Five for Friday: Parent Night Edition

Hey everyone! I'm linking up with Doodlebugs for a Parent Night Edition of Five for Friday...

Not only was this week our Open House/Parent Night, but we also started MAP testing, talk about a lot going on! Of course right as we've reached our stamina in almost all of our Daily 5 choices... oh well! So today, I'm going to share some of the fun stuff we did to make Parent Night a success!

I had the kiddos write a letter to their parents to leave at their seats for their parents to see. I encouraged the parents to write back to their kiddo so they'd have a message to read this morning. I wrote back to the kiddos whose parents weren't able to make it.

I found this idea somewhere (probably on pinterest) and just LOVED IT! It went along so well with our "Reaching New Heights" giraffes in the hallway. The kiddos wrote things they've loved so far in 2nd grade or things they're excited to learn about/do in 2nd grade. I think I'm going to leave these up in the room for a while!

We have to give a "presentation" as part of parent night. I worked hard to make mine cutsie this year because I knew it would make me happier and more able to relax while I was giving the presentation. By the 2nd round presentation I felt a lot better plus I had a few kiddos come with their parents and they helped me out with the Whole Brain part of the presentation :)

I was VERY strict with how the kiddos book bins & supply bins needed to look when they left my room yesterday because we wanted to impress our parents... plus I may have a "staying organized" issue haha!

If you haven't watched this video (I originally found it on upworthy), you should! I wanted to play it for the parents before my presentation but with all the issues I had with my videos on my presentation, I didn't even attempt it :(

Well I won't lie, Parent Night isn't something I mind checking off the year's list... I will admit it makes me nervous to talk for 15 minutes straight (x2 because there are 2 sessions offered) in front of adults...

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Teacher Week: Why?

Linking up once again with Blog Hoppin' for today's Back to School Teacher Week: Why?
So today I'm going to talk about the ways I stay organized in my classroom and why they work...

Tip #1 Everything has a place!

I always am sure to never have piles of "stuff" sitting around my classroom. I have a few ways I do this...
First, I always sort my mail immediately... trash or file... this works because basically everything can either be trashed or filed.

Second, I have this organizer by my students' mailboxes/near the classroom door.

To Office: papers that I have my messengers deliver to the office.
To Copy: self explanatory.
Next Week: Items that need to get sent home the following week (we copy our hw packets a week in advance, so usually it's these packets that live here).
Send Home: papers that need to go home that day. My mail managers put these in mailboxes at the start of the day, during snack or after lunch.
Again, this words because it gives items in these categories A PLACE.

Third, this organizer lives on the counter where all my curriculum resources and such are...

This picture is from 2 years ago, (can't find a recent one with the new labels) it is now stacked Monday through Friday (for some reason I had it separated for this picture). This file holds all the copies that are made for the current or following week (I try really hard to stay a week ahead). This prevents stacks of paper from accumulating... once again: everything has a place.

Tip #2 Get those kiddos to help out!

I am pretty sure this was one of my tips last year for Blog Hoppin' Teacher Week, but I stand by it! My kiddos LOVE LOVE LOVE to help out and I use that desire to help to make my life a little easier. Every morning that I needed help this past year, I put a note under their morning work on the Smart Board that said I need helpers. Once their morning work was done, kiddos who wanted to help would come up to my table and ask to help out. I would have them do all sorts of things for me that weren't a classroom job. They would take down or put up solve the room cards, organize folders (for example: take old papers out and put into our scrap bin), sort book bins that had become unorganized, and more!
I find this works simply because kiddos love to help and there are plenty of things kiddos can do to help that will keep the room organized!

Tip #3 Put things away throughout the day, NOT at the end of the day!

I spent way too much time my first few months of teaching cleaning up at the end of the day. It was amazing how much clutter made its way around the room as the day progressed. Now, I make sure students (as well as myself) are responsible for putting every item away that they take out. It's so simple and saves SO much time at the end of the day!!! So why does it work? It makes little jobs out of what could be a big job at the end of the day!

I hope some of these simple tips will help motivate you to stay organized this year :)

Also, be sure to check out the 1-day sale at TPT. Click below to head over to my store!