Heidi: This is episode 194 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily: Hey friends, thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we are sharing five smart ways you can prep for back
to school this May, and we'll give you a teacher approved tip
to do something special for your teaching teammates.
Heidi: Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in your classroom right away. Emily,
what is our prompt this week?
Emily: This week, why not try a morning meeting remix? Just take
one element of your regular morning meeting routine and give
it an unexpected twist.
Heidi: I love this idea. It's especially helpful this time of
year when things might be feeling a little bit stale. So
if you usually do a standard greeting, you could try having
your students greet each other with a compliment instead. Or
try adding a quick new activity, nothing that's going to take a
lot of work on your part, but something like a daily joke or a
question of the day, or a would you rather of the day.
Emily: Oh, I love it. Small changes like this can really
refresh your routine. It is all about that balance of routine
and novelty that we talk about a lot here that helps keep
students engaged. Your students will love surprises like this in
the middle of a daily routine, and it often just leads to more
engagement during a time when energy is probably flagging.
Heidi: Plus, it's a no prep activity that still packs a big
impact. Just one small change can make the whole morning feel
fresh again.
Emily: If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, which you make our day by taking a second to give
us a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts.
Heidi: So today we are talking about five smart ways to get
ahead on back to school prep while you are still in your
classroom this May. I know some of you might be giving us the
side eye right now, and that is totally justified, but hear us
out. In last week's episode, we talked about why May is actually
the perfect time to start thinking ahead to next year.
Emily: It really is. When you're still in the classroom, all
those pain points are crystal clear. You still have your
classroom fully set up, and you can even test things out with
your current students. Plus doing a little bit of planning
now can seriously reduce your back to school panic later and
lighten your summer mental load. And who does not want that?
Heidi: So today, we're getting super specific with five
actionable things that you can do right now in the month of May
to set yourself up for success when you return in the fall. And
none of these things will take hours after school. These are
quick wins that will pay big dividends when August rolls
around.
Emily: All right, let's dive into our first task for smart
back to school prep in May. What's up first, Heidi?
Heidi: Well, the first thing you can do in May for back to school
is to save your old crayons, your markers and other supplies
to use during the first week of school. This solves a problem
that drives me crazy every year. Students are using their brand
new materials before they know how to care for them properly.
Especially if you have funded these materials yourself, there
is nothing sadder than watching a fresh box of crayons get
demolished within like three days because you haven't had
time to teach crayon procedures yet.
Emily: So before you send students home with their supply
boxes at the end of the year, or before you toss out those half
used items, set aside a collection of first week
supplies. So grab the stubby crayons, the markers that still
work but aren't quite as vibrant, or those colored
pencils that are a bit shorter but still have life in them.
Store these in a bin labeled first week supplies, and tuck
them away for August.
Heidi: When students arrive next year, they can use these good
enough supplies for all of the get to know you activities and
the practice work before you teach your supply procedures and
break out the fun, fresh, pretty new stuff. This saves all of
those new supplies from getting destroyed, and it gives you
something to use until you have time to teach those procedures.
Emily: And honestly, this little step takes almost no extra time.
You're just redirecting things you'd probably toss or send home
anyway, but it'll save you so much frustration in those first
days back.
Heidi: And you might even want to save some supplies that are
in really bad shape, like a couple of dried out glue sticks
or the whiteboard markers that have the tips jammed inside.
Emily: Yeah why do kids always do that? But hold on to a few,
because those really beat up supplies are the perfect bad
examples to show when you do your procedure lessons,
especially if you use the Guided Discovery method that we love.
We will put a link to our Guided Discovery for school supplies in
the show notes. If you don't have it, you're gonna want it.
Okay, what's next, Heidi?
Heidi: Well the second thing you can do to get ready for back to
school is to set up a three bin system before you leave your
classroom in May. This is such a game changer for staying
organized over the summer. Instead of having everything
jumbled together, or worse, scattered between school and
home, or maybe even school and home and your car, you create
three distinct spaces for things.
Emily: So bin number one is labeled summer working. This is
for any material you actually plan to work on over the break.
That might be new curriculum to review, books you want to read,
or laminating you need to cut out. If you have goals for
working in the summer, it's helpful to have your resources
in one place.
