Prepared for Week One

There is no guarantee that this is everything I will use the first week, but these are a few things that I wanted to post to help me remember for next year.  I hope you find it helpful!

This will be displayed in my classroom next Friday evening for our Meet and Greet.  I will have a smaller version of this poem for each child to take home with them along with the baggy of goodies to describe our year.  This idea came from pinterest so I cannot take credit.  I just tweaked it a little to make it fit my theme.




This is another fabulous idea I found on pinterest.  I simply added the quote at the bottom.  I am looking forward to doing this at the Meet and Greet to symbolize that each member is equally important.



I am using this newsletter for the first week to introduce myself to the parents of my students, and to get them familiar with the layout of my newsletter.  I have also included important dates, helpful websites, and a few to-dos (under "Notes from Miss Thomas) for the parents.

Each year I have THE hardest time trying to keep this document brief.  I have included what I consider to be THE MOST important information for the school year.

I LOVE doing interest inventories at the beginning of the school year to learn more about my students.  I also use this document as a guide for my students' learning styles to include in my long range plan.  I have included questions that I feel help me best know the student quickly... in addition to conversation and observation.

Last year I found that many parents did not read the newsletter that I sent home weekly which meant they were unaware of upcoming events, school holidays, homework, what we were learning in class, and it was a waste of paper.  At the Meet and Greet I will be giving the parents an opportunity to receive it electronically so that it is no longer the student's fault if the parent does not read it.



The parents will write their child's transportation for the first day and remainder of the year.  I will hang this next to the door so that I (and substitutes) know at-a-glance who should be going where.



I found this student information card on pinterest, and I did not change it one bit.  I thought it included ALL of the fabulous information you would need to take on a field trip, call home, etc.  Thank you pinterest!

This will go in the 3-prongs in the center of the folder that they bring from home to school.  This will be used to let me know when money was sent, and let the parents know when money was received at school.  It never hurts to have documentation of... EVERYTHING!

I will be printing this and the money log double-sided and placing it in the prongs of the folder.  When the students have filled up their reading log they will get their choice of reward (un-purchased).  They may get extra recess, a homework pass, or get to use art supplies the following morning in place of morning work.