InClass

As I approach my eleventh year of teaching, 10 of which have been in the Balsz Elementary School District, you would think I would have back-to-school with kindergarten down to a fine art. While I have perfected aspects of planning those first days, there is one piece that keeps me up at night. Fortunately, I have learned a few things that have saved me year after year:

• Prepare way more than you ever think you will use. Typically, this is inevitable because I always underestimate how long everything takes to complete. One year, I had a shockingly efficient group of students, and was out of plans with two hours left in the day (yikes!). Although it is a cliché, it is true: It is better to be over prepared than underprepared.
  
  
• Schedule every minute of the first week of school. I like to make a PowerPoint for each day. Doing so helps me transition from one activity to another without having to clumsily look over plans while my baby kindergarteners go wild. Back-to-school season is legitimately like herding cats.
  
  
• Plan everything the week before the first days back, because each afternoon when the dismissal bell rings, you will be way too exhausted to plan for the next.