Back to School Blog Hop

I am teaming up with 50 fabulous teacherpreneurs to share some tried and true classroom management and organizational strategies that work in our classrooms. Please be sure to hop to each participating blog and enter the giveaway to win one of two great prizes-a $50 TpT Gift Card and classroom resources from over 30 teacher authors.  Best of luck!! 

Just a few more weeks until our school year is in full swing and if there’s one thing that I love is a simple trick that helps make my life easier!  So, I’m here to share one with you.

Tip#1 We’ve all been there, a few months into the school year- your classroom is working like a fine tuned machine.  Everyone knows the expectations, what day each of the specials are and how everything runs in your classroom and then it happens! Just as the dismissal bell is about to ring, in walks your principal with… yes, your new student!  Who, as luck would have it, is SO excited to start school tomorrow!  Your head begins to swirl with all the things you need to get ready for him/her and you think of all the important notices you’ve given to the kids or sent home to parents with how you do dismissal, your HW policy/expectation, the classroom word list, the special bookmarks you gave the kids for the library, your special schedule, and any other important notice you sent home since school started.  UGGH!  You know you’ll forget something important.  But wait, insert this simple trick and you will thank me. 

Next to my mailboxes, I keep 2 extra magnetic pockets (they are from Lakeshore) and every time I hand out an important notice or something I expect my kids to keep in their desk, I slip a copy of it in the magnetic pocket. 

So, I’m ready at a moment’s notice for that new kid- they may not have a desk yet, but they will have all the important notices!  If you are lucky enough not to get an extra body mid-year, the packet it great to use next year as a reminder of the notices that need to go out throughout the year.

Tip#2   Another tip that helps save time is to keep a bin on top of my mailboxes for Extra Handouts.  If a kid loses a HW sheet or needs an extra copy, they know where to find it.

Tip#3:  We use number cards in a lot of our math games and well, kids aren't the best with keeping track of their cards.  Although we use small trays to keep our cards in, inevitably I find a few stranglers after we clean up.  So this last tip is quite simple and saves SO much time! I put a small sticker (the incentive stickers work great) on each card and on the bag/container that it belongs in and you'll always know where the card belongs.  

Tip#4:  My last tip is to always have something for the kids to do when they walk in the room on the first day.  I find having something to do helps the kids who might be a bit nervous and allows the teacher to do all their first day of school 'stuff'!  If you haven't already grabbed my Welcome to Our Class FREEBIE, click here.  Enjoy your first day!

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