Beginning of year

The beginning of the year is always a whirlwind with the first few days of school and Open House/Visitation. Whether you have your Open House/Visitation before school starts, or once the year is already in full swing, it’s still a huge undertaking! Today I’m sharing with you my 5 favorite tips for your Open House ... Read More about Kindergarten Visitation!

YOU’RE FINALLY HERE! Written and Illustrated by Mélanie Watt you can find this book in picturebook fiction, E WAT WELCOME! Hooray! You’re finally here! But where were you? At first, this litt…

The First Week Back Activity Pack is stuffed full of activities for your first week of 2nd grade. To make it all make sense, I've included a free PDF of lesson plans for the first week of school that blends the activities from this pack with the routine and procedure lessons you need to teach! Click to download your FREE lesson plans for the first week of school, and have your best first week of school, EVER.

Get to know your students this back to school season with these ideas and freebies. Start your first day of school with these the perfect ice-breakers and activities. You'll love these… More

Today I'm sharing one of my favourite tasks for building community in the classroom. Students are able to share an important aspect of themselves (the story of their name) with the class and with me, their teacher. Through this task we are also working on important skills, like reading comprehension, writing, and reflection. Day 1 To begin, I asked my students to write any name they wish they had on a sticky note. They then placed it in a mason jar. I read my class the story "The Name Jar"…

Jump-Start on Back to School 10 comments Back to School, Freebies Yay for summer! It's the season of relaxation, but the thought of school is always on my mind. I don't think I can turn off the teacher part of me. While I get my fill of relaxation, I also make sure to get a jump-start on a few of my back to school tasks! I certainly have my list of things to accomplish this summer, but before I left school I made sure to prep as much as I could for next year. #jumpstart #check #happyteacher…

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer break! I hate being the bearer of bad news, but Back to School is quickly approaching…Yikes!! I’m sure many of you are clinging on to those last few days of vacation. If you are having trouble setting down the margarita and jumping back into school mode, I totally

To create a personal touch between teachers and students, we have partnered with ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers to bring you free Colorful Student Welcome Postcards.

Start preparing for the beginning of the school year with my FREE back to school activity! This activity is perfect to use with your first grade or second grade students, and it's a great way to get to know your students, and also build classroom community! Students will complete their "all about me flag" and then they can share with the class! The flags can also serve as classroom decor as well! Download your FREE back to school activity here!

Back to school, meet the teacher, open house ... whatever you call it at your school, these tips will help you make it spectacular!

It's that time of year again...back to school season. You're busy setting up your Pinterest-worthy classroom, focusing on every detail. Y...

the perfect back to school read aloud and support activities for a kindergarten or first grade classroom!

The beginning of the school year brings so much excitement! One of my favorite things about the beginning of the year is getting to read so many wonderful books to my class. I have a huge collection of books that I love to read during the first month of school. These 20 books are some of my favorites to read aloud. They are perfect for building community, teaching rules and procedures, and character education.

Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!

First Days of School Activity

The first week of school is focused on reviewing rules, expectations and procedures. Check out these 15 children's picture books to help your little learners grasp the importance of following the rules! Each book comes with an activity idea.

Revisiting classroom expectations is so important to maintain a strong management system. Here are some you'll want to cover and some fun ways to do it!

On the first day of school I always guide my students to create the classroom rules. I base this off the Ideal Classroom activity in the TRIBES book and it really helps the students understand the importance of having classroom rules (to keep us safe and help us learn). Usually the students come up with A LOT of rules and I help them narrow them down to five (and they are usually very similar, if not the same, year to year). This year, though, I was quite impressed with the rules that my…

I am a list-maker. BIG TIME. This is a list for teachers of eight things that should be on their to-do list at the beginning of the year.