Meet Superbunny, AKA Snowball (our beloved class pet).
What's so special about this fur ball (you may ask)?!
Well, let me tell you what kinds of super powers this special bunny holds.
1) She has saved a highly unmotivated student from failing the 3rd grade and has brought sunshine on to his cloudy days. Yes, sounds dramatic but this student, who I will refer to as Thomas has some major issues at home and at school. That is until, Snowball came into his life. Thomas' parents basically don't/can't support him emotionally or academically. Thomas had ZERO motivation or a reason to want to do well in school. He would often walk into class with a glum face and NOTHING would motivate him to do his work. That is until, Snowball came into our class. This is when things started turning around. Thomas started to come into class in the morning looking forward to seeing Snowball. He would want to tend to her and clean her cage. He would talk about her, write about her, make drawings of her. Although 3rd grade isn't over yet, I know that Snowball has indeed saved this little boy.
2) She is the best behavioral management tool (animal). Ever since day 1 of her arrival. Me and my co-teacher have been milking this super power for all its worth. "Boy and girls, we must work in a quiet manner because we don't want to scare snowball. Bunnies don't like loud noises. Snowball may get scared! Snowball will visit the quietest tables first." She is truly amazing!
3) She has taught our students about responsibility and what it means to tend to something we care about. Every month, we choose monitors to help take care of Snowball. The jobs vary from cage cleaner, water bottle filler, etc. The students absolutely love having responsibilities to take care of her and really take each one of their jobs seriously. They will often come in in the morning and ask if they can do their job, which just reminds us of how much they love her and how much they look forward to being able to do something FOR her.
4) She has helped our class become a real family. Now, I'm sure it wasn't just the bunny but the works of TWO fabulous teachers that ultimately helped our class become a community. However, I do believe that Snowball deserves a lot of the credit. Ever since she came into our class as a pet, there has been a difference in the way our students react to each other and to us. Maybe by working together to tend to her and take care of her, our students have grown closer with one another. Of course, there are still the normal kid stuff like "she said this.... he said my name sounds like a girl's name.." etc but I can confidently say that each and everyone of our students this year really do care for each other.
5) She became the hot topic for our persuasive writing unit. It was maybe around October when the students first mentioned wanting a class pet. At first, my co-teacher and I were hesitant. However, we came to realize having a class pet could benefit our classroom in a lot of way (as you can see from this list). We decided that the students would have to persuade us through writing into getting a class pet. The pencils started to fly off their notebook pages and the rest is history.
All in all, I think having a class pet is truly great in many ways.
Of course, that is IF your principal approves of having pets in your classroom and
you realize that there will be expenses, time, and responsibilities involved.