Heidi: This is handy because if you have to pack up your room
before summer, like so many of us do, you're probably cramming
stuff into any available space, and that means in the middle of
July, when you need your teacher's manual, you're going
to have to dig it out.
Emily: But if that manual is already in your bin, you're good
to go. Just be honest with yourself about how much you're
really going to get done. If you know deep down that you are not
going to touch that vocabulary planning all summer, don't put
it in the summer working bin. It's okay. Just accept it.
Heidi: Bin number two is classroom setup. These are the
things you'll need right away to set up your room, your favorite
posters, your desk accessories, label maker, bulletin board
supplies, all of that fun stuff.
Emily: And sometimes we call this our need first box, because
it has everything in it that you are going to need right away
when you get back to your classroom.
Heidi: And then bin number three, which might be my
favorite is first week of school. This is everything
you'll need specifically for those opening days. Your first
week lesson plans, name tags, get to know your activities,
your favorite back to school read alouds, those save supplies
that we just talked about, and materials for any special first
aid traditions that you have.
Emily: I love this three bin system because it helps you
prioritize. When you return in August, you know exactly what to
unpack first. You're not digging through 15 random boxes trying
to find your lunch schedule or your welcome letter. It also
helps you be realistic about what you're actually going to
accomplish over the summer.
Heidi: To make this super easy, just grab three storage bins or
even those large reusable shopping bags, label them
clearly and start sorting as you're cleaning up your
classroom these last few weeks. This might take you, what, an
extra 20 minutes now, but it's going to save you hours of
frustration in August.
Okay, Emily, what is next?
Emily: Well, our third task for back to school is to prepare as
many permanent displays as possible before you leave in
May. This is one of those work smarter, not harder, tips that
can save you so much time. Look around your classroom right now
and identify which displays stay relatively consistent year to
year, things like your calendar area, alphabet displays, number
lines, classroom rules or values and your subject area reference
charts. If these don't change much, why recreate them every
single year?
Heidi: If you can leave things up on your walls and bulletin
boards, then absolutely do. Just take down what's related to this
year and leave up the rest. It's so nice if you can keep things
up and already have your display ready for you to add your new
kids names and birthdays and calendar items to next year.
Emily: This will vary a lot by school. So if you're not sure
how it is in your building, find out before you do any prep work
for next year. But if you do unfortunately have to take
everything down, you can still work smarter.
Heidi: Yes, before you take everything down, take photos of
how these areas are set up. You think you'll remember, you will
not remember. Then carefully take down your core displays and
store them flat in labeled folders or large envelopes. You
could even go a step further and prepare new versions of any
displays that are maybe looking a little bit beat up, a fresh
alphabet line or a newly laminated set of calendar pieces
takes just a few minutes now, but can save you precious setup
time in August.
Emily: May is the perfect time to evaluate which displays
actually served you well this year and which ones just
collected dust. Be strategic about what you want to keep for
next year. One display that we're particularly fond of is
our looking ahead, looking back, bulletin board.
Heidi: I love this one so much. It's a special end of year
activity that transitions beautifully into a beginning of
the year display in the fall. So it is a two for one win.
Emily: Yeah, this starts with your students reflecting on
their favorite parts of the year. You put their memories up
on your bulletin board or wall to enjoy for the rest of the
year. But then after the year ends, or when you come back in
August, you just switch out the title on the bulletin board. So
now, instead of saying looking back on second grade, it says,
looking ahead to second grade. Now your bulletin board shows
your new students some of the fun moments that await them in
your class. If you're interested in trying this, it's available
in our shop, and of course, we will link to that in the show
notes.
Heidi: Other displays to consider prepping now are your
job chart, birthday display, class schedule and any behavior
or incentive systems. Just a little time invested now means
these won't be on your August to do list. All right, Emily, what
is next?
Emily: The fourth task you can do in May for back to school is
to create a new student SOP, which stands for Standard
Operating Procedure, and do it now, while your routines are
fresh in your mind.
Heidi: Every teacher knows the mild panic of getting a new
student, especially after those first crucial weeks when you
have already taught all of your new procedures.
Emily: And somehow those new students always seem to arrive
at the most inconvenient times, like right before lunch, during
a big class project, or, you know, 30 minutes after you
started the school day.
Heidi: Oh, always. So the idea here is to create a simple
checklist of everything a new student needs to know and to
have. This becomes your ready to go protocol that you can hand to
a buddy student or a teaching assistant to help them get a new
arrival up to speed.
