With many of us returning to school next week I thought I would write a post to remind everyone that we are still on holidays. Our summer break is one of the biggest perks of teaching so try to not cut it short. It can be easy to get caught up with trying to prepare for the new school year. Our classrooms do not have to immediately look like they were pinned on Pinterest. It is ok for them to be a work in progress. I have attached some photographs of classroom displays that I have had in my classroom over the past few years. I am a firm believer that displays are there to help the children and are not a sign of how crafty we are. I try to keep them simple and easy for the children to read. Don't get me wrong I love to have nice displays and a very oragnised classroom but this takes time. As a mentor I know only too well the pressure NQT's can feel at the start of September. The feeling that you are not prepared enough, the truth is you can never be fully prepared. I have been teaching for ten years now and I still don't feel prepared for everything. Here are some tips for the next few days: 1.Enjoy yourself! I feel like I always say this but make sure to take time out for yourself and do something nice. This might be meeting friends for lunch, having a facial or even shopping for school supplies. 2. Make a plan for your first week back to school. To do lists are key to keeping on track but you also need to give yourself a set time to stay back after school each day. Otherwise you can loose focus and end up wasting your time. 3.Use this week to do some food prep. You can make a batch of soup or even some lunches for the next two week sand pop them in the freezer. This will save you time over the first week back and means to can spend your evenings doing something nice for yourself. 4. Heritage week! It is Heritage week this week and there are hundreds of events taking place all over the country, why not sign up for one or two of them? 5. If you do go in to school put up backing paper, borders and titles on your display boards. Arrange your desks and set up your own area, whether it is a bookcase or teacher desk. The classroom doesn't have to look amazing on the first day back. I much prefer to stay back each day for the first few weeks and get my classroom looking the way I want. 6. Twinkl! This is by far my favourite resource website, I absolutely love it and think it is well worth the subscription. Twinkl really saves you time and effort! Go and have a look at the website for yourself, the quality is fantastic and they even have options for you to print using less ink. This is not great for the environment but also for your purse. (This is not an ad and I am not linked with Twinkl. ) 7. If you visit your school check what they provide you with so that you can spend your money wisely. In our school we have a store that has backing paper, borders and plenty of art supplies. 8. Organise your school planner/diary. This can actually be quite a nice thing to do while you are sitting down in the evening watching television. The most important thing is enjoy the next few days and relax!
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AuthorI have been teaching for several years and hope to share some of my ideas and experiences with you. Archives
March 2020
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