Back to school season is arguably the busiest time of year for teachers. From decorating your classroom to writing first week of school plans, to-do lists are long. Oh and don’t forget to write student labels for literally everything and prep your back to school newsletter to keep parents informed. With all of the tasks to consider, this post will go over 5 action items for back to school prep for teachers. They will help you to stay focused on the tasks that matter for a smooth transition back to school.
1. First Week of School Plans
Writing first week of school plans can be daunting because you’re out of practice and they don’t follow the typical flow that your weekly plans usually have. Everything you need to go over with your students, like when to sharpen their pencils and how to follow the class morning routine, doesn’t fit into those neat teacher planner boxes titled “math” and “writing”.
When planning your first week, don’t forget to allow a ton of time to teach and practice all of those routines and procedures that are critical for a smooth-running classroom. Not sure where to start?
This best-selling Class Routines & Procedures resource includes an editable routines checklist and back to school slides to help you plan, teach, and practice all of those routines that students need to know. It’s truly the best way to get ahead of your classroom management, from day one.
Since you haven’t met your students yet, it’s hard to get a sense of how long things will take. Because of this, being overplanned is certainly better than being underplanned in those first weeks of school. Any activities or lessons that you don’t get to, you can roll them over to the next day or week.
If you’re stumped on your first week of school plans, let me help! I’ve planned your first week to help with back to school prep for teachers! This first week of school plans freebie includes a bunch of ideas that you can run with to make planning your first week of school easier.
2. Parent Communication, Surveys, and Forms
This action item is all about getting your ducks in a row when it comes to building relationships with parents and students. Writing your back to school parent newsletter will set the tone for the year and will tell them a bit about you, their child’s new teacher. It’s also a great place to share what their child will be learning and how the class will be run.
Alongside preparing the newsletter, print off any surveys or forms that you’d like to send home, or have students fill out, before the first day of school. That way, everything is ready to go for your Meet the Teacher night or to send home with students on the first day of school. Grab this Back to School Forms bundle and you’ll be all set!
3. Back to School Slides
Prepare a slide deck to support your first week of school plans. Teaching with class slides during the first week helps students stay focused and engaged. It will also support you in sharing all of that critical information because we know that there are about 1000 things to remember to go over in that first week.
4. Fall Bulletin Board
Most of us would agree that setting up our classrooms is exhausting but probably the most fun part of back to school prep for teachers. There’s just something about designing a classroom layout and putting up a fresh fall bulletin board that just screams back to school.
As part of your back to school prep for teachers, try a done-for-you fall bulletin board! All there is for you to do is print, cut it out, and put it up!
This back to school bulletin board idea is an interactive bulletin board which means that it includes a student activity for them to complete in the first week of school that can be added to the fall bulletin board. The best part is that the back to school bulletin board pieces can be reused year after year and they add something special to your classroom decor.
5. Student Labels
Are you even a teacher if you’re not itching to fill out all of those student labels and get them up as quickly as possible? Just to find out that a student has been switched classes or you’re getting an additional student. That’s happened to all of us, right?
This action item is last on the list for a reason. Although it’s a great idea to have those student labels done and up by the first day of school, it’s best to leave it as your last back to school prep task because there are always changes to the class lists. I know, I know. It feels so good to get everything done and labeled but, what isn’t fun is to have to make last-minute changes or edits.
There you have it! Five action ideas that you can do to prep for back to school for teachers. Getting on top of these tasks will help you move into back to school season, with confidence. Because as a new year rolls around, we all wonder if we still know how to teach. (Don’t worry, you do.)
If you haven’t them, make sure to download that first week of school plans freebie to save you a ton of time. These plans are perfect for grades 4-6 and were created to help take a load off during back to school prep for teachers!
