Usually, a “break” means relaxation and refueling. However, if you are an educator, you might see it as working to be off of work to come back and work to catch up from being off work. That sounded a bit confusing and chaotic, didn’t it? That’s exactly how many educators feel when big breaks come during the school year. Yes! There is excitement for the time away, but there is so much to do before leaving and returning from break.
To avoid the stressful hustle of preparing for Christmas break, I have a few tips to keep things moving smoothly. This way, you can look forward to your break without worrying about all the things you may have to do when you come back.
This is something you can begin working on at the beginning of the school year, but it is absolutely okay if you pick it up now. Start organizing your classroom materials in an efficient and functional way. Switch out your seasonal totes of decor and resources, declutter your books by season/subject throughout the year, and keep labels on EVERYTHING. This will help you to quickly pack away your Christmas things before the break without doing an entire clean-out.
Utilize your space the best you can by storing things in purposeful ways. Such as using the empty spaces above your cabinets and creating a system that helps you know where your items are year-round. I wrote a blog about storing and organizing throughout the year; you can find it at the end of this blog for amazing organization tips and links to the best products!
I love to include my students in my process! It is beneficial to me as I have help and also beneficial to them as they get a bit of responsibility in the classroom. They can help take down bulletin boards and decorations, clean the room, and even sort through papers that need to be sent home. This takes the minuscule tasks off your hands so you can do things they can’t help with.
There’s always so much free time left towards the last few days before the break, and it can be hard to entertain students. While a movie is playing or during free time, you can pull some excited-to-help kiddos to your aid!
If your grade teachers do not come together and create lesson plans and other activities for the coming months, then you go ahead and get a head start. Having a game plan for when you come back will help you feel less stressed during pre-planning. You can pull the resources you know you will be using and do a bit of prep before the break. This allows you to have as many things ready to go when the break is over rather than rushing to get things prepped right before students return.
You can line up fun and engaging activities for the winter season that are low-prep now, too! You can find amazing winter resources and more here!
While having things prepared for after the break can be extremely beneficial, you don’t have to work yourself too hard to have everything lined up perfectly. It’s okay to leave a few tasks to be handled during pre-planning. Do what you can before the break in your free time, but don’t make yourself stay super late or stress over having every little thing done. This is what causes more work than we need!
Be kind to yourself.
While our educator mind is focused on preparing for the holiday break and what comes after, it is still Christmas time! Don’t forget to slow down and enjoy the last few days of this first semester. It is a milestone in the year, and you deserve to enjoy it with your students and co-workers. Have Christmas parties, watch the Christmas movies, and give a cute goody bag to your kiddos. Making the most of the season with joy is always the best way to go into the holiday break!
If you are looking to find Christmas-themed time-filler activities, centers, or morning work for your kiddos, check these out!
Here is the blog I mentioned earlier with all the organizational tips you’ll need:
