Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing little-known facts about The Mailbox family! Here’s fact number three:

Over 2,500!

Here at The Mailbox, we love teachers. We respect what teachers do, we admire how much teachers care, and we appreciate each and every idea that teachers share with us. Here’s today’s little-known fact:

This year, The Mailbox has purchased over 2,500 ideas from teachers just like you!

Did we buy an idea from you this year? I sure hope we did! Maybe we bought two or three or four! However, if we didn’t buy an idea from you, then—by golly!—I think this should be the year that we do, don’t you? It only takes a few minutes to submit an idea. And if your idea is accepted for publication, a $20 gift certificate for The Mailbox will be headed your way. We hope to hear from you soon!

Smiles,
Diane

PS: Find out how to submit ideas online by visiting our website!

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Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing little-known facts about The Mailbox family. Here’s fact number two!

All in a Day’s Work

Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall? Well, if you could be a fly on the wall of our art department, you’d no doubt have the giggles. That’s because our staff illustrators are routinely asked to illustrate some bizarre things, all in the interest of accurate and engaging art. I recently invited several of our illustrators to share some of their most memorable requests.

• How about some animated air? Can you draw that?
• What we need on this page is a really cute germ.
• Oh my! That frog needs pants!
• Okay, I know a worm doesn’t have eyes, but this worm is reading.
• Yes, this is a black-and-white page, but the grass needs to look green.
• This forest of trees doesn’t look happy. Can you fix that?

Which leads me to today’s little-known fact: Some really strange conversations take place at The Mailbox.

Smiles!
Diane

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I just have to share! We DID get snow for Christmas! The flakes began to fall midday on Christmas and continued through the night and into the following day. It was so beautiful! A white Christmas in North Carolina! Now that’s something!

Smiles,

Diane

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Wishing a Merry Christmas to each of you!

Warmly,

Diane

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Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing little-known facts about The Mailbox family! Here’s fact number one:

143

No, that’s not my age nor my weight. (And for my quick-witted readers: neither my age nor my weight will be revealed as one of The Mailbox’s little-known facts!)

Did you know that to be an editor on The Mailbox’s staff, you must have classroom teaching experience? Well, it’s true.

The Mailbox’s current editorial staff has a combined total of 143 years of classroom teaching experience.

Holy catfish!
Diane

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Please don’t throw a snowball at me—I’m wishing for a white Christmas in sunny North Carolina! We’ve already had snow twice this year, which is very much out of the ordinary for us, so I’m probably pushing it. Yet, the weather experts are mentioning a slight possibility of a Christmas snowfall. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s just my tiny wish, anyway.

My biggest wish for the season is that each of you celebrates the holiday in a way that warms your heart and refreshes your spirit for the upcoming new year!

Happy holidays to all!
Diane

PS: Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some little-known facts about The Mailbox family for your reading pleasure. Who knows? There could be a pop quiz with a prize in January.

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Y’all must be counting the days until your holiday break. What’s the count? Three days? Two days? One day? Whatever the count is, I want to thank you for making this holiday season a special one for your students. How do I know it was a wonderful holiday season for your students? From reading your comments, of course!

My count is three days! What’s yours?

Merrily,
Diane

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If you’ve not yet participated in our current giveaway, there’s still time! Get the scoop at “A Celebration and a Giveaway!”

Your merry elf,
Diane

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The Mailbox staff is a wonderful (and very talented!) melting pot of personalities! We have the goofy, the serious, the creative, the astute, the clever, the extremely intelligent, the wise, the mischievous—honestly I could go on and on. (I’ll let you decide which of the above describes me!) However, I can’t think of one employee who I’d describe as—dare I say it?—stuffy. This simply is not the place for stuffy. And to prove my point, check out these photos of some of the fun festivities we’ve squeezed in during this holiday season! Trust me: we work very hard around here! And yet we still find time to have some fun. After all, what’s the benefit of taking the fun out of work?

Tree Trimming

Holiday Lunch
(I won’t name names, but someone was wearing Santa socks!)

Sneaky Santa Lunch and Gift Exchange

I LOVE this place!

Smiles,

Diane

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Drumroll, please! Ba-da-ba-da-boom! Today I have two spectacular announcements!

First, this is the 300th post on The Mailbox blog. Ta-da, yahoo, and a great big thanks to you for being a valued member of our online community. You’ve made The Mailbox blog the place for teachers across the country (and from other parts of the world!) to come for teaching ideas, suggestions, and inspiration. Your input is very much appreciated. Thank you!

In addition to celebrating our 300th post, today also marks our final giveaway of the holiday season. For this double celebration, I am cleaning out my prize closet. Every time we get ten new commenters on this post, we’ll give away one prize. This means you have a one-in-ten chance of winning! What types of prizes are cluttering up my closet? Let’s see! I have a $20 gift certificate for The Mailbox, a book from The Mailbox Books, a minisubscription (three issues) to The Mailbox magazine, stickers and notepads, lotions and such for overworked teachers, and copy paper. Ready to win?

Here’s today’s topic! What teaching themes, topics, or skills are you planning for the month of January? Please include your grade level in your comment. And, just for fun, include your state or country too!

Ready, set, share!

Diane

PS: The giveaway concludes at the end of Sunday, December 19.

Congratulations to all six of our winners! That’s Jessica R., Linda E., Nancy H., Kay K., Ronda T., and Dana. Check your inboxes for prize information, and thanks for commenting!

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