Back to School season is upon us and that means it’s time to get organized and ready to start the school year on the right foot. My school hosts an annual back to school night for students to meet their teachers parents to unload all of the brand new school supplies before the first day of school. I love back to school night, but it can be a little tricky to manage all the things. Fortunately, Avery’s peel and stick labels helped me create a few simple systems to manage student supplies for families to handle independently so I could focus on answering important questions and starting to build those oh-so-important family relationships.
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After a crazy and delightfully hectic month of moving and helping to set up multiple classrooms for back to school, last night I focused my attention back to my own classroom and the kindergarten students who will be learning with me this year. My school holds an annual “Sneak Peek” back to school night in which students and families are invited into the classroom before the first day of school. They bring all of their school supplies, meet the teacher, and get acclimated for the new school year. It is a wonderful, but busy evening at school.
I planned for 16 families to drop by the classroom last night and the room was buzzing with excitement. Kindergarten parents have a lot of questions because everything is new to them. Drop off, dismissal, homework, our schedule, etc. In the midst of answering all those questions, it’s my job to help all of the students unpack their school supplies.
Many parents write their child’s name on everything with a permanent marker. Which is great for me, but often not-so-great for the children in the class who find a stray glue stick on the floor and haven’t figured out how to read the print/cursive mix of parent penmanship.
It’s a waste of time for the children to bring every lost-and-found school supply to me just because they can’t discern the handwriting (and it doesn’t really foster independence either). Fortunately, Avery labels are the perfect tool for solving this problem!
As I prep for Sneak Peek, I print a column of labels bearing each students name on Avery 8160 labels and cut to separate each name column into strips. I place a strip of the appropriate name labels on each student’s desk and then I wait.
When the students arrive in the classroom and find their desks, they have a great time peeling and sticking their name labels onto all of their supplies. And I take peace in knowing that the large, kid-friendly font will help all of the students to recognize each other’s name throughout the school year.
I created my labels using the Avery 8160 template in Microsoft Word, using the font KG Miss Kindergarten. You can also create your own labels using Avery Design and Print.
My classroom school supply lists requests that all families supply four boxes of crayons and four large glue sticks. These items usually get us through the duration of the school year. I tuck one of the glue sticks and one box of crayons into each child’s pencil case and the rest get stored for later in the year.
In addition to the strip of printed 8160 labels, each child also receives a quart-size zipper bag bearing their name in the same kid-friendly font. I create these bags ahead of time and use Avery 5163 labels. (These are my all-time favorite labels. I use them all the time in my classroom.) The extra three glue sticks and boxes of crayons fit perfectly into the quart-size bag. Once filled, all of the bags get tucked under my classroom easel for easy access during the school year.
For the first few months of school, I personally hand out new supplies as they are needed. As the year progresses, the children learn to responsibly help themselves to supplies when something runs out. The Avery labels make everything so easy for them to read!
Some supplies go into student desks, others get tucked away under the easel, or placed into table boxes, and still others go into separate corners of the classroom. We stick Avery 8160 labels onto just about everything (except paint shirts and scissors).
And there you have it… a fast and simple way to organize all of your classroom school supplies. Printed labels make classroom supply organization a breeze so you can focus on the important stuff.
If your student classroom supplies are organized and you’re ready to tackle your teacher supplies, I know just what you need: Classroom Supply Labels from the Kinder Craze store! The set contains two different sizes of labels for you to print, prep and stick to label all the things.
Wishing you a smooth and organized start to the year ahead!
I’m a former kindergarten teacher turned work-from-home mom. I still love sharing ideas and resources to make teaching easier, so you can focus on what really matters in the classroom. When I’m not working on the blog, you’ll find me chasing kids around the house with a cold cup of coffee in my hand (some things never change even once you’re out of the classroom!)
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7 Responses
At our open house, I put a brown paper grocery bag at each student’s desk with their name on it. I asked them to put all their supplies in the bag before they left. I was able to label the things I wanted names on, and store the supplies that are shared! It was the diets time I tried this and it worked great for me!
Great idea Erin, thanks!
We end up sharing all supplies so no need for names on every supply, we label pencil cases, journals, homework folders and agenda books.
What all do you keep in the table boxes?
I usually store scissors, markers, glue bottles and bingo dotters in the table boxes – things we use often but are too messy for the students to keep in their desks full time
Is there a quick way to make a column of names on the labels without typing them all in
Copy and paste helps speed things up.