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What Should Teachers Be Doing For Their Classes Over The Summer?

If you are a teacher who struggles to find time to prepare for lessons while simultaneously planning and managing the rest of the coursework and activities, you are not alone. However, you can make the school year a lot smoother simply by preparing for it during the summer.

If you are like most teachers who put in an average of 40 hours in a week to school, summer is the perfect time to organize your upcoming year to allow you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. So, use the summer break productively to allow a stress-free transition into the new school year.

Don't forget, summer is also an excellent time for you to unwind and get a much-deserved physical and mental rest. You have had a long school year; it is now time for you to rest and relax to return to the classroom more productive!

In this article, we have put together a list of things teachers should be doing for their classes over the summers. Keep reading to find out!

Summer Break: Tips on What Teachers Should be Doing for Their Classes

Here are some tips on what teachers should be doing over the summer to prepare for their classes:

1. Connecting with Students and Their Parents

Summer is a great time to connect with students and their families. So, use this time to create open communication. You can reach out to teachers who have taught this class previously and discuss each student's progress individually.

A great way for everyone to ease into the new school year would be to host an event inviting all the students and their parents. Teachers need to get out in the community where they teach and build strong connections and professional affiliations.

The list of students for the new school year is generally prepared by schools well in advance before it is released. So, this is the perfect time to get a hold of that list and study your student's achievements and areas that need improvement. To save time during the hectic school year, you can set up student files with their name tags and other personal and academic data.

2. Professional Reading

Summertime is here! Summer presents an excellent opportunity to catch up on some professional reading that will help deepen your knowledge on improving your teaching styling and give you insights into the best teaching practices to support and enhance student growth.

Here is a list of books every teacher must read:

- How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough

- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

- What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America by Ted Dintersmith

- Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn by Gregory C. R. Yates and John Hattie

- The Innovator's Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and learn A Culture of Creativity by George Couros.

- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear.

Teachers play a vital role in the students' lives in preparing them to succeed in academic and professional lives. Reading is a way to develop and improve your teaching skills.

3. Attend Professional Workshops and Webinars

You might not get time for this during a busy school year, so attend as many workshops as you can during the summer. You spend the entire year teaching students; summer is the perfect time for you to work on your personal and professional development.

Meet with coaches and other teachers and share teaching ideas. It would help you join teacher groups on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) to keep up-to-date with upcoming events like teacher workshops and webinars.

4. Research and Explore New Teaching Tools

Invest time researching new teaching tools that will enhance the teaching process and, ultimately, student learning; for example, Google Calendar is an excellent tool to help you manage deadlines and keep track of upcoming activities and events during the school year.

Traditional classroom tools like a blackboard, charts, posters, flashcards, maps, textbooks, etc., are just as crucial in teaching. Still, you will find that incorporating technology would make your life a lot easier.

Here are some of the best classroom tools for teachers:

- Trello
- Quizlet
- Google Classroom
- Class Deji
- Tomato Timer
- Just Press Record

5. Prepare Your Class Lessons in Advance

It would help you use summertime to prepare lectures, presentations, activities, and quizzes for your students. Preparing in advance will help you find time to work on other things during the school year.

You might find it challenging to prepare lessons, mark quizzes, and coordinate student activities all at once during the school year, so set aside thirty minutes daily to prepare and plan our new school year.

6. Organize Educational Field Trips and Guest Speaker Sessions

Summer is the perfect opportunity for you to send out emails and book time slots for educational trips and guest speaker sessions, allowing the school year to pass smoothly and more time to focus on lessons and student assessments.

7. Self-care and Rejuvenation

Last but not least, use this time to take care of yourself. Join a summer retread or visit the spa. Read books and watch movies you were previously putting off and pamper yourself. Ensure that you allow yourself sufficient downtime to charge up for the new school year.

Teaching students requires a lot of energy, so you will want to start the year better rested to shape and nurture young minds.

You might be wondering how this help prepares for the new school year, so it is essential for you to understand that taking time for yourself ultimately ensures that your students meet the most positive and productive version of you.

Wrapping Up

Make your summer productive by planning for the smooth functioning of the upcoming school year. Don't forget to relax and unwind; you deserve the time off! We hope this guide was helpful and will help you start the new school year more productively.