Helpful Back-to-School Tips for Teachers

Heading back to school after summer break brings a mix of emotions. There is the excitement of a new school year along with the stress of knowing there are a million things for you to do. Over the years, I have found that keeping my ducks in a row was much easier with these helpful back-to-school teacher tips.

Back-to-School Teacher Tip #1: Schedule Sanity Savers

I am starting with this one because I really feel it is the most important. The last thing you want to do is feel burnt out after a week of setting up your classroom and greeting your new class. Schedule time into your daily routine to do something for yourself. A little reward or relaxation time. Whatever brings you joy. Here are some ideas that have worked for me.

Possible Sanity Savers:

• A yoga or meditation session.
• Working in your garden.
• Stopping at my favorite store for a quick browsing session.
• Grabbing a guilty pleasure food and enjoying it while watching my favorite show.
• Take a bath or use lavender shower pods for relaxation.
• Read a fantasy or sci-fi book and totally escape reality.

Scheduling these activities will make sure that you don’t skip over them in favor of something on your to-do list. Speaking of to-do lists…

Back-to-School Teacher Tip #2: Write Down Your To-Dos

Writing down your back-to-school responsibilities is a great way to help you stay organized and on top of important tasks.  Keeping a to-do list is proven to reduce stress, increase productivity, provide motivation and a sense of accomplishment. Get those tasks out of your head and onto a piece of paper.

Grab these print-and-go to-do lists for FREE below.

To-Do Lists Included:

• This Week’s To-Do List

         – Perfect for all your weekly tasks.

• Classroom To-Do List

         – A great list to use for all the things you need to do to get your classroom organized/decorated.

• School To-Do List

         – A place to put all your responsibilities for the school. Deadlines, duties, etc.

• For My Students, To-Do List

         – Perfect for keeping track of tasks to complete for your students.

• Committee To-Do List

         – Great for listing your responsibilities for your committees.

• Personal To-Do List

         – A place for all your personal tasks.

Back-to-School Teacher Tip #3: Be Prepared for New Students

There’s nothing more frustrating than having a student placed on your roster right after you finish setting up your classroom for the first day of school. Avoid the last-minute scramble by having new student bags prepped and ready. I keep large baggies filled with everything a student might need when they walk through the door.

Things to include in new student baggies:

• Blank desk tags, name tags, cubby tags
• Dismissal clips/cards
• Subject folders
• Classroom supplies
• Class info/notes to parents
• Lunch clip/card

There are so many options, make them work for you!

Back-to-School Teacher Tips #4: Plan for Assessments

One of the trickiest aspects of starting the school year is assessing all of your students. While you’re busy trying to establish classroom routines and expectations, you also have to complete assessments. Pulling students aside, one-on-one can be tricky on a good day, but at the beginning of the school year, it’s even trickier. I have always found that having a clear, set system in place, can make this process easier.

This simple system is a great way to keep students busy and learning while you assess.

1. Set up 3 bins of activities for students. Bins can include worksheets, printables, or crafts.
2. Give students clear directions for each of the activities so that they won’t need to ask for your help. Bonus Tip: Use visual direction picture cards to help if students forget the directions.
3. Students start at bin #1 and work their way through bin #3. Plan the activities to be the duration of time that you need to complete your assessments.
4. If students get through all three bins, have a set list of choice activities such as reading, coloring, or games.

Back to School Teacher Tip #5: Get to Know Your Students

This last tip involves the importance of building connections and relationships with your students and their families. The first day of school is the best time to start to build that bond that will help make your school year a success. This back-to-school resource was created with the goal of making students feel happy, comfortable, and welcome on their first day of school. Your new students will be engaged and have a blast while getting to know their peers, sharing “all about me” and learning classroom rules.

With these back-to-school activities, students will…

• Get to know their classmates.
• Share about themselves.
• Learn school rules.
• Work with letters in their name.
• Create items to take home and share with their families.
• Feel excited about the fun year ahead!

The back-to-school activities included are everything you need for the first day of school. It will make planning your lessons a breeze and save you tons of time. Heading into the new school year with the entire first day planned will make back-to-school so much easier.

☞ Grab These Back-To-School Activities Here ☜

I hope these back-to-school teacher tips make your school year a huge success.

⬇︎ Grab the FREE teacher to-do lists here. ⬇︎