Back to School Blog Hop!

I'm trying hard to NOT be in denial that it is August. I'm not actually sure where the summer went. But here we are and back to school season is in full force. I haven't officially counted the days I left until school begins. But it's less than I would like to believe.

Luckily, I'm joining up with some incredible upper elementary bloggers for the Upper Elementary Back To School Blog Hop! It makes all this going back to work nonsense a LOT easier to deal with!

Throughout the hop, we will each be sharing some great back to school tips and freebies! Make sure you hop all the way through to take full advantage of everything these wonderful ladies are offering. Oh and did I mention there's a giveaway?? Make sure you enter at the end of this post!

Be Prepared: But it's ok to not get carried away. This has been a long time coming lesson for me. Every year when it's Meet The Teacher night and my room is still a huge disaster and the bulletin boards aren't done and the desks aren't just right or I have to shove a pile of stuff into a cabinet, I stress out. Like tears and sweat stress.

But last year, one of my teammates laid this little gem on me. "No one knows what it's SUPPOSED to look like. Do the important stuff and don't worry about the rest!" I was floored. Of course kids and parents don't know that I meant to have 5 more posters hung up or the library reorganized. I figured out what REALLY needed to be done before they walked through the door and everything else was just gravy!

The things I absolutely get done? I put out bins (read: empty cardboard boxes) to collect shared supplies. I write a note on the board directing students where to put the supplies they have brought. I have nametags on desks. I make sure the ugly bulletin boards are covered with paper and a border. I have a table with handouts for parents to take with them, and a bin of pens in case they want to fill anything out right then. I think that's pretty much it. Everything else is extra at that point!

Full disclosure: I like to make it look nice. But I have figured out that if the library bins don't have labels on them just yet, that no one notices (or will care!) on Meet the Teacher night.

Handouts: I mentioned handouts above. I usually just have a little table with all the handouts that parents might need before school starts - an information sheet about me, school calendar, extra school supply lists (just in case), and directions to sign up for Remind 101. I saw a great idea recently to have parents fill out a Google form with their information...which I am totally going to try to do this year!

I created an editable Instant Information form for you to fill in with your information and hand out to parents this school year! Quick and easy! Click over to download it from my TPT store. :-)

Wait, don't go yet! We are also giving away some TPT money to spend before school starts! Make sure you follow all these wonderful folks to get as many entries as possible!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope your back to school season is smooth and fun!! Make sure you hop over to Tammy's blog to get some zen into your teacher life!