The beginning of the school year can be hectic. It doesn’t matter if you have taught 20 years or 2 years, we all struggle to stay organized and focused with the millions of tasks we need to complete. Preschool and kindergarten teachers not only have recreate their rooms each year, they have to have them up and running prior to the school year starting due to open house and orientation. This can leave teachers frazzled and overwhelmed. However, there are things that you can do now that are simple and won’t interfere with your already crazy schedule.
1. Laminate Nameplates and Cut-outs you Plan to use the Following Year.
After teaching 8 years in a district based 4K, I have learned that if you don’t start prepping before the end of the school year-you may be paying out of pocket costs. Most schools have employees in charge of making copies and laminating and many of these positions start a few days before school and by then, you have already had open house. So I always have nameplates, name tags and bus labels laminated by the end of the year. When class lists are posted in August, I label everything using a permanent marker.
- Welcome to Preschool (Overview of the Year with contact Info)
- Preschool Schedule
- Contact Information (a personal one for myself)
- Bus Rider/First Week of School Label
- Meet the Teacher Letter
- Newsletter Sample
- Media Release Form
- School Background check
- Volunteer Form
- Business Card
Items that are used on a daily basis like the calendar, alphabet, weather chart and job charts receive a lot of wear and tear throughout the year. If there is damage to the items I will reprint and laminate or replace. I place the items in a tub labeled “calendar,” which I can easily find at the beginning of the year. The calendar is the focal point of the classroom and can be very time consuming to set up, so having all of the pieces fresh and ready to go will help with set up time.
Week by week calendar available (here).
4. Classroom Behavior and Routine Charts
One of my behavior management tools that I use is a play center rotation chart. This board takes a lot of wear and tear throughout the year as well. To save time my assistant or myself update this activity during our last few days of school by replacing the ripped library and center cards. I store this board in a poster box and it is easy to pull out and have attached to the wall prior to orientation.
