Back to school season is such an exciting season, but can also feel SO overwhelming when you look at the GIANT list of all you need to accomplish before your students actually show up. Classroom organization, lesson plans, staff meetings, classroom decor, Meet the Teacher plans, class lists, sorting supplies, communicating with parents, and also, did you pick out your first day of school outfit yet?! Haha! The list can keep going and going.

So, to make that HUGE list feel more manageable and bite-sized, I’m sharing 4 simple tips I always do as a teacher to make my BTS season a lot more enjoyable, organized, and, dare I say, calm.

OH, and there are a bunch of exclusive freebies for you down below, from me and a few friends. Come see which tips will help you this year and which freebies you need too!

TIP ONE: PLAN ACTIVITIES AROUND BOOKS

One of the best things you can do is connect your student’s learning to literacy whenever possible in my opinion! Using stories to illustrate concepts and ideas that kids are going to encounter in real life is an amazing way to make those concepts really stick in their minds in meaningful ways.

Need to teach classroom expectations? Read them a story about it! Working on being a good listener? There’s a book for that! Learning those first few letters of the alphabet? You KNOW there are a million great pieces of literature for that one. :)

A few of my favorite books to start the new school year with are “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom”, “Chysanthemum”, “Wemberly Worried”, “First Day Jitters”, and “Lacey Walker Non-Stop Talker”.

So, choose a book or two that you love for the beginning of the school year and plan some engaging activities that connect back to that book. You can make them “getting to know you” activities, beginning-of-the-year basic skills activities, or even fine motor skills activities to help assess what levels kids are currently working from. Whatever you want to focus on for the first week or two, there are so many fun titles you can use to bring those concepts to life for your students.

OH! And as a little “you’ve got this!” gift, I made a fun activity booklet to go along with the book “Wemberly Worried” in case you pick that one to read! You can CLICK HERE to get the booklet sent to your inbox when you hop on my email list. There are two different versions included and I hope you love it!

TIP TWO: KEEP EVERYTHING IN ONE SPOT

I’m the WORST at writing down ideas and to-do lists and reminders on 100 different sticky notes that are all over the place. Stuck to binders, calendars, lesson plan pages, file cabinets, desks, computers…and then you know what happens, right? I can’t even THINK straight looking at all of those sticky notes all over the place, let alone accomplish anything off of them, OR they get lost forever.

So, one thing that helped me keep myself organized and be sure I didn’t miss anything was to keep all my notes, plans, ideas, and forms all in ONE BINDER.

This binder is organized into different sections and includes anything and everything I might need to get the ball rolling for the brand new school year with my new kiddos. Editable lesson plans, time-filling worksheets, class schedules, newsletters to send home, Meet the Teacher activities and forms, behavior charts, evergreen sub plans, and to-do lists are all inside with their own sections to add anything extra to. This helped to keep my back-to-school-energy POSITIVE and not totally stressed out. Haha!

If you think you may need a binder like this, check out mine RIGHT HERE so you can make your very own!

TIP THREE: PLAN WAY TOO MUCH

My very first year teaching, I learned the value of planning WAY more activities than I would actually ever be able to get through over the first 2 weeks. The reason for this is that in those first couple weeks, when you’re learning your students and just starting to get to know them, you have NO idea if they have the attention span of a ladybug or an elephant. Haha! I’ve had classes that POWER through every activity just to get it DONE and other groups that take their time with everything and always had to be told that we’d finish things up later on because they’d work forEVER on one assignment.

So, just in case you have a bunch of speedy little bunnies in your classroom, having extra activities planned and prepped is always one easy thing you can do to calm anxieties all around. Some things you can keep in your back pocket are things like…back to school worksheets, scavenger hunts, busy boxes or books, partner games, and playdough activities.

TIP FOUR: PRE-PLAN DAILY ROUTINES

My last tip is to plan and write out the daily routines and schedules that you want students to use all year long. I usually make a list of all the procedures I want to cover with my students over the course of the first week or two. Things like this are always on my list…

Where’s the bathroom? What do students do when they come in in the morning? What are each of the important areas of the classroom? What kind of behaviors are expected during whole group or work times? What does the schedule look like? What do they do if they have a question or need to talk to you? Make a list and then narrow it down to the most important things that students need to know in the first week.

Keeping a visual routine schedule LIKE THIS ONE posted in my classroom is always a great way to keep everyone prepared for what’s coming next all day, all year.

I hope you found lots of good tips and ideas here! And, if you need even MORE INSPIRATION and FREE FUN, hop over to my friend’s blog posts linked below where they’ve shared more free resources to help your back to school season start off on the right foot.

🍎 All About Place Value and FREE Back to School Crafts

✏️ FREE BACK TO SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR K-1

🍎 How to Plan Differentiated Phonics Lessons

✏️ Affirmation Station

🍎 Start The Year Off Right With These 5 First Day of School Ideas for Teachers

✏️ 4 Steps To Simple Sub Plans

🍎 Unlock the Power of Phonemic Awareness with A Free Week of 5-Minute Daily Lessons!

We’re hoping your year starts off with all the joy and magic that the new school year offers. Thanks for being here!

Cheering you on, always!