Back To School Blog Hop and Giveaway

Right around this time each summer, I start to feel antsy and excited for the first day of school. (I literally have those little bursts of excitement that make me want to squeak out loud). As I set up my classroom, my mind starts to wonder who will be in my class, what the first day will be like and what the most memorable part of the upcoming year will be (hoping it will be a moment of hilarity). I find that my antsy feelings are eased a bit when I write out my plans for the first week back.

Planning for the first week can be a bit daunting if you don’t have an organized plan of attack. I like to consider myself a bit of an organization pro 😉 so I am excited to share my super-systematic-organized-first-week-of-school-planning approach! Here it comes…

I always, always, always save my plan book from the prior school year to give me an easy-reference starting point. I open up to Week 1.

Next, I make a list of all of the routines I need to teach in the first week, using last year’s plan a a reminder and adding any new routines I want to implement.

I plug the routines and any activities that accompany them into my plan book first.

Once I have all of my routines/expectations instruction scheduled, I fill in any gaps with content area lessons and class-building activities.

I then make a list of “just in case” activities that can be implemented on-the-fly in case I have a miracle-of-a-class that executes every routine perfectly on the first try. I have never gotten through all of my “just in case” activities but they are a great security blanket.

I love getting my plans for week 1 done early so that I can double, triple, quadruple check them throughout the week before the kids arrive to ensure that I haven’t missed anything. It makes copying a breeze and adds hours of sleep to the nights before the first day.

Many of the activities I use to teach my routines and expectations during the first week of school are included in my First Week Back To School Classroom Essentials Bundle at my TPT store. Lucky for all of you amazing teacher-readers, this bundle is included as part of the Back To School Blog Hop & Giveaway being hosted by my TPT friend Laurah Jurca from The ESOL Odyssey.

THE DETAILS

One grand prize winner will recieve these prizes valued at $122:
A pencil sharpener in their choice of color from Classroom Friendly Supplies
Their choice of a blog design OR $25 worth from products from Tools for Teachers by Laurah Jurca
One copy of each of the donated units below:

• Elements of Fiction Posters

• First Week Back to School Classroom Essentials Bundle (see below for a preview)

• Write with Me Journal (Common Core Aligned)

• Latin Greek Vocabulary Through the Year, Set 1

• Getting to Know You- A Back to School Math Game for your Class

• Place Value Safari

• Back to School Icebreaker Pack

• Ten Real Life Applicable Area and Perimeter Cards

• Back to school and end of year foldables

• Common Core Writing and Editing Checklists

One second prize prize winner will receive these prizes valued at $88:
One copy of each donated unit above.
Their choice of $25 worth of items from Tools for Teachers by Laurah Jurca.

First Week Back to School Classroom Essential Bundle:
For a look inside each of the 11 products included in this bundle, visit the product page.

This giveaway is now closed.