Corn snakes in the classroom...periodic updates to my Chgo classroom donation :)

Cegninedorf said:

each teacher gets a copy of Kathy Love's article "Children and the Corns"

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Could you post the bibliographic/source information for this? I did a web search and it didn't turn up so I assume it's a print article.

Snakespeare said:

Could you post the bibliographic/source information for this? I did a web search and it didn't turn up so I assume it's a print article.

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It was in the Reptiles Annual 2006 issue of the magazine...I contacted Kathy Love about it and she said that she's been planning on including an Education section to her website, and including that article...until then, maybe see if you can find a back issue of it? When I thought a teacher had lost my issue, I was desperately trying to find a copy of it, too, and it was tough...thankfully she found the issue & returned the magazine to me! Now I just hand out copies of the article...

Thanks--I'll try to track it down.

I wanted to post these photos the other day, but I had to wait until my saintly boyfriend gave my harddrive a complete overhaul because it really sucked booty as far as nasty little viruses were concerned. Now, it's awesome again... Yeah for computer-geek boyfriends everywhere!!! :bowdown: :dancer: :crazy02:

Ok, so, I just wanted to show how big Fritzi has gotten...when I received him from Terri, he was probably around 2 feet & he weighed 48 g...now, thanks to the Tupperware dish below, I was able to measure the perimeter & come up with about 36" and he now weighs 150 g. He is a spectacular snake & the kids absolutely love him...it's now starting to get disgustingly hot here, and while it's not too hot outside, the building I'm in is an inferno. When I first stepped foot into that building, I swore that there must have been a pool in it because it smelled of "pool humidity"...nope, no pool. It's just one of those super-old buildings that retains humidity like Scrooge & his money (prior to Tiny Tim, mind you). Needless to say, I prevent pass-outs with water breaks, keeping the lights off, and spritzing faces & necks with water. So, with that said, Fritz has *not* been in residence of late...should the weather cool down, he'll head back, but when the temp in the classroom is higher than what his UTH should be at max, then I prefer to keep him at home, where I know he'll stay alive.

Anyway, here's Fritzi...

This past Oct:


And, on Mon (bad photo, I was rushing...but I still had to post it because of how funny it is that he followed the perimeter of the dish & met perfectly back up with the tip of his tail...oh, and he does look a little thick, I think, in the middle because I thought that he was all done with digesting, but he does like to take his time -- typical male! Anyway, he let me know he wasn't when at a presentation today, he let fly...he really seemed so proud of himself, too...and we got a good lesson on how closely related bird & reptiles really are...):


I will find a prettier photo soon...mayhaps by July?

Again, thanks for your patience! :cheers:

Fritz is looking good :cheers:

He is getting big! Thanks for the picks.

Christina I just ran across this thread, took a while to read up, BUT well worth my time. You are such a wonderful, caring person. I can read in your post how much you love your children ( I give you credit for takin on the challenged) DS has PDD, Aspergers, mild anxiety & sensory issues...social too. He's a 6yr. old handfull. AND loves our Little Dani (candycane corn).
Well anyway, I loved reading your thread & feeling all the enthusiasm in your posts..Fritz is beautiful & has a wonderful mommy..

Vikki
10wk old male candycane

Just read some updates I'd missed on here, looks like you've had your hands full. Sounds like a tough time but hoping you'll pull through and it was great to see how Fritz is doing

Thanks, ladies... The school year ended on Fri -- blessedly. It was such a bizarre year, and two of the specialists for the one child I had really feel that the guardian will be taking my school to court over the issue -- and all of us really feel that it's just due to his wanting more money for the child's "care." Without going too much into it (because it's one of those cases where talking about it makes the situation feel all the more frustrating...), the guardian is a flat-out loony. Completely. 100%. And while the child has some issues, she's a product of her environment -- meaning, caused by him now. I just hope *not* to be subpoenaed over the summer... :bang: And I did prepare a lot of notes for her next year's teacher to really prepare her for what's to come...

So, once my new project -- moving & working on the apt that I'll be moving into (it's my boyfriend's place...and it's been needing a lot of work!) -- is complete, then I can really give a good end-of-the-year-summary to this & highlight our class project & figure out what worked, what didn't work, and what I should do better next year...I do know, though, that no matter what "issue" the child had, s/he blossomed when dealing with Fritz. Talking about him, drawing him, reading about him, writing about him -- anything. I had kids reading who normally hated to read -- and they were reading Kathy Love's corn snake manual for fun on the weekends!!! The students were very proud of & very much in love with Fritz...

