If you are anything like me, the summertime is not only a chance to relax and recover but it is also a time to prepare for going back to school. Here are five back to school organization ideas that will help you to free up some time once that school year busyness kicks into full gear.
1. Back to school organization starts with your lesson plans
My Google Drive does not bring me joy. Is yours also a mess of docs, slides and pdfs? Please tell me I’m not alone here.
There is nothing more that I love to do than to collect ideas and I’ve finally found a way to organize my resources in a way that makes sense – Google Sites.
- Create a Google Site for each unit that you teach.
- Use the home page as a dumping ground for all the resources and links that fit with that unit.
- Go through your previous lesson plans and create a new page for each lesson.
- Then copy and paste your lessons directly onto that page. You can even insert the Slides or other resources you have to go along with that lesson.
2. Go through your TPT purchases
If you also love to collect resources then you have probably made a few TPT purchases over the years. (Not sure what TPT is? Check out my TPT shop and browse the site for teaching resources created by teachers for teachers!)
One of my best back to school organization ideas is to go through your “My Purchases” page and check for any updates to the products you’ve already purchased. You can redownload them and add them to the corresponding Google Site you’ve made for that unit.
3. Create long range plans
Now that all of your resources have been organized you are ready for some back to school planning.
Take a look at your curriculum documents and pull out some big ideas that your students will need to learn. I like to create a general long range plan for the year and get more specific with monthly plans.
Create hyperlinks in your long range plans to the Google Sites you created previously. When you are ready to teach that unit, with one click you’ll have everything you need!
4. Outline subject report card comments
Full disclosure – this will be my first year using this back to school organization idea. Report card writing is a whirlpool that sucks me in and I’m desperately trying to avoid having it take over my life this year. Read this post for other ways I’ve been fighting the report card writing overwhelm.
Write your report card comments at the same time that you are doing your long range plans. Focus on the subject comments and not the learning skills. This way everything will be outlined and ready to go. Of course, you may need to make changes later on (because who actually does everything on their long range plans?) but at least you’ll have a clear focus for the school year.
5. Plan your first three days of school
Before you even go back to school to set up your room, have your first three days of school planned out. When you’re in the building you can get photocopied and prepped and feel good about your back to school organization!
Check out this post if you are looking for some first day of school activities or browse through some of my back to school instagram posts from last year.
These five back to school organization ideas will definitely help you to feel calm and ready to tackle another busy back to school season.
If you want to feel extra prepared for the school year, CLICK HERE to download your free set of Grade 6/7 long-range plans for the Ontario Math and Language curriculums.
I’m Lauren, from “From Math to Music” – your go-to person for all things Math and Classroom Community.
Being a middle-school teacher and a mom of 3, I know how hard it is for busy teachers to create resources that allow for deep thinking and build classroom community. That's why I love sharing tips and tricks that you can you use in your middle school classroom right this minute.
