Management Monday - Paper Flow, Backpacks, and Transportation

Happy Monday, Friends!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Monday, and are off to a great week! I have three quick, and easy management strategies for you today. Yay!

Button Credits: KG Fonts, Hello Fonts, Melonheadz, Creative Clips

So, the bell just rang, students are filing in, and before you even have a chance to say, "Good Morning," at least 6 students are trying to hand you a piece of paper. Umm, good morning to you too! If you're anything like me, you loathe getting handed sheets of paper, especially in the morning when there's so much going on. To fix this, I got several baskets (from Target's One Spot, of course!), labeled them, and voila - paper flow solved. Here's a picture I took at the very beginning of the school year, before I even had met my sweet babies! My students become responsible for placing their papers/folders in the proper location. I'm now free to say good morning, and ease into the day without being bombarded.

It looks a bit different now, however, the idea is still the same. There is one basket for homework, one for Daily Take-Home Folders, and one for me, Mrs. Copeland :) Students know that any and all papers that are for me, go in the "Mrs. Copeland" basket. I refuse to take ANY papers from students. While students are working on their morning work, I check through the basket, and sort into "Needs a Response" and "FYI." Seriously, easy! I'll try to take a picture of how it really looks tomorrow!

The last two schools I've taught at, have had hooks for backpacks. It took me all of about 1 day to discover that there needed to be a little method to the madness. To remedy, I number each hook, and students place their backpacks on the hook that corresponds to their class number.

Raise your hand if your students' modes of transportation changes...A LOT! To help keep track of transportation changes, I have always used a transportation chart. It has changed a bit over the years, and you have to choose what works best for you. This years, was just pictures on scrapbook paper that I laminated, and then write on with a dry erase marker. To be honest, I don't love how I managed it this year, and will switch back to the one I used with the clips and the ribbon. Again, you know your classroom, students, and yourself best, so choose what works for you. Need transportation cards? You can find them here!

BONUS - My class is on a 6-day special rotation. This means, we don't always go to the same special every Monday, and so on. Once used to it, it's not hard to keep track of, however, it can be a bit daunting if you don't have it memorized, or have a sub. In the above picture, you can see I used an arrow and some velcro, and rotated the arrow around. This year, instead on putting it on my door, I have it on my whiteboard, and use a colorful magnet that moves depending on the day.

Have a great week!