Teacher Organization Hacks to Prepare For Next Year

The school year is winding down, and you can nearly taste summer break! Some teachers have a vacation planned, some will be living out their pool-side dreams, and others are dying to tackle house projects. With summer on the brain, you might be tempted to pile your teaching stuff into boxes and call it a day. But you will thank yourself later if you use these teacher organization hacks for the end of the year.

By doing a little prep work before school ends, you can really enjoy your summer and come back to school next year with less stress. Here are a few teacher organization hacks to help you prepare for next year (so you can spend your summer stress-free).

Prepping for Next School Year

#1 Brain Dump

Nothing will sink your pool floaty faster than carrying the weight of all of your ideas for the next school year. One of my favorite teacher organization hacks is doing a brain dump.

During the last week or two of school, keep a running list of all your to-do items. Notice you’re low on certain supplies? Struck with inspiration about a back to school lesson? Add all these items to your braindump list.

Getting these thoughts and ideas out of your head and onto paper will make it easier to relax – knowing you can come back to those items later. I recommend keeping these items on a Google Doc or your phone notes app so you can quickly edit it when you accomplish a task (or jot down any ideas during a mid-day nap).

#2 Organize

One of the ultimate teacher organization hacks is to, well, organize! I know a lot of times teachers are required to pack up their classroom, so their room can be used for summer school or the custodians can do a deep clean. Which means it’s easy to throw your junk in a box and leave it to your future self to deal with the chaos.

However, organization is going to be your best friend. Start by creating an “open first” box. This might include your laptop charger, pens, notepads, supplies, and curriculum notes you may need right away. This makes it easy to show up for the first day of PD without having to riffle through all the chaos.

For all other boxes, labeling is the way to go. You can organize by cabinet, the type of supply, or with whatever system works best for your brain. You don’t want to waste your time opening every single box when you’re just looking for one specific supply. This will also help if you are moving classrooms and have help with the boxes.

Lastly, use any opportunity for packing or cleaning up to get rid of old items – and organize the ones you plan to keep. For example, you might find a hidden box of tissues (SCORE!), so make sure it lands in the right place. 

#3 Clean

Out of all the teacher organization hacks, this was the one I dreaded the most. It is so easy to accumulate junk when teaching – and so hard to throw it away.

Start inventorying your supplies. Those dried-up markers? Chewed-up pencils? Books that are falling apart? It might be time to let them go. 

Then, do a quick clean of your supply bins, caddies, shelves, drawers, etc. This includes your teacher desk. Surfaces get super dirty in a classroom, so this is your chance to deep clean and start fresh next year. Plus, your future self will thank you when you come back to a clean room. 

Another sneaky place for dust and dirt to hide is in your classroom library. Move all the books, wipe down the shelves, and take out any books that need repair or replacing. Starting next year with clean supplies and furniture will make a world of difference.

#4 Inventory

Remember those dried up markers you threw away? Now it’s time to replace them. Take inventory to know what supplies are well stocked, and which ones need to be ordered. Then, fill out your supply requests, if you’re lucky enough to have them at your school. Or make a wishlist for future parents, PTO, friends, or family to help you fill.

Once you have supplies taken care of, you can move on to your book inventory. We know that books don’t last forever, so make a note of any books you need to toss so you can be on the lookout for ones to replace them. You might also want a list of books you’re hoping to snag over the summer.  If you’re looking for ways to find classroom library books for cheap, check out this blog.

#5 Plan

This is where your future self will really start to thank you. Think about an activity or two you could use for the first week of school. Weirdly, I always found this easier to do at the end of the school year when my brain was used to planning as opposed to coming off of summer break when I was used to watching Netflix all hours of the day.

If you’re pressed for time or the copy machine is a hot commodity, print at least one copy of each activity so you can make copies when setting up your classroom. Having that first week planned and put away somewhere easy to grab is one of my best teacher organization hacks.

#6 Summer To-Do List

Last but not least, take a few minutes to jot down a list of things you want to get done over the summer. This can be fun things like vacations or hobbies, or things you want to do to support your professional learning. Think of it like a summer bucket list, so you can make the most of your time away from school.

You can grab my summer checklists for teachers here.

Happy almost-summer. I really hope these teacher organization hacks help you feel prepared for next school year and allow you to truly enjoy your break. You’ve earned it, and the finish line is in sight!