3 Things to Do Now to Make Back to School Simpler
I wonder what kind of summer time teacher you are. Are you the type who likes to come up to your classroom during the peaceful days of summer and knock out projects? Or do you avoid your room like the plague until the first week back?
Before I was a mom, I actually liked going to my classroom during the summer. I liked having the workroom to myself and being able to laminate and cut things to my heart’s desire. But, once babies entered the picture, I was desperate for a solid two months away from school to spend with them.
Whether you’re the type of teacher who will see a lot of your classroom this summer, or you’re prepared to close the door until next fall, I have three things you can do to make next year easier on yourself! These things can all be done before you leave for summer, in the week before next school year begins, or done in phases throughout the summer!
Three Things to Do Now to Make Next Year Easier
Pause & Reflect
The first thing I’d recommend doing is taking a minute to reflect on this year. This doesn’t have to be dramatic. But, while this school year is still fresh in your mind, jot down some notes somewhere about what you’d like to change. Obviously, this year was a little crazy (to put it mildly). So, maybe you’re just hoping to never have to teach on Zoom again, and that’s the only reflection you have.
But, if you had a few weeks of ‘normal’ teaching back at the end of this year, think about the areas in your room that you’d like to tighten up. Would you like to have more positive reinforcement strategies? A better grading routine? Jot down a couple things you know you could improve on next year, and put it somewhere you won’t forget! Then, when next year’s planning begins, you know what you want to focus on.
Pack Up In Zones
Pack things according to how you will unpack them next year. If you’re changing things around, go ahead and pack according to the new areas you anticipate having in your room. If you have an area with community supplies, get those organized and pack them together. Pack all of your teacher table materials together. Classroom library materials should stick together, as well. Essentially, as you’re unpacking next year, you want it to be clear how and where you planned to use different things! Rather than throwing all markers together, all books together, etc. it’s much easier to unpack if things are grouped based on how they will be used in the room!
Create a Desktop ‘First Week Folder’
If you’ve been teaching at the same school for a couple of years now, you can probably anticipate what you’ll need for those first, hectic days. Maybe it’s a parent introduction letter that you can go ahead and type up. Maybe it’s a Parent Night Powerpoint reviewing school and classroom procedures that you can pull out from last year and refresh with new dates. Maybe it’s some “All About Me” activities for the first day.
Additionally, after all of your reflection, you may have some resources you want to pull out now that can help with classroom management, organization, etc. Pull those now so you don’t have to remember what you wanted to print when you return in the fall!
You can certainly go ahead and print and copy things, but I even think it’s helpful to simply create a desktop folder of materials you think you’ll need so it’s easy to mass-print when you come back! That way, you can tweak things as needed, and you don’t have to worry about keeping up with hard copies of things all summer!
Using these ideas, you will be MUCH more ready for back to school season next year than ever before! Then, you can go into summer and completely relax. Be sure to check out THIS POST to get some tips for planning an intentional summer, and look at THIS POST to get a great summer reading list for your break!
