Are You Back to School Ready?

Welcome Back to School! This post is definitely a bit different from last year's Back to School season. This year students will be back with some varying restrictions depending on where you live. Either way, can we just celebrate that kids are going to be able to be on campus again? Studies have shown that they definitely need it and were missing that interaction. 

Soooo...are you ready? 

I rounded up some EASY PEASY resources that will help you get ready for the school year since you already have a lot to think about.

1. First Day of School Sign

Everybody has got to have a First Day of School sign! This is something that we do every year. We really enjoy looking back at these signs and seeing what we looked like and how much each child has changed. Plus, aren't they the cutest???!! 

If you don't have a First Day sign, you can grab it HERE. If you don't have time, no worries! I can create a custom one for you HERE. 

Look at my baby a few years ago!!!  

I had been getting LOTS of requests for a teacher sign, so I created one for us! We can have fun, too!!

2. Memory Book / Time Capsule

A lot has happened in the past year and even this summer. Let's have our kiddos document these things and then tuck them away for the end of the year when they revisit their memory book again.  My kiddos LOVED looking back and seeing how much they had grown (physically, academically, interests, etc) in just a year! It's a time capsule that you do in the beginning of the year. I then collect them all and like I mentioned, I safely tuck them away until the end of the year. When I pull them out again, I always get many oooos and ahhhhs as students look through what they wrote on the first day of school. 

If you don't have some sort of memory book that compares the school year, you can grab one here:

3. Back to School Essentials Pack

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for a deal. If you don't have resources like these to help you start your school year, I'd love for you to check these out. I pulled together 8 of my favorite EASY school starters. Maybe they can help you, too. You can grab them HERE.

4. Monthly Writing Prompts

I love using writing prompts to build classroom community and student creativity. I would have my students share what they wrote in response to the prompt. They LOVED reading what their classmates wrote. Switching journals was one of their favorite activities. We also did timed competitions where they would need to list certain items from topics that I would give them (list of adjectives, candies, words that begin with L,etc). We would even have silly prompts (Would You Rather?). It was just a FUN time of laughing and sharing. Can you imagine a whole class enjoying journal/quick write time? I'm here to tell you that it CAN be done!

If you are interested in my monthly writing prompts, you can grab them HERE.  

This resource was created to have the same routine every week so that kids know what to expect. You of course are the teacher and can change it up however you'd like though. :)

Day 1 – Finish the sentence (prompt)

Day 2 – Would you rather….?

Day 3 – Make a list (competition)

Day 4 – Quick Write (one word for 2-3 mins)

Day 5 – Would you rather…?

5. Decision Wheel / Digital Spinners

I don't know if you've ever used a spinner before but talk about engagement!!! I know that I love spinning those prize wheels and the anticipation of seeing where it lands is just plain exciting. So why not use these wheels for prizes, competitions, games, and for ditching those equity sticks? If you've never tried them, you must. It is such a great engagement tool. 

Check out the one I use. 

This is what it looks like inside:

*** DISCLAIMER:

I had created the spinner BEFORE the pandemic to be used in PowerPoint. When the pandemic hit and most schools went to remote learning, I added a component to this resource so that it could be used in Google Slides to help teachers who had already purchased my product. It's a web-based program that you could integrate into the templates that I created. The price of the resource stayed the same because I did not feel that I could charge more for a free web-based program that was added later. Just wanted you to know that the price is reflective of the PowerPoint resource and NOT the free web-based program. :)

Soooo, I'm thinking if you have resources similar to these, you are in good hands to start the year off nicely. Whatever the restrictions are this year for your school, I know that your kiddos are just happy to be back seeing their friends and seeing YOU! You've got this my friend!I believe in YOU!

Blessings,

Angela

Back to School Signs

It's that time again!

For us in Cali, summer is ending and parents/teachers are getting ready for school to start back up.

Every year I make my First Day of School Signs for my kiddos. I created these as a great way for me to stop time a bit and to not forget my kids in their current stage of life. I love this sign because I enjoy looking back and remembering my kids at a certain age. I keep them every year and we pull them out at the beginning and end of the school year and compare. My kids even love looking back and see how their interests have changed (or stayed the same!). You'd be amazed at how much kids can change in just 10 short months!

