Getting back into the swing of things...

Well, I've been able to spend a little time in my classroom the last few days...but not as much as I would like--we have some construction going on around school, so there is limited access. I usually take this time before I actually HAVE to be back at school (because those inservice days prior to school starting are never enough time). to work on my to-do list and ease back into things. I'm not sure if the general community actually realizes how much time teachers spend at school the few weeks leading up to our contractual time, but I would be willing to bet that at least 75% of elementary teachers are back in their classrooms before inservice starts (I can't speculate on middle and high school). I think I will do a twitter poll to find out...I haven't done one yet, so this seems like a good first attempt.
Please visit my twitter poll: https://twitter.com/tomoetjen/status/898270659049959424

Getting the classroom ready for the beginning of the year is a big undertaking. This new set of excited students needs an environment that will help them do their best learning, so there is a lot to do that makes that happen. Here's my list that I made yesterday and started working on today (and more will probably get added):

  • Classroom arrangement
  • Clean out teacher desk, cupboards (in and above), filing cabinets, bookshelves (teacher resources)
  • Finalize schedule
  • Update website
  • Student birthday cards
  • Job board
  • Daily 5/Daily 3 choice charts
  • Beginning of year family communications
  • Student login cards
  • Create student logins for websites
  • District online trainings
  • Clean up email inbox
  • Soft start procedures
  • Student name tags
  • Set up cubbies
  • Set up mailboxes
  • Set up hanging folders
  • Set up portfolios
  • Open House info
  • Painter’s tape on “No Entry” areas
  • Set up “community” supplies
  • Level new books
  • Identify items to buy

Well, I have a few more hours to work on some of this tomorrow, so hopefully I can get some of it checked off. Inservice starts next Thursday, plus some new teacher mentoring meetings Monday and Wednesday, which doesn't leave much time to ease into things like I hoped.

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