If you’re a teacher, you’re a planner. But when it comes to summer, most of us are ready to put the planners away and enjoy some well-deserved time away from school.
Some of us may be thinking about the projects we have been putting off until we had more time and thinking about how we can best use our limited time in summer.
While we all deserve a break, it’s also a good idea to think about what will make you feel the most rested AND the most productive as you enjoy some time away from school.
Here’s how to do some planning for summer.
1 – make a giant brain dump list of all the things you want to do this summer. It can include necessary chores (like getting a mammogram or cleaning out closets) but it’s good to also include all the things you want to do in the summer (enjoy a beach vacation, spend time at the pool or the lake, go hiking in the mountains).
This is also a great thing to do with your kids if they are home during the summer. What makes them feel like it’s really summertime? What do they look forward to doing? Include their “bucket list” items on your brain dump list.
Don’t forget to include other things you enjoy doing in the summer like catching up on movies or Netflix, reading books, having lunch or drinks with friends. Everything counts! Remember that if you don’t schedule it, you might forget about it or it might not get done.
If possible: take that first week of break to do whatever YOU want. Binge watch everything you’ve saved to watch, sleep in (if your kids will let you) or take naps in the middle of the day. Take school email off your phone, read a book for fun (nothing for school), spend time outside. Give yourself permission to be a total slug for a few days.
Here are some fun tools to help you make your lists:
2 – after you have listed every possible thing you can think of, start categorizing the items. What needs to be done at home? What appointments need to be scheduled? When are you hoping to travel? What events have already been scheduled? (Summer camps, Bible school, teaching summer school, etc.)
3 – list your weeks of summer with some space in between the dates.
4 – list items on the already set dates (scheduled events, vacation dates, medical appointments, etc.).
5 – start filling in the items that can only be done at home for the dates when you will be home.
6 – make sure you sprinkle in some summer fun activities, even for the weeks that have a lot of chores or home tasks!
7 – now as you glance over each week’s lists, look for where you may have overscheduled yourself or where you have too many items that can possibly be done during that time frame. Are there items you could rearrange or delete altogether? (Teaching summer school and helping with Bible school got deleted for me this year. That may not be the case every year, but this year it just felt like too much.)
8 – as you look at your weekly to-do list, remember to check this summer planning list for what you want to do or accomplish during that particular week.
The goal here isn’t to schedule yourself like an airport runway. The goal is to build in all the things you want and need to do so that you feel the most rested AND as productive as you want to be.
Take care of yourself and have the best summer ever!
As we head down the home stretch of this COVID year, I want to do as many meaningful and fun activities with my students as possible. But – I’m tired. So I am compiling some past ideas into this post so I can have them all in one place. I hope you get some ideas and inspiration here!
If you are in the school building with students:
*Have your students create a memory book about the school year. There are lots of ideas for this on Teachers Pay Teachers, but you can also make up your own prompts. Think about a list of favorites — favorite science unit, favorite thing you learned in math, favorite read-aloud book, etc. Open-ended prompts work best. You can make the memory book on paper, of course, OR you can make it into a technology project using Google slides. (A link to the memory book we use is in the “remote” section below.)
*Your students could also write advice for next year’s students. Think about open-ended prompts for this as well. While it’s fun to have a letter from every student that you can give to your students next year, it’s also fun to have groups of your students work on this project and create Google slides of that. You can show the presentations to your class next year.
*Write a six-word memoir about the year. We also do these on Google slides (clearly, we love that tool!) and our technology specialist incorporates them into a slideshow for our fifth-grade graduation event. You could create a slideshow for your own class. These are fun and meaningful.
*Do any of your students have a special talent or passion? Give them the opportunity to teach! This could be the result of a Genius Hour project, or it could be just a chance to share. This year, I have a student who has a passion for origami. We’re scheduling time for him to show some simple origami projects and my kids can’t wait. Another student developed a strong interest in the American Revolution and has created an entire Google slides presentation of his research. Ask your students if they would be interested in sharing something like this and you may be surprised at what they are capable of teaching everyone!
