How is it August already? As we gear up for “teacher new year,” we have lots of beginning of the year activity ideas for you to start getting to know your students and building community. We also have some invaluable beginning of the year tools & tips from the past, as well as great read aloud ideas for back to school and more specific back to school activities for distance learning. One reminder I need every school year is these computer tips: how to rollout the great (but challenging) tool!

However, before you start thinking about all the wonderful exploration and learning you will do with your students, you need to set up your classroom and get yourself ready for the year. Honestly, after the past few years, none of us feel ready and I know many of you could use another few summers for some more unwinding time. This school year comes with its own uncertainty and although we have learned to be exceedingly flexible and creative since March 2020, it is still stressful and challenging. Many of us are going to new schools or back to our familiar schools with a lot of new colleagues. I (Nina) moved to Chicago and am taking some time at home, so am not planning and prepping for a classroom new year which is simultaneously feeling happy and sad. I hope to stay involved through some consulting work so I don’t feel completely adrift from the classroom.

One thing that stuck with me last year was the feeling of being away from how I wanted to teach due to restrictions and logistics. I learned to make small changes that helped me feel like I was getting closer to my ideal teaching situation. Taking a step back, refreshing yourself by trying to remember what you always loved about being in the classroom or what felt “just right” with classes in the past, and being clear about how and what you would be teaching if you could is a necessary and (in my experience) helpful reflection. Once you have gotten there, start with just one thing you can do to get closer to that. For me, taking students outside to play a game on Friday afternoons helped me with my frustration of needing to be in desk pairs all facing forward instead of the more collaborative groupings I used in the past. Small changes can make a big difference!

Some resources for setting up your classroom and any partnerships or collaboration you will be doing this year are this amazing Inclusive Classroom Practices List from Rosetta Lee. If you don’t know about Rosetta Lee, you are really missing out! She is wonderful and her website has so many helpful resources). Another resource that I’ve found helpful in the past is this Co-Teaching Beginning of the Year Checklist that I created when working as the Co-Teaching Facilitator at my former school. Even if you are not officially co-teaching, you are collaborating with other adults all the time, and laying out expectations and norms for these working relationships will really benefit you later this year. I wrote a post in 2018 with some Co-Teaching and Collaboration Tips, so I hope that is useful as well!

I hope you find some joy in setting up and starting up this new school year and get to enjoy the last few weeks of summer.