"Groundhog Day" and Name Mats

Well folks, I am here to tell you that I survived the first week of school!! Now granted the first week at my school is not really the "first week" and is more like the movie Groundhog Day come to life.

If you haven't seen the cinematic classic starring the legend Bill Murray, Groundhog Day the movie is about a news reporter who is sent to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. While there, some sort of curse is somehow placed upon him and he relives Groundhog Day OVER AND OVER AGAIN. 

Well my first week of school always reminds me of this movie because we do what we call Staggered Start. For Staggered Start, a third of the class comes each day, essentially equating to 3 first days of school for the teacher.  I honestly love this way of starting school because it allows me to begin teaching routines to a smaller number of children and I think it also helps ease the first day jitters for the little ones when there is such a small group. BUT, it does walk against the fine line of insanity doing the same thing 3 days in a row, LOL. 

On Monday, my entire class will attend school for the first time together. Hopefully I will live to tell you the tale of how that day went. I'll keep you posted!

ON ANOTHER NOTE, I want to share with you one of the most useful things I use in my classroom-NAME MATS

A name mat includes the student's name and a small version of the ABC chart that we use in the classroom on a daily basis. To make, I tape the name plate and ABC chart to a piece of construction paper and then send them through the laminator. EASY PEASY!

Here's WHY I love these--

1. They are PORTABLE--Unlike your traditional name plate that is taped down to the desk, these can be easily picked up and moved should you need to reassign seats. 

2. They are EASY TO STORE--when my students are not using these to help them with spelling their name or referencing letters, these babies get tucked into their desk which frees up the table top and allows for a clean space. 

3. They are 1 ON 1 REFERENCE CHARTS--While I love reference charts and anchor charts as much as the next teacher, sometimes having just ONE of something isn't enough to be helpful for all of the students all of the time.  Name mats allow for each student to have the ABC chart as a reference whenever they need it, wherever they are in the room.  

4. They are VERSATILE--As the school year progresses, I will create new mats to add new reference charts OR I will keep the same mat and add another chart to the back and resend it through the laminator. For example, as we continue to learn new words and add them to our class word wall, I will attach a mini word wall to the back of the name mats and send it through the laminator again. OR when students are working to learn their last names, I will make an entire new mat that features the spelling of their last names. 

5. They are EASY TO MAKE--Lastly, I love these because they are so simple to make and always prove to be such a great resource for my students. I observe my students on a daily-basis pull these out on their own and use them to help themselves--TEACHER WIN!

How would you use name mats in your classroom?