Page updated on August 24, 2009
Also don't forget to check out our Teacher Links section and Reading Links section Autumn Links Section for more great ideas.
Classroom Management and Beginning of the Year Tips and Ideas
Check out this page of compiled ideas for classroom management, first days of school and bulletin board ideas. The ideas were compiled by Cathy-Dee Brand. Many of the ideas come from first grade teachers around the world, however most of them are easily modified for any elementary grade.
Alberta Education -Back to School Information Kit – 2009/2010
| KinderKorner | Great ideas for K to 2 teachers for starting the school year. First day ideas, poems, setting up your room, assessment and many other ideas |
| Back to School Ideas | This page contains ideas posted by other teachers on what they do during those first days of school |
| Teaching is a Work of Heart | This site has back to school ideas, poems that are suitable for the younger grades - Mainly K to 3. Some ideas could be modified for older grades too. |
| Kid's Domain | Crafts, printable pages, online games are just some of the features of this web site |
| Kim's Korner - Back to school | This site is geared for middle school teachers. This link takes you to her classroom management page and on that page you can find a few links to pages for the first day of school. |
| TeachNet | They're Baaaack! Tips for teachers on starting a new school year. This article changes periodically with new tips and ideas. Plus check out the rest of the site with tons of neat teaching ideas and tools. |
| Back to School Blues | Although we love our career and our students, those first few weeks back to work can be stressful. Take a look at this chatboard discussion with Beth Bruno to find some humour and common sense on dealing with back to school blues. |
| CanTeach - Birthday Ideas | Here are some great ideas for celebrating birthdays in your classroom. |
| Mrs. Valenti's Classroom | A good sample of a letter to parents. |
| Yes I Teach | Beginning of school ideas including open house ideas, back to school kits, survival kits, the giving tree and more. |
| Scholastic | Some great tips and resources on this site including teaching tips, must do lists, classroom management, lesson ideas, stationary and more. |
| Mrs. Fischer's KinderThemes | Some terrific ideas for back to school including what to do those first few days, welcome poems and ideas for parents, care packages and more! |
| Education World | First day of school ice-breakers |
| Education World | 14 great ideas for the first day of school - submitted by teachers. |
| Education World | 14 more great ideas for the first day of school. |
| Teacher Tools | This site has not been updated recently, however it still does feature a number of great forms you can use in your classroom throughout the year. |
| ProTeacher | This link takes you to a specific page of ideas submitted by teachers. From this link however you can check out the rest of the site. I highly recommend the grade level page where you can post your own questions and also see what other teachers are discussing. A great place for IDEAS! |
| Middleweb's | The first days of school for middle-grade teachers. This site has a lot of great links and information for middle school teachers. |
| Handy Teacher Helpers | This site offers neat ideas as well as printables, from late work policies to assignment sheets to contracts. |
| Group Games | A new site offering a number of creative games for ice-breakers, team building, action-orientated and more! |
| I love my ABC's | Another great site for K to 2 teachers. Poems, songs and activities to help teach the alphabet |
| Kinderthemes | These two links take you to sites focusing on Kindergarten themes. Areas include a gingerbread theme, poems and other themes and activities |
| Mrs. Alphabet | Ideas for teaching the letter of the week! |
| KinderKorner | What's in a name! Rhymes to use on a monthly basis to focus on learning names. |
| New! Literacy Center.Net | Some fun games for younger children to play - would work well on a Smartboard. |
| New! First-School | Alphabet activities and lessons! |
| New! Enchanted Learning | Some items on the site are free but it is well worth the membership for all of the printables the site offers. |
| New! Virtual Alphabet | Songs, rhymes and more! |
| CanTeach | Poems for beginning the school year. Great for primary grades. Sections include poems for lining up, good morning songs and more. |
| Nancy's Teacher's Resources | Back to School Poems |
| A to Z Literature Activities | This site offers activities and ideas for hundreds of book titles. |
| ABC Teach | A great site - find forms for writing, puzzles, shape books, poetry forms and more for the beginning of school. |
| New! DLTK Kids | Back to School Poems |
| New! Tooter for Kids | A few nice back to school poems |
| New! Songs 4 Teachers | This site offers free downloads of songs as well as CD's you can purchase. |
| New! Teacher Vision | Back to school language arts ideas. |
Teaching Forms, Colouring Pages and other Printables
| Success Certificates | Hundreds of different certificates you can print out for your students. From Kindergarten through High School. This site used to offer free access but they now have a one-time low fee to access the certificates. |