*Allow some (or all) of your students to interview a classmate — about the year, about what they look forward to for summer and for the next school year, about books they recommend. They can videotape the interviews. You, of course, have final editing rights! These are also fun to show the class.
*Have your students use Flip Grid or WeVideo to make brief videos about favorite books. Let them work together and create a script first, but encourage creativity and “selling” the book. You can show these videos to your class next year!
*If the weather and your school safety plan allow, spend more time outside. You could read outside, take whiteboards and do math review outside, play various review games outside. Take advantage of the spring and early summer weather.
*Your students could spend time writing thank you notes to adults in the school who make a difference to them. Rather than writing lots of notes (although that is fine too), encourage them to put some thought into it and only write two or three notes. This is an especially good activity for upper elementary students who may have been at the same school for several years.
*Make a graffiti wall out of bulletin board paper. Let students write things they will remember, funny moments or memorable moments from the year, what they will miss, etc. You could also let them use a whiteboard. Another fun graffiti activity is to do this outside with sidewalk chalk.
*My students love to answer “Would You Rather” questions during our class circle. Here’s a link to a great free resource for end-of-year and summertime questions!
*Get your students to help with end-of-year cleaning and organizing tasks. You’d be amazed at what they can do to help.
*Consider having an “awards ceremony” on the last day of school. There are some great ideas on Teachers Pay Teachers. This is one of my favorites. You can have your students vote on these or you could just award them yourself.
*Make plans for summer reading with your class. You could all brainstorm a list of books to read. Encourage your students to keep in touch with each other and talk about their books. Some options for talking to each other include actually getting together to talk, writing a letter and mailing it, using email, or using Edublogs.
If you and your students are remote learning:
*Make a digital memory book! HERE is a template for our fifth-grade memory book. You can make a copy and edit for your own grade level and needs.
*Jennifer Findley also has an inexpensive math resource in Teachers Pay Teachers with several great review math activities for upper elementary grades.
*Make a Padlet wall for each student with the focus question “What do you like about . . . ?”. Send one Padlet wall link to your students daily (through email or post in Google Classroom). Then each student can add brief notes or stories about the focus student. You can print these Padlets and either email or snail mail them to your students.
*Have your students interview each other about the school year and put those interviews together. Some interview question options:
~what are your favorite memories?
~what were some funny things that happened this year?
~what will you always remember? (I bet I can guess one answer to this question!)
~what did you love about this class?
~what did you love about this grade?
~what was your favorite field trip and why?
~what were some favorite books you read or heard this year?
This is another good idea for having your students interact with each other.
*Collaborative class book – I love this idea because your students create the book together. This helps mitigate some of those feelings of being isolated from each other.
*Host an end-of-the-year talent show on Zoom or Google Meet. Other options are sharing your pet or sharing something you made or created.
*On the last day of school, have one last meeting together but make it a virtual picnic! Have kids bring a blanket or towel and some snacks. Just sit and eat and talk and enjoy the last bit of your school year together.
Teachers hit the ground running every morning. It’s super important to have some kind of morning routine so that you take care of yourself before you get to school and take care of everyone else’s needs.
Here are 15 ideas to consider.
1 – get enough sleep the night before! This is one of the simplest ways to get a good morning routine started. This is very individual, but the general recommendation is to get 7 – 9 hours of sleep every night. You may need more or slightly less. Experiment to find the right amount of sleep for you and prioritize getting that sleep every night.
2 – get up 15 minutes earlier than your current wake-up time. This will give you some quiet time to yourself for some of the activities listed below. Even if this sounds awful now, once you start adding some of these ideas to your morning routine, you may find yourself getting up earlier to give yourself even more time!
3 – enjoy some silence in the morning. Teachers are bombarded with voices and noise all day long. Use at least a few minutes of your morning routine to just sit in silence. You might use this time for prayer or meditation.
4 – other than texts from family members, try to NOT scroll through your phone before you’ve done some of the following activities. Starting the day by checking your email or social media gets you focused on other people and their needs or their activities rather than focusing on your own needs. Be a little selfish here and look out for your own mindful start to the day.
