Do you find yourself walking into the classroom after the summer break and immediately feel overwhelmed? This is a normal emotion for most teachers and a prep checklist can keep you on track and ready for the term ahead.
Here are the best things to include in your prep checklist, to make that first term back as smooth as possible.
Know What to Prioritise
It is important when creating your prep checklist to order tasks in the level of priority. You need to outline the tasks that need to get done before the pupils come back and what can wait a few more days. Colour coding is a great way of making your tasks easily visualised.
Cover the Display Boards
Thinking of what to put on the display boards every term can be a stress in itself. We recommend to simply get the backgrounds and borders up, ready for your pupils work to decorate them throughout the term with their best work. This will also look great on parents evenings, as it allows the mums & dads to see their children’s creations.
Arrange the Furniture
There are many different furniture layouts you can create in your classroom, and switching it up every term can help refresh your pupil’s busy minds. You can physically move the furniture around or move around the place settings of the pupils, try and avoid keeping the same kids together and avoid the old school table rows.
It is a good idea to sketch out the layouts that you are considering, this will minimize the unnecessary heavy lifting to see which arrangement suits best. Move the heavy and large items first. Then, move the small stuff.
Gather Supplies
Now that your classroom is laid out, it’s time to do your last minute stationary order and organising! Decide on the supplies that you need to stay effective as a teacher. A great idea for your classroom is to order in custom stamps and stickers to reward your students and bespoke student planners. These can be customised with the school logo and mottos.
And Breathe…
The new school year is nearly upon you, and you have created a welcoming, functional environment for your students. Remember to give yourself a breather – nothing ever has to be perfect. If something doesn’t work out as you had hoped, do not wait to find a different way of creating your ideal classroom space. Imagine your students in it and it will come to you!
If you would like to order personalised student planners or teacher planners to record and plan your classroom prep, get in touch with us today!
Olaf Surtees has been with Penstripe for ten years; what he doesn’t know about teacher planners, student planners, and lesson planners isn’t worth knowing! He’s in charge of creating our blog content, helping teachers and administrators with helpful hints and tips, as well as our socials — see the links below to find out more.
