Summer Tips and Tricks for an Easy Start to the School Year!

If you are like me, you want to do some "school stuff" over the summer, but also want to get in a ton of relaxing and family time.  As teachers and moms we are always balancing something.  Over the summer I'll be highlighting a few things that I have found helpful to do during the summer over the last 16 years of teaching.

Tip #1 ~ RELAX!!!  (Really)

When I first started teaching, I was always working on school stuff. When your kids are at camp, or at a friends (or if you don't have kids) it's easy to end up doing "just a little" work on something related to school.  I learned that I was a much better teacher if I made the effort to set aside time for me during the summer.  Read a trashy magazine from cover to cover, read a non-school related book, go get a pedicure, go out for a glass of wine with a girl friend (or even your hubby), just be sure do set aside specific time that thinking about school is not allowed.

Tip #2 ~ MAKE LISTS

Really...I know teachers are great at this, but sometimes with the busy summer days it's easy to forget great ideas, or end up working on 12 things at once.  And then you go to Target and the Dollar Spot makes you add 12 more projects to what you'd like to get done.  I make two main lists, and I finally got smart and made them on my phone so they are always with me.

First I make a list of things I want to do when the year starts.  These are those "great ideas" you read about on a blog, or something that pops into your head.  Balancing being a mama and teacher means, if I don't write it down, I won't remember it.  Here is my list so far this summer:

I also keep a running list of supplies I need to by.  I just made a big order through my district, and hit the dollar school (hard) so my list is pretty short right now.

Keeping running lists during the summer makes getting supplies easier and helps keep track of those great ideas.

Come back soon for more tips!

~ Enjoy!  Lara