5 – write in a journal. This can take whatever form you want, but think about doing “morning pages” writing. Created by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, morning pages are a great way to clear your mind of whatever is causing you anxiety or is something you are trying to resolve. You can learn more about morning pages HERE.
6 – as part of your journal (or as a separate thing), list 3-5 things that make you feel grateful. These don’t have to be big things. Listing small things that make you happy will make you even more mindful of all the good things going on, even on your worst days. Some of the most recent items from my gratitude list: the quietness of the morning, my dog’s sweet face, good coffee. Of course, the big things count too: good health, your family, your students.
7 – read something inspirational or positive to start your day. It could be a short devotional or any book that inspires you and helps you to see the good in your life and the world. (By the way: watching the news in the morning, other than to catch the weather, might not be the most positive or inspiring way to start the day!)
8 – hydrate! Drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day. Try to get started on that by drinking 2 – 3 cups of water in the morning. You’re slightly dehydrated when you first wake up, so drinking some water wakes you up, gives you energy, and it’s good for every part of your body, especially your skin.
9 – Move your body. This doesn’t have to mean going to the gym in the morning unless that’s your thing. But try to do some kind of exercise in the morning to get your body moving and give yourself more energy for the day. Try some yoga or stretching videos on YouTube. Go for a morning walk or jog outside. Try this 6-Minute Workout. Stream a short workout from Beachbody. Check out Amanda Tress’s FASTer Way to Fat Loss program and workouts.
10 – Prep a healthy breakfast or lunch. Some easy options are smoothies, overnight oats, or a simple salad.
11 – Straighten up your space. This doesn’t mean doing a deep cleaning of everything. But simple things like making your bed, starting a load of laundry, and wiping off surfaces will make you feel on top of things when you get home.
12 – Make a “things to do” list. But try to keep from listing 8,000 things. Stick to listing your three or four “must do” items for the day. This keeps you focused on what really has to get done today. Everything else can fit around your “must do’s”.
13 – Think about what makes you happy during your morning commute. Listening to music? Listening to a news station? Listening to a podcast or a book on Audible? Stopping at Starbuck’s? Whatever makes you look forward to your commute, do that!
14 – Think about what kind of time you want for yourself in the morning once you get to school. Some teachers love to get to school early, before anyone else and do some parts of their morning routine at school (reading or listening to something inspirational or making a “things to do” list, for example). Other people don’t need as much time. Either way – try to get to school a good 15 minutes before your students walk in the door. This allows you to get your room set up in whatever way you want for the morning, take a sip of coffee, look at your plans for the morning, whatever makes you feel ready for the day.
And finally:
15 – Consider making some decisions the night before. Make your to-do list for home, make your to-do list for school, select your outfit for the next day, pack your lunch, decide what you’re cooking for dinner. Whatever needs to be done the next day, make that decision the night before. This reduces your “decision fatigue” in the morning. (To consolidate your decision-making even more, plan your outfits and your meals once a week.)
If you’re a teacher, May is the official home stretch month. And while the end of the school year might seem weeks away, May is one of the busiest months of the year and it tends to go by quickly. Since May is such a busy month, it’s more important than ever to keep yourself high on the priority list with some self-care for you!
Here are 12 ideas for May:
1 – Do something creative. And remember that “creative” doesn’t have to mean artsy! If you like to draw, paint, sketch, do hand-lettering, do calligraphy – good for you. Do more of that! Or do you like to sing or play a musical instrument? That counts too. But so does writing something or experimenting with a recipe. Find something different from your everyday tasks and find a few minutes here and there to add more creative time to your life!
2 – Plan some spring and summer menus. Look for recipes that are perfect for the summer months. Anything with fresh berries, corn, or tomatoes comes to mind for me, but so does anything you can grill. Make some lists of recipes you want to try or family favorites you want to cook in spring or summer.
3 – Splurge on a manicure and pedicure for spring. You can also do your own at home, but there is nothing quite like being pampered at a nail salon!
