Hey Teacher Friends!

Here is this week's Summer Prep Tip! ⬇️⬇️

☀️ Here is Summer Tip #5: Create your Meet the Teacher Letter/Course Descriptions

Introducing yourself to your students and families each school year looks different for every grade level. In elementary school, it may come in the form of a “Meet the Teacher” letter. In middle school and high school, it may come in the form of a course description or a syllabus. These may or may not be a district requirement in some cases. Or... maybe this is not something you have done in the past, but would like to start this school year.

Families always appreciate getting to know their teachers at the beginning of the school year, but we all have a different level of comfort with what we share about ourselves personally.

Here are a few ideas for your Meet the Teacher Letter…

• Keep it simple - Include a brief description of yourself, family, and/or hobbies outside of school. It is important to let families know you are human and have a life outside of being a teacher.
• Include your teaching philosophy statement - This can be one sentence or a short paragraph. I remember having to write this statement in college, and it has definitely evolved over the years. I recently had to rewrite this statement when I applied to a new school district a few years ago, so it was nice to have a working statement ready to go.
• Include your contact information and hours - Here we are again, going back to the boundaries we set for ourselves several weeks ago… I cannot stress enough how important it is to set boundaries and share them with your families up front.
• Include a short list of your favorite things and hobbies - Coffee? Chocolate? Flair Pens? Baking bread? Growing plants? Whatever they are, put them on there so parents know what you like and what you like to do outside of school.
• Include a list of supplies parents can donate anytime throughout the school year or volunteer opportunities you may need this school year - I am always in need of items like Play-Doh, sensory bin fillers, glue sticks, etc. Some parents are happy to donate items throughout the school year. I also like to do a lot of different craft and STEM projects, which sometimes require random things like toilet paper tubes, foil, etc. It's nice to let parents know at the beginning of the year what they can save and send in for your projects.

If you are in middle school/high school and writing course descriptions...

You can include a brief description about yourself and your experience in the subject area at the beginning. Then, for each course you teach, write a brief description about what students will be learning in the course.

Here are 3 key points to include in your course descriptions…

1. Define your course goal. A brief statement about what students should gain from taking your course.
2. State learning targets. List the specific learning targets you will be focusing on throughout the course.
3. Describe the format for instruction and demonstrating content understanding.
   1. How will you present information to your students? (lecture, readings, videos, etc.)
   2. What activities will your students do to engage with the content? (digital, print, hands-on, etc.)
   3. How will students show you what they learned? (Projects, tests, assessments, etc.)

Meet the Teacher Letters and Course Descriptions are great to have printed and ready at Open House. Get them done now and cross them off your list for back-to-school season.

​😎 Missed an email? CLICK HERE to find my previous Summer Prep Tips!​

☀️ What am I working on?

• WH Question Flap Book that can be used for any book! Sneak peek coming soon!
• Five Senses of Back-to-School Flap Book - This will be a freebie coming out with a bunch of other freebies from other sellers starting July 20th!!!
• Wild Robot Book Study for Special Ed - I have been working on this one for a while... hoping to be complete before the start of the school year!

☀️ Resource of the week... 20% off this week ONLY!

​At the Cookout Differentiated Writing Prompt​

Students will love writing about going to a cookout with this differentiated writing prompt! In this writing activity, students respond to the writing prompt ”At the cookout, I like to…" in one of the 2 differentiated versions. Students create an interactive flap page for their responses.

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Have a great week!

~ Ashlee

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