I think Elf on the Shelf is a great way to bring some fun into the classroom.  I blogged about the idea yesterday.  I shared some cultural situations the elf could present my classroom with, as well as some basic examples that would allow me to get in more repetitions with basic holiday vocabulary.  I must confess I was most excited about all of the cultural ideas I came up with, but I also know that students need to be able to discuss their own culture and celebrations before they can compare/contrast to a another.

Before beginning Elf on a Shelf, I decided that I would be the one to name him.  I know that a big part of the experience is naming the elf with your family, but this is hard to do with three different classes.  Sure, I could have created three different names, but honestly I know I…