Emily: Your SOP might include things like where to hang
backpacks, how to order lunch, bathroom procedures, how to use
classroom materials, what the signal for attention means, how
center rotations work. You know, all those little things that
make your classroom run smoothly.
Heidi: And also don't forget the physical items that a new
student needs, a name tag, cubby label, supply box, folder, login
information and so on. Plus, there's all the behind the
scenes stuff of adding the parents to your communication
system and informing any specialty teachers that you've
got a new student coming. So with all of that to manage,
really the best time to create this list is now in May, when
all of your systems are solidified and running smoothly.
Emily: Right, because in May, you can clearly see exactly what
makes your classroom tick. It is hard to remember some of these
details once you have been blissfully free of your
classroom for a couple months.
Heidi: One idea is to make two versions, a simplified one for
students who might be helping a new classmate, and a more
detailed one for the teacher. Once you have your SOP, you can
store it in a visible place, maybe with your sub folder or
taped inside a cupboard door. You could even create a little
welcome folder with all of the essentials that you or your
helper can just grab and go.
Emily: Or you could put it into any new student supply packs you
make. This takes maybe 30 minutes to put together now. It
will save you so much stress later.
Heidi: Plus it ensures new students feel welcomed and get
consistent information, rather than just having to piece things
together as they go along.
Emily: And it's one less thing that you have to worry about in
those first few months of school. Your future self will be
so grateful when that new student shows up in mid October.
Okay, Heidi, last task, let's hear it.
Heidi: Well, our fifth and final back to school task for May is
to create a first day quick win before you leave for summer. I
think this is my favorite tip, because it addresses that back
to school anxiety that sneaks up on even the most experienced
teachers. You know, when the nightmares start, and it's the
first day of school and you have nothing prepared, or you're
trapped and you can't get where you need to be. This strategy is
the antidote to that anxiety.
Emily: The idea is simple but powerful. Just prepare one key
element of your first day back now, while you're still in
teacher mode. A great option is to prepare your first morning
arrival task, just something students can start working on
immediately when they walk in.
Heidi: We love pattern blocks or Legos for your first day arrival
activity. And we have got a couple of resources that you can
use just for this. So we will link to that in the show notes.
Emily: You could also prep a favorite read aloud and the
activity that goes with it, or another activity you know you'll
want to do that first day.
Heidi: Just having one piece fully ready gives you an
incredible peace of mind. When that mid July panic starts to
creep in, you can remind yourself, Hey, I've already
started. I am not starting from zero.
Emily: Whatever you choose, make it something that will truly
help that first day run more smoothly. This is also a great
time to jot down any special First Day traditions you want to
continue, or new ones you want to try. Sometimes those details
fade over the summer and we only remember them the night before
school starts.
Heidi: That's the worst, you're like, I was gonna do that, and
now, yep, no time. So stop that now and get your list going.
Setting up this quick first day when takes minimal effort now,
but provides maximum relief later. It's like sending a
little gift to your future, maybe slightly panicked, August
self. We love helping future you.
Emily: So let's recap our five smart tasks for May back to
school prep. Number one, save some of your old supplies so
that you can use them when you're teaching proper
procedures. Number two, create a three bin system to organize
your summer working materials, your classroom setup or need
first essentials and the first week of school must haves.
Number three, prep permanent displays now so they're ready to
hang in August. Number four, create a new student SOP while
your routines are fresh in your mind. And number five, set up a
first day quick win that gives your future self a head start.
Heidi: None of these strategies should take more than an hour at
the most, but together, they'll save you so many hours of stress
and preparation in August. And if you want more help planning
for next year, don't forget to check out our free end of year
roadmap. It's a digital planning tool that helps you reflect on
what worked this year, what didn't, and what you want to
change for next year.
Emily: It's completely free, and you can access it through the
link in our show notes. You can fill it all out at once or
little by little as you have time. And stay tuned for
information soon about our upcoming teacher summer talks
event, which is happening in mid June. It's a free audio summit
with lots of back to school strategies from experienced
teachers designed to fit into your summer schedule without
requiring you to sit in front of a screen for hours.
Heidi: We are excited to be sharing more details about that
soon, but in the meantime, we would love to hear which of
these five tasks you are going to try. Come join the
conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.
