I'm Back!

Hi everyone! I'm back and very sorry for my long hiatus. Soon after getting this blog up and running I was ecstatic to find out that hubby and I are expecting our first little addition to the family in November! Accompanying that however, was a great deal of morning sickness followed by summer vacation and so I put the blog on pause and decided to live up my last baby-free summer. Here I am at 30.3 weeks:

 

And now, it's back to school time! I did manage to get a *few* school-related things done this summer and the one I am most excited about is my DIY "Share Chair". I found an old dining room chair for $5 and transformed it into a very special classroom chair that I'll use for show & share and student presentations. It's already a hit! Amazing how a little paint can encourage students to speak in front of their peers :)

Heading back to school also seems go hand in hand with sending oodles and oodles of notes and forms home with students (unfortunately). I do my best not to overwhelm families with notes but there are a few that are beneficial to send home. One of which is what I call a "Welcome Letter" and I've revamped mine this year to be a little more fun and personal. I also send home a "Getting Acquainted" form for parents to fill out which helps me get to know their child.

   

One of the activities that we did on the first day was an "All About Me in 3rd Grade" bunting banner. It's super cute, helps me get to know my students and contributes to classroom decor! Check out my TPT store for this freebie (for grades 1-6)!

One goal that I have set for myself this year is to improve on the frequency of POSITIVE communication with parents. Receiving a little note every now and then to let a parent know about something kind their child did or what excellent effort they showed on an activity etc. can go a long way. To help with that, I created a set of positive note cards. I printed and chopped several at the beginning of the year and hope to send at least 1 home each week. That might not sound like a lot, but I want this goal to be attainable. I also keep track of who I've sent notes home with so I can hopefully send one home with everyone before starting over. These can also be found as a freebie in my store! 

Happy back to school season!