Starting the School Year Right!

This summer has been all about getting organized and ready for the beginning of school since I have a whole classroom to set up.  Those days in August when I'd normally be making copies, creating my lessons, making lists, checking them twice, marking whose been naughty or nice…oops! wrong job!  well, those things that we teachers do to be prepped for students, I'll not be doing them first.  I'll be redecorating, dusting off boxed materials, putting books back into AR level, setting up bulletin boards, etc.  All those things I haven't had to do for several years since I hadn't changed schools, I'm going to be busy doing.  Which means all those other things, that have to be done, I'm trying to prep for now, or write on that list spoken of before, not the naughty or nice one…that comes much later ;).

Some of the things foremost on my mind: my very detailed lesson plan for the first day of school.  I always make a VERY detailed plan of the first day of school.  I have many reasons for this.  The main reason is that I'll still be on lazy summer day brain, and school brain will not have kicked in, yet.  I need to have a schedule of everything I'm doing (much like I leave for a substitute-HA!).  I like to put descriptions, games, rules, procedures, practice, and time for first day pictures in this lesson plan.  Since this will be my first year in 2nd grade, it will probably have more stuff than I'll get to.  In 1st grade, you need such a detailed plan because those little guys and gals get lost easy, and you can't be puttering around looking for what you had planned or you may lose a kiddo!  I think 2nd grade won't be so dangerous! :)

After the first day plans, I usually use my regular lesson plans from then on.  After obtaining a calendar, a schedule for next year, and copy of another teacher's plans (thank you, new teammate!), I got a better idea of what next year was going to look like.  I decided to create a new lesson plan book that would also contain my grades.  Grades are new for me!  My first grade years we assessed ability, rather than kept grades.  I've been reading blogs, pinning on Pinterest, and asking questions of teachers to see what the best ideas were for keeping grades.  I know there will be a software to enter grades, but I needed a grade book to keep with my plans.  After some research, I created a new {EDITABLE} lesson plan book that contains the grade book I need, plus a calendar, and other necessary forms.  My hours of work can be obtained from my TpT store, but here's a preview:

I'll be adding to it, and updating the calendar each year!  The price will change accordingly as I add to this file, but you can get it now, and any updates will be free!