It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....

Back to School!

I can't believe the summer's really over! Contract days start next week, and I get to meet my new kiddos in 12 days! The class lists will FINALLY be posted this Friday, so at last I'll know the names of the children who will soon be moving into my heart. I'm so excited! I never realized as a child that my teachers might have been more excited and nervous for the first day of school than I was.

I'm sad to see some things end with the summer break: the extra time I've had to catch up with family and friends, the flexibility to do whatever I want, whenever I want, and the simple joy of being able to take naps in the afternoons after crafting all night. However, the OCD part of me really craves being on a schedule and having a routine. I'm excited to get back to the normalcy of having somewhere to be and people who depend on me.  

I'd like to think I've improved on a few things after completing my internship last year. I for sure don't feel as frantic and lost as I did last summer! I feel much more confident and better prepared to make things run smoothly on the first few days of school. For instance, last year I made labels for all my students' notebooks and folders for each subject (math, writing, reading, science/social studies... it was a lot). I could ask the students to bring their own notebooks and folders and save myself all this hassle, but I'm OCD and love to have things color-coded, so this is how I cope. Last year I printed labels with all of my darling students' names on them.

Rookie mistake.

This turned out to be more of a hassle for me in the long run. First of all, it was a pain in the neck to sort through each stack of notebooks whose spirals desperately clung to one another to find the right names. Secondly, when my cute kids came to the open house the day before school and noticed their neatly labeled and personalized supplies, I learned that Alexis prefers Lexi and Mckenzie prefers Kenzie. I frantically re-labeled all of the folders and notebooks for each of these nickname-problems the night before school started to make sure their names were right. Lastly, when I had a couple darling students move into my class throughout the year (with as much notice as... "Hi, this is your new student! Where should she sit?") I had to spend lunch and recess time frantically printing a bunch of labels to get everything ready and make my new lil' bugs feel welcome.

This year I'm going to trust my students with the autonomy of writing their own names on their folders and notebooks.

I'm kind of excited that I can just put my piles of supplies together for my kiddos (including extra packets for new move-ins) without having to dig through each stack of folders to find the right names. It sounds like such a simple thing, but it's a HUGE relief to not worry about the frantic labeling and re-labeling at the beginning of the year to get everyone's names right, as well as the peace of mind that I'm prepared for move-ins. It's the little things that make a world of difference!

How do you prepare supplies for the new school year?