As the end of the school year is approaching, teachers begin to think about next school year. New students, new decor and a brand new start to hopefully having your best year yet!
I don’t know about you but I spend way too much time over the summer prepping for the new year instead of taking the time to relax and enjoy the time off. These 6 organizational hacks have saved me time over the summer because I can do them before the current year is up. Here’s how I prep for next school year, while finishing up the current school year.
6 Organizational Hacks to Prep for Next School Year
Have Students Help with the Clean Up
My students love the opportunity to feel like adults and to be given any type of responsibility, including cleaning. I use this to my advantage when beginning to clean my classroom for the next school year. First, I have them clean out all of the things they use the most. They clean their chair bags, pencil boxes and tables. Then, once they’ve shown me everything is completely clean, I give them wipes (baby wipes work well) and give them a section of the room to wipe everything down in. They wipe down the bookcases (these get pretty dusty during the year), books, furniture, toys, everything! Your room gets clean and the best part is, they enjoy helping!
Pull Labels off
I label a lot of things in my classroom with my student’s names. Things like student files, bucket fillers, pencil boxes, etc. I take the time right before the year is up to take these labels off so I can reuse these materials for my next class.
Label Any New Materials for Next Class
This brings me to… label any of those materials for your next class. I’m really lucky and get my class list before the summer begins. Of course there are changes, but for the most part, my class is what it is by the end of the school year. For those of you who get your class list a month before or weeks before (does this happen?) you’ll have to hold off on this step until you get your list. However, you’ll be all ready to label because you’ve already pulled off the previous labels!
Organize, Tidy Up, Fill Up Your Teacher Toolbox
A teacher toolbox is all the craze for keeping your supplies organized. If you haven’t created one, read this post about the top teacher DIY projects to make over summer. And, if you don’t have one, this hack will work with wherever you keep your teacher supplies!
During the school year, I get a little lazy and tend to throw things where they don’t belong. This hack will take care of all the stuff that isn’t where it belongs! Take some time to go through your teacher toolbox (or however you organize supplies) and put things where they should be, tidy it up and fill it up! Filling your supplies up at the end of the previous year for the next year will be immensely helpful when returning after the summer! You already probably spend too much money over the summer to make your classroom perfect, don’t spend on supplies as well. Take care of that before the previous year is up!
Clean Out Old Files and Things You Don’t Use
Did you switch curriculum? Or figure out that something doesn’t work for you or your classroom? Have things you don’t use? Don’t hang on to it! Throw it out or give it to someone else! Teachers are known for hanging on to anything and everything because it may be of use sometime down the road. This sounds a little like hoarding to me… I am guilty of it as well and need to be better about letting go of things that I don’t use anymore.
Confession: we switched math curriculums two years ago and I still have files for the lessons from that curriculum, eek! These things take up valuable space in our rooms, so just get rid of it (or ask other teachers if they need any of it!)
Dedicate One Day for Students to Bring Remaining Work Home
My last hack is to dedicate one day for students to take everything home! I give my students a date to bring in a brown (or large) bag. This is the day that they take everything home. They take home their work, their art, their supplies, everything. Make sure you do this on a day where you know the rest of the days they won’t need anything. I do this usually the second or third to last day of school. We have so many extra activities those last few days that we’re mostly outside and don’t need our crayons or pencils anymore.
Those are my 6 organizational hacks that help me prep for next year and have saved me lots of time over the summer. If you do it now, you won’t have to worry about it later! What do you do to get ready for next school year?
