I decided to link up with Jodi @ Fun in First for some First Day of School tips. (BTW If you are not following Jodi on bloglovin' and on Facebook add her now. Seriously, she always has tons of great tips and freebies.)
What can you do to have a great first day of school? I've narrowed mine down to 3 tips for before the first day of school. These 3 have really helped me out in the past.
#1 PROCEDURES
EVERYONE is going to tell you that you need to teach your students procedures the first days of school and that is sound advice. What you need to decide is what
EXACTLY those procedures are going to be and
HOW you want these procedures to be carried out. Really focus on the
HOW because the way you carry out procedures in your classroom will be different to anyone else's. (Jodi has a great list for you to look at to get started.) Don't just wing it. Make sure your procedures are exactly what you want to happen for the remainder of the year. Make a list and keep it handy the first days of school. This will help you feel confident in your classroom that first day.
#2 LABEL
Label where supplies go, label where every child sits, label where important paperwork is for parents, label where backpacks go, you get the idea. . . . If its labeled parents and students will know what to do and how to put things away without too much assistance. Your students will like being able to put things away independently and you will like not having to stop to tell them where things go. This is important that first day because chances are a reluctant child is going to require your attention or you'll be helping a parent out with other things. Labeling deflates your stress level because its one less thing to worry about.
#3 FIRST DAY OUTFIT
It's very tempting to wear some cute little thing
for the first time on the first day of school, but my advice is to wear something cute, but comfortable. Hear me out before you close this post! The reason I say this is because your outfit sets off your attitude. Think about it. There is nothing like that favorite pair of pants (dress, shoes, or nice blouse). It just feels right. You can't help, but smile when you wear that item. Smiling is what you want to be doing around your nervous parents and students. You don't want to be scowling as you keep pulling down that new dress all day because it turns out it is too short. The first day is so busy it is important that you look and feel comfortable for yourself, your new crew of kidlets, and their families.
That's it from me. Hop over to the other blogs on this linky party for more great advice for your first day or link up and add your own. I hope you have an amazing first day and school year!
