You’ve made it to the end of the year and summer is finally here! Before you know it, you’ll be back in the classroom preparing resources, writing lesson plans and creating eye-catching and exciting displays to welcome your next class. Here are our top tips to help you get (and feel) ready for September.
Reflect on the past year
With the academic year coming to an end, and the preparation for your new influx of pupils getting closer, it’s a good idea to reflect on what went well (or not so well!) in the previous year.
Whether it was spending hours prepping lessons the night before, marking homework at 10pm on a Sunday night, or simply struggling to balance the intense workload, now is a great time to think about what you would like to be different in the next academic year. Once you have thought about what needs to change, put a plan in place. Talk to other teachers and see how they are managing things.
Could you perhaps get the children to mark their own homework if you put the answers up on the interactive whiteboard? Are there any resources you could keep for next year so you don’t end up having to make them again? Could you create a spreadsheet outlining the tasks you need to get done each day and the time you will allocate to each one?
Whatever you do, keep the things that are going well and change the things which are causing unnecessary stress!
Don’t wait until September to de-clutter your classroom and department
Tempting as it may be to wind down and sprint out of the classroom on the last day of term, you should really consider having an annual clear out. Bin any documents you won’t be using again and send old display work and exercise books home with children.
Share the love with the whole department and ensure you also de-clutter shared storage spaces – maybe even suggest a group tidy together one evening after school or in the holidays.
Leave your classroom ready to return to
Spend some time getting your classroom ready for the next year. Before you break up for the summer, get the children involved with organising and the book corner, tidying the art cupboard, restocking pencil pots (children love sharpening pencils and testing pens to see if they work!) and helping take down displays. Get your boards backed with fresh paper and get some new display bits put up to inspire your new class when they arrive.
A little bit of work won’t hurt (and you’ll thank yourself for it later)
Prepping for the new year is one thing that plays on every teacher’s mind. When the final day comes, everyone wants to rush off home and enjoy the peace! But doing a little bit of planning for the first week or two, will really help you not feel under pressure, or out of your depth, when you walk back into that classroom in September.
You don’t even have to spend time right at the start of the holidays prepping for the new year. Some teachers may find that they prefer to get everything done before the holidays begin, others prefer to leave it till the end of the summer break. Either way, ensuring you’re prepped before the first day will help your first week back.
For our customers with DB Primary and the DB Learning Library, prepping nightmares can be a thing of the past.
The DB Learning Library offers 1,000s of resources, from English to Maths to Computing – all easily assignable at the click of a button. All of the homework is self-marking, which cuts down the time taken to mark individual pupils’ work.
Lastly – but most importantly, take some time to reward yourself and relax!
Being a teacher is hard. Taking some time to relax will help to improve your psychological health and also your physical health. In order to be the best for your pupils, you need to take time to rest and relax so you can be at your best. We’ve all heard the saying ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’!
Whether it’s reading the latest book, watching a funny film, or even just taking some time to see family and friends you have earned the time to rest and take some time just for you.