5 Important Back to School Checklist for Teachers

Despite spending over a month enjoying summer vacation, the holidays never seem enough for students and teachers. But then you also miss teaching and interacting with students. The summer is about to end, and the classes will start. Teachers and students meet again after a long time. It can be overwhelming to start school work after a month of break. 

Here is a back-to-school checklist that you can follow to make things easier for you. This school checklist will help you start your online classes smoothly after the break. In addition, it will ensure you are ready with everything you need for the upcoming courses.

School Checklist – Go through the syllabus

Before school starts, it is a good idea to brush up on the syllabus. If the syllabus stays pretty much the same as the last year, a revision will help you freshen up on the old stuff. And in case the syllabus gets changed and updated, read and learn about the new additions. Having a good grasp of the subject at hand can make things so much easier for you the whole school year. Moreover, it will reduce your time to prepare for the classes.

Make notes to organize and plan the lessons. This will give you a framework to design the year-long curriculum. Highlight all the important topics and subtopics. It will remind you to emphasize them when you are teaching the students. Have a clear picture in your mind regarding the contents and structure of the lessons. Navigating through multiple studies and topics will become easier.

Plan the annual curriculum

Once you have a clear idea of the syllabus and the contents, move on to designing the curriculum. Multiple things are involved in planning a curriculum. To avoid getting overwhelmed by planning the whole thing, categorize it. Plan all of these things one by one:

• The teaching plan – Grab the entire syllabus. Divide it into digestible chunks. Assign weeks to each of these chapters. And plan it over the entire year. Keep the curriculum flexible. Digitally making a teaching plan is much better than the pen and paper version. You can constantly keep updating the calendar as things proceed.
• Exam Schedule – Assign and create tests and assign approximate dates for unit tests and term exams. And accordingly, divide the number of chapters for each test. Keep enough time between the completion of the exam syllabus and the actual exam date. Thus, students can have enough time to prepare for the exam and give their best.
• Projects and assignments – Apart from the regular homework, projects and assignments are given to students. Having these already planned will make your and your student’s life easier. They can prepare in advance for the project and submit it on time. The quality of project submissions will also improve this way.

Shopping for school

Buy all the things you need for school before it starts. You don’t want to look for important things you need for school during the busy school days. The shopping checklist for teachers online is different from the regular school supplies.

• A good quality wireless headset – You can use the laptop’s inbuilt microphone. But a headset helps cancel the background noise and makes your voice much more audible and more transparent.
• Keep a scanner app ready. This can be used to send handwritten notes online.
• If you can invest in one, get a graphic tablet. It is a much smoother way to teach. It gives you the ease of writing like you are writing in a notebook. And it is visible to all the students. No more markers and dusters. Just one digital device that takes care of all your teaching needs.

Prepare teaching aids and notes

It can be challenging to take out time to write notes and prepare teaching aids when you are busy taking classes daily. So, it is a good idea to get them ready before school. This will make your life during the school days so much easier. You can also have some pre-recorded videos ready to upload on your app. Creating mind maps and presentations for each chapter can also make learning easy and fun.

Welcome your students and their parent

Ideally, the first class should aim at introducing yourself to the students and getting to know them. Teaching is recommended to avoid on the first day of school. You can also organize a parents meeting to inform them about this year’s curriculum. Here, you can educate them about how they can help their kids with their academics. Make your objectives clear to the students and parents. 

Now that you are ready with the checklist start ticking off each of these items.

If you are passionate about teaching and wish to expand their online coaching business then you must connect with Classplus which can help you get your own app for your coaching class. There will be tools to implement all the actions and streamline the whole process of teaching online. You can create courses and sell them on your app. This will help you create a passive source of income aside from your regular teaching.