Last night was Meet the Teacher Night. I truly love everything about a new school year when it comes to what is happening in a classroom. I can’t say that I love waking up early, going to 5,000 meetings, or using the restroom once a day, BUT I do love new beginnings with a new group of students!
I’m sure your Meet the Teacher is the same as ours… the families parade in, students find their desk and locker (this year I let my students choose their lockers, that was a huge release of my inner control freak thank you very much!), sort out their supplies (so that I don’t have to spend my last free weekend doing so), and fill out paperwork. This year our district went to online registration so the paperwork was much lighter than years past!
One of my favorite things about Meet the Teacher Night is seeing my former students. I absolutely LOVE when they come to see me and try not to tear up when I’ve noticed they grew 7 inches over the summer, are now holding cell phones, and have full-teeth smiles! I may or may not have told them to sneak over to my room to give me hugs… and that their 3rd grade teacher passes out spankins on the first day so they can escape to my room if need be 😉
I’ll do a classroom tour and go into those details later… right now I barely have the energy to move my fingers across the keyboard, ha!
To sort out supplies I just grab old tubs that I don’t currently use around my room. Since I don’t tape my labels down I can use them from year to year. This year Joelle and Mr. Lemons were hanging out in my room so they helped me clean all of my supply stacks up before I left last night!
Ready for my new crop of kiddos!
In the front entrance to the school I put together this Welcome Back Display. It was super simple and made a big impact! Here’s what I did:
I printed the letters for Welcome Back (Font: MTF Jumpin Jack) on black and white paper and cut those out. I got 11 sheets of large construction paper and drew doodle borders around each one. You can’t see that, but it’s there :). Then, I hot-glued the white letter on first to give a shadow look. The black letter was hot-glued on top… a little to the side and either up or down. To hang the letters I stapled yarn across two walls, grabbed some clothespins and hung away! I think we will leave it up for the first few days of school and then I’ll easily be able to take it down because I only have two sets of staples to remove!
Now to actually think about what I’m doing next week when those kiddos enter my door!
Hi, I'm Amy
Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Super cute room! I love your Welcome banner letters that are attached to your bulletin board. Can you share where they came from? Your new kiddos are lucky to walk into your room on the first day!
Love the WELCOME Banner! It is SUPER cute, and has given me some other fun ideas to try!! Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Good Citizens, etc. Simple, as you said, but has such “WOW” effect! For durability, I suppose you could try fabric, felt, iron on letters, etc.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your great ideas! 🙂 Love your classroom!
Amy, I have looked all over to find the letters you used for “Second Grade” on the bags on top of your cupboards. Please let me know. I would love to recreate something similar in my room. Thanks! Your room looks great. Your students are very fortunate!!!
I love that you used the wish jar! I hope your parents liked it! Your room is super cute!!!
Hi Amy, LOVE your room and appreciate your ideas. I will be going into my third year of teaching and already use so many of the materials from your store. I hope to be as well put together as you are by the time I've been teaching for ten years! I was wondering if you had a copy of your Instructions for the Night handout that you give your kiddos. I would love to take a peek at it to create something similar. I still have so much to learn and all these tips and tricks are so helpful. Thanks for all you do!
Do you still have the transportation form? I’ve been using this for the past couple of years and now I can’t open it. It is perfect!
8 Responses
Super cute room! I love your Welcome banner letters that are attached to your bulletin board. Can you share where they came from? Your new kiddos are lucky to walk into your room on the first day!
Love the WELCOME Banner! It is SUPER cute, and has given me some other fun ideas to try!! Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Good Citizens, etc. Simple, as you said, but has such “WOW” effect! For durability, I suppose you could try fabric, felt, iron on letters, etc.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your great ideas! 🙂 Love your classroom!
Amy, I have looked all over to find the letters you used for “Second Grade” on the bags on top of your cupboards. Please let me know. I would love to recreate something similar in my room. Thanks! Your room looks great. Your students are very fortunate!!!
I love that you used the wish jar! I hope your parents liked it! Your room is super cute!!!
Hi Amy,
LOVE your room and appreciate your ideas. I will be going into my third year of teaching and already use so many of the materials from your store. I hope to be as well put together as you are by the time I've been teaching for ten years! I was wondering if you had a copy of your Instructions for the Night handout that you give your kiddos. I would love to take a peek at it to create something similar. I still have so much to learn and all these tips and tricks are so helpful. Thanks for all you do!
Do you still have the transportation form? I’ve been using this for the past couple of years and now I can’t open it. It is perfect!