What does a teacher’s summer look like? Many use this time to become better teachers! Crazy, right? Here are some of my plans for these warm months.
1. Read!
Kids Books
Summer is a great time for me to get a jump start on chapter books that my 5th graders might be interested in during the year. I pick up brand new releases so that I can recommend fresh books to my readers. Our state also chooses 20 books to celebrate throughout the school-year, with games for the students to play during Reading Week, if they have read them. I make sure that I read these as well, since they are always a big hit in my class!
Professional Books
I’ll be honest, when I was in college and professional books were “required reading,” I may not have read them as thoroughly as I should have. Or at all. Now that I have the freedom to choose, I love getting my hands on a good research-based book. I look to my colleagues for recommendation, as well as other teachers who I follow on IG, Facebook or blogs. Not only do I pick up new ones each year, but I re-read ones that have made an impact on my teaching. I find it to be rejuvenating and motivating to learn about best practices from other educators. And it makes me motivated to get back into the classroom!
2. Plan for next year
This one is a biggie. A majority of this planning is done on my own, but I also meet up with my grade-level colleagues to discuss the upcoming year. I reflect on what went well the previous year and what didn’t quite go as planned.
I set up my calendar for the year. Doesn’t the blank calendar look all pretty? It will fill up fast!
I set up my calendar for the year. Doesn’t the blank calendar look all pretty? It will fill up fast!
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| Click here to grab The Calendar Notebook |
I create a year-long calendar based on our curriculum’s scope and sequence. This gets hung up behind my desk to help keep me on track.
3. Prepare the classroom
This is the fun part! As tiring as it is to set up and take down my classroom every year, I look forward to a clean slate in August. Some years I keep it exactly the same, others it is completely different. I enjoy creating decor for the room and deciding how everything is going to be organized to make teaching and learning easy for myself and my students.
4. Shop!
It’s no secret that teachers love school supplies! I actually prefer to shop for Crayola products than clothes (true story). Most teachers provide a majority of the school supplies for their classrooms. We scour the Target Dollar Section and the Staples ads all summer to score good sales on everything from notebooks to glue sticks.
5. Spend time with family
And the most important thing I do over the summer…is spend quality time with my own family. Sometimes they get a tad neglected during the school year as I am writing lesson plans and grading papers. I come from a family of teachers, so we do a LOT of catching up over the summer! The best place to do so is by the beach, of course!
