If you have been a teacher like me for many years, you probably know that minimizing paperwork equals optimizing your joy of teaching! We have a section in the blog dedicated to preventing teacher stress. But let’s think about additional ways to lower teacher stress by smart teacher planning.

I wrote the article below in the summer. It got so popular on social media that I want teachers to benefit from it during the school year as well.

So to help minimize paperwork, during the summer and with the start of the school year I simply spend 20 min a couple of times each month to gather materials, sub plans and quick handouts that I would need when the school year starts. All the things I don’t enjoy writing but I know are required by my administrators. This saves me hours of stress and work during the year when I am most busy.

2 Tips for Smart Teacher Planning

If you are like me, the most time consuming part of your teaching is doing ALL the things that administrators expect. Extra lesson plans, assessment rubrics, discipline plans, ESL plans, the list goes on and on.

You probably have paperwork expectations before the school year even starts. Often, what you really want to focus on is the first day of school and preparing for the kids instead.

If you have been teaching for awhile, you probably have already ready materials and you add on to them each year. If you are newer in the profession, you probably have more you need to create.

The work can quickly add up until you feel overwhelmed by teaching toward when the school year gets busy.

1. Collect Required Paperwork During The Summer

I used to spend long hours writing lesson plans and preparing all the paparework my administrator expected. Until I realized that it all has been created for me by other teachers. And most of these materials are available on Teachers Pay Teachers site.

Scanning the site for 20 minutes a couple of times during the summer is a life saver.

And it makes me feel good that I am supporting other teachers!

What I search for is:

• Beginning of the School Year Letters to New Students
• Beg of the year sub plans
• Music Resources
• Materials to do the day after the concert (always a dead time with music teachers)
• Materials for sub (no…I don’t write these anymore)
• Fun quizes that I can use
• Any handout that I need in the music classroom and it has already been created

Here are some cool finds:

• • Musical Brain Breaks For ANY Classroom
  • First Day Script
  • 4 Music Sub Lessons
  • Common Core Assessment (for different ages and subjects)

There are so many helpful resources! The list will look different for you depending on your classroom needs and how long you have been teaching. But it makes things so much easier!

If you have made materials you want to share, by all means, link it up in the comments! The more resources the better!

You don’t need to purchase everything that you find online. How do you store helpful products? We come to our second tip:

2. Use Pinterest as Your Planning Guide Throughout The Year

Pinterest is a lot of fun! In fact, you probably found this article on Pinterest. However, it can also be incredibly helpful for teachers! The best thing about Pinterest is that is stores the information in a way that makes it organized and easy to find.

Using just a few minutes during the summer, start collecting materials that you know will need later. That includes materials from Teachers Pay Teachers that you think you may use later but don’t want to purchase right away.

Here is what I do during the summer on my Pinterest board and it has proven to be INCREDIBLY helpful:

• • • I start a board with every main area of my subject.
    • Every time I spot an interesting article, I organize it in the appropriate category

The main principles are:

• • • I try to make my boards as detailed as possible. That makes it easy to find things later.
    • I have board for every class I teach but also for every season (Halloween, end of the year, etc.)
    • I have a board that I can come back to on a difficult day (check Teach Stress Free board)
    • I start a board for every important aspect of teaching- assessment, recruiting, etc.
    • I have a board with Teacher Pay Teachers materials. I don’t spend $ all at once. But I keep them all available. This way if I need something quick in the middle of the year, I know where to access it.
    • In fact I feel that I need to start creating new boards specific to a class or a subject to make the information better organized.

If you teach a different subject your boards may look like that:

• • • Literacy
    • Assessment
    • Math Quizes
    • Math Games
    • Discipline
    • End of Year Activities

And that is it! 20 min a couple of times during the summer makes the school year much easier!

Do you want to share teacher ideas? Follow me on Pinterest!

Why Is It Important to Think About Smart Summer Planning For Teachers?

Why thinking about minimizing work and stress from the summer? It is because you start thinking about wise planning during the summer, you will be better equipped to handle the demands of the profession during the year!

Our job is very rewarding! But it is not getting easier. Every year we are bombarded with more paperwork, more expectations. In the middle of all this, we need to find time for what really matters-teaching the kids! We all entered the profession knowing that we want to touch kids. And that is possible only if a teacher can create that time.

Planning for instruction is one important piece of the puzzle in lowering teacher stress. You can check out teach stress free page for more ideas.

Why thinking about minimizing work and stress from the summer? It is because you start thinking about wise planning during the summer, you will be better equipped to handle the demands of the profession during the year!

Do you find summer planning for teachers effective?

What do YOU do as summer to make teaching free of stress and minimize paperwork?

 

 

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