4 – Catch up with a friend over coffee or a glass of wine. Is there someone you haven’t seen in a while but who lifts your spirits when you are with them? Make some plans to get together soon (or when you are out of school).
5 – Another fun splurge is eating really good ice cream. Do you have a favorite ice cream shop in your town or nearby? This would be another fun place to visit with a friend you haven’t seen in a while.
6 – Do a brain dump in a journal. This is one of my favorite ways of getting all the anxious, swirling thoughts out of my head. Any time your head is spinning with all the things you have to do, all the things you’re worried about, just all the things — write it all down. Don’t try to censor yourself in any way or make sense of what you’ve written. Just getting it all out of your head is the point. If you then want to go back and make some sort of list of what you need to do, fine, but it’s also fine to just recycle what you’ve written after you’ve gotten it out of your head.
7 – Plant some flowers or a plant. Even if you don’t have a yard, get a pot, some potting soil, a favorite plant, and get busy! Find a sunny spot and enjoy watching something grow.
8 – Try meditation! I know you’ve probably heard this before, but meditation really does help to calm you and refocus anxious thoughts. I love the Headspace app but there are lots of good ones out there. If you prefer to just try it without an app, sit where you can be quiet and undisturbed for a few minutes, close your eyes, take deep breaths, and stay focused on your breath. Even just five minutes a day makes a big difference!
Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi from Pexels
9 – Do a yoga pose or some stretching. If you need some tips for yoga, Yoga With Adriene is a great resource on YouTube. I also love the little book Office Yoga, which has lots of ideas for yoga poses you can do throughout the day.
10 – Redecorate something. This doesn’t have to be a big HGTV project (although that would be really fun). Just changing your decor or rearranging items can make you feel refreshed. Even just cleaning off your desk space and adding some pretty new items can make a big difference.
Here are some ideas:
11 – Listen to an inspiring podcast or book on Audible.
12 – Think about your daily routine and where you could incorporate some new, healthier habits. Could you go to bed earlier at night so that you can get up earlier to have some time to yourself? Could you drink more water throughout the day? Quit buying junk food so it’s not available in your house? Whatever you think would help to make you a happier, healthier person – find a time or a way to add it to your life!
What are some of your favorite self-care activities for May?
April is one of my very favorite months. The weather is neither too cold nor too hot, there are signs of spring everywhere, and it’s a perfect month for getting outside. If you’re a teacher, April can also be a month where you need a new influx of energy to make it through the last quarter of the school year. Here are 12 ideas!
1 – Find some new playlists on Spotify or your favorite music station. Even better – make your own playlist with songs that either pump you up or relax and calm you. It’s good to have different music available for your different energy needs throughout the day.
2 – Stay hydrated. This can be surprisingly hard to do when you’re teaching all day and don’t get frequent opportunities to use the bathroom. But the energy benefits of staying hydrated make it all worthwhile. Find a great water bottle like this one to encourage you to keep drinking that water!
3 – Keep some protein sources in your bag or desk drawer at school. If you feel your energy getting low during the day, a little hit of protein will often do the trick to pull you out of that energy slump. My favorite protein bars are Quest bars but I also like to keep packages of almonds on hand.
4 – Sit still and take ten deep breaths any time you need to recharge or relax during the day. Focus on breathing in for a count of four and exhaling for a count of four. You’ll be amazed at how much better this simple activity will make you feel.
5 – Keep a list of TV shows or movies you want to watch. Then, when you have a moment to relax with a screen, you’ll remember that great recommendation you got from a friend.
6 – Go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. You can do this at school or when you get home from school. Just find a pretty area and start walking.
7 – Think of five things for which you can be grateful. Try to do this every single morning. Then, at the end of the day, take time to think of five good things that happened during the day. It could be a compliment someone gave you, a lesson that went well, a funny comment made by a student – whatever makes you feel happy and grateful.
8 – Try some kind of new exercise routine. Try a new class at the gym or stream some different workouts from an online service like Beachbody or Nike Training Club.
