31 Days of Back to School Prep Tips and Ideas

We hope summer treated your family well, despite how crazy the world is and has been. We've compiled (almost -- we missed a couple due to...life) 31 tips and suggestions for back to school prep and hope they serve you well! We initially shared these on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and now we're wrapping up August by compiling all of our tips and ideas in this post.

Biggest take away?

Be kind to yourself. Mistakes happen. Oversights occur. Life gets busy and important things get missed, but most of the time they aren't that important if they were missed. And, hug your kids.

 

 

 

Oops....that's not day 7, that's day 8!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As noted, sometimes mistakes happen!

 

 

 

 Forgive yourself if you sometimes need a break or things don't always go to plan!

 

Your kids will be OK, even if you aren't always perfect!

 

 

Teaching Tips: How to Survive Distance Teaching

Whew! We made it through distance learning this past spring, and then we sailed right into summer break.

 

Now we're staring down the road at distance learning for the fall, and for most of us there is no end in sight. There's no summer break in just a few weeks to look forward to and no date when we can be certain we can return to our classrooms and teaching normally.

 

At the moment, it feels like we're pretty much doing this indefinitely.

 

I did what every other teacher in America did in the spring:  I came home, got busy trying to put together resources for my students, cried, recorded videos, met with my class and individual students on Zoom, and I did my best with the resources I had available to me.

 

Like many teachers, I'm getting ready to start distance teaching again in just a few short days, and thus I've been reflecting on what went well last time and what I really struggled with.

 

Teacher friends, here are some of my takeaways that may help you going into the fall:

 

1. It's OK to say, "I don't know."

I really tried hard to hold it together and be the strong leader for my families last year. Luckily, I have a strong community as it is, but I really made sure to be honest when I didn't know something. We were all navigating this new system together, and I think it helped parents to know I didn't have it all figured out either. Plus, being that honest builds trust.

 

2. Ask for help when you need it.

As my husband can attest, I am not tech savvy. Like at all. I avoid using technology unless it is absolutely necessary. Distance Learning was my worst nightmare. I called in my troops and utilized my resources. I had a few parents that were very tech savvy and also very willing to help me. It was also a great way for them to contribute and utilize their strengths during this weird and crazy time. As a teacher, if you need help, ask others -- other teachers, parents of your students, friends, and so on.

 

3. Call on your teacher tribe.

My team was a life saver. We divided and conquered, shared resources, provided a shoulder, and just helped keep each other afloat during this crazy time. I also collaborated with teachers in other grade levels and we tag teamed on resources as well. I soaked up every tip and trick I could get from my colleagues!

 

4. Give yourself some grace.

This one I really struggled with. I had my own kids at home, like many working parents, and had to juggle my own teaching with their studies. Yes, I was teaching my own students while having to help my own kids with their classes. I really couldn't find a good balance between the two during the entire distance learning time. Do what you can, but realize that you cannot truly replicate online a traditional classroom that was never meant to be online. There are many online teachers who do an amazing job at this. But, they were already online teachers working in environments that were designed for online instruction, and they have it dialed in.

 

Classroom teachers that teach in physical, brick and mortar schools and never planned nor trained to teach online do not. Do not compare yourself to professional online teachers.

 

Your google classroom will work even if it doesn't have a fancy Bitmoji set-up (I love them, but they are purely an extra and not at all necessary). You don't need to have a fancy, high tech, decked out virtual classroom that makes everyone go "Ohhhhh, ahhhh!" You're going to do just fine once you take the pressure off and just stay true to yourself and do what you can with what you have!

 

5. Keep it simple.

Kids (especially young ones) cannot sit on the computer all day. The beautiful, elaborate lessons you can produce in the classroom are going to need to be adjusted for the virtual world. Quick, simple, and to the point lessons work best.

 

Teach a quick and simple lesson, give some structure and context, and then your students can complete a follow up activity either online or offline. They can come back later to submit their work. I made myself available for questions, but I really tried to keep the assignments at a manageable and age appropriate level -- for my class, that's first, second, and third grade students.

 

6. Partner with the parents.

I know that as teachers we want to do it all and have a hard time handing teaching over to others. It's so hard -- I get it! The fact is, parents are our other half right now. We need them as much as they need us. It's OK if they showed their child a different way to accomplish a task or gave you feedback on the level of work their child was doing. For many parents, this is the first time they've been able to be this involved in their child's education. They are learning too. Give them grace and set up ongoing meetings with them both large group and individually. It's important that we work together for the success of the children!

 

I am so nervous to start this week. I'm required to be in my classroom during distance learning and teach from there, although I know many of you will be teaching from home. It's so hard to go set up your classroom knowing that no students will be there to sit at the tables, find their cubbies or to excitedly look for their name on the Person of the Week Chart. 

