Miss Vericker's Adventures

With well over a month left before I officially meet my new batch of kinders, I am practically in full-on school mode! Welllll, that's probably partially because I am immersed in the incredible Writing Institute professional development at Teachers College this week. Seriously, one day in and I am HOOKED. Lucy Calkins is like the human embodiment of teacher wine, chocolate, and pizza all rolled into one. She is a spellbinding speaker. I took 7 (!) pages of anecdotal notes today so, fret not, I will be sharing more on that next week!

ANYWAY, back to BACK TO SCHOOL! I wanted to share a little bit of my Back to School FUN and organizational tips. Here goes...

A small little something for your colleagues and administrative assistants or administrator! Fill a mini glass jar (or baby food jar if you have those handy!) with some sweet treats (M&Ms for the Marvelous and Magical tag, Lifesavers for the lifesaver tag, and your favorite candy for the 'sweet' tag) then print these gift tags and attach with a ribbon!

I always like to give something a little practical and "teacher-y" to my new Assistant Teacher. Last year I gave a super cute mini clipboard to my new AT. I am SO psyched about the girl I am working with this year, I will have to find her something special!

Now for the kiddos!

About a week before school starts I send out the beloved jitter glitter! So the glitters doesn't make a huge mess on the floor where the letter is opened (great way to kick off the year with the moms- NOT!) I put the glitter in a little baggie.

Here is a version I sent out a few years ago...

Here is the template that you can purchase as part of my Back to School/End of Year Organization + FUN!

In addition to the jitter glitter, I also send my welcome letter. You can snatch it up for grades K-5 here.

For our Orientation Day, I like to give the kiddos a little treat to enjoy after their first day. Here was last year's snickety snack.

This year I am going to give the kinders some bubbles to take out to recess the first day. I don't have these prepped yet (I still have a month to go!) but here is the template I am using for the tag!

I don't like to leave the parents out, so I put these adorable little poems on a wire or plastic picture frame holder and give it to them as a little memento of our upcoming year.

I make sure to leave these poems right next to my super important parent contact sheet. Yes, the office gives me a copy of all this info but I like to have it all right there in each parent's handwriting at my fingertips for when I need it quickly!

At the end of the year I send my kiddos and parents home with these tear-jerkers, also included in the pack!

A little more organizational helper.... my teal, pink and green themed classroom labels. So I, or anyone else who may enter my room, knows exactly where everything is!

All of these goodies are available for kindergarten through fifth grade in my TPT Store. There is so much more goodness for back to school/end of year in there- be sure to check it out and HURRY! it's on sale through tomorrow. All this for only $5.20!

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Awl-riiiight, this one isn't exactly speedy, but it's so delicious I had to forgo the "speedy" factor for the taste factor. Once you get some minimal prep out of the way, you get 120 minutes of FREEEEE time while the veggies roast. Woo hoo. Grab a magazine, check parent emails, orrrr write another blog post to link up below!

Okay, for starters, preheat the oven to a low 275 degrees. {Alternatively, you could roast these on 375 for much, much less time (30-45 minutes) but I just love the slow and low roasting!}

Chop, chop, chop a tomato (1 large or 3 small) and red onion into large chunks. Throw them in a bowl and toss with a generous pour of olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Spread the veggies out on a foil-lined baking sheet. Throw a few cloves of unpeeled garlic on the sheet for a little garlicky goodness.

Throw these babies in the oven for 90 minutes- 2 hours.

Take them out and let them cool for a few minutes before putting them in your food processor.

Pulse these up to you desired "doneness."

Sometimes I like it a little chunkier if I know I will be using these as a savory dipping sauce or topping for some delicious bread toasts, or I make it super blended and pour it over chicken cutlets or ladle it generously into pasta. Yummy leftovers!