Back to School Bonanza!

I hope this past week has helped as teachers get ready for back to school!  If you missed any posts: I included my first day plans, curriculums and changes, how I ditched the review, and my favorite buys for each new school year.

We are all in the same boat during the beginning of the school year- overwhelmed and excited with new ideas, overwhelmed with everything you have to do in your classroom and with your curriculum, exhausted from changing from the more leisurely pace of summer, and just pretty much wanting to spend the time chatting and catching up with your teacher friends!

I wanted to share some of the other posts that I have seen from previous years and this year to help you prepare even more!  I have broken it down into topics as well:

General back to school:

• If you haven’t downloaded this resource library for Secondary Spanish teachers, you should do it!  They also have one for elementary Spanish teachers.  (Although the raffle is over- don’t worry, I didn’t win either! 🙂
• Also- for elementary school teachers, El Mundo de Pepita has already published a huuuuuge list to help you with back to school!
• Kara discusses how to assess the community standard.
• Some resources from Arianne for back to school
• The beginning of the year is a perfect time to really focus on your classroom management.
• Allison also compiled a huuuuge list of ideas for back to school!
• And some more free back to school resources from Señora Chase.

Specific lesson plans/ideas:

• Allison posts a reflection on her first few weeks of school.
• Also, she posted a way to start the year with high frequency words.  She also has translated these plans into French!
• La Maestra Loca has plans for the first week of school from pre-K to high school!
• Also Profe Tauchman shares an exit ticket and survey to give to students in the first few days.
• This post gives concrete examples on how to create community in your classes which is so important during the first few weeks.
• In this post, Laura Sexton explains how she is going to start her year.
• Martina’s post from a few years ago contains a great round-up of ideas for the first day of school for all languages.
• Wendy’s plans for back to school week in French
• How to explain proficiency with tacos 
• Sharon explains how she helps student acclimate back to school without a “review.”
• Lisa Shepard explains how she plans her units (and at the beginning of the year) without a textbook.
• How Carrie planned to start her school year

Syllabus:

• Señora Chase posted her syllabus and a letter that explains proficiency based grading to parents.
• Creative Language Class shares ideas for their proficiency based syllabus.

Decorating:

• If you are a bit more craftier than I am, you can check out some of Viviana’s ideas on how to decorate with a budget.
• Creative Language Class discusses how to keep your class decor simple.
• How to create a classroom that focuses on students
• Nathan explains how to organize your space

 

• For EVERYONE at the beginning of the year, how to stay balanced when you are busy.
• And how to get things done during an unpredictable schedule.

Hope this list can get you started, so you are going back to school with a bang!