We all know the feeling, even if we’ve been teaching for many years. The holidays are coming to an end and even the most experienced of us are feeling a twinge of back to school worries. We’ve spent the last couple of months relaxing. Maybe we’ve been teaching a few weeks of summer school or a couple of summer classes, nothing too strenuous. But now the first day of school is fast approaching.
With it comes all the excitement and worries of a new start, both good and bad. It’s not just the kids who have first day of school jitters. Back to school worries for teachers are a complicated mixture of emotions but also completely natural. We’re happy to start again and see old and new friends and students but also nervous about getting into the school routine again and coping with all the challenges the new year will bring. Over the years, I’ve found different ways to get over these jitters and start looking forward to going back to school. What do you think? If you have any tips to add, please leave them in the comments at the end.
Think of it as a chance to make a fresh start
Try not to think of what went wrong last year or that wasn’t a success. You can’t do anything about it now and it won’t help you to keep going over it. The beauty of a school year is that every September you can make a fresh start. Think of it as an opportunity to make any changes you’ve been considering and to start off on a whole new footing. Make a list of everything you want to achieve this year and what you want to learn. Look forward to a brand new year rather than backwards to the old one.
Take the opportunity to learn new things
What new things do you want to try with your classes? What do you want to do differently? Have you heard or read about any new techniques or teaching strategies that sound really great and that you want to introduce in your class? Do you want to do any training to improve your teaching? Maybe you’re new to teaching and have lots of new things to learn and try.
This is the perfect moment to think about all these things. Having lots of new ideas will give you a new enthusiasm for your job, remind you why you are doing it and help you look forward to all the new opportunities of a new school year.
Meet up with colleagues
At the company where I work, every year in September we have a couple of training days to prepare for the new school year. Although I’ve been working there for years now and a lot of the subjects covered at the training day are very familiar, I still always go along and find it very helpful. It’s a chance to catch up with old colleagues and meet new ones.
I find it fun and infectious to see the enthusiasm in brand new teachers and share experiences with teachers who’ve been doing it for a while. I like to hear what’s happening and learn new things. It’s also good to see that back to school anxiety for teachers is something we all have in common and that we can help each other. I find it reassuring to be able to share any concerns before school starts to avoid any potential problems and help overcome any back to school worries.
Any discussion and training is helpful even if you’ve covered the subjects before. There will always be new things to learn about. It makes teaching strategies and techniques fresh in your mind again so you feel confident going into a new school year. So grab any opportunity you can to meet up with old colleagues and to get to know new ones. We all have experiences and stories to share and to help each other.
Make sure you’re prepared
A huge part of back to school worries for teachers is feeling that you are not ready or prepared for the new school year. So this is the moment to get organized and prepare everything you need to start the year in a positive way. Do you know how many classes you will be teaching and what ages they will be? Do you need to prepare lesson plans for the first week of school? Have you looked to see where you will be traveling if you go to different teaching locations? Make a list of everything you need to do before school starts and start working through it now and not on the night before your first class.
There will always be things that you can’t control, especially if you work in lots of different schools or with lots of different classes, so make sure that everything that you can do to prepare is done now. This leaves you free and more prepared to deal with anything unexpected that arises. In this way, you can start the new school year feeling calm and confident that you can cope.
Plan a great lesson for the first day of class
Make sure you’ve got lots of ideas for your first lessons with your new classes. You will probably have lots of kids who are doing English for the first time or who have never had you as a teacher before. So plan the activities that you want to do to make sure both you and they have fun and want to come back for more. You can find lots of ideas in my 10 favorite Back to School games and activities for the first day of class.
Get any administrative bits done before school starts
If you need to deal with anything like work permits, pay details, contracts, etc., make sure this is all done before you start teaching. Once school starts, you will have very little time and energy to sort out administration and chasing up people and documents. If you do all this now, that is one big thing less to do during the first weeks of school and will leave you free to concentrate on your classes which are really the most important thing. This is especially true if you are new to teaching. You will need all your time to prepare lessons and organize your classes and you will be tired. You don’t want to spend your valuable free time dealing with administration when you could be relaxing.
Plan something fun to look forward to
My birthday always falls during the first week back at school which, frankly, is not great. I’ve learned though that this can be a good thing as it gives me an excuse to do something fun at the end of the first week of school. Having something to look forward to is a great way to help you get through the chaotic and sometimes stressful first days back at school and can be a good way to combat back to school worries. It’s a reward for your hard work and a positive goal to look ahead to and to distract you a bit from any nerves you may be feeling.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a meal out with friends or a trip to a nearby attraction is great but so is a relaxed coffee in a local bar or a really long lie in. You just need to find something to look forward to that you can focus on if you are feeling down about going back to work.
These are the methods I use when I’m feeling apprehensive about starting a new school year. They help me deal with any worries I may have and remind me that, even though there can be negative sides, I do love my job. It’s hard to get back into a routine after a holiday so it’s worth taking time to prepare yourself. What ideas do you have? How do you prepare for the new school year? To stay up to date with new posts and teaching ideas, you can follow the GoogooEnglish Facebook page. Alternatively, sign up for email updates by filling in the form below.