Things to do the first week of kindergarten

I'm alive!!!! I promise! The first week of kindergarten (or any grade for that matter) is always pure chaos, but we always come out the other side so much better. I swear, it's like childbirth... I always forget just how crazy it is until I'm doing it!

I actually went into work today to tie up a few loose ends. Thank goodness I had my partner in crime with me to put together my students' pencil boxes for them. Week two is coming quick, but first... let's look at week one! Here are some things I always make sure to do:

1. Put all my important information right at my finger tips. Once school gets going, these things become second nature and are perfect for storing in your sub folder or binder. The first week, though, my head is spinning and I don't know my kids perfectly yet so I need to keep this on hand! This clipboard went with me everywhere this week. Included is a chart of transportation home (and the sheets parents filled out, just in case there is a question about anything!), a class list with names and numbers (for when you're lining up and need to make sure you have all your little ducks), and my lesson plans. I try to include super detailed lesson plans for each week, but my first week plans are bullet points to make sure I include all the procedures and routines I need to include! I might need to start calling this a back to school bible.

2. Start establishing relationships with kids and parents. I collect parent email information during sneak peek and make sure to send a mass email to my parents right before school starts or the very first day. This helps you to establish that initial relationship, but it also helps make sure you have email addresses correct!!! I also buy a pack of cute postcards and write out my students' names and addresses on them to fill out throughout the week. I try to send them out the first weekend of school so I have something positive to say about each student and let them know how excited I am for them to be in my class!

3. Start assessing your students. Don't go crazy and overwork your kids, but as soon as you have an idea about where your kids are right now, you can get started on looking ahead. Plus, my state has mandated baseline testing we have to input anyway, in addition to testing our county requires. I like to get my math pretests and letter sound testing done ASAP! This particular student cracked me up. :)

4. Take a second to breathe. On Tuesday of this week, I had tons to do. I could've looked through data, called parents, or started planning my week ahead. Instead, I went with D to his softball game and regretted nothing. The weather was gorgeous and getting to see him in his element is one of my favorite things. Listen, I completely understand that teaching and your class are your LIFE, but they really can't be your whole life. You have to learn to strike a balance between the two. Not to mention, if you are overworked and exhausted, it will show to your kids. Please please please take some time this week to take a deep breathe and enjoy your life!

TPT back to school sale and meet the teacher book

Well... it's officially my last day of summer vacation. My last afternoon by now! My brain is in overdrive right now. I'm so ready for pre-planning to start tomorrow!

I had to stop in today to say that there is a sale at Teachers Pay Teachers today and tomorrow. If you use TPT products like I do, you have to go!!!! Remember, I'm not a seller... I just had to make sure you knew about this sale.

I filled up my cart yesterday with things I had on my wishlist and things I discovered when searching through the new products section. I think my favorite thing is this:

It is an editable meet the teacher book that comes in two versions: English and Spanish! It's by Books and Bilinguals. I've never actually bought anything from her before, but now I'm obsessed! On my class roster so far, I have 17 students and 6 of them are spanish-speaking in some capacity. This is my highest population of Spanish speaking students I have had so far, and I know I need to create a space where they feel just as loved as everyone else. It is so so so important to create a warm, friendly, culturally aware environment for our students, and I know my students and families are going to LOVE these books when they come meet me on Thursday! I started following her today and can't wait to buy more things from her in the future.
*I should probably note that I don't have quite as much text in my Spanish version as in my English one. Her headings were all translated by her, so I didn't have to touch those, but I was nervous about using Google translate to translate a ton of text in there. I translated a few words and phrases, but didn't want to risk sounding like an idiot in another language.

Anyway, I spent my morning working on my books, and I can't wait to laminate them and bind them tomorrow. I'll make sure I put the finished product on here for you to see. :)

I also bought this anchor chart by Jonelle Bell. I had seen it on her blog a while ago and put it on my wishlist for when I was buying other stuff. Sorting is a standard we have in every single one of our math units, and on our assessments the students have to be able to sort without any directions! I'm planning on making this into a cute anchor chart tomorrow so I have it from day one!

I also purchased these CHAMPS posters to use with my CHAMPS board I made last week. I wasn't sure what I would think about them, but thought I'd go ahead and buy them because of the sale. I'm still not 100% sold on some of the graphics choices to match the words, but they are very cute! I still plan on taking photographs of my students demonstrating what they should be doing, and will probably use a combination of photographs and these with my board!

So... have you been shopping yet?!

August Goals

Holy cow... I can NOT believe it's August already. I swear, summer vacation just started!!! I have two whole days of vacation left to enjoy, yall. Anyway, I read a LOT of blogs, and so many bloggers have monthly goals, so I thought I would join in! It's always good to have goals, after all. Here we go:

1. Shoot for working out 3 times a week: With school starting, I know my workouts are going to suffer. I feel like my body is always exhausted at the beginning of the year as I get used to being on my feet all day again, so 3 times a week is a really hefty goal, and honestly, I'm going to be happy with 2 times a week.

2. Create our Christmas shopping list and budget: Yes, D and I start planning for Christmas in August! Last year, we were completely finished shopping and wrapping by Thanksgiving. We are super frugal about certain things, and Christmas can be a huge expense with big families like ours, so we try to get started with the planning as early as possible. It also really helps with planning if you set a monetary goal for yourself.

3. Buy a wedding gift for Arleta: One of my favorite people from college is getting married this month!!! I need to go through her registries and pick out a perfect gift!

4. Go to DC for Arleta's wedding: I just put this on here because it's always good to have something on your list that you know you can easily accomplish. :) Plane tickets purchased, fancy pants hotel is reserved, dogs are being watched by D's mom... we are good to go at the end of the month!

5. Meet my new kiddos: This is another easy peasy one! I can't wait to meet the new gang on Thursday (AHHHH)

6. Spend all of August school days establishing ROUTINES and PROCEDURES: I'll write a post about this next week, but I really, truly devote a ton of time in the first few weeks just laying the classroom foundation. I know that we're supposed to do this for six weeks, but in my district/school, teaching has to start ASAP! I like to start small with reading and math groups and just try to teach them about rotating and expectations... this is where CHAMPS is going to come in handy! Speaking of establishing routines, make sure you go to Sarah's First Grade Snippets ASAP to grab her morning routine posters that are FREE. I just downloaded mine and am printing them tomorrow, but I won't make that a goal on here ;)

7. Eat dinner at home 6 nights a week: We are really into grocery shopping and saving as much money on food as possible right now, plus everyone knows that eating at home is just healthier.

So there we go! I can't wait to check back in with these at the beginning of September!