August/September Tips for Teachers

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 These folks play a vital role in keeping the school in order.  If they perceive you as a friendly person they will be quicker to respond to your requests for supplies, student lists, etc.

    I gifted them with a Target gift card each Christmas. 

 Prep all the materials you will need before school begins.  Write in even the smallest of activities for “transition times” and “end of day fillers.”  It may seem like a no-brainer but after the summer off it takes a bit for your brain to check back in to lessons and schedules.  In addition to my lesson plan book, I used hanging file folders in a bin and had each day’s lessons written out, necessary papers run,  and  each activity post-it noted down to the time of day the lesson would be taught.  One hanging folder for each day.

If you have specific homework assignments you pair with the first weeks of school, it is so much easier to have them run and ready to go so you aren’t prepping late on Friday when you are exhausted. I kept a folder with the homework sheets and spelling I sent home for each month. On my computer I would create monthly file folders with directions for each homework packet.   So when I went to set up homework , it was easy to just pull out that month’s folder and run the homework packets, and just change the dates on directions saved on my computer.

 If you know you have students that will be leaving class for pull-out services, try to meet with those specialists as soon as possible.  The earlier you do this, the more times they will have available and can work more readily around your classroom schedule.

I used to gift my fellow teachers with this each new school year. Some items to include:  Hand sanitizer, hand lotion, snacks like granola bars or nuts, breath mints, band aids, tylenol or ibuprofen.

Don’t overdue it and try to jam in lots of activities those last days of summer.  Rest and relax, and even spend some time in meditation/yoga/prayer in preparation for this new school year.  I urge  parents to start working on earlier bed times  by 15 min. each night for kids the week before school starts.  This is a good idea for teachers too.