Monday, May 12, 2014

Thinking About Next Year...Already?

I'm 99% sure that I'm not the only one in this department right now.  And let's be real, it's okay if you are. I think, as teachers, it's only natural and by golly we just can't help it!

Having said that, I have a couple of new things that I've added to my TPT shop that I do NOT want you to miss out on because they're great resources and two of which have saved.my.life!

First up, my job cards.  I like to have them as a visual for both the kids and I to quickly reference and see who is supposed to be doing which job. I have a card for each job in my classroom with a magnet dot on the back so that I can put them on the chalkboard.  At the beginning of the year I take a picture of each of my firsties.  I cut it down so that it is the same size as the job cards and then I put a small magnet dot on the back of their picture.  It makes them easier to change and move around every two weeks when we switch jobs.

Here is a picture of my old job cards.  Sorry it's not my new ones. I have them all ready to go, but am waiting for this year to end before I use them, but you can get the overall idea.


You can head over to my TPT store to grab a set of these for $3.00 in my Can I Get a Job Please {Classroom Job Cards}.

Next up is a freebie that I've updated.  Hopefully you all have a Pizza Hut around you and have heard of their program BookIT!  If you have absolutely no clue what I'm talking about right now, then let me enlighten you. BookIT! is a program through Pizza Hut that encourages kids to read and as a reward for their hard work they can get a coupon for a free personal pizza for the next month.  BookIT! runs from October to March.  The kids keep track of their nightly reading and fill in a calendar. Once the month is over, the parents have to sign off on the calendar to verify that their child read the required minutes or days for that month.  When the completed calendar is returned to school, the teacher can fill out a coupon and give it to the kiddo to use within 30 days.  


I like to add the extra incentive that if a student completes every month of the program then I will have a pizza party for them at the end of the year with none other than....wait for it...Pizza Hut pizza. Clever, I know.  All kidding aside it really is a worthwhile and additional way to motivate and encourage your kiddos to read. I keep track of which kiddos complete their calendar each month by using my tracking sheet shown here.


You can get my BookIT! Calendars and Tracking Sheet pack here.

Brand NEW tonight is my Monthly Parent Volunteer Calendars pack.  Folks, let me just tell you right now that if you want some extra help in your classroom or want some additional ways for parents to volunteer in your classroom, this. is. for. YOU! 


Implementing the use of these parent volunteer calendars is hands down the most beneficial thing I do all year long as fas as help in the classroom.  This can change your life as a teacher if your school does not have anything in place to help teachers make copies and get parents to participate in your classroom.  My school is fortunate and has copy room parents that come in on a daily basis to make copies, but unfortunately parents don't show up last minute and there's lots to do with 30 something teachers to make copies for.  This has been my quick, easy solution so that I am not spending all my "spare" time in the copy room.  And if I'm brutally honest, I would say that I have only made about 10% of my copies this year because one of my parents has volunteered once or twice a week to make copies for me and get this-she stays until she's done with everything I've left for her! You know those awesome crafts that are over TPT that have the same piece of the pattern duplicated on one page? Yeah, she'll cut those so they're separate and all the kids have to do is go get the piece and cut it out. I don't have to do it after I'm done copying.  Oh, there's more. I team teach/co-teach with another first grade teacher and fellow blogger Whitney at The Crazy Schoolteacher.  She will make her copies for her also!! And her son is in my class!  She is even so kind as to count out all of the copies so that I have enough for my kiddos and Whitney has the copies for her kiddos. It's A.MA.ZING! Now I'll be honest. It hasn't been like this every year. She's been my hidden gem! But I've still had great success and quite a few volunteers every year that help on a consistent basis and take some of the relief of copying things off of me. Which, let's be honest, is nice.  

That's what this pack with do for you!  This pack includes a description and outline of the organization of the system, a sample parent letter that I include on the back of the initial sign up calendar, parent letters that go on the back of the final monthly calendars, as well as calendars for each month. As is the case with all of my new products, it is 50% off the first 48 hours it is on sale.  It's marked down to $2.50 for the next 2 days.  Start planning ahead for next year and grab it!

Finally, I added Monthly Reading Log Calendars to my TPT store for holding your kiddos responsible for their nightly reading homework.  It's also marked 50% off at $1.75, but only for 24 more hours!


Whew....I'm off to watch my Orange County Housewives and 24.  So happy Jack is back!!

0 comments:

Post a Comment