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!
