Pete the Cat First Day Tour: First Grade Version

Sounds like a lot of people are doing Pete the Cat activities the first day of school!  I had a few requests to make my Kindergarten Pete the Cat tour for first grade.  Was pretty easy to do actually. . . so here it is!

And if you missed the Kindergarten Version, here it is again!

Hope everyone has a GREAT first day!

Most Important Page I Send Home

My advice to teachers everywhere. . . document everything!

At Open House I send home this sheet for the parents to fill out. (click the picture to view bigger or download)  Then I put all the sheets in a binder.  Whenever I call home or have conversations with parents that I need to remember I write notes on the back of the sheet.  That way if they say, "You've never mentioned that before" or "Why am I just  hearing about this now?"  I can pull out their sheet and say, "Nope, we talked about this on October 4th.  I called you at home and you said....."  

I also 3 hole punch any notes the parents send my way and any responses I send back and file those behind their child's information sheet.  I print out all e-mails and do the same thing.

Sounds a little OCD paranoid time consuming but when you're trying to keep track of 26+ sets of parents you have to have a system!

I hate to do this but the countdown has begun. . . 6 days until meeting begin. . . 11 days until school starts.

Kid Friendly Schedule Cards

What's next?  What's next?  What's next?  

These are my 2 favorite words. . . ha ha. 

 I LOVE visual schedules! 

They help EVERYONE!  

You don't have to answer the dreaded "what's next" question AND the kids in your room like routine and consistency and they really DO want to know what's going to happen next. . .don't we all?

The pic above is how I display our daily schedule in my classroom.  The cards are printed on magnetic printer paper. I used to print the pictures on cardstock laminate and then put sticky magnets on back until my genius co-worker Jill showed me this much easier method.  Love it!

Here's a picture of a packet of schedule pics I have for sale on TPT:

($3.00 click pic to go to my store) 

Here's a freebie page for you:

If you don't have a picture schedule do yourself a favor and get one fast!

Classroom Pics

The room is almost ready. . . only a few things to label which I can't do yet (as the elusive class lists have not been released yet). 

So, I get to cross one thing off my list:

Room Ready

Open House materials out on desks

Label Everything

Lessons organized for first 2 weeks

Get my kids' supplies labeled and ready

Let go of summer

Sigh. . . Really don't want to cross that last one off.  

Here's some snapshots of my room:

BULLETIN BOARDS:

Behavior Management:  Almost ready (need to label pocket chart)

Calendar

I got these adorable wooden signs at a craft show this summer:

While I was purchasing these I was talking to the owner and it turns out she has an etsy store!  Check it out:  Keepsakes

CENTERS:

computer/listening

reading 

magnet/wipe board

kitchen

OTHER AREAS:

cubbies

 shared supplies

 Don't you love new crayons?  One of those weird things that makes me happy!

That's all that's ready for now!  More pictures coming soon. . .

Custom Order

So exctied!  Today I finished 2 of my first custom orders.  Diana and Lori work together and wanted their rules created but each wanted different colors because of their room theme/colors.  It was so much fun to create these for them!  Thanks Diana and Lori!  (click the pictures to view in TPT)

For more information of Custom Orders see the tab at the top of my blog.

Addition to 6 Rules (so excited about this!)

A FABULOUS teacher e-mailed me wanting to know if I could add a "Super Star" component to my 6 Rules pack.  Thank you Vicky. . . I LOVE the idea!

Click the picture above to download your addition to the packet.


Also, now that life is settling into a normal rhythm again (at least for the time being!) I will take custom orders on the rules pack.  A lot of people like it but wanted a different theme (darker colors, pirates, etc.) or wanted different rules.  Click the "Custom Orders" tab at the top for more information.

Product Swap

Jessica Stanford is hosting a Product Swap and I was lucky enough to be teamed up with Becky Baxter from Teaching, Learning and Loving!

The great thing about this swap is that we get to pick which packet we want to review.  I loved everything in Becky's store!  Here's the one I chose to review:

click the picture to view on TPT


The packet has 5 main parts:


#1  ADORABLE color cards for a read the room activity.  The colors used are: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, pink, brown, black and white.

#2  Circle Maps for each color

#3 Roll a Color Game



#4  Read & Color pages (8 pages)

#5 Everything you need to make this graph:

(Words and crayon clipart)

(recording page)

Love the packet!  The thing I liked most is that I can use EVERY part of the packet and I can use it right away!  It's a perfect packet for the beginning of school.


Head over to Becky's blog to see which packet she reviewed!

/

First Day Jitters Linky

Fierce in Fourth is hosting a "First Day Jitters" Blog Hop.  

Kids are always surprised that teachers get jitters too. . . but WE know how stressful the first few days are!  

Here are the 3 things that make me a little nervous STRESS ME OUT the first day of school:

#1  How many moms and kids are going to cry and WHAT DO I DO!?!?

This is not my first rodeo folks.  14 years of experience. . . I know there WILL be criers.  Every time it happens I freeze.  WHAT DO I DO?  Tough love?  Sympathy?  Walk away?    

#2  Are they all here?  You wouldn't believe how many times I count the kids the first day.

I don't know them yet. . . their friends don't know them yet. . . and they don't know you yet!  Honestly if they end up in another line or classroom it's hard to tell!  So I count and count again, and count again!  One time I knew I was missing a kids and we couldn't find him for 10 minutes!  We lost him during recess (I knew he was going to need special watching so I was trying to point him out to the EA on duty and he was no where to be found!) 10 minutes later  he wandered out of the corn field bordering our school and handed me a stalk of corn he had picked for me.  Had the biggest darn smile on his face and was so proud.  Took 10 years off my life!

#3  26 Kindergartners

That's my number right now. (it could grow to 28)  It's the biggest kindergarten class I've ever had.  I had 27 first graders one year but I was too young to know to worry about it.  I told my principal, "I have 22 cubbies and seating for 24 so I'm very sorry but I just can't have 26 in my room."  HA!  Good try, right?  It's not really the cubbies or tables I'm worried about (although that does create a problem).  For the next 175 days these kids are MINE and I want them all the love school and learning and I want them to be ready for all the challenges of First Grade.  Plus, I'd really like to do it with my sanity intact!

Ok. . . deep breath. . . Sigh. . . .

Tomorrow in blogging land should be a lot of fun!  Jessica Stanford from Mrs. Stanford's class is hosting a Magical Product Swap.  Bloggers are making, using and reviewing other's TPT products and posting about it on their blogs.  Get ready for your TPT wishlist to GROW!  

Stop back tomorrow to see the packet I'm trying out!

Rules Posters and a Lunch Packet that will save you time!

I've had a lot of requests to change my 6 Rules packet to meet individual classroom needs.  While I would LOVE to be able to help everyone out I just don't have time.  BUT, I did spend a little time searching for other packets that might serve your needs better than mine so take a look and see if any of these will fit your needs: 

Click the pictures to go to each set of rules

Fourth and Tens' Blog:

The Polka Dot Patch

A Teacher on a Mission

Renee Smalley

And a whole bunch more from a search I did on TPT:

Hope you can find one that works for you!

Also, Stephanie from Primary Possibilities has a new packet on TPT that must have taken FOREVER to compile!  If your students get lunch choices you have to check this packet out! It's 32 pages of lunch pictures and it's only $3.00!  Click the first screen shots to go to TPT and check it out!  What a huge time saver!