Five Ways an Online Teacher Prepares for the New School Year

By Monica O’Donnell

Five Ways an Online Teacher Prepares for the New School Year

Television and newspaper ads depict that dreaded time of year for students; summer is almost over and it is time to return to school.

Does this look familiar?

Despite the possible unwillingness from the students, nothing beats the start of a new school year. The online teacher does not fear those dreaded commercials or ads! We work from home, play at home, enjoy our home, and teach from home. Our home is our school and our computer is our playground.

1. Ready. Set. Plan.

The summer is our time to refocus, collaborate with teammates, discuss the highlights of the school year, study our performance, and make an action plan for the new school year. We busy ourselves with department meetings and school meetings planning for the new terms! No summer break for us! Sure we may visit the pool or spend time with our family, but we are motivated to start off on the right foot with our new students and make their first week of online school smooth and memorable. Once the school year begins, we are ready, reenergized, and have a fresh batch of office supplies and a clean desk, ready to rock and roll.

2. Pamper Your PC

I love starting a new school year with a fresh desktop and clean recycle bin. Proudly, I only have four folders on my desktop which is down from about 200! Please, no judging! Also, my recycle bin held around 4,000 items! I did not even know it could hold that much. Because of the technology changes, online teachers are great at throwing out the old and starting fresh. It is important to stay up-to date with technology and not hold onto old documents or programs that slow down your computer.

3. Wake Up and Smell the New Pencils

During the summer, I make a list of what office supplies I need to have a successful new school year. I can hardly wait for my Office Depot box to arrive with all of my goodies. Nothing beats a fresh batch of school supplies. You may think the online teacher only needs a laptop and a charger, but I beg to differ. My desk is inviting and welcomes me every morning. Even the online teacher needs a box of new pens and pencils and crisp file folders to feel complete.

4. Tweak Those Timeworn Power Points

Even though my computer stores Class Connect Power Points for almost every unit, it is very important to take time to revise old Power Points. Reflecting on used Power Points, reminds you which slides did not go as planned or might need some revising. I love searching for new fonts and clipart to use and will not create a new Power Point without searching the free templates on the web. The Brick and Mortar teacher decorates bulletin boards, while online teacher decorates the Power Point.

5. Study Previous Procedures

We like to look at our processes and determine which of our methods are most beneficial for the students. A good time to focus on this is during the summer months. Since our summer boasts a lighter schedule, we have ample time to collaborate within our departments and as a staff to develop new and improved procedures and expectations. We study our synchronous connections, record-keeping methods, and revamp our welcome letter and video.

Online teachers put everything into planning for a successful year. We do everything we can to prepare for that first phone call. Good luck to all teachers, students, and learning coaches and best wishes for a successful year!

Check out our Pinterest Boards for more tips and tricks and have fun pinning!