9 – Spring clean your classroom or your home. Just start with one small area (like a closet or a cabinet) and declutter as much as you can.
10 – Take some time to talk with someone you don’t usually talk to. This could be someone at school (another teacher, a teacher assistant, or other support staff, a custodian) or someone in your neighborhood. Taking the time to connect with another person makes both of you feel “seen” and builds your community.
11 – Make plans with a friend. Now that many of us are getting vaccinated against COVID and now that businesses are opening up more, can you get together for coffee or a meal? Making plans for doing something with others and having something to look forward to is key for mental health.
12 – Sort through your spring clothes. Store your fall/winter clothes or move them to the side of your closet space. Donate the clothes you won’t wear again (for whatever reason). Now take a look at what’s left. What is missing that you really need? New pants or spring blouses? Make a list of what you need and keep that list on your phone so it’s handy whenever you may be shopping.
What are your favorite springtime self-care ideas?
If you’re finding that your students are getting a little lethargic during independent reading, it’s time to change up the routine!
Here are 10 ways to help you do that.
1 – Read aloud. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed that this is my go-to strategy for just about anything! But it is a perfect way to get your kids excited about reading again. Start every single teaching session (or reading lesson) with a read-aloud, no matter how brief.
Here is a link to my updated post with some favorite beginning of year picture books and a link to my post with some favorite beginning of year chapter books. Even though I listed them as beginning-of-the-year books, they are great for any time of the year.
2 – Consider participating in #classroombookaday! Read this post with more information about that. This is a favorite activity in my classroom every year and I have kept it going, even when we were fully remote. This is another great way to incorporate read-aloud, except you use a daily picture book. Since some picture books are longer than others, we don’t always finish the book in one day. That’s okay — the idea is to just keep reading something aloud every day.
3 – Even though most of my students are back in the classroom, many of them have really embraced the whole online book reading experience while they were remote. I am encouraging them to continue reading books online if they want to and to share what they have found with the rest of the class.
4 – Speaking of sharing – allow students to share what they are reading. It’s fun to have an informal sharing session once every week or two. Students can share something they have been reading and tell why they like it. Many times students get ideas for something to read next from something they hear a classmate share.
5 – Advertise the books in your classroom library. Share a bit from a book in a genre you would like to highlight and then offer the book to an interested student. If you have several students who are interested, you could draw names for the “winner.” This is another quick and easy activity you can do frequently.
6 – And speaking of advertising, try First Chapter Fridays! This is where you read the first chapter of a book to get students interested in reading more. If Friday isn’t a great day for you to do this, you can call it something like “Chapter One” day and do it any day of the week that works for you. Auction off the book in a similar way to how you advertise other books. Here is a link to my resource on Teachers Pay Teachers with several book titles that work well for this. Or you could just go through your own classroom library and choose books.
7 – Don’t “kill” the love of independent reading by making students write something or create something for every single book they read. If you want them to keep a record of books as a way to remember what they’ve read or as a way to validate how much they are reading, do that but don’t tie it to any kind of grade.
8 – Allow students to read whatever they want to read during independent reading. This is always a bit controversial for teachers since we believe it is our job to open up new titles and genres to our students. That is why I do book advertisements and First Chapter Fridays. But beyond that, I allow students to read or reread whatever they want to read. Make suggestions, encourage new titles, but then allow students to choose.(You can always introduce new genres and titles through guided reading or book clubs.)
10 – I am all about simplifying. The best way I have found to simplify book discussions or writing about reading is to use the questions from the Book-Head-Heart framework. This framework was created and described by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst in their book Disrupting Thinking. They have a great new book out – Forged by Reading: The Power of a Literate Life – which takes the Book-Head-Heart framework a step further. Here is a picture of the Book-Head-Heart framework poster from my classroom.
The open-ended questions are my favorite part. It allows for students to share their own thinking rather than to try to get “right answers” from reading a book. This leads to rich discussions and seeing a text through a student’s eyes and understanding. I love it. Give it a try!
Changing up the routine from time to time is a good thing. Let me know if any of these ideas work for you!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
