Summer Prep

Okay it is summer break fiiiiinnnnaaallllyyy! WOOHOO! I am not the teacher to just say forget school I’m on vacation. If you are that teacher that is awesome!! I love getting prepared and genuinely like to decorate and plan for the upcoming school year. Most of the questions I see lately have to do with what should we get ready during the summer? This is different for each teacher, but here is what I do.

This will be year 11 for me. Every year I try to reinvent the wheel and try new things and keep my favorites. I don’t know about you, but the years are running together and I am having to scramble those few days we have when we get back because I forgot something. OOF! I make a list every year, but do I save it? I wish I was that smart. This is the year for me to get it together and have a list and a plan that I can use and tweak each year.

STEP 1- Make a list that you can keep!

I started with a paper list. I have a small spiral notebook that I use for everything meetings, to-do lists, plans, thoughts, and anything really pertaining to school. That way when I need my notes or list everything is in the notebook!

In this notebook, I started off with my list for next year. I would randomly jot down things I saw on Pinterest or that were in my B2S folder on my computer and filing cabinet.

I am changing up my theme a little bit this year so I have had to make new things, but here is my list so far:

• jobs (make name labels when I get the class list)
• Sweet Work heading for work on wall
• Schedule Cards
• Days in School and Expanded Form paper (print and laminate)
• Name for copy folder 90s theme
• Door sign
• Lesson plan book (add class names before printing)
• Beautiful handwriting and shoe-tying club paper and prize
• Sight Word Club
• Summer Birthday forms (add to calendar in Lesson Plans)
• Birthday Board
• Add birthdays to lesson plan
• Birthday certificates- add names and print on orange (restock birthday bags)
  • Curious about how I plan and celebrate birthdays? Check out that post HERE!
• Star of the week forms (stapled and names put in lesson plans, update mine)
• First day of first-grade and 2nd-grade ready signs- make and put in cup
• Fridge wall (header and create it have parents send in a picture)
• Activities for the first 2 weeks prepped and put up
• Update sub tub and 2 emergency sub plan days
• First grade is magical bracelets (buy uv beads and pipe cleaners)
• You are SMART activity
• Dojo rewards and set it up (get passcode slips for parents
• Update Back to School Night Slide
• Boxes for supplies that are labeled
• Amazon wish list filled out and paper made

Okay, so you have your paper copy. Type it into a cute checklist in Canva and put it in your B2S folder and print a few copies with extra checkboxes and put it in your first week of school folder.

Step 2: Presentation For The First 2 Weeks

To go above and beyond I decided to make a Canva presentation for the first 9 days of school. Our grade level plans separate for each other. Each person plans a different subject and then we share the lessons through presentations. We do our own thing the first few weeks of school while we set our expectations, routines, and procedures. So, I made a slide show to keep me on track and keep everything together. Then next year I won’t have to think what do I do again?

While I am making the presentation I am finding activities and printing them out, so when I go back to school I can easily make my copies. I can’t tell you how prepared I feel to go back to school now. This has put my mind at ease and has been fun to create something that I know I will use for at least a few years!

Step 3: Research

During the summer I also like to think about one thing my students or I struggled with during the year and come up with a way to make it better for this year. Each year I tackle a different subject. I look on Pinterest, watch YouTube videos, and ask other teachers on Facebook or in person to learn more about what they do and how I can make it work for my class. I have worked on small groups, stations, writing, and classroom management. This year I am working on reversals and higher-level questions to ask thought lessons.

Stay tuned for those post and have a great summer!!