Ninja Notes

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Back to School

Your Must-Do Back to School Survival Checklist

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This year is different than any other back to school seasons, so what are some of the things you can do to get yourself prepared regardless of whether you're teaching in person or online. Come take care of your own mental health before your students return!

We created a back to school checklist to think about what might happen this year. It’s not possible to predict exactly what will happen. Things tend to be getting back to normal, but it the past few years have tuaght us anything, don’t get complacent. You might be teaching in person, online or some sort of combination of these things.

You might be teaching a new subject or a new grade level. You might not know anything about what you’ll be doing.

None of it is within your control. So, let’s talk about the things you can control and get ready before you have to go back to school no matter how it looks.

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How to Get Your Classroom Set Up in One Day

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Are you stuck in a time crunch with one day to set up your classroom? Yes, it can be done. Get down to the basics and leave everything else for later. Come read about how we've set up our classroom in one day.

It was the first day we were allowed to reenter the school after a major renovation. It was a disaster. Before the end of the previous year, we packed up everything and carefully labeled it. Nothing was returned to the classrooms. Students would be arriving in ONE day! Yup! You heard that right.

What a nightmare! Fortunately, we worked with the most amazing staff on the planet. We planned out a solution to bring everyone’s anxiety level down to a manageable level. We hosted a walking set-up bus.

What is a walking set-up bus? Keep reading to find out.

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5 Things To Get Organized Before the School Year Starts

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Are you looking for things you can do to get your school year off to a good start? These are all things you can do that don't involve making lesson plans or decorating your classroom. These are things you can do to make your life easier during the school start up.

We firmly believe that teachers should enjoy the time off they have and shouldn’t be forced to work. It’s the time we all need to replenish and prepare, but if you’re a little like us, you thrive when you are well-planned and prepared. It’s time to get organized for the year ahead.

That’s why we wrote this post. These are the things we try to get done over the summer months so we don’t have to worry about them in the first days of school. Having a simple plan makes answering the bombardment of questions from students so much easier.

Are you getting ready to start a new school year? Well, keep reading because these common sense things are the things you should be thinking about. We’re sharing them because these are all things we messed up in the past and want to pass down our wisdom.

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10 Things We Do On the First Day of School

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We use this routine for our first day of school each year. It works for most upper elementary classrooms and is sure to get your new school year started off right.

Be honest. You either LOVE the first day of school or hate it. As a teacher, it’s a fresh start to get back to spending quality time with these little darlings. For us, it’s always a chance to correct things we did in the past and start all over again, but there are ten things we do on the first day of school that help our whole year run smoothly. Turn back to school into a great time of year for you and your students. Keep on reading to find out how to make your first day back go smoothly.

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How to Create Back to School Power Words

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Try this quick activity that will last all year. We use power words instead of making goals. We talk about growth mindset and words that help us be our best. Then we make a display to share our words. This makes a great back to school activity or works perfect in the New Year. Come take a look!

Do your students write goals? It can be an effective way to have students learn to take responsibility for their behaviour or learning. We tried something new this year. Students chose power words instead of goals.

Back to school is a great time to reflect on past years in school. It’s the right time to think about the positive changes you and your students can make. This will help you all have a wonderful year together.

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How to Create a Community Culture in Your Multi-Grade Classroom

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How do you teach a split class or combined grades? Start by combining your students into a culture where they get to know each other and create a classroom community that your students will love.

How do we create a community culture where all students feel they are equal and belong? It turns out we’ve had more combined-grade classes than straight-grade classes since we began teaching, so we can’t imagine teaching any other way. First of all, we call it a combined class rather than a split class. It’s the first thing we do with parents because our combined classes are not like the old ‘split’ classes.

When students come into our classroom on the first day of school, they immediately collect into two different groups-the lower grade and upper grade. They don’t know each other well and like to sit with their friends. We don’t give students a seating plan right away (or sometimes at all) so we can see which relationships form or are already in place, but then we slowly start changing their mindset about the combined class.

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