Inside Edition: Back to School

In about two hours, two dozen sweet and terrified third graders will enter my classroom for the first time.  I'm fortunate enough to already know a few of their sweet faces because they're the younger siblings of last year's awesome group.  But twenty of them will be brand new and it's up to me to convince them that third grade will be amazing.

There's a lot of work that goes into this whole back to school process. Welcome to the Inside Edition.

First, there's the unloading of vehicles.

Being a teacher means you can drive onto the playground to make unloading easier.  It's the little things in life.

Getting into the building is another step.  My stuck key caused a twenty minute delay in starting my day.  If that doesn't say welcome back I don't know what does.

 

There's unloading of boxes and re-establishing my library.  There's also new books to label, thanks to Scholastic's end of the year sales.

There's hanging bulletin boards.  More on that process {here}.  I have two inside boards and one outside board in the pod.

There is the process of opening boxes and organizing books, especially if you're as lucky as I was and got to change rooms.

There's the miles line long at teacher supply stores:

20% off all items meant forty minutes in line.   However, I scored some great clearance deals so I really can't complain.

Back to school means carefully creating colorful "meet the teacher" flip books which require fights with the copier, stapling, and assembling these packets:

But don't be cocky and only make the number on your roster.  That roster is going to change several times, so you're best off making an extra eight copies to be on the safe side.  

If you're lucky, your administration and PTA love you and show appreciation with food.

Our first contracted day back we were gifted with a breakfast spread from admin and Capriotti's from PTA.  The next day surprise cupcakes were in the lounge.

Food makes things better.  

There's the task of decorating the top of the wardrobes:

Not only does it look cute, but it disguises from the fact that I'm storing one of those under the bed organizers up there.  It's where I keep bulletin board borders, letters, and fabric.   

There's also the task of getting a calendar to label important dates (school holidays and birthdays).  Not only does it make the kiddos feel special when seeing their names on the board, it serves as a visual reminder to me to make sure I've got the coveted birthday chair cover out the morning before their birthday.

It would be the height of hubris to assume all technology would behave appropriately.

I've already had my computer re-imaged and submitted three work tickets.  My projector's remote is also missing, but I've got a yard stick and we'll figure it out.

There's also the creation of student mailboxes:

I don't know why it took me nine years to figure out that I should just put all their names on the center tabs.  They're also organized alphabetically by first names because that's easiest for kids. 

Don't forget about establishing a teacher corner for copies, supplies, and that treasured bin of pre-sharpened pencils.  

I lucked out this year and borrowed a coworker's five year old to sharpen several hundred pencils.  It should last us a few weeks.

Let's not forget about the treasure box and mermaid tail!  (Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post detailing the tale of creating the tail.)

I don't have letters up yet, but this blue bulletin board will say dive into reading.  

Other various tasks include moving tables, finding desks, hanging lanterns, setting out chairs, labeling first day treats, meetings, collaborating with others, and you know, writing lesson plans and prepping copies.

I took the weekend off from going into work, but I've got a long list waiting for me when I get to work.  

Happy first day!