How to Prepare Your Classroom over time AND still enjoy your Summer Break!
Do you want to learn how to prepare your classroom over time and still enjoy your summer break?
I’ve been hearing rumblings on Social Media about summer just rushing by and teachers not wanting to even think about setting up their rooms.
I have an alternative that might work well for your lifestyle. How about setting it up in little bursts of work over a longer amount of time?
I explained this a little bit in an earlier article;
STEPS for Launching Your Perfectly Organized Classroom.
A Quick Overview
Basically, I would begin my classroom set up about two weeks before the teacher report date. If your school allows this, it is nice to get into the school while it is still in summer mode.
While you are there, spend a few minutes chatting with the secretary and the custodian. It’s always a good idea to befriend them.
I have created a FREE guide for the Perfect Classroom set-up that you can access by filling out the form below. Once you submit, you will get the download immediately in your email.
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During these two weeks I would spend two to three hours a day. Now, I’m a morning person, so by eight in the morning I have already been up for three to four hours. I would arrive at eight in the morning and leave by about ten or eleven. I made sure to stop at eleven, even if I was in the middle of something.
That way, the rest of the day was available for relaxing or doing things with my family. The nice part about coming in so early is that I can bring my children with me. When they were younger they would play or use the marker board.
Once they were about nine or ten I had them help me with some of the set-up. After a few years, I got pretty good at knowing what I could assign to a child, and what I wanted to do myself.
Here were some of the things I was able to accomplish during those times:
- Set up my student desks and chairs
- Unpack my cupboards.
- Get supplies from the office.
- Create name tags and label folders and notebooks.
- Put up all the bulletin boards.
- Organize my teacher’s desk.
- Set up the Instructional table.
- Organize the classroom library.
- Create classroom centers.
- Update (or create) the “Routines” Powerpoint for the first day.
- Compose an email to parents & a note to send home the first day.
- Organize the student supplies: crayons, scissors, markers, pencils.
- Work on lesson plans.
- Distribute textbooks to desks.
Starting early helps you learn what you are missing.
By doing all the above tasks little by little, you become aware of items you need. So you have time to either get them from the office, purchase them, or create them. I am amazed at all the good ideas I see on Pinterest!
Don’t fret if you don’t have the money to purchase all the cute things you see in some of the classes. There are also tons of free or inexpensive ways to make what you need.
For example, you can use empty ice cream buckets to store paint bottles or old crayons. You can use baby wipe boxes (if you can find any
I’m sure if you put on your thinking cap or Google FREE classroom organization ideas, you can find other things to do.
Use Free or Inexpensive Items
Don’t forget that you can canvas the local thrift or Goodwill stores for inexpensive desk items, wrapping paper to cover boxes, baskets and bins/tubs, plastic cups or vases to hold pens or rulers, old blanket that you can cut up to make student erasers for individual marker boards.
And just today I saw a great idea on Pinterest. You can use plastic plates from the Dollar Store or Walmart as Marker boards. I haven’t personally tried this, so I’m not sure how well it works. What I have used for marker boards is a card stock sheet inside a sheet protector; these work great!
And don’t forget loads of stores have teacher specials going on right now. Let them know you’re a teacher and ask for a discount.
As you work LITTLE BY LITTLE you will take a couple of things home that you can do from there such as creating desk name tags, starting your lesson plans, especially long-term planning and other such ideas.
When you get ready this way, plan out your entire first week of school AND get all the materials ready too. This is the first step for staying ahead of the game for the entire year. Read my article called
Teacher Organization – How to PREPARE and Stay Focused.
When the week before school rolls around, all your colleagues will ask how you’ve been able to get so much done. And, while they are scrambling and staying late into the night after meetings, you will be stress free and going home by 4:00.
Now, doesn’t that sound like a great plan? Tell me how you prepare for the
Your Teacher Buddy
