It’s time to get organized for January and getting back into the school groove! Let’s see if Teach Junkie can help break down some new calendar year stuff as your personal teacher’s assistant. {wink} So, let’s take a day to really plan and organize your fantastic self. Here are some of the things to do!
How to Organize
1. Now is the time to look ahead at the rest of your 2014-1015 planning calendar in your teacher binder. Do a self check to see if you’re on track with where you want your class to be since state testing and other Holidays seem to always steal a chunk of valuable teaching time.
2. Finding materials quick will hep you save on prep time, so add a few printable supply labels to make it happen! Easily save on time looking for what you need when you need it. I’ve got more teacher organization ideas to spark your interest and help make it simple for you!
Gifts and Events
3. With the excitement of the new year, teacher love to restock their students’ school supply stash with a Happy new year gift. Replacing erasers, pencils or restocking your classroom with crayons is a fresh way to start off the new year with your class.
4. Order yourself a Happy 100th Day of School t-shirt before it’s the big day. While this is popular with many primary teachers, anyone can celebrate with comfy gear!
Personal Assistant
4. Before we even start thinking about the craziness that begins as we creep towards the end of the year, keep your sanity by having the big priorities written down. Write down the most important things that are absolute must-do’s and pencil them into your planning book or planning binder. Give yourself a buffer to get them done!
5. Plan something creative. Get your own personal creativity back now that the Holidays are over. Find a time and place to work on something creative that speaks to you. Take a walk and snap some fantastic photos, finish off that scrapbook page or print a new photo of your family to put in your classroom.
6. Change it up by freshening up your own teacher supply stash. Reinvent your teacher space with polka dots, grab a fresh binder cover or re-cover storage boxes. Keeping things new and fresh will help you stay on top of your game.
January Activities
7. Get your math on! Now is the time to differentiate your students’ work since teaching procedures is so last semester. Dig into your curriculum and go deep – spend your class time investigating, exploring and playing games to create a solid math foundation.
8. It’s a new year and a new chance to develop writers! Take from the collection of 27 Teacher Tools for the New Year the writing pages and projects that will get your students back into the writing flow.
9. Get your young readers making connections and predicting using The Relatives Came. This is a great story to use just after the Holidays!
10. Get a glimpse of everyone’s winter break with a snapshots of winter break quick printable.
11. Get your measurement in no matter what types of standard or non-standard unit in your standards. Use the creativity of creating snowmen and measuring them to pull it all together.
12. Use a cut and paste snowman template or a shaving cream and glue snowman to make an All I Need for a Snowman writing piece.
Classroom Management
13. Jot down ideas about teaching procedures so that when you’re planning for next year, you’ll have notes from when everything is fresh in your mind. Feeling like you need to amp it up with a little positivity? Check out these 10 Positive Behavior Ideas and Procedures in the Classroom
Worksheets for January
14. Telling time is on the docket with these simple snowmen for telling time to the hour.
15. If you continuing to keep your days packed with learning, then a ten more, ten less polar bear themed printable might be just right for your first grade class.
16. Color the snowman by solving beginning addition equations. With only 4 colors needed, this one will be quick!
17. With snow in the forecast for many of us, perhaps skip counting by 5’s snowmen is the right fit for your first grade classroom.
18. Get feedback on books kids are reading with these simple January book reports.
Martin Luther King Jr. Resources
18. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is coming. Writing activities and videos for MLK’s birthday seem to make this a good fit all the way up to fifth grade.
19. Let students dream like Dr. King in this I can dream like Dr. King reflection page or this My dream looks like page.
Valentine’s Day is coming up next month! Be sure to share your tip or idea by uploading it to the Teach Junkie community so we can ooh and ahh over it! {wink}
What helps you be prepared for the new calendar year at school?
Let me know below in the comments or we message about it on the Teach Junkie Facebook page. I love to hear from you and really want to help you plan your month. {that way I can have your back!}
Teach Junkie
Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} loves learning new things to make teaching easier and more effective. She enjoys featuring creative classroom fun when she's not designing teacher shirts, making kindergarten lesson plans or planning her family's next trip to Disney World.