Teacher Introduction

On the first day of school I wanted my class to get to know me so I made a photo board about myself. The kids now know my parents, sister, niece and friends. I also typed facts about me. When we did a classroom scavenger hunt I included a few facts from my board. You don't have to go into a lot of detail or make it extravagant. Keep it simple and don't spend too much time and money on it. 

Airplane Theme

I love the idea of having a theme in my classroom. So glad I am teaching 3rd grade this year. They aren't too old for a theme. Yes!
In my last post I talked about how I love having a travel theme. I figure I can have a rotation of travel themes for several years. Airplanes, trains, road trip, and cruises. Last year my co-teacher and I did the road trip theme. This year I'm going to use airplanes.
For the beginning of the year I'm going to send a Back 2 School letter home to my students and parents welcoming them to my class. Along with the letter I'll send a boarding pass for 3rd grade which they can bring the first day or week of school. I found this template made by Aylee. I love it! I'll post a picture of how it turned out later. I can't wait to personalize it to my class.

Let the count down begin

It is crazy to think that July is over half way through. 

School is starting in less than a month! 

Ahh! 

Don't panic! 

You can do this!

Take a deep breath. 

Ok, now let's think about this. What do you need to do to be prepared for the school year?

I don't know about you, but I am totally a list person. I love lists! The joy I get when I can cross something off my list is huge!
So today, as I'm feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to start in my classroom, I am going to make a list of things to accomplish. The list has to be realistic.

25 days till school starts list:

• Year at a glance - 75% complete
• put away stack of papers
• "Skeleton" Back 2 School Packet

Part of being realistic in your lists before school starts is knowing that you won't necessarily be able to finish a task in one day.  For instance, yesterday I was working on the daily schedule for my classroom. I still don't know the exact times on my pull-outs so I was able to get about 75% of it finished. For now that is awesome! Today I most likely won't finish my year at a glance, but 75% of it is a great start. And when I go to finish it later it won't take me too long.
So, my words of wisdom for today are don't stress out. Take it one step at a time. You can't eat an elephant all in one bite (hopefully you won't eat an elephant at all). You have to eat it one bite at a time.

{Now it is time for me to take my own advice.}