Back To School To Do List in Pictures - Linky Party

I love lists! I make lists for everything! They help me think. So, you know I was all over this linky party from Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies.

The first day of school of school for us isn't until September 4th.
We don't officially have to be back in the building until the week of August 20th.
We aren't allowed back into the building until the week of August 13th.
I have county reading training everyday the week of the August 13th.
Yes, this dilemma is causing stress and anxiety about my room being ready!

I know that I am stressing out for no reason and that my room will be more then ready by the time school starts, but I can't help it. Like I mentioned above, lists help! So in really random order, here is my list of things to do BEFORE entering the classroom:

1. Classroom Procedures Handbook for Parents

2. Compile Brain Books, Create Procedures for Book - I modeled my plan on an idea from Cooperative Learning 365. I plan on using them instead of agendas. I have never been a fan of agendas for my students because the pages are so cluttered and they don't have a lot of room to write. I plan on giving each child a 3 prong folder and having them write the "line-up" in their books every morning. This will include word of the day or math fact of the day, daily objectives, reminders, homework, a space to record their nightly reading, a place to record their behavior color, and a place for parent signature. I'm really excited about these so look out for a separate post on this later.

3. Compile my Teacher Organizer

4. Collect Paper Shopping Bags - I plan on putting these on each student's desk for Meet the Teacher Day as a place for them to dump all of their supplies that I will sort later. Read more about this at Clutter-Free Classroom.

5. Label Daily Keepers: Each year our school gets a lot of free poly tie-up pouches. I use these as "Daily Keepers". Basically everything that needs to go home, goes home in these; like agenda/Brain Book, library books, graded papers, homework, etc.) These are great and last ALL year! The ones we get tie up with a little string, but the one below with velcro might work better.

6. Meet The Teacher Day scavenger hunt

7. Compile Data Notebooks

8. Plan the first 2 weeks

9. Create WBT rule posters - I want to put each rule on the outside of a file folder, laminate it, and then hang it up on the wall. As I introduce and explain the rules, we will discuss examples and what the rule looks/sounds like to place on the inside of the folder. For example, on the inside of "Respect others, Respect yourself, Respect your school" we might put "Keep your hands and feet to yourself, Throw trash in the trashcan, Use walking feet, Don't call people names, etc." I feel like this will make the rules more tangible for the students and then they can just flip up the rule to check the inside if they need a reminder throughout the year.

10. Summer Welcome Letter

11. Print the Teacher's Prayer from Technology Rocks Seriously

12. Lazy Susan for guided groups table? Seen at Coley's Corner.

13. Water bottles as Back to School gifts for students to avoid numerous water breaks? I saw the at Fluttering Through First Grade.

14. Make some sort of numbered magnets to use for lunch count and to see who is in or out of the room. The picture below, and some other great organization tips, can be found Controlling My Chaos.


15. Create some sort of template with music and transition songs like this one from Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives.

16. Make a Kelso poster for students to use during conflict.

I am enjoying reading your lists and getting more great ideas.