Educational Activities: How My Favorite Teacher Helped Make Learning Fun

Being that September 28th is known as National Teachers Day, or National Teacher Appreciation Day, I will take some time to honor a particular second grade teacher and lifelong friend. This woman, known as Miss Jane Keil, impacted my life in so many wonderful ways. She not only contributed to a well rounded, extraordinary education at an exceptional elementary-level school, but she provided just the right formula of guidance and encouragement necessary for me to march into the rest of my life with goals, independence, and enough confidence to explore my personal individuality. She was the kind of teacher that truly cared about each child and his or her future and who was committed in her heart and soul toward our development as if we were her own blood relatives.

Here are some of the many teachers activities Miss Keil creatively thought of to help make learning fun:

Warm Friendly/Cold Fuzzy Educational Activities
Every student in the class was given a little paper mailbox to place on their desk. We were instructed to write our names on them and were given time to personalize our own with colorful decorations and drawings. I don't recall the exact motivation Miss Keil had for assigning this fun educational activity, but I would guess it had something to do with teaching us manners, courtesy and how to trade in selfishness for altruism. It also served as an exercise to help one make new friends.

Miss Keil taught us about warm friendlys and cold fuzzies. A Warm Friendly was telling someone something nice and positive about themselves and a Cold Fuzzy was saying something mean or disrespectful. To fulfill the exercise, everyone was randomly assigned another person in the class to compliment. The task was to find something nice to say about the person, write a note and slip it in his or her mailbox.

It was a great way to make learning fun and made everyone feel so good about themself that we kept the boxes up for voluntary Warm Friendly exchanges with our peers whenever we felt like it.