Beginning the School Year - Classroom Management

It's that time when I start thinking about the new school year.  Here are some of my thoughts and things I do for the beginning of the year.

When starting the school year, I used to have to think about my discipline plan.  Now I just think about how I might want to tweak it.   I think about how to lay out my room.  What worked for me last year, what needs changed, what other expectations are being thrown at me that might impact my room arrangement.  More on discipline plans later.

One management tool I like to use is making passes using lanyards.  I have a couple of bathroom passes, a couple of office passes, a couple of library passes, a couple of nurse passes (although we have a form to complete so these are only used if I need the child to go to the nurse's office for more band-aids or some other errand) and a couple of hallway passes in case I need a child to go somewhere other than the above mentioned places.  I use plastic hooks that are easily removed and reused to store the passes by the classroom door.  I used Publisher to create the passes.  I added clip art and labeled the passes appropriately.  The passes were laminated, cut out and attached to the lanyards.

Another management tool I use is a 'portfolio' of sorts for each child.  I do it two different ways and most of the time I use both.  One is a notebook with a tab section for each child.  The other is a container for hanging file folders (or you can use a file cabinet - I like the container because I can easily transport it and can keep it in the locked closet).  I always number my students.  They are required to put their name and number on their papers.  The numbering system makes it easy to keep track of assignments.  The notebook has tabs with numbers on them and the same for the file box.  This way I can reuse them year after year and not have to change names.  (It also isn't obvious to others that student information is in the notebook or file box.)  The notebook contains a parent information sheet on the child, an inventory the child completed, the signed permission slip from the parent/guardian for commenting/writing on the class blog and other technology pieces in our classroom, the child's results from any beginning of the year screenings/tests and any other pertinent information.  The file box contains work for conferences.

I have a box labeled 'absent folders' with a numbered file folders in it.  Back in worksheet days I would put the work a child missed in their folder.  I didn't use this box so much in the last few years as I didn't pass out many worksheets.  If someone was absent several days it was handy for putting the homework in, notes from the office and anything else that the child/parent might need when the child returned.  It was nice to have it in one spot and not jammed into a desk, scattered on top of a desk, or in a cubby with who knows what all else.

One of my favorite beginning of the year things to do with my 4th grade students is to make name tags for their desks.   I love using Publisher with my students and this is their introduction to it.  I take their pictures and load them in a file that is accessible to them.  They open the template I have for them, put their name in, and insert their picture in the spots provided.  They learn how to re-size the picture, save the document in their folder, and print it.  The template has the name tag and other picture/name boxes that are used for an attendance chart, their computer accessories bag, and the center chart.  They cut the documents out and add color to their name tag.  I laminate them and we tape them to their desks.  Substitutes love them.  I also use the pictures to create a seating chart for my sub folder.