1-2-3 Come Make A Take Home Folder With Me!

My friend and I were sharing. She was excited about making snail mail - take home folders for her students.

Janet can't remember where she got this adorable idea (Pinterest? A teacher magazine?) but the word snail is an acronym for Student work, Notes, And Important Letters.

She wanted to know if I could whip something together to glue to the cover of her folders.  I LOVED the idea & revamped the acronym to Schoolwork, Notes And Important Letters. 

Since I sent a folder home every Friday with my students, which was filled with their work, my weekly newsletter and other correspondence from our school, I thought 'snail mail' was an adorable idea, so I got right to work.

Take home folders were my easy and very successful "life line" for parent-teacher communication, so I highly reccommend doing them. 

Parent feedback was also extremely positive, as they weren't constantly hunting through a messy backpack for news.  I kept the folders in a basket along with anything that needed to go in them, and had a room helper "stuff" the folders sometime on Friday.

Besides the child's name on the folder, I numbered them so they could be put back in order quickly.  This expedited finding a specific child's folder to put their work in.  School pictures as well as report cards were also sent home via this folder.

I explained to parents the importance of making it a habit to take out their folder every Friday and go through it, praising and commenting on their child's work and perhaps choosing a few to hang up on the fridge, a bulletin board or cupboard door. 

Children also enjoy giving special papers to family members.  All of this promotes self-esteem.  By your interest, your child sees the importance of school and that you care about what they are learning there.

If parents tuck the folder right back into their child's pack, it will be ready for school on Monday.  Click on the link to view/download the Snail Mail Take Home Folder Packet.

I've included black and white as well as colored snail labels, along with a reminder and note of explanation to parents. 

This packet will be FREE for an entire year, then it will be revamped and included in "Diane's Dollar Deals" in my TpT shop. 

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"Never tell people how to do things.  Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." -George Patton

Communicating With Parents:

Parental communication is very important, but with so many tasks for a teacher to accomplish in a day, especially with the demands of very young children, how does one find time to dash off notes?

How do you reinforce positive behavior? Do you send home a note to parents?

Do you give your students a certificate of praise?

Likewise, how do you communicate with parents when they want to know how their child is doing when their disruptive behavior is being modified?

To make these tasks quick and easy, I’ve designed a variety of forms.  My behavior modification techniques are checklists where a child is held accountable for their own behavior.

They decide which behavior they are going to work on for the day.  During various parts of the day they can color in a smilie face or put a sticker on their paper.

For students that are working on a multitude of things, I can simply check all the boxes that apply at the end of the day, in less than a minute, and send that note home to be signed by the parent and returned.

I’ve put all of these forms in a 66-page packet that includes happy-grams, certificates of praise, and posters.

I've also included positive-reinforcement games, like Pizza Reward, Bubble Gum Challenge, Apple Puzzle & Classroom Cash.

There is a student contract, progress report, posters, classroom expectations, a neat desk award, and a promise pledge as well.

The forms help empower students, build self-esteem, help motivate, help students accept responsibility and be accountable. 

They free the teacher up and make communicating with parents simple, easy and quick.

I hope that you will find something here that will help your days run smoothly. 

I’d enjoy hearing from you about the packet, or if you have something to share that works for you that would be wonderful too. diane@teachwithme.com

Click on the link to go to Behavior Charts, Notes, & Contracts so that you can view/print/download them.

I wish you a marvelous month filled with lots of beautiful back-to-school moments!