Back to School: Paperless & Painless!

Going back to school is exciting, but collecting information for new students can be stressful! Does your school have a school wide packet of papers to send home & bring back? Ours does! I also like to collect information in addition to the packet. It is a bit of a hassle for both parents and teachers, but it is necessary! How can we take some of the stress out of Back to School for both teachers & families? Let's go (almost) paperless & make the process painless!

Want a FREE editable version to use in your classroom? Click on the picture above!

This bright half sheet of paper acts as a Back to School Checklist for families. Everything that they need to complete & turn in is on this paper. I created the following sections to help organize tasks.

Conference Sign Ups: Use Sign Up Genius to have families sign up for Fall Conferences. You can even select an option that automatically sends the families a reminder email! A QR Code allows families to quickly scan on their phone & sign up for a time that works best! No more crowding/hovering around the Conference Sign Up sheet at Back to School Night! :-)

Kim from iTeachSTEM wrote a great blog post with step by step directions to make a SignUpGenius for conferences. Check it out by clicking on the picture!

Back to School Forms: Create a Google Form for the information that you would personally like to collect for your classroom. I created a form to collect the following information: Student interests/strengths/goals, parent contact, classroom media release, t-shirt size, etc. The best part is that there is nothing to turn in and all the information stays organized in one document! Use a QR Code to allow families to quickly access the form! *Quick tip: Once you have completed your google form go to settings, general. Where it says 'Respondents Can' make sure the box for 'see summary charts and text responses' is NOT clicked. That way your families cannot see what others are writing.*

Soaring Through Second created this detailed & fabulous post all about creating a Google Form. You will be a Google Form expert by the time you are done! Click the picture to check it out!

Remind App: The Remind App is a great tool to allow teachers to communicate quickly with families via text. You can select an option where the remind text cannot be replied to. This is perfect for reminders about field trips, classroom parties, & other special events. Our administration uses this to quickly communicate with all teachers in case of emergency or for simple reminders. Create a QR Code so families can quickly scan to sign up! Include the specific information for your class that is given to you when you sign up. (It usually is a # to text & a specific message to type...then you will be signed up!)

Looking for more great ways to implement the Remind App in your classroom? Check out FlapJackEducation's post!

From the Packet: This section is a checklist of paper copies that must be returned to school. These are papers from our school wide packet. Families can check them off as they complete them.