 

I know I'm going to have many fails and successes this year, and I'm going to try to be OK with both. This is still new, despite our teaching experiences from last spring. I am hopeful that this doesn't last very long, but for now, it's our reality and we've got this!

 

Remember, all your students really want to see is a happy teacher, someone who is excited to see them and can throw some fun into their weird, uncomfortable distance learning situation!

 

What's your best tip for surviving distance learning as a traditional classroom teacher? Let's help each other out! Drop a comment and let us know what's worked well for you and how you are managing distance teaching.

 

A teachers perspective on safety drills

Back to school is upon us and a lot of parents are worried about safety -- there have been far too many school shootings (one is too many) in recent years, and thus safety concerns are very real.

When I was a kid, we worried about a rabid dog, a swarm of bees, possibly a homeless person wandering onto campus.

We heard the fire drill, and happily marched to our assigned spots on the blacktop.
We stood quietly until all was clear and then returned to our classrooms without a second thought. It doesn't matter how I feel about guns...these shootings are happening now and they're not going to go away tonight. 

As a teacher, I typically know when our drills are going to occur. I mentally plan how to work our day around the time it will take for us to line up, walk out, and then return to class. Only we don't get straight to work. No way--I teach Kindergarten! My students need to process. After a drill, they are loud, so very loud. Drills are out of the norm, so far out of the norm. 

We have a process. We line up, I grab my safety vest, walkie-talkie and class binder. Someone grabs the class turtle. Yes, we plan to rescue our turtle! We walk quickly to the blacktop and face the trees. I quickly count the children and then hold up my green binder as a sign that we're all here. Then, we wait. Sometimes, the drill is over quickly, and sometimes it takes a bit longer. When the drill is over, we about-face and return to class.

I hear a lot of questions:
"Ms. McKenzie was that a drill?"
"Is there a fire?"
"How come you didn't tell us there was a drill?"

I answer the questions the best that I can, and I talk about why we need to practice--it's important to know what to do in case we ever have a real emergency.

Yet...sometimes we don't have fire drills. 

Sometimes we have lock down drills.

These can be to prevent smoke and other airborne toxins from coming into our classroom. We lock our doors, close our blinds, and carefully place rugs in the gaps under our doors. Then, we wait, quietly going about business as usual. 

It's confusing. Why are we doing this?

We talk about it and we process. We come up with reasons why this is important. We laugh that we have to whisper, and sometimes we just sit close to each other and wait.

Other times, we practice for an active shooter. The kids don't know this, of course, but I do. 

During these drills, we lock our doors, close our blinds, push tables and chairs in front of our doors. 

Then, all 26 of us cram into two itty-bitty kindergarten bathrooms that smell like pee. I tell my students not to talk--these are 5, 6, and 7 year olds. Not talking while smashed together in a tiny space? Yeah right! 

I stand in front of them. There is nothing more powerful than a mama protecting her cubs, and for eight hours a day these are my cubs.

I am ready.

Then, we process. 
They are in Kindergarten. 
They don't need to know exactly why we are doing this.

My young charges understand that bad things happen, but they don't need to worry about this happening to them.

Every once in a while, a child will chime in and say, "My mom told me people shoot kids in schools."

My heart sinks. Yes, kids have been shot in schools. I'm wracking my brain about how to talk about this. I refuse to lie, but I'm not also willing to tell the truth. Ugh, I pull things out of my hat, like, "Remember how we practice for fires? Well we also need to make sure we know what to do if someone who doesn't belong on our campus tries to come to our class."

Did it tell them enough to answer their questions, but not enough to scare them?

I spend the rest of the work time watching them.

Is there anyone who seems emotional? Scared? Maybe needs a hug? Do I need to do another processing session to make sure that they are all OK? How can I make this better for them?

As a parent, I know you send your child every day to school, hoping they are safe and well cared for. I know you don't want to picture your child standing in a bathroom with 24 other students not making a sound. It's really a awful thing to have to do. But, we do it. We do it not because we think it's fun to scare kids and make them do uncomfortable things. 

We do it because knowing what to do gives them a fighting chance.
Because we know that if they are all together in one space we can better protect them.
Because, unfortunately, we have too.

Rest assured parents...when your child is practicing these drills that no one wants to have, in front of them stands a teacher. A teacher who will protect those kids like they are their own. A teacher who in his/her mind is thinking, "I dare you to try to come in here."

A teacher who cares.

I've heard some mumbling among my friends and fellow parents lately about concerns about these drills. Some have suggested space age type pods that keep children safe, jugs of rocks to throw at intruders, and so on. Please don't assume that we want to do this. Teachers aren't the enemy. Honestly I'm not really even sure what is. I just know that my job is to keep these kids safe and I'm going to do it in any way possible. If that helps you sleep even a tiny bit better at night, you're welcome.

How do you talk to your kids about these types of safety drills? Do other teachers have tips on how to address children's concerns? How do you ensure that everyone feels safe?