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New Kindergarten Teacher
Start of the Year-Forms and Documents
WOW, so many forms! At the beginning of the school year, the school office is going to be giving you many forms to have parents fill out and also several informational documents for you to pass out at open house. You will also have some forms and information of your own to pass out.
Organizing all this stuff can be a nightmare. However, after your first year or two, you start to find ways that work! Lucky for you, there are many teachers out there willing to share tips etc.
Here is one example of how to get this all done!
Make a Folder for each child—You can get the CHEAP 2 pocket folders over the summer at office stores or department stores for about 5 to 10 cents each. It doesn’t matter what the color is—as you will see. Next, go to the Dollar Tree or Wal-Mart and get a pack of school themed copier paper. Usually these have books along the edges or colorful borders etc. You can also use plain white paper if you want to. On your Computer, make a sheet that says
WELCOME to Mrs Smith’s Kindergarten Class 2009-2010 (Or whatever)
You will center this vertically on the folder.
Here is an example of what they look like: Folder Cover
Slide the colorful themed paper into your printer and print these as covers for your folders. Then using a glue stick or stapler—put them on the front of your folders.
Make about 5 more than you think you will need! You will get new students and you will need extras.
On the inside of the folders—on the left pocket, write TEACHER INFO
On the right pocket, write SCHOOL INFO.
Your Info—Your information may include a welcome letter—explaining a little bit about you and your background, and also your classroom procedures etc. Here is a sample Welcome Letter. You may also include information about weekly readers you want to purchase—along with an envelope for the students to send their subscription money back to you. You may also want to send home a scholastic book order form and envelope stapled to that as well. ( I always write brief notes for each of these so that parents know why I feel they are important enough to spend money on. Here are examples of the notes: Book Club, and Magazine Subscription.)
I also place some cute things on the teacher side as well. Examples: Nothing, Jack, Jill.
School Info—The school sends home a county student code of conduct packet usually and a school student handbook. They also send home info for school insurance, lunch menus and prices, and other normal info that goes home at the start of the school year.
Place all your info in the left pocket and all the school info in the right pocket. NEXT, write each child’s name on one folder. This way you will know which students’ parents picked up a folder and which ones missed them.
I also staple my profession educator’s statement to the inside of the folder. Example: Statement
NOW—on to the forms.
The school will have forms like:
Registration forms, Field Trip Forms, Code of Conduct Forms, Compact Forms, Photo release forms, Volunteer forms, etc.
I am not going to provide examples because each county has different forms.
You may have a student information form that you want for your records as well. Here is a sample of a student information form.
I pin all forms together for each child and paper clip these to the back of each welcome folder.
At Open House, I ask each parent to pick up their child’s folder and to fill out all the forms pinned to the back before leaving. YES—try to get as many forms filled out at open house as possible, because after that you will pull teeth to get them to return them to the school. Somehow you are blamed if forms are not returned!
By organizing all this information well, the parents will not become confused. Also, by taking care of all those FORMS at open house, you will save yourself grief over the first week or so when the office asks you to turn them all in!
In order to keep track of all the forms, who turned them in, who did not etc., I created a chart. Here is an example of the chart.
Of course you may modify any of the example documents that I have provided to meet your own needs.
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Home
First Impressions
(Open House)
First Days
Daily Schedule
Homework
Managing time
Use of Centers
Involving parents
(communication)
Involving community
(guest speakers)
Collaboration with
Colleagues
Lesson Plans
Sub Plans
Emergency Plans
Assessments
Parent Teacher
Conferences
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