I already know of a few student "issues" (I don't know what to call them...just above-the-norm situations...) for next year, and yes, one does involve a mom who has presented herself as being difficult at school, but, I don't think it will escalate to the height of the madness I recently went through...so, we'll see.

But I do know of a few students who specifically wanted to be in my classroom because of Fritz. One girl was literally bouncing at my feet with joy over being in my room. My former 2nd graders are also thrilled with knowing that they can visit Fritz next year, as well as I'll be visiting their classrooms for demonstrations. They liked knowing that Fritz will be back, too.

Thanks again...and it will forever be a work-in-progress for me, I think!

Cegninedorf said:

Thanks, ladies...

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And Dave...

Well it sounds like you had an overall good year. Yea, no year is perfect but I know for sure you have changed many kids lives.

ENJOY your summer and RELAX.

Here's to a great next year. :cheers: :cheers:

I just wanted to give this thread a bump..
How are they doing this year??

tricksterpup said:

I just wanted to give this thread a bump..
How are they doing this year??

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Oh, Trickster, I'm sorry that I missed this bump! April was a hellish time -- in fact, the whole school year this past year was fairly hellish. Typically, your first year of teaching is the worst year of your career because it's such an absolute nightmare...well, this year was right up there with it. In the end, though, the students learned a lot, and they all love reptiles...

Unfortunately, I never got a chance to move the tank & such into the classroom...there was always something that I was hauling to & from school (books/texts, supplies, whatever...) & I never got a chance to conduct the reptile unit how I had it the year before; there was too much new curriculum being sent from the top down that I had no chance to do any of it. *However*, fortunately, the kids got to meet the snakes & my bearded dragon and learn about them -- more than just my class, too, as I was doing presentations for Kindergarten, 1st, 4th & 5th graders. AND...I'm looping with my class from 2nd grade to 3rd grade, so we're going to start with the reptile unit right away at the beginning of the year! I feel like I get to make up for past mistakes this coming year by having the kids again for another year...

However, here are some of my favorite photos from this year...! (Most of the time, I'd forget my camera, or I'd be so busy with handling & helping that I'd forget...oh, well!)

Here's Fritz, doing his thang! Fritz is visiting a 4th grade classroom with a 5th grade ESL class also in there, doing a demonstration feeding...the kids then all wrote questions to me about snakes, and I wrote back to them all with the answers...they loved it, including the two other teachers in the room...!


Now, Fritz doing a feeding in my classroom for this group of girls...


Schnee with another group of students, who were impressed to see her take off!


Maizie bonding with another student:


And ALL of the students wanted to hold Caramelo when they saw me put him around my neck while I was trying to handle more than one thing, and after a lot of them borrowed my book...so they all wanted to be "The Girl Who Wore Snakes"...
The Girl Who Wore Snakes, by Angela Johnson -- hard to find, but not impossible! (And it's all about corn snakes!)



Finally, I just found this: if you have/work with young children, here is a cute .pdf of lots of snakey-things that you can do/read/play with kids!
http://www.plcmc.org/Services/Storytimes_to_go!/pdfs/Snakes.pdf

Thanks again for asking, and I hope that I have more to show & tell this coming year!

Great update Christina, those students look so happy to be learning.

diamondlil said:

Great update Christina, those students look so happy to be learning.

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Thanks! Any day that was reptile day was probably their favorite during the whole year...and all of them wanted to take one of the snakes home with them... I really look forward to having them do more with the snakes this coming year, and possibly have one of my leopard geckos move into the classroom, too.

Thanks for the update Christina! They all look so intrigued by the snakes. Ohh, I wish you were my teacher!

Christina,
Thanks for the update. You still deserve much kudos for your work in the classroom and teaching them about Corns and other herps.

Dave123 said:

Thanks for the update Christina! They all look so intrigued by the snakes. Ohh, I wish you were my teacher!

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There are some students of mine who would agree with you on that, and some who would look at you very strangely and disagree profoundly... However, I have gotten quite the reputation in school for my reptiles and I don't mind it at all -- at my school, because it's K-8, it's seriously hard to get any respect from the 7-8th graders; very tough kids...but my students from 4 years ago are now in 6th grade (holy crap!), and from presentations, I've gotten to know quite a few of the new 7th graders, so hopefully I'll be able to use that newfound respect to my advantage. (Perhaps by getting the hallway to be a bit more quiet around my classroom during transitions?!)

tricksterpup said:

Christina,
Thanks for the update. You still deserve much kudos for your work in the classroom and teaching them about Corns and other herps.

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Thanks; the kids love it and the adults are just as curious. It's pretty win-win.