[00:00:00] Hey friends. Welcome back to the Firstieland Podcast. I’m your host, Molly Schwab. Well, the countdown is on, my friends, and if you aren’t already on winter break, you soon will be. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably counting the minutes until you can run out that door. Believe me, I understand that feeling.

But here’s the thing, before you get too excited, one of the best things you can do before you leave school for your holiday break is to prepare for your first week back in January.

The last thing any teacher wants is chaos and confusion when you return to school after the holidays. So today I have 11 tips to help you get your classroom ready for a successful transition back to school in January. So let’s get started.

Okay, you are just about ready to walk out that door, and you’re not gonna be back until January, but before you go, these are the things you need to do in order to be ready when you get back to school.

Number [00:01:00] one: take down your holiday decorations. I’m not sure if you’re anything like me, but lots of teachers, including myself, like to decorate their classrooms with Christmas or other holiday decorations in December. And the last thing you wanna do is leave those decorations up until January. Imagine walking back into school, ready for a fresh start to the school year, and then staring you in the face is a Christmas tree and some leftover party decorations. Not only is that hanging over your head to clean up, but holiday decorations can get kids all excited and off track no matter what time of the year.

It’s not a good idea to have kids coming back to class with remnants of your holiday party or forgotten Santa cams or classroom elves still sitting on the shelf. So give your classroom a quick refresh by taking down any holiday decorations or bulletin boards before you leave school for winter break.

And then while you’re at it, give your whiteboard a nice cleaning, straighten your classroom library, and maybe [00:02:00] replenish art supplies if needed at your art center. Just do an all-around quick cleanup so that you can come back to a well-organized classroom. Kids are gonna come back to school with lots of great memories of the holidays, but they’re also gonna be ready to get back to business in January.

Alright, number two is to change your classroom calendar. That first day back from winter break can sometimes be a little hectic and confusing. Kids are excited to tell you all about their holidays, parents are sending important notes and reminders, and chances are you’re gonna have an inbox full of emails.

So make sure to change your classroom calendar to January of the next year before you leave school for winter break. You want it to be ready so you can start your morning meeting off right. I used a digital calendar, so that made it pretty quick and easy to change to a new month.

But if you use a calendar on the bulletin board, you’ll want to make sure that you have that all set up and ready to go for January 1st. If you are looking for a new calendar [00:03:00] and you want to grab the one that I used, you can grab it at firstieland.com/calendar.

And then, while you’re changing your calendar, make sure you prep your morning message to your students before you leave for winter break too. Simple things like this can really save you a lot of time and aggravation and honestly be a game changer when it comes to organization and classroom management. When you’re prepped and ready to go, things are gonna go much smoother and your class is gonna be better behaved. So your January self will thank you for that.

Alright, number three is to prepare your lesson plans. As much as you wanna get out of school to start your winter break, nobody wants to spend it writing lesson plans. I mean, I really want to shout that at the top of my lungs, but I won’t do that here to you.

You deserve a relaxing winter break. You deserve to enjoy your family, watch movies, take a nap—whatever makes you happy during your [00:04:00] time off. And you don’t want to spend it writing lesson plans. So one of the best decisions you can make is to write your first week of January lesson plans before you leave for winter break.

Use one of your planning periods during that last week of school to write those plans, and that includes your small-group plans too. The last thing you want to do when you come back to school is be scrambling around trying to figure out what to teach, and making sure that your lesson plans are ready to go is the perfect way to ensure a smooth start in January.

You know when teachers are unorganized, that’s when kids get out of control. So take the time to have those lesson plans all prepared so that you can feel ready to go on that first day of school after winter break.

Number four: prepare your materials. After you get those lesson plans written, make sure you prep all your materials too. Run all your copies for that entire first week back in January. If you’re planning any kind of special crafts, get your construction paper [00:05:00] and your patterns and all of that ready to go.

Are you gonna need any picture books for that first week back? Gather everything you’re gonna need so you’ll have it at your fingertips when you return to school. If you’re gonna be using any anchor charts in your activities, get them ready too so everything is ready to grab as needed.

