Assignment Check In Slips

One of my very favorite classroom class work management tools is my assignment check in slips. I got this from my teacher that I interned under! She was the best! It is how I keep my sanity in the paper clutter that is a classroom. It helps me keep track of assignments that students have completed, when they turned it in, as well as who is still missing the assignment. That is how I track missing work. I keep them handy for everything!

When a student turns in an assignment in my room, they choose the folder for that subject area, pull out an assignment check list, slip it on the front of the folder, label it with the proper subject, assignment, and date, check their name, then put their paper in the folder in number order. Putting it in number order is SO important so that I can quickly check to be sure everyone who checked their name off actually turned it in, grade and enter them into the grade book (already in alphabetical order).

This takes a week or so for my 5th graders to master, but it is SO worth it! It makes tracking missing work a cinch! I just circle the students that didn't turn the assignment in, then ask them for it every day until I receive it and can mark their name off. Sometimes I use the slips for writing down grades as well if I don't get a chance to put them in the grade book right away. I also use the slips for walking around the room for participation grades. I hope you find this helpful! An editable version is available here!

Meet Your Teacher Night

We had Meet Your Teacher Night on Tuesday! I had almost all of my parents and students come! That is a busy night full of new faces and lots of school supplies! To make things flow as easily as possible, I set up stations around the room for parents to stop at.


Stop 1- signing in and picking up necessary paperwork that has to be signed by all parents for the school. I also made flip charts this year to give out to all families in my class.

Stop 2- choosing a seat... the students love this part because they like to pick where they will sit on the first day! (I rearrange my seating arrangements every two weeks or as needed!)

Stop 3- Parents were able to sign up for Remind 101, which we are going to use this year! I had about half go ahead and sign up, so I hope that the rest will join in too soon!

Stop 4- This was supply drop off. This was obviously before all of the children and supplies arrived. By the end of the night my table was overflowing! (Good problem to have)

Last stop- Picking up "homework" (they were to bring in two things that represent their summer and themselves.... but more on that later) and there was a questionnaire for parents, as well as a PTO sign up sheet.

Hope you like my stations! If you want to snag them for yourself here is a link.

Classroom Tour

Meet your teacher night was Tuesday night. I can't believe how fast the first two days went! If you have already started school, I hope you are having as great of a year so far as I am. It looks like I am going to have a great class! Yay! Here are some pictures of my classroom setup this year!


View from the door. I made the leap from desks to tables this year! My school actually bought me brand new tables! That is unheard of around here!

Calendar and turn-in table.

Back wall with student computer and part of the classroom library.

My small group area and I turned my desk against the wall since I rarely ever sit there anyway. It was just taking up space. The kidney table makes a lot more sense!

More of my classroom library and word wall that I put up on my cabinets.

Classroom library. I have a Donor's Choose project up now to get a pretty new rug for this corner! Hopefully it gets funded soon!

A second reading area that I set up this year! Already loving the garage sale coffee table. Students are like a magnet to it! They love  to sit on the floor all around it to work.

Where I hang anchor charts and posters as we study them.

Another picture of my corner....

Pano of the whole room...

Hope you enjoyed my little tour!

Why I Became a Teacher

While on the Oklahoma Education Sunday night Twitter feed, I was challenged to blog about why I became a teacher. If you don't already read the Sunday night tweets, you're missing out! #oklaed Sunday nights at 8:00 central.

I became a teacher because it is what I have always wanted to do. Seriously. My mom says I wanted to be a teacher before I even attended school. How I knew what school was all about, I'm not sure. What is funny, is I didn't always enjoy school much. I don't think it was actually going to school, but I didn't enjoy being a student. I always wanted to be at the front of the room teaching the class, not attending.

As a little girl, I would practice being a teacher every day. I saved up my allowance to go to the teacher store. I would buy workbooks, grading pens, grade books, pointer, etc. I had a chalkboard and whiteboard hanging in my room to teach from. I would line up my dolls and make them do worksheets. I recruited my neighbors to be my students. I am even guilty of giving a never-ending spelling test that my mom stopped me mid-test because I was on number one hundred something. (I was a little bossy as well.) Every time my friends came over we had to play school. I was a bit obsessed.

When I got to go to school, I loved my teachers. I idolized each and every one of them. I had great teachers growing up, which only fueled my passion to become a teacher. They would save their extra copies so I could take them home. I loved that! I try to keep that in mind as I teach today. Kids need to see that teaching is fun and many of them do want to become teachers some day. I am afraid that the low pay and increased pressures put on teachers is squelching the younger generation from dreaming that same teacher dream that I did. I want to continue to encourage young people to get into teaching. I truly love it, despite those negative parts!

In college, I started by majoring in business, because of those obvious drawbacks in teaching. I looked at my class list and nearly cried. How boring the next four years of my life would be. My boyfriend at the time, husband now, said, "Are you sure you don't want to be a teacher?" I knew immediately I needed to change my major! I went the next week and changed it all over... looking at that class list made me giddy with excitement. I got to take classes that taught me to be a teacher? Heck yes!

The rest is history... I continue to love teaching. I love it so much it consumes my life often. I am always thinking, jotting down ideas, Pinteresting, reading blogs, etc. to try to keep things exciting and fresh in my classroom.