I mean, just check these side by side first/last day comparisons from this past school year!

I even have ones from YEARS ago that we love looking at. They were soooo little.

Look at my Isaac from his last day of 6th grade!!! He had such a baby face! That year, we used this sign that was more detailed. Either way, the kiddos always say, "I can't believe that I used to like....." or "OH! I remember when I was soooo into...."

What I love about these signs is that all the fonts are embedded. That means you DO NOT HAVE TO DOWNLOAD ANY FONTS (ain't nobody got time for that)!! Just type it right in and VOILA! The sign is done!

I also have a printer friendly version in white.

I get them printed at Staples because it always comes out so vibrant!

I get mine printed on regular size paper (8.5" x 11").  Here are some examples of others that have printed the sign in a different size.

If you're interested in these signs, you can grab them here (click on the pic):

I know that this says "Last Day of School", but if you'd like a first day one like this in my store, let me know! :)

If you get the First and Last Day Sign Bundle, you can save a couple of dollars!

If you don't have time to make one, don't worry! I got you covered! I can do it for you for just a few dollars more! :)

I know that you will find these as a great keepsake as you cherish them year after year! I think I will put them together and make a little booklet out of them and give them to my children when they graduate high school.

Hope you that you enjoy the beginning of your school year!

Easing Back into the School Year and a $100 TpT GIVEAWAY!

Hello Friends.

Thanks for hopping on over.

The Back to School frenzy has begun!

People have NO IDEA how much time teachers put into preparing for the school year. Purchasing, decorating, researching, printing, laminating, cutting, redecorating, purchasing, adding more, Googling, more purchasing... whew! I'm tired... and that's just in the summertime!

I know that A LOT of prep goes into starting off the school year so that you can be less stressed once it gets going. When I was in the classroom, I always had a couple of things in place to make the first weeks easier for me.

I want to share them with you in hopes that it can ease your load a little bit.

1. Memory Book

I always had kids start their memory book. What? In the beginning of the year??!! Yes! I would have them fill out the beginning of the year information and then stash it away far back in my cupboard for the end of the year. This helped me because towards the end of the year, it's crazy, too! And I used to wait and wait and wait for the copier because everyone else was copying their end of the year books, too. Then the copier would break. And I would scream in my head...and maybe out loud, too.

I used my Memory Book/Time Capsule Resource to compare the beginning of the year to the end of the year. My students traced their hands, cut yard that measured their height, wrote their names and listed interests and best friends. THEN I would take them out at the end of the year (all copied and ready to go) and have them work on it again. It was SO easy!


2. Back to School Night Flipbook

I  used a Back to School Night Flipbook template and just entered my own information. I used to make ALL these handouts and I knew parents would just trash them. They had SO many pages. One year I decided to get smart and condense everything. It was awesome because parents ACTUALLY kept these little flipbooks on their fridge. What??!!  Yes. It was easy to make and easy for parents to keep. A Win-Win for sure!


3. Reminder Notes

I needed help here. I would send home notes/forms/permission slips and kids would just shove them into the abyss (aka their backpack) never to be seen again. Especially in the beginning of the school year when I needed their emergency card filled out and I STILL had students who could not remember to tell their parents to fill them out.

I created these bands to help with that. No more forgetting to bring forms back. Students go home with these bands on their wrists as a reminder. It really is amazing!


4. Back to School Night Projects

Sounds crazy to have some projects up since school just started, right? Well, some teachers have used my Open House Activities Resource to do projects for their Back to School Night. Why not? It's easy because it's filled with templates for each project and detailed directions.


5. NO FUSS Writing Prompts

So once my school year started, if I could have someone take a small load off my shoulder, it would be a BIG help!  I wanted my kids to get started writing right away. Just so they could write something...anything so that I can have a comparison throughout the year. Plus, let's face it. Our kids need to work on writing as much as they can. I used to come up with journal prompts EVERYDAY and then write them out EVERYDAY! I hated writing them but did it because I saw so much growth and the prompts were fun, so it made our time fun. Seriously.

