Back to School Thoughts (& Freebies)

It's the last few days of June. I still have the entire month of July to enjoy my summer break. So what's on my mind...planning for next year of course!

When it comes to classroom décor and set up I am a fan of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. With that in mind I will be utilizing the same general colors and theme (or lack there of). I have black backgrounds on my boards with rainbow colored borders. This way it is easy to incorporate whatever color of baskets or other accessories I find. I actually left my bulletin boards covered. *Here's hoping it is still safe and sound when I head back into my room next month*

Teacher Tip: I cover my boards with fabric so I don't have to worry about fading. I bought a cheap set of sheets from Walmart!





Part of my décor includes little motivational signs spread throughout the room to keep students thinking positive. I have made these into a freebie and posted them in my TPT store!

Click either to check out the set in my store.

Another thing I've been thinking of is how to keep my students engaged and entertained those first few days as I am sorting supplies, correcting my roster  and greeting parents. With that in mind I created a set of activities I can use to keep students working independently while I get my life together. :)

Grab them in my store before your first day!

And in case you need a little more to prepare for the first day, I got you covered!

Keep learning, whether you're at school or home, with this fun word search from Education.com! Learn even more with these great educational reading games.

Answer key found here :)

3 Ways to Make the Most of Summer Break

Sweet Summer Break has arrived and I am oh so grateful. Even with some time away on maternity leave this was definitely a full year. Teaching is hard work man! So I was thinking about how to make sure I make the most of my time off. So often it feels like I wake up and it's late July and I've accomplished little to nothing. Hoping to be a little more productive this year I've come up with some simple steps I want to follow to get all I can out of these months of freedom.

Recharge

Before I can get anything done over the summer the first thing I have to do is recharge. This looks different for everyone depending on your favorite ways to relax. For me this includes reading for entertainment (not for PD!), rolling my yoga mat back out, binging some Netflix, drinking coffee while its still hot...the little things. Whatever you enjoy, take time to indulge. Our job isn't easy and requires us to give so much of ourselves to others. You have definitely earned a break.

Reflect

Once I've taken some time to relax and focus on me, I'm ready to switch gears a little and start thinking about the upcoming year. I know there are some amazing teachers who take this step at the end of the current school year, but I'm not that good yet lol. I usually take some notes about what worked and didn't work throughout the year so I take a look at those and consider changes I want to make for the next year. Sometimes this includes products I want to make or procedures in my room I'd like to revamp. I usually use these notes and ideas to create a to-do list and start getting busy preparing for the next year.

Reignite

Now that you've rested up and done some preparing for the next year there is still a crucial step remaining. Take some time to reignite your passion for your career! You want to be able to give your students the best teacher you can be. This could mean attending a conference or local PD, reading a book from your professional library, or even just meeting up with some teacher friends and sharing your thoughts for the upcoming year. You want to start the year refreshed and ready to take on new challenges.

So those are my steps to make sure I get back in August ready to hit the ground running. I'm sure I could come up with more but honestly the longer the list, the less likely I  am to do it :)

What do you think? What are your keys to maximizing your summer break? Feel free to share!