Well, our first day back was today and I am completely exhausted!!! I can only imagine what I'll feel like by Friday...ready for another month off probably. I have a very sweet group this year and I am excited to really get started with them!!

I'll be sharing classroom pictures later this week, finally! For now, I have a few snapshots to share from our Meet the Teacher morning last Saturday. There's a few freebies thrown in along the way!

I found this adorable image to project on my Smart board here...thanks Kristine!! I also used some cute handprint cutouts I found in the Target dollar section to create a "Helping Hands" display. This was my version of a class wish-list.

This was the area right next to the door, I had parents sign in and immediately note how their child would get home from school on the first day...probably THE most important information a teacher needs for day one!! I had nightmares last night that I lost kids on the way to the bus and that they all went home the wrong way...luckily that didn't happen today. ;) I love those black picture frames...I picked some up at Michaels and Ikea, and they were perfect for Meet the Teacher night. I'm also planning on using them pretty frequently as signs for center directions.

This was my volunteer table...I set out volunteer forms looking for parents to help make copies, rip out math homework sheets, check out books from the public library and put my Scholastic Reading Club fliers together. I have never asked for volunteers for particular jobs in the past, but I love that now there are certain jobs I won't have to think twice about contacting a volunteer for...they've already signed up for that job for the whole year! :)

These folders were on each students' desk. The folders had labels that said "Take Home & Read" and "Please Fill Out." It was a great system...all of the parents that came stayed to fill out the forms and just took the folders home. Now I don't have to track all of those pesky forms down for the rest of the week! Of course I wanted my new kiddos to get a little treat too! :) Those glowstick bracelets were 15 for $1 in the Target dollar section, can't beat it!! The cute sign is a freebie you can grab here!

I didn't want to have to stay late on a SATURDAY to sort through all of those forms parents filled out, so I had them do it for me! ;) This was such a simple system and saved me so.much.time!!!

I am so glad I planned ahead at the end of last year and had my old kiddos write letters to my new second graders! Families loved reading what old students had to say about my class, and they even had a lot of good advice to pass down.

Well, that's all!! It's only 8:00 and I'm ready for BED!! Have a great rest of your week, y'all! :)