When your materials are prepped and ready, it’s gonna make you feel more prepared, and that’s gonna lead to your students feeling calm, and your classroom management will be on point for when you return from winter break. Plus, you’re not gonna have to think about it over your break and your vacation. You’re not gonna have to think, “Oh, I gotta get my papers ready,” or “Oh, I gotta write my lesson plans.” You don’t have to think about any of that if you have it done before you leave for break.

Number five: before you leave for winter break, get your January centers ready to go. You’re gonna want to hit the ground running with small-group instruction right away, so having your math and literacy centers ready is a must.

So think about what kinds of activities you’re gonna [00:06:00] want at your centers and get everything ready before you leave for break. I kept all of my monthly math and literacy centers in storage boxes that I kept in my cupboard, so every month I could just change out my centers quickly and then put away any leftover activities from the prior month.

In January, we were usually working on blends, words with endings, long vowels, and then in math we were usually working on various addition and subtraction strategies. So these were some of the types of activities that I had at my centers.

If you wanna see what we did for my January centers up close, you can head over to my blog at firstieland.com/januarycenters—one word.

Alright, number six: clean your desk. Chances are by the last day before winter break, your desk is piled high with gifts and cards and leftover candy and party treats. So take a few minutes to straighten up your teacher desk or your work area before you leave for winter break, because nobody wants to come back to a messy desk. [00:07:00]

Lay your lesson plans out on your desk and any reminders that you might need for that first day back. If you’re like me and always forgot to send my lunch count to the office, write a few quick reminders or to-do lists on some sticky notes, place them on your desk for when you return, and then throw away any junk that’s cluttering up your desk.

It’s little things like this that can really help you feel prepared in January. In the rush of excitement when you return to school, you’re gonna be happy to have a clean desk with some little reminders of important tasks you don’t want to forget.

Number seven: unplug and shut down. Take a few minutes before you shut out the lights and head out the door to turn everything off. Shut down all your computers, unplug them if that’s your school policy, or plug your tablets in so they’ll be charged up and ready for when you return, and lock up any valuables for safety over winter break.

Alright, number eight is to rearrange your furniture. Now, this isn’t something that’s completely necessary, but sometimes I’d rearrange my [00:08:00] furniture before I left for winter break. If you have certain kids that are on your radar and need to be moved, take a minute to move their desks or tables before you leave.

That way when kids come back to school in January, they’re gonna be excited to see the new kids at their table, and it can give your classroom management a little refresh if needed. Another nice idea is to have a fresh box of crayons and new pencils ready for every kid. It’s a great way to welcome kids back to school and get them excited about all the new activities they’ll be doing in class.

Okay, number nine is to have a new bulletin board up when kids come back to school in January. It’s a nice touch, but if you don’t have the time or you’re just too exhausted at the end of the school day, just leave your bulletin board empty. Then you can plan some fun winter writing activities or crafts for your first week back at school and use that to cover your board with student work.

Okay, number 10—this is an important one—throw out old food. Make sure to clean out the [00:09:00] fridge and empty your cupboards of any old food or party leftovers before you leave for winter break. Nobody wants to come back to a classroom that smells like sour milk or find out that mice have invaded your cupboards.

Finally, number 11: make sure you give your kids a hug or a high five as you send them on their way to start their winter break. Lots of kids are excited about winter break, but some may be feeling sad or anxious, and they may have a hard time leaving at the end of the day. School is a safe harbor for lots of kids, so let them know that you’re gonna miss them and that you’ll be there when they return.

So there you have it—11 simple things that you can do before you head out the door for winter break that are gonna make your return in January so much smoother. I know how hard you’ve been working this semester, and you absolutely deserve a restful, peaceful break. So take the time to relax, recharge, and enjoy your family and friends. And [00:10:00] when you walk back into your classroom in the new year, you’re gonna feel calm and organized and ready to tackle whatever comes your way.

So until next time, remember to make learning feel like play, and I’ll see you next week.

Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope you’re walking away with some great tips that you can use right away. Be sure to hit the follow or subscribe button so you never miss an episode. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love it if you’d leave a review. You can find the show notes and links for everything mentioned in this episode at firstieland.com.

I’ll see you next week in Firstieland.