| Jan Brett - Welcome back to school | Who can resist Jan Brett's adorable drawings. This one is perfect for the first day back to school. |
| Jan Brett - I love my teacher | Another cute colouring page from Jan Brett. |
| Kid's Domain | Links to a number of printables including colouring pages, alphabet and numbers, activity pages and more. |
| Squigly's Colouring Pages | A few cute pictures for back to school. |
| DLTK- Kids | A printable bus that can be used for first week activities or bus safety week. |
| Enchanted Learning | Back to school worksheets, little books and more! |
| New! ABC Teach | A number of back to school forms for graphing, writing and more! |
| DLTK's Back to school crafts | A few fun craft ideas for the primary grades. |
| Family Fun- Back to School Crafts | This site has some great back to school crafts as well as homemade school supplies. It also has printables for science and math. |
General Classroom Management Ideas
| Teaching Tips | An excellent resource for new and veteran teachers. Sections include first days of school, motivating students, preparing lesson plans, dealing with stress, teaching techniques and more. Most of the information is not links, but actual articles, ideas, etc., to help you in these areas. |
| This is a site with hundreds of behaviour types and how to handle them in your classroom. Great advice and a good tool to keep on hand. | |
| Kim’s Korner - Classroom Management | This link takes you to her page on Classroom Management. On this page find information on how to set up your classroom, first day of school activities, how to welcome new teachers to your school and much more. Her other links are also interesting, ice breakers, writing, reading, etc., Many of her ideas are geared for middle school grades but are easily adaptable for other grades. |
| St. Mary's Links Section for Parents | Check out a number of great parenting links that are available all year at this link from our main links section on the St. Mary's School Site. |
| Your Kindergarten Child | This site has links to information about things you can do at home with your child, ways to be involved in school, readiness checklists and more. |
| First Grade Compass | Similar to the above site but geared for parents of students in first grade. |
| Second Grade Compass | Similar to the above two sites. |
| Grades 3 to 5 | Again similar to the above sites - just click on the grade you wish to see. |
| Grades 6 to 12 | And the final section is geared to older students. |
| Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk | Especially for parents of kindergarten students. A great letter putting those feelings into words of how it is to be sending your child off to school for the first time. |
| Kid's Health | The first day of school can sometimes bring on the jitters, check out this site for ideas on how to make your child's first day a great one! |
Lunch and Snack Ideas for Parents and Teachers
| All Recipes for Kids | Neat recipes for snacks and recipes your kids will love! |
| All Recipes Advice | Check out this section for advice on nutrition and cooking ideas for your family. |
| Learning Network - Lunch Love Notes | What a neat idea to have for your children. Print off these cute little notes and stick them in their lunch to remind them of how much you love and miss them while they are in school. |
| Lunchbox Ideas and Recipes | This recipe section on about.com has an article about preparing lunches and some tasty recipes as well. |
Sites for New Teachers - good information for all teachers
| Beginning Teacher's Toolbox | This site offers items that can be purchased as well as many free features including teaching tips, Inspirational, Professional Development and more. |
| Gigglepotz | This section is for new teachers. Tips on how to set up your classroom, classroom management ideas and much more. The site is now a membership site. You may get a log-on box when you first click on the link - just click cancel. Then you can browse the site to see if you wish to purchase a membership. |
| Education World | Advice for first year teachers from the Principals who hired them. A great article full of advice from seasoned administrators. |
| Miscellaneous Tips for New Teachers | Advice from a teacher to new teachers. As with any advice - take it and use it with common sense. |
| Survival Guide For New Teachers | This guide is by a teacher who wished he had knows these things before he began his first teaching job. |
| What to Expect | This site has some really good sections and advice for new teachers! |
| Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators | Ideas for bulletin boards for K to 12. Plus a listing of books and other links that also have ideas for bulletin boards. |
| Kim's Korner | Ideas for bulletin boards. Find new ideas on coverings for bulletin boards, borders, themes and more. |
| Teaching is a work of Heart | Ideas by month, some of the ideas also have pictures to show how the board looks when completed. These ones are primarily for grades K to 3. |
| TeachNet | Quite a few ideas especially for the beginning of the school year and Fall. |
| Teacher Tools | A few neat ideas for Back to School bulletin boards. |
| Perpetual Preschool | Quite a number of ideas on bulletin boards posted by teachers on this site's idea/chat section. |
(author unknown)
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