Emily: Now for our teacher approved Tip of the Week, where
we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters
and simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is
create welcome back goodie bags for your teacher teammates. Tell
us about this, Heidi.
Heidi: We all know that first day back for teachers can be
overwhelming. There's so much to do and so little time, and
you're so tired. A small gesture that can make a big difference
is preparing little welcome back treats for your grade level team
or teaching partners.
Emily: These don't have to be elaborate or expensive. A simple
paper bag with a few thoughtful items can be such a morale
booster when you're all rushing around trying to get classrooms
ready.
Heidi: Some things you might want to include are chapstick,
colorful sticky notes, a pack of markers, or some chocolate,
because, you know, chocolate does make everything better.
Emily: I love adding a small moisturizing hand sanitizer or
lotion, especially since teachers hands take such a
beating during those first weeks back, and if you can find them
on sale now, it's so much cheaper than buying them in
August, when school supplies are at premium prices.
Heidi: The key is to make these now while you have a little
time, and then just tuck them away with your first week bin
that we talked about earlier. You can even add a simple
handwritten note saying how excited you are to work together
this year. But just a warning, if you add chocolate, make sure
to keep this bin someplace cool and not in the trunk of your
car.
Emily: For sure. What makes this tip special is that it's
focusing on teacher to teacher connections. We spend so much
time preparing for our students, but our colleagues are such an
important part of our daily support system.
Heidi: Start planning these little welcome bags now when
you're not in a rush and you will be everyone's favorite
teammate when you hand them out during the first hectic work
day. And you know, don't we all want that a little bit?
Emily: I always want to be the favorite.
Heidi: We are not above bribery here. But really it's a simple
gesture that just shows that we are all in this together.
Alright, to wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the new peanut butter flavor
of my favorite Barebells protein bars. So I think I've given
extra credit to Barebells before. Barebells are far and
away the yummiest protein bars I've ever tasted, and the peanut
butter flavor is next level. It quickly shot to my favorite
flavor, and it's not too peanut buttery, which I think is a good
thing. It's not like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
Heidi: Yeah, that would be a lot.
Emily: But in a good way.
Heidi: Maybe I have to come steal one and see how I like it.
Emily: Yes, you should. What are you giving extra credit to,
Heidi?
Heidi: Well, I'm giving extra credit to the celebrity British
Bake Off on the Roku channel. So they've done this for years. I
think ever since Great British Bake Off started, they would do
some celebrity episodes as a fundraiser for Red Nose Day. But
we just never got it here in the US. PBS didn't show it. It
didn't show up on Netflix. So I've seen some episodes on
YouTube, but otherwise, it's just really hit or miss what you
could see. But Roku started showing it, and Roku is free. It
does have ads, but I didn't think the ads were too bad, it
was just maybe one mid episode ad. And it was just really fun
to see, you know, people who can't bake try to do like the
similar activities that they do on a regular Bake Off episode.
People have no idea what they're doing, so which is almost more
fun. Do I know all of the celebrities? I do not.
Emily: No, a lot of them are very Britain specific
celebrities.
Heidi: But they're still very entertaining. So if you want
something fun and light to get you through these last few
months of school, definitely check out the celebrity British
Bake Off episodes.
Emily: And when you told me about this, I immediately turned
it on and found the James McAvoy episode that I have wanted to
watch for like, what, wasn't that like 2020 or 2021? So I
finally got to watch it. No spoilers, but he did an
excellent job.
Heidi: He really did. I was surprised at how well he did a
baking.
Emily: I know he took it seriously, which I think is fun,
because a lot of times on here, some of them take it super
seriously, and some are just there to be silly. And I like it
when they try really hard, and then if they fail, it's still
great, but I just wanted them to have tried hard before they
fail.
Heidi: It's kind of like, if you've ever seen people around
the Olympics being like, they should always just have one
regular person in an Olympic event, you can really appreciate
how talented the Olympians are. This is kind of that, if you've
watched the regular Bake Off episodes.
Emily: Yes, exactly.
Well, that's it for today's episode. Try out some of these
five smart ways to prep for back to school this May.
Heidi: And don't forget our teacher approved tip to create
those welcome back goodie bags for your teaching teammates.
It's such a simple way to start the year with positivity and
connection.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
Bye, for now.
Emily: Bye.