Why I am currently making cupcakes.

Today started out as any normal school day with my class, we check-in with each other and talk about how we are all doing and what might be new. Last week one of my pupil's was away so we were taking turns filling her in on some of the new things that were happening in our class.

One of the new things was a points based rewards system where the whole class enjoyed a reward if they reached a certain number of points. We were talking about the rewards when the question of a class pet came up.

The kids were kid of floating the idea around and while they were talking the cogs started turning in my brain...they are working on a responsibility unit...hmmm

So I asked them "If you were going to get a class pet, say a bunny, what would looking after it and being responsible for it look like?"

They started brainstorming and soon both sides of my blackboard were full of ideas. I didn't want them to get their hopes up so I didn't say anything to them about this being a possibility but I went and spoke to the Vice Principal at recess and she was immediately on board and we decided that the students should make a presentation to her.

So after recess I went back to my class and put them to work. I said we need to make a presentation to the VP. They said "Whats a presentation?" So we talked about that and then we chose our roles for the presentation, the kids created large visual aids to show the VP, and we rehearsed what they would say. I really stood back and let them come up with their own material, I just showed them how to put it together (says the proud teacher).

They were ready to present after about an hours worth of work and we had the VP come in and listen to our plea. The kids were great (she says beaming)! The Vp was very positive and she told the students stories about her own pets and she asked who would be willing to pick up the poop and even I was surprised by the number of hands that went up. Lots of willing poop picker-uppers. Eventually she said yes and the kids were very polite and said thank-you! As soon as she left the room they lost their minds!! They were cheering and clapping and sooooooooo happy!!

So I more or less threw the days plans out the window and spent the rest of the afternoon working on problem solving with the kids.

I would ask them questions like:
How much will a cage cost and where will we get it from?
How can we save money doing this?
Where will the money come from?
Where will we find the bunnies

To their credit they were totally focused and by the end of the day they had located two free dwarf bunnies in Vancouver, contacted the lady and found out that they would indeed be good classroom pets. One of my REALLY eager students was interested in how we would pay for it all so I gave her a team of students to work with and they, in collusion with the VP, planned a bake sale for tomorrow. Which is why I am currently making cupcakes.

We still don't know how we will get the bunnies to Bella Bella but where there is a will there is a way and I have several family members and dear friends in Vancouver who may be getting a call from me in the near future :)

Me: Hi, how do you feel about picking up some bunnies and putting them on a plane?

Anyway, I just pulled my butter pecan cupcakes out of the oven. *phew* I almost let them burn while writing this post my students would have had my head on a platter!

If any of you are interested in making a donation to the Great Bunny Plot of 2013 please contact me via facebook or email. Every little bit helps!!

TTFN!!