The Saturday of a long weekend has to be one of my favorite feelings - endless possibilities and knowing that I have another day for shenanigans, which is beautiful. This long weekend was so necessary. At this time, this long weekend was needed for everyone. When we go back to school, we will have 5, FIVE, days till the EOGs start and that is mind-blowing. My babes and I have been working so hard to read word problems and practice close reading strategies, and we are tired, so we were all grateful for our three day weekend.
As the end of the year approaches, we have 14 school days left, it's time to start thinking about next year and how you can better prepare your physical space for success next year!
Most schools have end of year expectations, and their own checklists to complete, but there are some simple things you can do to make the next year start smoothly!
1. Purge, purge, purge! My mother is a teacher, but God bless her, she still has filing cabinets full of good ideas and great lesson plans, but in this digital age, it's a lot easier to keep electronic copies and digital files than it is to keep color coded file folders and paper copies, so my advice to you is purge those filing cabinets, center buckets, writing folders - recycle it all! My rule is if I didn't use it this year, I don't need it.
2. Be selective in your anchor chart choice. Anchor charts are a necessity, especially in elementary grades, but darn, don't those things take up a ton of space! The great thing about anchor charts are that you can create new ones each year to fit the needs of your class. My suggestion for these beautiful learning tools is keep a select few if they are foundation skills, and recycle everything else. Students benefit from helping you create the anchor chart, so look forward to those memories with your new babes.
3. Organize your library. All good classrooms have a library, but great classrooms have an organized library. Take a few minutes every day from now till the end of the year to label, categorize, and level your library. If you spend the money to create a library, please spend the time to keep it up. Book Retriever is a great app for iPads and iPhones that helps you create an electronic database for books and provides information about their levels (Lexile, DRA, and Guided Reading.)
4. Give away at least 5 things. Part of teaching is sharing and collaboration, and we have all started with nothing, so make sure to create a donation box for new teachers who are new to your building or just to share some gently loved items. Great things for donation are boarders, extra organizational supplies, teaching resource books, and extra copies of books for libraries.
5. Label all your boxes. This sounds silly, but when packing up your stuff create specific labels to clearly identify what is in there. This will make unpacking a breeze, especially if you are in the same classroom, and you know where you keep things. I use blank name tags from Dollar Tree to label my boxes and it quickly lets me see what's in the box, so I can make sure my time is spent well when unpacking.
I know it sounds crazy to start thinking about next year, but what separates good teachers from great teachers is planning in all aspects. Follow these quick easy steps to ensure an easy start to the next school year!
Enjoy your three day weekend, loves!
Until next time, -
xo
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