Flashback Friday - Paperbag Book

Well it's Friday again and it is also the 1st June which means down here in Australia that it is officially the first day of winter! I have to admit though at present it doesn't feel all that wintry, now I am not complaining about that one little bit.

On SCS many people have been posting graduation cards etc as soon is either over or just about over for the year. For me this seems really strange as in Australia our school year is from the end of January to early December. Anyway seeing so many people are thinking graduations I thought I would show you all my paperbag book I created for my youngest daughter who graduated as a teacher about 1 1/2 years ago. I wanted to make her a teacher's survival kit but wanted something that she would be able to keep as a reminder once all the tiny bits and pieces included in the box were long thrown away. So I decided to combine the survival kit with a paperbag book. I know she enjoyed it as she made smaller versions of the idea to give to her friends who were also graduating and also teachers who she had been working with at the time and the response she got was also positive.

This photo shows the book and also the box I made to hold the book and also all the goodies that are referred to throughout the book. I decided to go with primary colors for the book as she teaching the younger children except for the black on the front cover which is meant to resemble a blackboard (not sure they really have true blackboards anymore though)



The photos above are the pages of the book, I typed out all the pieces that I included in the survival kit and put 2 to a page and also found stamps or clip art to use for each piece. A few things like the rubber band, bandaid I used real items and attached them to the pages.


These poems were inserted into the openings of the paperbag book, I found the poems online somewhere.

Teacher's Survival Kit

• Candle - For when you are up late grading papers.
• Ace of Hearts - For the 'heartfelt' way you 'deal' with tasks each day.
• Wiggly Eyes - To help keep an eye on your students to discover how best to help them or when you wish you had eyes at the back of your head.
• Crayon - To color your day bright and cheerful.
• Pack of Seed - Encourage your students and be patient, we are here to plant seeds of knowledge. Rubberband - To remind you to be flexible.
• Lifesavers - You are a lifesaver to many of your students.
• Puzzle Piece - Without you the class wouldn't be complete.
• Marbles - To replace the ones you've lost.
• Tissues - To wipe away the tears.... yours and theirs.
• Smarties - For helping make each student smarter.
• Paperclip - To hold it all together.
• Eraser - To remind you everyone makes mistakes and they can be erased.
• Smiley - Try hard to wear a happy face.
• Mint - To remind you that your are worth a 'mint' to your students.
• Bandaid - To remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else's.
• Marker Pen - To thank you for leaving a last impression.
• Gum - To help your class 'stick' together.
• A shape - Thank you for helping to 'shape' the future.
• Present - Remember that your students are a gift, treasure them.