End of the year and thinking about the new school year to come...

 Always thinking about the next year....

Many of us are getting ready for a much needed school year break called summer vacation. Even though many of us are also unsure of what next year will mean for us (well, in my district anyways). It is still a good time to get things organized, so that in September you're not wondering where did I put that and where to begin.

I like to set up a file folder of beginning of the year things to d,o in order to offer a smooth transition and try not to forget anything later. A lot of things that are included in this file folder are my beginning of the year assessments and get to know you activities, as well as things/ideas for Open House.

Some of my beginning of the year ideas are:
1. Reading Inventory
2. Writing Inventory
3. Schlagel Spelling Assessment
4. 6- Trait Writing Assessment
5. Class Benchmark Sheet; (my benchmark box should have copies made and ready to go for the following school year)
6. Reading Strategies Bookmarks
7. Writing Checklist for students
8. Binders for reading and writing workshop for anecdotal notes (well, not in a folder...haha)
9. Stickies for notes
10. My reading and writing clipboards strategically placed near binders
11. Old letter to parents regarding Open House- to tweak later- and any other materials that will be helpful for that night
12. Any cute activity (and supplies) that you have found for the students to do for Open House- try to push yourself not to do the sammmmme activity that you always do
13. Writer's notebook entry ideas that will help jump start writer's workshop
14. A space in the classroom where you can put students' supplies as they come in (workbooks, folders, notebooks, and etc. so you don't get overwhelmed with piles)
15. Finally, a brainstormed map of how you would like your classroom "setup"- in case your building is like mine and everything comes out for good old cleaning

This is only a brainstormed list...I'm sure that there are more things to add. What else would you put onto this list? Don't forget, the break is a great time to spend an hour or two finally getting that webpage up and going! Once you start, it makes things a lot easier later on in the year to update and add to. Then you will only have to add a little here and there and you still have your page :)