It’s the start of yet another exciting school year with new learners, new activities and new challenges. This may all seem very overwhelming at first, but a new year brings with it an array of new possibilities such as making new friends, developing your skills and growing in your profession. Alleviate the stress of preparing for your first term of 2015 and jump into the new school year with our back-to-school checklist.
1. Before your first day back, determine which classroom seating arrangement will work
best for your subject area and the individual classroom setup itself. You’ll be amazed at
what you communicate to your learners through the different seating arrangements. Find
the seating plan that works best for you.
2. A picture is worth a thousand words! Gather some colourful and informative posters to
add excitement, help explain complex concepts and support learning in your classroom
this year. Have a look at our range of free downloadable classroom posters.
3. Prepare a list of important rules and policies for your classroom, such as emergency
procedures, general school information and classroom rules. It is also vital to have a
classroom cell phone policy handy to help minimise digital distraction in the classroom,
as well as guidelines on how to deal with behavioural challenges in the classroom.
4. What better way to break the ice and get to know your new group of learners than with a
fun ice breaker activity! This will help you form a healthy relationship with your learners,
and is a great way for them to get to know their classmates and make new friends. Visit
https://abt.cm/1Gos0BB for a range of exciting classroom ice breakers.
5. Develop practical and useful lesson plans for the first few weeks of school. Not sure how
to create one? Download our template lesson plan and find out what you should be including to create the perfect lesson plan.
6. Prepare to discuss necessary topics such as bullying and drug usage with your leaners.
Read our articles on saying NO to drugs and putting a stop to bullying for insight on how
to approach these sensitive topics.
7. You can never have enough stationery or classroom resources for 2015. Remember to
top up on essential stationery and handy resources. Have a look at our wide range of
dictionaries and teaching resources that can be used in your classroom to support learning
and teaching in a variety of subjects , such as Mathematics, Science, and your language subjects.
Now that you have worked your way through the checklist and ticked all the boxes for back-to-school, relax and enjoy the last few days of the summer holidays!
Sources:
www.educationworld.com
www.k6educators.about.com
www.teacher.scholastic.com
