Meet the Teacher & Open House

August 21, 2016
Back to school season is literally flying by! Last week was so busy I ran out of time to take pictures of all the fun things we were doing.

Since I kept a lot of what I was doing the same as last year, I thought I would share that post...


First Up...


As I greet the parents at the door, they come in and find a file folder that has their child's name on in it. 

*I write the fill in the child's first & last name and then my name for my class.  I left the editable example here.

While the parents are waiting for everyone to make it to the classroom, they begin filling out the information within the file folder (it has the student's first & last name). 




Once everyone has entered the classroom, I get their attention and share with the parents about myself (experience, etc), about our daily classroom routine, more specifics about homework, highlight what the papers are in the file folder, etc.



Before I start speaking, I mention to the parents about the various sign up sheets that we have (volunteers, All About Me presentations, etc).  I then pass those sign ups around while I speak.  I have noticed that when I end by having parents visit different sign up stations, people tend to get caught up in other stuff & forget to sign up! 

At the end, I mention a class wish list as another way to support out class. 








Next...



This is literally my FAVORITE day before school "officially" starts.  I always have the same sentiment as I did during sorority recruitment of the moments right before opening the doors and excitedly shouting "WE'RE SO GLAD YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!!!!" 

During this morning, I greet the students at the door and hand them a checklist of fun things to do with their guardian during this time.


For the bedtime reading, I hand them a letter about myself with letters from my previous Firsties about what First Grade is like stapled behind. They absolutely LOVE it!

You can get all my Meet The Teacher materials here and my freebie letter template here.

Andrea Sign

Celebrating Good Times

July 25, 2016
It's the last week of July, which means our classrooms will be ready to get into in {hopefully} a week.  Since I will be spending a lot of time simply organizing the classroom and working on Meet The Teacher things, I thought I would get ahead and complete some gifts.

I just found out that one of my dearest college friends will be entering the world of teaching this year! I am so excited for her and created a little care package to help welcome her! 

Notepad: Walmart
Notecards: Target Dollar Section
Frame: IKEA

Next Up...

One of my most treasured school memories was my 2nd grade birthday.  My teacher, Mrs. Yates, had a way of making each child feel incredibly special, especially on their birthday.  When you walked into the classroom on your birthday she would have a HUGE green sheet of butcher paper hanging up on the chalkboard {yes, chalkboard...does anyone even have one of those anymore?!} with the words "Happy Birthday ____" written on it.  During the morning everyone would have a chance to go sign the birthday card and it would hang up until the end of the day.

In addition, she would bake each child their own mini CAKE {think top layer of wedding cake size}.  I mean, WHAT?! I remember thinking how thoughtful that was.  I always dreamed of doing the same for my students when I became a teacher.
{She may have done the typical birthday crown & pencil too but I remember the poster & cake standing out the most.}

Fast forward many years later & while I dream of baking each child their own cake, I'm a little cautious with my district's nutrition rules...so instead, here's how I celebrate my student's birthdays!

Birthday Bananas!
How hilarious are those?! I stumbled upon them from Caffeinated Conclusions and knew I just had to incorporate them into our birthday celebrations.   

You can get labels for the birthday bananas here.  

Birthday Banner

Birthday Crown & Goodie Bag

Birthday Morning Work
On birthday mornings, each student works on a birthday themed morning work activity.  

You can get the birthday crown here.

Now I am off to celebrate the last few remaining days of summer! 
Andrea Sign

Hi!

July 21, 2016
Welcome to my blog!!  Here I "scrapbook" highlights of my teaching adventure!!

Andrea Sign