So I came up with an EASY, NO FUSS way to get students writing WRITE AWAY (see how I did that? :) ) without any prep. Just give them a piece of paper/ journal and a pencil then project this baby on the screen. Then have them share with each other. DONE! That's like almost 10 mins of breather time for you and fun/educational time for the kiddos!


Of course, there are so many fabulous resources out there to choose from but if you would like to use the ones I mentioned, I've linked them here:

Hope that you have a wonderful start to your school year!

MAKE SURE TO READ ALL EIGHT BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS BEFORE ENTERING OUR GIVEAWAY!

When you make it back to me, you've gone through the loop and then you will click  below to enter for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers!

Good luck Friends!!

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Now, hop over to Sunny and Bright in Primary to read Marcie's tip about making connections & copies!

How Do I Get Parents and Students to Remember Things?

Hi All!

Do your students ever forget to tell their parents about signing forms, events, due dates, or _________ (fill in the blank)?

Every year I have students forget about picture day, emergency forms,  or turning in school fundraiser slips/money/whatever else. I then talk to the parents and they always say that they never got the note. Ahhh.....THE note. We go searching into the abyss (aka the student's backpack) and find a crumbled mess padding the bottom of the bag.

I go through this EVERY.YEAR.

You always have "that one". You know which one. You can picture him/her right now. {sigh} The one who always utilizes your "extra" copies. EVERYONE has brought in their permission slips/forms/money/whatever back but not THIS special angel. Ohhhh no. She/he is the reason you make extra copies, so you don't have to send a note to your neighboring teacher asking for HER extra copies.

I used to send MORE notes home to replace the other notes that were lost/eaten/thrown away.  It was dumb.

Then I came up with a solution!

Introducing.... my You've Been Banned resource!

These bands are made in black in white to save ink on your printer. All you have to do is print them on colored paper, cut, and you are done!

I sat down and brainstormed all the things that I would need reminders for in my class.  Things that I have sent multiple letters home for..that never really made it home. Things that students forgot about.. like picture day, money due, fundraisers, etc.  I came up with a big list and added Celebration Bands, too. I love the thought of the Celebration Bands because 1) I wanted an easy way to celebrate a student's accomplishment. I don't always have time to fill out a little award and 2) I wanted to acknowledge these students in front of their peers. (During recess or lunch others will ask what that gold band around their wrist says/means).  Public recognition. Kids love that.

I thought you could differentiate the reminders and celebratory bands by only copying the celebrations on gold/yellow paper (or cardstock for durability).  That way when students get a "GOLD band" they know that they are celebrating something. :)

Currently there are 31 Reminder Bands and 15 Celebration Bands BUT this is a growing resource! That means that I will be adding new bands and if you purchase this resource, you will get FREE updates for LIFE! So if you have any ideas or bands that you want to see created, let me know and if enough people want it, I make it and you have it!

Just in case you were wondering what is included, here is a list.

Here are some close ups:

**TIP: Print them on bright colorful paper!

What I love most is that you can staple these colorful little reminders on a student's wrist and not hope/cross your fingers/pray that they will remember to tell their parents about the field trip money that's due or that library book that they've had for months that needs to be brought back to school. PARENTS are the ones that will ask what that little thing around their wrist is all about.

I love that you can gently remind that student who ALWAYS forgets to bring their homework or project or forgets that they have Show and Tell the next day and you've already slotted a time for them to share. Instead of screaming in your head, pulling your hair out getting a little frustrated, you can grit your teeth  just smile nicely, give them a reminder band at the end of the day, and send them home.

Is this a cure all? No. Will students ever forget again? Of course! But at least you have a better chance with these Reminder Bands as oppose to sending students home and watching them walk away knowing that they will forget to ______________ (you fill in the blank).

I hope you will give these Reminder and Celebration Bands a try. I mean, what have you got to lose?

Have a great school year Friends!


Blessings,