Back to school time is overwhelming for everyone – parents, students, principals, teachers. After 8 years of teaching, I still have moments where I’m confused and unsure of where to begin with back to school. But I have figured out what to prioritize (and often make my list this way) so I can focus on what I need to get done versus what I want to get done. Below, you’ll find my back to school checklist for teachers, in order of importance!
1. Create your procedures.
Before you can begin anything, you’ll need to establish what are your procedures and boundaries in your classroom.
- Do you have a specific routine you want to follow? Bell work every day? Where will students find it?
- What does taking attendance look like?
- How will students turn in work?
- What happens when a student is absent?
- What’s the beginning and end of class look like?
By thinking about these first, you can build your lessons, syllabus, and classroom around these key aspects of your teaching style.
2. Prepare the first week of lessons.
After identifying your procedures and expectations, you can start to plan your first all of lessons to teach students those expectations and routines. I always have my lessons ready before anything else – my classroom could be a mess, but if I don’t have lessons, I have nothing. That’s why lessons are number two on this back to school checklist.
3. Arrange desks.
Based on your procedures and lessons, you know how you’ll want to set up your desks. Do you want groups? Pairs? Rows? Now you get to start organizing your room a little bit!
4. Create seating charts.
With desk arrangements, now create seating charts. While you most likely don’t know the students, I’ve found that having a seating chart at the start of the year is better than letting students pick their seats.
If students can’t see the board, you accidentally sit the best friends in class together (done this several times – how?!), or even if you look and realize the tall kid is in the front blocking the board for students behind them, the best thing about a seating chart is that it can change. My seating arrangements hardly makes it through the first full week of school before something needs to be changed ha!
5. Set up grading system.
At this point of my back to school prep, I could stop and would be able to teach on the first day of school. So the four steps above are my non-negotiables on my back to school checklist.
However, I like to set myself up for success, so I try to go above and beyond. My next focus after creating my seating charts is to make sure my grading system is set up. We use Skyward in my district and every new semester – we have to set up the categories for grades and I like to check my settings. Sometimes, if I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll even put the first assignment in, ready to be graded!
6. Create or edit your syllabus.
One of the first things that I create for my classes is my syllabus. Of course, after nearly a decade of teaching, I have a syllabus formatted and I just edit to fit with any issues that I’ve realized I don’t have a specific course of action laid out for within my syllabus.
If you’re just starting out, there are tons of syllabus templates on the internet! Just a quick Google will give you lots of options to look at!
7. Set up online course.
Within my district, the elementary level uses Google Classroom, while the high school uses Canvas. With that in mind, I try to get my online course set up and ready for that first week of school! Especially for my AP class, as I usually have work due that first week.
8. Organize classroom supplies.
Now this is the fun part of the back to school checklist – getting your room ready! This is the stuff that people physically see within your classroom, but it’s also not the most important. As someone that puts a lot of time into my classroom, it can be hard for me to say that classroom organization and decorating is at the bottom of the priority list. But remember that number one is having lessons, classroom community, and activities ready for the first week of school.
When it comes to organizing the classroom supplies, the main things I try to have a place for are art supplies, pencils, and where students will turn in their work. Everything else can change and be flexible!
9. Decorate your room.
The best part! Decorating your classroom! Maybe you want to have a theme and you’re focusing on that, or maybe you are just going for “cute.” Whatever your goal, remember that your classroom can be decorated for YOU. You will spend the most time there and make it somewhere you want to spend time in.
I have always focused on how I use my wall space, lighting, and flexible seating within my room. If you’re needing some classroom decoration ideas or inspiration, check out my post on it for LOTS of ideas that I have used (or would like to use) within my high school classroom.
