10 Steps for Getting Ready for a New School Year

I started back to school last Monday, August 28. (And I've neglected by blog for a while since I've been caught in the whirlwind of school preparations.) After 6 years of teaching I've noticed a pattern of workflow and emotions that takes place in the month leading up to a new school year. So here's my explanation of how I get ready for the school year, with some humor. (At least I hope you think it's funny.)

Step 1: Get the back-to-school reminder email from the principal and start thinking, "Oh man. Summer is winding down. The new school year is getting real again."
This year that email came on July 31st, exactly 4 weeks from the start of school. It mostly contained the staff orientation schedule and info on when we were allowed back in our classrooms.

Step 2: Get a slew of other emails from co-workers making plans for the start of the year, asking opinions, and giving other news.
It's as if everyone was waiting for the principal to break the ice before sending their own messages. I'm pretty sure I got at least 5 emails from co-workers in the 2 days after the principal send his.

https://pixabay.com/en/computer-email-hotel-mail-services-148653/

Step 3: Open my school Google Drive and Google Classroom for the first time all summer and realize it needs major reorganizing before the new school year starts.

Personally, I can't stand trying to work on new school year files when the ones from the previous year are still staring at me. Some documents are relevant from year to year (assignment rubrics/instructions, project templates, professional development notes, etc.) but others are not (last year's grading spreadsheets, seating charts, lesson plans, class lists, etc.). 

As I create Drive folders to hide last year's stuff out of sight and archive my old Google Classroom classes, I also realize how much work I have to do replacing these files for the new year. After all, I still need grading spreadsheets, seating charts, username/password lists, lesson plans, and behavior/reward charts, but now the students are all in different classes/grades and I have to start all over again. (As a computer teacher with weekly classes for all students in the school, I have a lot of reorganizing to do.) At least I can hit "Make a copy" in Google Drive, delete last year's data but preserve the formatting. I don't have to start completely from scratch. (Yay technology!)

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Google_Drive_logo.png  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Google_Classroom_Logo.png

Step 4: Try to do some preliminary curriculum planning, but get overwhelmed quickly.

I'm overwhelmed because I realize just how many changes I want/need to make from last year. And I know it's all going to change even more as the year goes along anyway. So I get a general sketch of ideas, but it's never as detailed as I'd like it to be at this point.

Step 5: Two weeks before school starts, get the keys to school and go back to the classroom for the first time all summer, feeling a whole tidal wave of emotions.

I'm excited to be back and see all my coworker friends and enjoy the anticipation of a new year. New school years are a chance for new beginnings and I always like new beginnings. But when I get in the room I'm reminded once again of how much work there is to do in just two weeks. I've already remembered the electronic work, but now I remember the physical items to prepare. ("That's a lot of posters to hang up on the walls." "Oh yeah, I have to reorganize all the headphones so the kids are in their new classes." "Oh boy, that's a lot of new password cards to make.") But soon the creative juices start flowing and I'm excited to get to work. I'm back in my element and ready to go.

Step 6: Have a small panic or two about just how much work needs to be done. The cause of panic varies from year to year.

This year the bane of my existence causing large amounts of extra work was making password cards for every student in K-3. All the PCs in the computer lab were replaced with Google Chromebooks, which means every student needs a username and password to log in. The students in 4th grade and up will remember theirs from last year, or just need a quick reminder from the list on the first day. But for K-3, none of them have logged in to a Google account before and they all need an individual card to copy the information from. (Early readers need a lot of help on the computer.) Last year I only did this for 3rd grade, since they were the youngest students with Google accounts. Now I've quadrupled that number of students. It was a long process of copying usernames/passwords onto a sticker label template, printing the sticker labels (and messing up a few times and having to print again), attaching the stickers to notecards, and then laminating them all. I almost didn't laminate, but then I remembered the little kids would tear the paper to shreds if I didn't.

Step 7: Attend meetings for four days straight (including presenting at a couple meetings). 

Most meetings and professional development I find useful and productive, but every once in a while they drag on and become more time than they're worth. That's when I start thinking about my work in the classroom and everything I still need to do to prepare. (I'm sensing a theme here.)

Step 8: Somehow, almost miraculously, get everything done that's necessary for the first day of school.

I was proud of myself that I left school on the Friday with everything done and ready for the first day. For once I could actually relax the weekend before school started. (Yay for being in the same job two years in a row!)

Step 9: Have a slightly rocky (but not terrible) first day of classes.

I realize I'm a little rusty on this teaching thing after being off work for two and a half months. My reflexes for spotting trouble and my memory for all the information needs some work. But at least I can learn from mistakes and work the kinks out over the next couple days.

Step 10: Have a decent second day and an awesome third day.

See, I knew I could do this! Back in the game! (At least for now...) This is also the point where I realize how much I missed these kids over the summer and how much fun it is to be back at school teaching kids cool stuff about computers every day.

https://pixabay.com/en/education-back-to-school-1545578/

Now I'm enjoying my 4-day Labor Day weekend, wondering how I'll be able the handle a full 5-day week (the week after next). But somehow every year, the energy and joy for teaching comes back. I may complain about the workload, but I wouldn't trade my job for anything in the world. For all teachers out there, I hope your years are off to great start and best wishes to those starting next week.