Can you believe it’s already time to start thinking about next year? Before you begin the thoughts and feelings of stress and overwhelm, don’t worry, though because I’ve got your back! It’s never too early to get a head start on prepping for the upcoming school year and I’m here to help. So kick back and let’s dive into some must-do tasks to ensure you’re ready to hit the ground running when the new year rolls around.
#1 – Set Timers
Time management is key when it comes to getting things done and I’ve found that setting timers makes it less overwhelming. One hack I like to do is during the last month of school I set a daily timer for the end of the day. Pick a time that works for you and remember that a little bit daily goes a long way. You could do 5, 10, or 15 minutes and during that time pick a task to work on. For example, doing things to help you be more organized, more clean, or more packed up. By the end of the school year, you’ll be amazed at how accomplished you feel!
#2 – Take Inventory
When you’re in the middle of organizing all the things, take inventory of things you use on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. I like to create lists of things that I’ll need to restock, put on wish lists, or school supply lists. It’ll also help you realize things you might want to change. For example, as going more digital to lessen papers, or create a better system for erasers because you’re going through so many. Taking inventory is a great way to gather information on how exactly you need to get ready for next year!
#3 – Prep All The Copies
Copies can easily become a teacher’s ‘bane of existence’. Why not get ahead for next year so you can eliminate some of this stressful task? Again, think about things you’ll need on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. If you use a particular sheet for daily morning work, prep the copies for a month or two one day after school. The next day, maybe you prep centers you need to create. Breaking the tasks over a period of time makes it SO much more manageable and prepping copies is one of the biggest teacher tasks. This is a huge tip to help you get ready for the next year and you’ll thank yourself profusely!
Speaking of thanking yourself, why not get prepped for the entire first week of school? I have taken YEARS of learning, hard work, mistakes, and activities to compile this amazing tool. Let me help plan out your entire first week of school with NO hard work for you! You’ll walk into your classroom day one with an overabundance of activities and plans so that you know exactly what to do. This way you can focus on what really matters- spending the time getting to know your amazing new group of kiddos.
You’ll have the first 5 days of school planned out and I guarantee you’ll have activities leftover to get you through the first month of school. I’ll show you how and when to teach important procedures during the first week so that you will have a solid foundation built with students. There are even editable plans included so that you can change and edit to meet your specific classroom needs. You’ll be amazed how much has been taken off your plate the first week of school so that you can actually ENJOY your time with your new class. You can grab it HERE!
#4 – Get Ahead on Welcome Day
Welcome day is a big day for teachers and students. I love making this day special for my new kids to get them excited for the school year. I love to send home a sweet surprise on meet the teacher night. It’s a QR code station where they can grab a surprise code for them to scan and listen to on the night before school starts. The code gives them access to a video of a sweet and memorable read aloud by none other than their new teacher! I always read ‘The Night Before First Grade’ to my students, but you can choose a favorite of yours. It’s a great gift, it helps foster a love of reading, and you’re continuing to build relationships with them and their families.
You can get it for FREE below to make your students feel super special too!
Coupled with their virtual read-aloud, students will also take home some “ready confetti” to put under their pillow the night before school starts! It’s so adorable and it is super easy to assemble. Grab some confetti, put it in a plastic bag, staple the poem to the top and that is that! Students get to take home a bag to signify them being “CON-READY” for school to start. It’s a super easy inexpensive gift that the kiddos absolutely love! I prep all of these at the end of the year and it’s one less big task I’ve got done for next year! Check them out pictured below.
#5 – Create a Running List
I’m a huge sucker for lists, if you haven’t already noticed, and so tip five is to create a running list of ideas. As teachers, we’re constantly thinking of ideas. Since we always have our phone, and many times find ideas on it, I like to create a note for ideas for next year. Find a great idea, resource, or product, and jot it down in your next school year note. You can add in links too so you can click right to a video idea, picture, Pinterest link, etc. No more forgetting that great idea you saw over the summer and trying to search for it!
I really hope you enjoyed learning some quick tips to help you get ahead of tasks to get ready for the next year. Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the QR Code FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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