Top 5 Back to School Tips

Back to school is here!! I don’t know about you, but this time of the year always makes me so anxious! My routine is filled with countless hours of planning, prepping, grading, and stressing! I’ve compiled my top 5 back to school tips that will make your new year a breeze!

Google Classroom:

We all know that our time is limited at school. We just don’t get enough of it. Planning, analyzing data, grading…there is just not enough time to get it all done. Am I right? But with a little help from Google Classroom, you too can be a super teacher and stay organized. In my school, we use Google Classroom. It’s a tool within Google Apps for Education designed to help teachers create and collect classwork paperlessly! Yes, you heard me…NO MORE PILES TO GRADE! When you set it all up, it creates Google Drive folders for each assignment and for each student to help keep everyone organized. Read more about it HERE!

Tidy Tubs:

Do your students drive you bonkers cause you find a gazillion little pieces of paper everywhere ALL THE TIME. I know my littles do their best in “cleaning up” but sometimes they just make a bigger mess trying to carry all their little scraps to our big recycling bin in the classroom. What’s a teacher to do?! I’m so happy my students are reflecting on their strategies and assessing their own learning.  I also love that it’s a way of documenting student learning, BUT OH THE MESS! That’s when I said to myself, “Get ahold of yourself Monica Geller!”

Are you laughing at me yet?

So here is my solution to the paper mess. Create a tidy tub for each table so students can throw away their trash as they work and one person can walk the tub to our recycling bin. TA-DA! Or more like DUH!

You can grab a free copy of my Tidy Tub labels HERE!

Parent Volunteer Station:

I am SO lucky to have fabulous parents in my classroom to help out with any copying, cutting, laminating that my heart desires. They make my job easy-peasy. But want to know what makes it even easier? These bad boys right here!

I got this idea from my sweet friend Hadar at Miss Kindergarten a few years ago. They are such an easy little organizational tool to use with my parent volunteers! I just pin these onto my master copy and done! All the directions needed are right on the pin. No post-its or pieces of paper with directions are necessary. And the best part is that they are reusable and last ALL YEAR LONG! Genius, I tell you!I even write my copy code on the back of the clothespin so they have it on hand!

I also like to have all the supplies they might need during their volunteer time and use my teacher toolbox to organize all that they need! A parent box always is waiting for copying, stapling, cutting, etc. :)

Simplify BTSN:

Are you limited on copy paper? Stressing out about BTSN packets? I’ve got you covered with these super easy to use editable BTS brochures! I’ve learned parent information should be short and sweet. Ain’t nobody got time to read pages and pages of classroom rules and curriculum! Brochures can be used to inform your parents of classroom procedures, your educational overview for the entire year, list important information, and even supply/wish lists.

Sub Tub:

Creating an emergency sub tub can be a life saver when you are out sick! We all know how one minute, teachers can be totally fine and the next, you’re super sick. Too sick to even drive to work and create sub plans. That’s why I always keep an extra set of emergency sub plans in my classroom. BUT, are they readily accessible? Are they visible? Are they right in front of your sub’s nose but they can’t seem to locate those important plans or TE’s? Sometimes that can also be a problem! FOR REAL. So, that’s why I created a sub tub with all my classroom information and emergency lessons plans. Everything the sub needs is right there when they need it!

I use my Substitute Teacher Binder pack to make sure it has everything the sub will need! It’s full of black line masters, folder/binder covers, lesson plan templates, a sub letter, fun and engaging activities to help your sub make it through the day, and more! You can grab it at my TpT shop by clicking HERE.

And there you have it! Five easy tips that will help you survive back to school this year! What’s your best tip?