Back to School Preparation
As I am winding down the school year in May, my brain is already gearing up for the next school year in August. I can’t wait to make new little friends. Many who are eager for their first school experience in a brick and mortar building. I love thinking about how to improve on subjects to increase their understanding. I am reflecting on practices that I didn’t love and what to replace them with. I nerd out on new supplies like crayons and pencils. I even begin filling out my planner with the dates as soon as I receive it. I’m sure I’m not the only teacher who does this!
This school year we are implementing a ton of new programs. I will be participating in the LETRS training, implementing a new math program and piloting a new phonics program. I want to be the best teacher I can be for my students and hit the ground running. So, in June, I brought home all my teacher manuals with the intent of learning them forwards and backwards.
This is what happened to those manuals in June. We were so busy as a family I didn’t take the time to sit down and look through them. — Sound familiar?
Then came July. And with July came THE DREAMS. You know, those dreams, the dreams where you show up to the beginning of the school year completely unorganized. I’m not overly fond of those dreams. But, they do help me kick it into gear. So I sat down with those teacher manuals and began to put my plans into place. I splurged on a cute planner this year as well because by golly, don’t all teachers deserve a cute planner? I like to write down my beginning of the year activities and games that help students become familiar with me, the classroom and even our procedures. This allows me to get to know them as well, what kind of a learner each child is, are they shy or bold, things like that. While I have a curriculum map that my team and I follow, I only sketch out the first few weeks to see where I need to go,
Another way I prepare for the new school year is getting my parent folders ready. I love these folders because they are “chalk” full of useful information for parents. Especially if it’s a parent who is new to the school or their oldest child. I put certain information in each pocket. On one side, I put all the sheets for parents to fill out that I need to keep. This includes an ‘All About Me’ page that helps me learn useful information on allergies, strengths, weaknesses and more. Here at Kindergarten Kiosk we have a cute form already made that includes all the information a teacher might need. I also like to include any other papers from the school like permission for a child to use technology, home reading books, and media release forms. The second side of the folder is for papers the parent to keep. This might include an information sheet about what to expect from me as a teacher, my policies and procedures. A disclosure document, district calendar so parents know about holidays, minimal days and more. We include an alphabet chart and the top 25 sight words we learn in kindergarten.There’s also a pick-up and drop off guide for parents to help us keep students safe. As you can see, I bring in reinforcements to help me prepare.
The last thing I do to prepare for the new school year is to prepare any new supplies I acquired during the summer. We have a district surplus building where castaways go. I LOVE this building (much to my husband’s chagrin). This summer I scored several boxes of leveled readers. Christmas in July, I say. So my kids and I tore off the old labels and replaced them with fresh new labels. I am very excited about this addition to my classroom.
There are so many things to get ready before the first day of school, pencils sharpened, desks and tables organized, new supplies put out and prepped. As a teacher, you know exactly what I am talking about! We want everything to be perfect for our new little friends and help create memories through some of the small things we do. We know some of our school kids come to us nervous or anxious and we want to do everything we can to alleviate that stress if we can. I try to hand out a small treat or gift on our back to school night. This is when students meet the teacher in the classroom prior to the first day of school.
I prepare our “first day of fun” homework assignment together (there’s nothing like stapling 90 notes to a popular candy).
In this digital age, I worry a lot about fine motor skills so I prepare a lot of activities designed to strengthen said skills. Playdough is a favorite of mine. Students each receive their very own container of playdough in a tupperware. Of course, you can buy individual containers for each child, but I like to do it this way instead. There are a lot of excellent mats to be found.
And of course, countless hours setting up my classroom. But that’s another post.
No matter how you get ready during the summer, make sure to take some time out for yourself, your family, your favorite pets. The best school year can only be accomplished when a teacher is well rested and refreshed for a new year!
