Life Saving Teacher Tips Linky Party

 I have to tell you all that with 26 Kinders, some days, well, I just about lose my mind!;) Any Kinder teacher knows that if every last, little detail is not planned out and prepared, then your day will be a total chaotic disaster! I have learned over the years how to better manage my class, how to take it SLOW and BE prepared!;) Here are a few little things that I do that have helped my days run MUCH more smoothly!

The 1st one is lunch count. I don't know about your district...but our district gives the kiddos FIVE lunch choices!?!?  This can be Soooooo overwhelming for the little ones-especially at the beginning of the year!! Have you ever had a kiddo in tears because they ordered something and when lunch time rolls around and they get their tray the break-down begins because it's not what they thought it would be???;) Well no more! I have a solution. Here's what I do:

I have taken pictures of all of the lunch choices over the years. I post the choices each day and the kiddos put there name next to the choice that they want. It's quick and easy AND they get to see what they are ordering!;)
Not sure how helpful the pictures will be-I know every school has different lunch choices...but I'm posting them just incase:) Grab your food picture cards by clicking on the image below:) (FYI some pictures are good, some are of poor quality and some are just nasty looking:)

Also, here is the little sign if you're interested in that too:) Just click on the pic. The sign was created with clipart from scrappindoodles.

Another thing that has saved my life this year is the noise level chart & signs!! I originally found this idea from Miss Kindergarten in THIS post. I LOVED the idea sooooo much that I made my own noise level charts. I added color coding and signs to go with them. I have to tell you that I LOVE the signs!!! I post them EVERY time we transition to a new thing and remind them before we start each new activity what sign is up and what voice to use. I totally had to "Harry Wong-it" at first. Pretty sure I said "what sign is up?" and "what does that mean?" about a bazillion times!!!! But, they've got it now!!! I love that I have something concrete to reinforce noise levels with!!!! It has SAVED MY LIFE!!!! You can grab my jungle themed noise level signs here.  This was also created with clipart from scrappindoodles.

And you can find some different themed noise level charts here.

The last life saver that I'm going to share are the Picture Direction Icons from First Grade Factory!!!!

OMG! This is absolutely brilliant AND so simple!! You're going to say to yourself..."why didn't I think of this!?" I post these icons on the board in the morning so I don't hear 26 "what do I do's?" when they sit down to do their morning work. I LOVE hearing a kiddo ask this and have another one remind them that the directions are on the board!!!! This lets me get so much more accomplished in the mornings with attendance, lunch count, etc.!
It's also a life saver when it comes to step by step projects. For this, I only post one pic at a time. If scissors are the only thing up, then scissors are the ONLY thing allowed out of the pencil box!!!! This helps control the kiddos who just keep going because they THINK they know what to do next:)
So, there you have it! 3 things that make my life SOOOOOOO much easier!!
If you have any Life Saving Teacher Tips, Please link up to my FIRST EVER linky party!...Hope it works!!;)