Picture Day

Tomorrow is picture day. It is one of my least favorite days of the year. Yes, my students look adorable. However, pictures disrupt a good deal of my instructional time. When individual pictures are done, I can't take them out to recess because they will get dirty before the whole school picture. There isn't enough time to really get anything else done. Recess gets pushed back, which means I have less time for my reading groups. Some kids bring clothes to change into after pictures, and that takes time. Some don't, however, and always manage to get their nice clothing really dirty. (I won't help the situation tomorrow. We are doing a science project that involves lots of glue.) Plus, it takes extra time for me to get ready in the morning. I have to look cute, too! Fortunately, picture day only happens once a year. Oh, wait. I forgot about spring pictures...

I'm Back!

Hey, everyone!  I know I haven't posted in awhile, and I am sorry about that.  My life got absolutely crazy.  School started, of course, but there have been a few other obstacles as well.  My husband accepted a new job an hour away for which we have to relocate.  (For anyone who is wondering, I will be finishing this school year with my kiddos.  Next year, however, I will need a new teaching job.  Let the job hunt begin!)  This also means that we have had to work to get our house on the market.  It is officially listed!  All of this has meant that I have not really had time for blogging, but, now that the house is listed, I hope to be a little more frequent.
Now, back to school topics.  I teach at a very small school.  In general, the teacher know every parent.  I only have a couple of students this year that I have not either had before or had siblings in my class.  Because of this, my school doesn't do a traditional open house.  Instead, we have a cook-out for our first PTL meeting of the year.  The Kindergarten class prepares a skit (which gets the Kindergarten families there!).  This year we really had a cook-out.  We set out a fire pit and let kids and parents roast their own hot dogs and marshmallows.  Then we let the kids loose on the playground while we have a short meeting.  The teachers introduce themselves and briefly tell any important information and the PTL spends some money.  (I am also very fortunate that at my small school, our PTL has a large budget, so we get to spend money on great things!)
I have done a traditional open house, but I like this way better.  It brings the whole family to the school.  There is a lot of informal time to talk to parents and it gives parents a chance to connect with each other.  If your school is looking to revamp their open house, I highly recommend our approach!  (I am hoping I can find such a great school to work at next year!)