MASSIVE celebration! There were troops from all over Alabama. They had a main stage and troops did elaborate performances celebrating different eras of Girl Scouting. My troop dressed up as flappers and did a delightful Charleston number to Has Anyone Seen My Gal? There were older women proudly displaying their uniforms and memorabilia, swapping stories, and singing old camp songs. Several televisions played vintage movies. My personal favorite is The Golden Eaglet from 1918. Check it out! It is in 2 parts.
Part 1:
Part 2:
This year is the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting. So where is the big shindig? Sorry folks, no big shindig. Why? I think it is because people just aren’t involved with their kids anymore. My professional opinion is that it is easier to give your kid an iPad or illegal Facebook account than to really spend time with her. What adult and child wants to go wandering around in the mosquito infested woods learning about nature? Who wants to eat hot dogs cooked on a stick you picked up off a trail? Isn’t that just unsanitary? Why waste your time learning how to canoe when your jet ski can get you there 10 times faster? Who wants to camp when you can be in a fancy RV?
Thank goodness, my mother is a Girl Scout who is Always Prepared (check out her badge below):
The Girl Scout Motto
She decided that she would be the shindig maker. I, her amazing daughter, was called to assist. Since one of the lines of the Girl Scout Promise is “to help people at all times”, I could do no other than lend a hand.
My favorite memory of the 75th Anniversary was having my picture taken in one of those plywood sheets with a hole cut in it. There is a painting on the front of the board, like an old Girl Scout uniform. You stick your head through the hole and someone takes your picture. Since that was such a special memory for me, I wanted to make one for the 100th. For your viewing pleasure, I made a little movie showing you how it was done!
Here are some Girl Scouts enjoying the cutout. I think the older ladies liked it more than the little ones!
Martha Caroline Green, my 2nd cousin, lead Girl Scout songs and played her guitar. She topped off her outfit with a blue bandanna. Here is a special story she shared about hiking and appendicitus.
If you are planning a 100th Girl Scout Shindig, please feel free to use my buttons! We gave a button to everyone as a small souvenir.
In the midst of all this wonderful celebration and rememberance, my husband says, “Didn’t you hear about that guy who said Girl Scouts were raging lesbians with a feminist agenda?” I immediately pulled out my iPhone and learned about dear, dear Indiana Republican Bob Morris. Here is his beautiful visage. Rest your eyes upon this shining example of compassion and wisdom.
Bill Morris: Always first in the mosh pit.
Well done, Mr. Morris! Well done! For almost 100 years we have fooled men! We thought we would get away with our dirty little secrets. But no! You brought them to the light! Now everyone knows that its not “cookies” we are selling:
We aren't really selling "cookies"…….
But BIG, DELICIOUS, Cookies! (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
Taste our "cookies"!
To reiterate,
We aren’t selling “cookies”….
We aren't selling "cookies"…...
We are selling “Cookie”.
"Hi! I'm Cookie!"
How did you find out? How did you know? You must have have used your good looks and cunning ways to get the others to fess up.
You know what, Mr. Morris. I love to be snarky. I really do. But this one is just TOO EASY. I feel so badly for you personally that I don’t have the heart to snark on you. Still, since it is the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts I would like to give you this special souvenir photo:
Look! I am such a lady that I am flipping you off with my ring finger!
Here my little friend Katie Baker sums up the big day:
I love you Girl Scouts! Let’s work to make it last 100 more!
The first thing I would do is paint it a fun color. I recommend paint from Sherwin-Williams. You will want to put down a primer first. This makes the paint stick to the walls. My favorite primer is Kilz Laytex.
Then, using Basics Acrylic Paint, add some fun to the walls. You can use the acrylic paint from Wal-Mart, but it is really thin and you will have to add several coats. Basics paint is thick, easier to apply, and only needs one coat.
You don’t have to be a super artist. Here are some examples from my office. I made feeling clouds and stars.
You want to use a blue or green (not lunchroom green) on the walls. This is a soothing color. Bright colors make people agitated. This is why fast food restaurants have bright colors inside. They want you to eat and go! The bright colors aren’t welcoming and make you want to leave. Here is a great example from South Park (I love South Park!) Kenny and his siblings are taken by DHR from their parents. The kids are placed in a “happy room” where they talk with the therapist. This room is NOT happy, nor does it soothe the children. I really like the clowns though…..(tee hee!)
Such a welcoming room!
Nice clown in the background!
A nice rug and beanbag chairs are also a plus. It is better to sit with the kids on the floor rather than putting them in a hard chair. This makes your office different from the principal’s office. It is less formal and cozier.
Kids like to have something to do with their hands while they are in your office. They can look at the toys rather than having to look directly at you. I would get a few puppets. Finger puppets are fun and inexpensive.
Finger Puppets are FUN!
My parents love to travel, and they bring me awesome puppets from Europe. Europeans know how to make toys, unlike our crappy Made in China toys. If you ever are in Paris, visit the toy floor at the Galleries Lafayette. A WHOLE FLOOR of toys! If you are in to sand tray therapy, it is a sand tray therapists dream! Target actually sells some European puppets and figurines from the Schleich company.
I have the little guy with the red hat. He lives on my desk and is super cool!
If you are crafty, you can make an inexpensive finger puppet holder. Here is an example:
All you need is a block of wood, wooden balls, dowels, and glue!
You will defiantly need some Koosh balls.
Even grown-ups like the Koosh balls!
And some some magnetic desk sculptures to have lying around.
I like the humans!
Another simple decoration is a mobile. Whenever we go to Germany, I hit every toy store in every city we visit. Once again, European toys trump any toy you can buy in the US. Mobiles are fun to watch and are calming. I have a solar system mobile in my bedroom. Sometimes I just sit and stare at it. It rotates slowly and is just lovely. Here is a picture:
Yes, my bedroom ceiling is painted to look like the sky. You could use this as an idea for your office too! Here are some great mobiles. Just Google “mobiles” and see the wonderful selection!
I hope this post gives you some ideas to make a great, safe space for kids. If you use any of my suggestions, please send me a picture! I will be happy to post it as an inspiration to others!
In my amazing book, Operation: Breaking the Boy Code, there should be a pie chart for the handbook. It was accidentally left out. Here is a copy for you!
