Whew! You made it to the end of the year! (insert happy dance here). The last week of school all most teachers have on their mind is posting grades and summer vacation. Buutttttt….. I’m here to give you a few tips on things you can do NOW to make your job easier in August. Those few days you have before school starts are precious, and you know most of it will be taken up by PD and meetings. The line at the copy center is huge. You have to make new seating charts and print new IEP’s. The list goes on and on. So here are a few end of the year tips that will hopefully make your life easier when it is time to go back to school.
End of School Year Task Checklist:
- RECYCLE & SHRED: Depending on your school, you might have to take everything off the walls and clean out your classroom at the end of the year. Thankfully we don’t have to do this unless we are moving rooms or they are painting the walls, neither of which apply to me this year (thank goodness). However, I still like to go through and throw out or shred papers that I’ve been hanging on to all year. Hard copies of student IEP’s and bubble sheets from district tests are forms that don’t need to be taking up space in my file cabinet anymore. It’s easier to clean out the file cabinet now so you don’t have to worry about it later (especially since the custodial staff will be coming around to pick up trash and recycling over the summer).
- MAKE COPIES: Are there forms you know you will be using next year? Worksheets you use all year long? For me, I use the same bell work and note taking forms throughout the year. I suggest making a class set of those forms now, because the line at the copier will not be pretty right before school starts. Stash them in a drawer somewhere so you have one less thing to copy before school starts.
- LAMINATE: Do you have some pretty task cards or posters you purchased on TpT and would like them laminated? Back to school time seems to be the time most teachers buy new posters and pick out a new theme for their classroom the following year. Our library will laminate things for us, but it often takes days to weeks to get things back when they are super busy in August. If you have those things ready to go, get them laminated now (the librarian will thank you later).
- GET HELP ORGANIZING: Do you need glassware cleaned or organized? Do you want your mini whiteboards waxed and ready to go for next year? Do you need your marker bin checked for dried out markers? Any cleaning you’ve been avoiding? Many high school students need community service hours for programs such as National Honor Society or AVID. Instead of breaking your back to get these things done, have students help and offer them community service hours! It’s a win-win.
- TAKE INVENTORY: Take a quick inventory of what supplies you have left over from the year. Most of us spend quite a bit of money during back-to-school sales on folders, pencils, tape, markers, etc. without realizing that you still have plenty of pencils left over from the previous year. Take pictures of what you have left or add a note in your phone so you have it handy when you head to Target. You can also start making a list of lab supplies you will need to request at the beginning of the school year with the new budget. Have that list ready to go for your department chair (or whoever does the ordering).
- TAKE A PICTURE: Every summer the custodians come in and wax the floors. When they go to put the lab tables back in the room, they are usually just pushed in the corner. Unfortunately for me, our lab tables are HEAVY and I have a hard time moving them by myself. Solution: take a picture of your lab table arrangement and leave it taped to the whiteboard before you leave for the summer. This way the custodians know where to put your tables when they push them back into the room. Another option is to draw a picture of your table arrangement on the whiteboard. There’s no guarantee they will be put back the same way, but it sure saves me time (and back pain) when they do!
- COVER YOUR DRAINS: One thing science teachers love is having a classroom full of sinks. It makes lab clean up go so much quicker! However, more drains = more areas for bugs to enter your classroom. Every year I would come back in August and find cockroaches all over my classroom. I’m not squeamish with spiders or crickets, but cockroaches make my skin crawl. One way to help combat this problem is to cover all your sink drains and the floor drain under your safety shower. I snagged some silicone mat covers on amazon and it really helped keep the cockroaches away. (If you don’t have this problem, I envy you!)
I hope that list is helpful! Now…. go enjoy your summer break!
Rock on,
