The Hollstein Herd: My Daily Communication Folders are almost finished...

The Hollstein Herd: My Daily Communication Folders are almost finished...: My Daily Communication Folders are almost finished, stuffed, and ready for "Meet Your Teacher Day" (I am looking forward to scratc...

My Daily Communication Folders are almost finished, stuffed, and ready for "Meet Your Teacher Day" (I am looking forward to scratching something off of my lengthy list). The Daily Communication Folder has been extremely helpful in communicating throughout the year with parents. Many parents email questions or concerns, but I still have many that write notes and our school policy requires all transportation changes to be in written form. Instead of digging around in the bottom of a book bag at bus call, all parents know I will be checking folders each morning. On "Meet Your Teacher Day," I give the each student this folder and explain to the student and the parent how the folder works. The student's job is to take the folder home everyday with their work, Choice Card , and/or notes inside. The student must show
the parent the folder daily. The parent's job is to check the folder and ask questions about work sent home, check the Choice Card (conduct/work habit report), and check for notes/reminders from the teacher. Inside the folder is paper for written communication. Both the teacher and parent use these pages. A Ziploc baggie is used for sending ice cream money, lunch money, checks...It is also great for sending home any teeth that wiggle out at school. :o) These are cheap and very durable. Each morning, as part of the "Morning Warm-Up," students unload their book bags. The Daily Communication Folders are checked upon arrival and then stored in their mailboxes for the day.

So, what am I stuffing inside now?????
For starters, I include a welcome letter telling a little about myself and my experience. I also include my management system, name tag to be worn on the first day, and a Student Information sheet to be completed by parents. The Student Information sheet contains most of the information in our computer system with some additional questions. I keep these sheets in a notebook for easy access.

 

Click for freebies Daily Communication Folder

 

Preparing for a NEW YEAR

What wonderful custodians we have!!!!!!!! I went to school to begin setting up my classroom for the upcoming Kinder Camp (a two day, half day camp for upcoming kindergarteners before school officially begins). I was planning on one day to get the furniture in place and the following day, I would dust before my company arrived. Well, I started moving things around and could not believe it. NO DUST BUNNIES anywhere!!! No dust at all!!! Amazing workers!!! Love, love, love them...

Kinder Camp has been very helpful for several reasons. Mainly, the camp allows newbies to learn where things are located (the nurse, front desk, bus lane, car pool line, lunchroom, bathroom...) if you think about it, we throw a lot of new things at our students on the first couple of days not to mention a new environment with all new faces...you could say strangers. It is especially helpful since I will not be having a paraprofessional. YIKES! Additionally, I can do a fair amount of assessing for my baseline data. Usually, about half of the registered class enrolls, so approximately half of the students get training. These students will be my helpers/training assistants when the remainder of the class arrives on the first day of school. The biggest advantage is getting my teaching brain into drive again and coasting before throwing it into fifth gear...if you know what I mean.

Time for a little shopping trip for.....FOLDERS. Luckily, our parents provide many supplies for the year, but I have my own special things I like to purchase. My favorite thing...Colorful folders. Today, Walmart had paper, brad, pocket folders for 15 cents each. I tend to go with the plastic, brad, pocket folders. These babies will last all year. Walmart has them for 50 cents each. I also purchased school boxes for 57 cents. Pretty good prices and a large selection...not picked over yet. :o)