Smart Cookie Resources

Operation Getting Ready for Work Week - Part 1

My inner geek loves the thrill of the Back to School season!  This year, my goal is to WOW my amazing staff with having as much as possible ready for them that first day back.  As a teacher, it was always very stressful getting those packets 15 minutes before I had to welcome the kiddos and their families.  So our goal is to be proactive and get "ALL THAT STUFF" to them faster and in a manner that is organized and of course fun!

They each will receive an updated staff binder that will keep them organized all year long.

Click here to get your own.

Staff Binder for Whole School or Leadership Teams

Our theme this year is Dream, Believe, Achieve!  So the theme is on the front as well as our mascot.  We're the Bobcats!  If your school happens to be the bobcats too you can snag this cutie here. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mary-Kay-Erben  If not, the binder is editable so you can insert your mascot.  The colorful dividers have an inspirational quote and can be in any order.

Here's the line-up:

Leadership Committees

• Every teacher is a leader on our campus.  We have 4 leadership teams.  In this section we include the big ideas/goals for each leadership team.  In addition, the team member keeps their notes and ideas for their leadership committee in this section.  It keeps it easy to find when they share with their grade level teams.

**I will share all about the leadership teams in an upcoming post with editable Big Idea/Goals that you can use with your team or staff. **

Team PLCs 

• Grade Level Groups include their notes/agendas from PLCs here.  Having them organized greatly increases the chances that the next step goals are being worked on and enhances follow through. 

Check out these two books.  They are a great choice for a small group book study with your Instructional Leadership Team.

 

Data Driven Instruction

• We use our binders collaboratively.  The data that we keep in this section is more big picture and trends.  We track every student on a grade level spreadsheet that includes all of their Benchmarks, Universal Screeners, etc.  Our goal is no surprises.  We also have shifted our growth mindset in that if we say the word intervention then we must follow-up with the word enrichment.  It is truly about progress for EVERY student.  

• Data at our fingertips for team planning and vertical planning. 

Educational Resources

• We reserve this section for amazing articles that we find. Some are from my studies and some are from our superintendent.  However, the very best feeling is when I am sent articles from teachers.  I am blessed to work alongside of the very best learners around!  

Vertical Planning

• Our grade level teams each have subject experts.  These subject experts meet vertically with the Writing, Reading, Science and Math teams.  The goal this year is that the Vertical Team will meet 7 times this year.  Every person receives a copy of every subject area notes and next steps to be kept here.  This area can not be overlooked.  We strengthened our alignment and goal focus as a campus. This year we intend to focus on common academic vocabulary.

Campus Improvement Plan

• Let's face it.  Every school has one, but no one really reads it.  However, it should be a living document that drives continuous improvement and highlights the campus' targeted instructional needs. We take our Campus Improvement Plan and whittle away and get to the nitty gritty and identify our Priority Needs.  It's just like having priority standards. This is what we include here. 

Staff Handbook

• Not a lot to say about this. Without rules it's chaos.  :)

Handouts to Keep

• This one is a biggie.  We keep important documents that teachers will need to refer back to in this section.  Some items include our discipline matrix and positive behavior procedures, pickup and drop off procedures, cafeteria layout, master schedule, early release schedule, PLC schedule, calendar, and more. 

Now here's where it gets messy. I mean c'mon back to school is tough stuff! I realize that all teachers want to do is get their rooms ready and get their class list.  So we try to keep all the essentials in a handy dandy bin so they can get back to designing amazing learning environments for students.  Part 2 will have the bins all beautifully displayed, but for now I'm showing the process.  Just like a classroom, my conference room and hallway outside of my office becomes an absolute hurricane before the teachers first contracted day.  I say first contracted day because they've been volunteering their time all summer to prepare for the next year. I LOVE TEACHERS! 

Teacher Bins

Binders in Progress

What's in the bins?

• Student packets for Meet The Teacher Night
• Each grade level has their own student information sheet.  We copy and place them in the bins for them.
• Kindergarten gets an invitation to the Boo Hoo breakfast that we have for their parents on the first day of school.  
• Pick up signs for car riders.  
• A phone list of favorite substitutes
• A colored copy of our school calendar
• Bus tags for bus riders
• Emergency Operation Folder
• Staff Binders
• I know I'm forgetting some things...Oh yeah, chocolate!

Stay tuned!  Principal reveal coming soon!