Back to School Prep and Desk Helper/Name Tag Freebie!

Well...it's August! Which means every day feels like a Sunday from now until the ACTUAL first day of school! Where does the time go, people?! I know many teachers will be going back to school in the next week or so, but here in New York, we usually don't begin until early September. So I still have time. However,  I am of course planning, preparing, and getting excited (in a way) for the first day of school!

One change I am making this year is an update to my desk name tags. I made them myself last year and they worked out well except that they were not multitasking as much as they could be. They simply had the students' name and a print alphabet. Simple is good, but I found throughout the year that I was adding things to my kids' desks because I wanted them to have more visual reminders! I added a cursive writing helper, a few math visuals, and I often had to bring out the number lines for kids who needed them! I know that you can buy desk helper with all of these things...but what's the fun in that!? They aren't even cute! See my new and improved desk helpers and name tags below and click HERE to download and print your own for free! I apologize, but they are not editable. You will need to hand write the names after you laminate the tags :)

Another change i'll be making is going back to keeping those pesky name tags on the desktops. Last year, I tried keeping them on the back of student chairs with velcro. It was nice because they were removable if a student needed to look at them, but not a distraction during lessons. Now that my kids will be using them more as a math/writing visual, I think I will go back to just taping them using packing tape. I know there will be picking, peeling, and sticky dirty spots on the desk (yuck)...but I have yet to come up with a better solution yet!  I'll keep you posted on that one. Any suggestions?

What updates and changes are you making to your classroom this year? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!