You've gotten your first teaching job! You're in your dream school teaching the grade and subject you'd hoped for. You spent all summer planning exciting lessons that incorporate all of the great technology you learned about in your EDIT class. You just finished loading your stapler and you decide to walk down to the teachers' lounge and grab something from the vending machine, after all, you're ready for the first day of school and you still have 4 days of preplanning left!

You enter the lounge and you notice a line of teachers waiting for the copy machine. Since you plan to NEVER use a worksheet -- or the textbook, you've had no need for the copier all week. You see your mentor teacher near the end of the line and you ask him what he's copying. Once you're revived after hearing his reply, you decide you need to get to work.

You realize that it's not just lessons that you've got to get ready for the first week of school. There are all kinds of materials and handouts that need to be prepared for Open House and the first day of school. According to your mentor teacher, you'll need newsletters, certificates, seating charts, and more to be prepared for classes to begin. Thank goodness for your EDIT class -- you know about productivity tools and how they can help you get things done. You'd planned to use them to work with students, but had forgotten all about how helpful they could be to you. You've got a big task ahead of you though, you need to create a packet of materials for Open House and the first day of school.

Your mentor teacher has given you a list of things you should have available for parents during Open House (see grading rubric below). The list also includes items to make your classes more "student-friendly" on the first day of school. You'll use it as a checklist to make sure you have everything.

You remember learning about some templates for productivity tools from your EDIT class. You check your portfolio site from the course and you find these links:

• Microsoft Template Gallery for PCs
• Microsoft Template Gallery for Macs
• GLC Resources for First-Year Teachers
• GLC Templates
• Education World Templates
• Puzzle Maker
• Spreadsheet ideas
• Inner Geek Tutorials (Element K)

Once you create all of your materials, you'll be ready for open house and the rest of your first year!