My Life as a Middle Class Bag Lady

One of my favorite teacher blogs is Teacher Tom.  I pretty much agree with everything (that I've read so far) he says about preschool, and I especially like his posts about disciplines, natural consequences, etc.

One thing he said that I read not long ago (which was actually a quote from another educator) is that preschool teachers are all basically middle-class bag ladies.  Which basically means that we will hunt for, gather, scrounge up and reuse basically anything and everything.

I love this, because it is so very true for me.  One of my most common ways to practice being a Middle Class Bag Lady is by going to yard sales.  Since I live in a place with relatively warm winters, we have yard sales here about year-round.  So it is fairly easy for me to find one, and even easier (once I find one) to find something useful for the Little People.

Last week I had a great find.  A simple digital camera and an MP3 player for $5 each.  Granted, I haven't tried them out yet, but if they do work I think that these could be wonderful things.  Especially the camera.  I'm thinking we can have a new classroom job:  Picture Taker.  They can have the chance to use the camera that day to record their observations.

Or even better, I can send it home with a child a night to take pictures of their homes, their pets, their siblings, etc.  Kind of a digital "All About Me".  Then when they come back I can upload their pictures onto the computer and print them out.  Or perhaps I can keep my eyes open for a digital picture frame that can scroll through all the pictures for the kids to see.

The best part about the camera is, if someone loses it or a sibling breaks it, I'm only out $5.   Which is a risk I'm willing to take for the potential of some really good sharing.