First Days of School – Tips for Being Ready

First Days of School Tips for Being Ready

Is the first day of school weighing on you? Are you feeling the stress of going back to school? Are you first week ready? If you answer no to these questions, then you have come to the right place. Returning back to school is THE most important time of the school year. Teachers have so much to think about, get done, and organize this time of year. We all want a smooth transition from summer to the new school year. So here are some tips to ensure that happens.

Tip #1 – Allow Adequate Time

It is essential that you allow yourself enough time to accomplish what you need to conquer. You start the year determining your classroom management plan, outlining lessons, and developing units in order to be ready for students. Leave yourself enough time to complete the tasks you need to complete so you don’t feel stressed. The start of the year should be an enjoyable and exciting time. Adequate time is essential for the success of your school year. Give yourself time so you can feel confident and prepared.

So head into school early (but not too early) and get started. This will greatly reduce your stress levels.

Tip #2 – Get Organized

Having your classroom organized and student-ready is incredibly important for student success. Make sure items have a place for everything. Place items in bins, boxes, or folders.  If you want you can label cabinets and containers to make locating supplies easier for yourself and your students. Although labeling is not necessary, it looks neat and can sometimes be cute. Make sure supplies are accessible and well stocked. You want to have what you need at the start of the year.

Tip # 3 – Get Your Walls Ready

You don’t want your room looking dull or unfinished. Make sure educational materials are up and your bulletin boards are looking good. Try to use your wall space as a way to help students learn and remember the content taught to them. You can read my post about how your walls can teach or making your walls smart.

I like to use fabric instead of paper to make my bulletin boards. The fabric will last longer and it looks nicer. You can get it in cute prints or solids to match your school colors. Using the fabric instead of butcher paper will make it easier to change out your bulletin boards throughout the school year. You can join the Joann Fabric teacher program and receive a discount on your purchases. You can also download the app. There are always coupons available from Joann.

Tip #4 – Classroom Management

Choose a classroom management style that works for you and start with it on day one. I always start ALL of my classes with no English. This sets the tone for the entire year. Even level 1 students can learn vocabulary if you are using comprehensible input. Whatever you choose to be your classroom management style, choose one thing to focus on during week one.

If the classroom management ideas that you want to incorporate require prepping, make sure the materials are made, copied, laminated, and put in an easy-to-find location. Spend a good amount of time during the first week of school practicing the skill or reiterating it to students. Students need to hear information more than one time.

I am a BIG believer in positive classroom management. Without it, our classrooms would succumb to total chaos. So try to use positive instead of punitive tactics.

Tip#5 – Plan Out Your Year

Pre-planning is the key to a less stressful school year. I can’t stress this enough. It is an overwhelming task that must get done. This is one tip I always give to new teachers. Be sure to create your year-long curriculum map. Decide what themes you will be teaching. If you use topic days like Movie Mondays to teach culture or food Fridays to get students chatting, set up what your week looks like now so you can start as soon as the first bell rings. Or if you prefer, make sure your day-to-day plans are laid out. Maybe you start with a warm-up each day then move to review, new material, then culture. Plan all of this out now.

I like to make this a bit more fun by setting up my Teacher Planner too. Mapping out the year is a bit more enjoyable when you add fun stickers and colored pens and highlighters.

If planning has you stressed, look into premade lesson plans like the level 1 curriculum from Creative ASL Teaching. 

Tip #6 – Get Resources Ready

It doesn’t matter if you need to create resources or revamp the ones you already have. Now is the time to do this. Get vocabulary lists in order, make assessments for all skills (interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational), and determine activities you will be using for each of your units. Having this laid out will save you time and stress as the year rolls along.

Make your copies now. I try to have the first week of copies made at the end of the previous school year. Then I get all my first unit materials copied before school starts. Try to get the first week of papers copied or even get the first month of school copied now before everyone else gets in there and breaks the copiers! Or even better, go paperless and save your time as well as the planet.

Set up Google Classroom. If you have never used Classroom, try it. It will save you a lot of paper and keep your work very organized. If you use another Learning Management System, set that up now if you can.

Tip #7 – Prepare and Plan Activities

The first days of school will set the stage for the rest of the year. Use your first days and weeks together with your classes to build a report. Figure out what icebreakers you want to use this year or research some new ideas on Pinterest. Take time to build community and lay the groundwork for cooperative learning. Have a few activities for the first 5 – 7 days planned. Worry about the syllabus later. Make connections first. After all, we all know that students get moved around a lot during the first week of school. You don’t want to teach and reteach everything once schedules have changed. Have some fun first then get to the content in week 2.

Tip #8 – Go Over Your Syllabus

I know I just said to worry about the syllabus later, but at some point in the first week of school, you do want to go over it. I like to do this towards the end of the week on day four or five. Students have a lot of teachers all with different rules and procedures. I have learned waiting a few days before delving into the syllabus helps students retain what you are saying.

Do spend some time discussing your syllabus even into weeks 2 and 3 of the school year. Students need to remember your particular rules and procedures so role-play them and discuss them often. It is important to teach the students responsibility and expectations. I even like to prepare some activities and a quiz for my students on the syllabus. This way I know they are paying attention to it and understand the class rules.

Tip #9 – Email Home

Try to find time to email a letter to your new students and their families. Introduce yourself and tell them a little bit about you and your class. Try not to make it too overwhelming. This will help relieve some stress when students arrive on the first day. This also allows you to make a connection with students and families.

Tip #10 – Get to Know Students

Once you can get access to your student’s records, read through them. This will help you better serve their needs if you understand IEPs and 504s. This is not to make prejudgments about your students but to help you better understand who they are and where they are academically when they come to you. I also glance at behavioral files to see which students I might want to avoid sitting next to each other until I get to know them better.

Make notations on your seating chart or your class roster of students with IEPs and 504s. This will help you until you memorize names, needs, and behaviors.

So are you ready for the first week of school? After all, when that first bell rings and those doors open up, you have to be ready. How are you feeling about starting the school year?

Bonus Tip: Be Sub Ready

It is never too early to get sub plans ready. Try to have a sub binder or clipboard ready with important information about your classroom procedures, seating chart, and important contacts for a sub. These are things that will never change during the school year so once it is all together, it is all done. Inside the binder leave 1 – 2 days of lesson plans clearly mapped out for those days where you have to be out and are just too sick to create lessons. These lessons could be for any level and are not tied to a unit. Having this binder ready with emergency lesson plans makes those mornings when you have to be out so much easier. Remember to leave the binder in an easy-to-locate space.

What is your must-do ritual to get you ready for the new school year? 

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