It’s July 4th! Teachers, parents, and students everywhere are finally in Summer mode and then when they return home from their July 4th festivities…
BAM!!!! BACK TO SCHOOL IS IN THE AIR.
You can’t escape it. The stores are spewing with primary colors, nicely sharpened pencils and crayons, binders, lunch boxes, beautifully colored folders and notebooks. And the back to school excitement begins.
It’s exciting, yet sad all at the same time. You start to think about all you had planned for the summer that didn’t get accomplished, you get nervous about what the new school year holds, and even though it’s still summer…
Your Back to School Brain starts to prepare you for the new school year.
Each year my family goes on vacation in mid July. This vacation typically marks the end of my sweet summer relaxed way of thinking and the beginning of Back to School Brain.
Back to School Brain – a shift in a persons mind that focuses in on preparing for a new school year.
Back to School Brain starts for me when our annual vacation is coming to an end. I begin to mentally plan and when I get home, I spend a little time each day preparing my new classroom, writing student names on everything, and getting ready for Meet the Teacher Night.
I’d like to share with you 3 things that will help you prepare for Back to School, but still allow you time to enjoy the rest of summer in a relaxing way!
1. Read
Each summer I try to read for my own enjoyment, for me that is fiction. But I also choose a book or two that will help me with professional/personal development. In the past our teaching staff read some books together with the goal of learning and implementing some of the same ideas!
If you need some ideas of book that I recommend click here.
2. Find a Blog to Follow
Learning from others is my favorite thing to do when it comes to improving my practices at home or at school. I am constantly searching Pinterest (follow me here) for ideas to use in my classroom and even for at home (cooking, parenting, fashion, etc.) Because let’s face it we are not experts at everything.
How to find great blogs:
- Search for the need that you have or your current situation: I’ve taught every grade from 4th grade down to Kindergarten and each time I shifted grade levels I’d simply search for the grade I was teaching. Social Media makes this really simple!
- Check out the Teach Better Team’s Blog by clicking here! There are so many different blogs, I’m positive you will find your interest there.
- When you find a blog that you like. Sign up for their Newsletter or connect with them on social media. This way you will get updates when they post something new.
3. Use your Building Specialists as a Resource
You have the best resource for new ideas and classroom strategies right in your buiding.
Do you know who your building specialists are?
Your building specialists are those people in your building that are just that…SPECIALIZED! They are specialized in areas of developmental growth. This is why they are typically used to support students that have been diagnosed with a delay. BUT…here comes my pet peeve
WHY DON’T THE REGULAR-ED STUDENTS/TEACHERS HAVE ACCESS TO THESE SAME STRATEGIES AND TOOLS WHEN EVERY CHILD NEEDS TIME TO DEVELOP IN THESE AREAS!
If we focused on Developmental Growth for ALL learners in the early years, we just might have less students with deficiencies in those areas.
Erin Mengeu
Use these colleagues, these specialists as a resource. Simply go to them and ask them this question:
What are little moves I can make in my classroom that will help develop my students ____________________ (insert: executive function skills, speaking/listening, social emotional learning, gross/fine motor skills, literacy skills, etc.)
I’d like you to meet Kathy Tobias! She is one of the many specialists I worked with for many many years. I was lucky enough to have her teach inclusion in my classroom. Through the years I learned so much from her, as did my students.
Kathy will be a guest Blogger sharing her passion, “Kommunication In Your Klassroom” in my next blog article in the Summer Blog Series! You won’t want to miss it!
Back to School Brain sneaks up on you quickly! Don’t let it invade your entire summer! Enjoy the sweet summertime! We all need to be filled back up before we start pouring into others! Enjoy your summer and enjoy the Back to School Season (it’s always been one of my favorite times of the year!
Enjoy Being Their Difference!
I loved hearing about ways that you continue to grow and develop professionally and personally over the summer. Once the Fourth of July hits, i start to get my brain in the school mindset again as well. I also try to read fiction stories over the break as well to relax and unwind! It was great hearing about what other teachers do to make sure that they are set for the next school year.