The Best End of Year Teacher Tips to Make Back to School Easier 

Can you believe that the end of year school season is here?! By this time, teachers and students are in full-on summer mode and ready to bust out the doors when the final bell rings. However, if you’re a teacher, it’s so worth it to take some time to do a little prep and clean-up ahead of time to make the back to school season easier on you!

Plus, you can have your current students help you with some of it and turn it into a fun bonding activity before school lets out. Read on for some practical end of year teacher tips from real teachers like you that will help you end the year on a high note and save you some time and stress in the fall!

End of Year Tips From Teachers

I firmly believe that teachers are some of the most innovative, genius humans on the planet, and we can learn so much from each other. This blog post was inspired by all of the amazing teachers in my online communities, both on Instagram, Facebook, and in my Saddle Up For 2nd Grade Teachers Group. A simple question on my Instagram and Facebook pages turned into a ton of inspiration and great ideas, and I just knew I had to share them with you all! So let’s dive into the end of year tips from teachers, for teachers!

Reflect on the Year 

I always make a do and don’t list for the next year so I don’t repeat horrible mistakes and I can remember all the stuff that works. Of course, each group of kids is different, so sometimes I have to tweak it all.
-Seton

Reflect on the end of the year and what I think went well or what I wish I’d spent more time on. Take a look at the beginning of the year’s content and take that knowledge to support planning while what the EOY looked like and felt like is fresh and not forgotten.
-Katie

I reflect upon the glows and grows of the year and set goals for the upcoming school year.
-Christina

Read more about reflecting on your instruction to encourage growth as a teacher in this blog post! 

Start a New Planner and Make Lists

I make a new planner and start filling in things based on the way this year went.
-Jameson

​​I make a list of the basic supplies and materials I am out of so I can look for sales and things throughout the summer.
-Mary

Want to grab a set of FREE teacher planning pages and learn how to make the most of your planning period? Check out this post on the blog!

Plan and Prep Activities and Back To School Musts

Prep interactive journals and print first day of school activities.
-Vanity

Prep student folders and notebooks.
-Jessica

Always pull out my first week copies and make my meet the teacher copies and leave those in a really easy to reach place!
-Jessie

I always prepare my copies that I will need for August. I have a back to school box with everything in it for the first 3 weeks of school. With all the meetings and expectations of a new school year it helps tremendously!
-Melissa

I always prepped & planned for that 1st week back… turned in any copy orders for our grade level… in between all the last week of school craziness some of my students would go through the class library & games getting them all organized. After school some of my former students would come by & help with desks (ie sticker/tape removal, pencil sharpening, etc). 
-Rhonda

My team and I plan the first week, make copies, and prepare an art project. I try to clean drawers and cupboards where I’ve stashed stuff, sharpen boxes of pencils for next year, and order classroom supplies too.
-Kristen

I have my TA copy all the handouts for Back to School Night and the first two weeks. I have her make the spelling folders, writing topic notebooks, and math routine notebooks. I change my classroom library back – put away some of the higher level chapter books and pull out the early reader books.
-Nicole

Prep a Teacher Essentials Box

I put together a box of essentials I will need to get my room ready at the beginning of the year: tape, pens, post-its, scissors, stapler, hole punch, extension cords, power strips, command hooks, staple remover, hole punch, tools, etc. Then any time I come in to work over the summer I know just grab that box and I am ready to go. 
-Amber

Take Pictures of Current Classroom Setup

We’re required to take everything off the walls/bulletin boards and cover furniture, so I always take pictures of my room before I disassemble it.
-Hannah

Prep Bulletin Boards and Classroom Decor

I plan out my classroom decor theme and I have a running document of how I’m organizing the next year, things I need. Basically a plan for the next year based on this year.
-Ashley

I use the same bulletin board paper and some of the border (keeping my black border up). I take down my themed border and switch it out for something new with a similar color scheme or theme as the year before (jungle right now to nature inspired next year). When I return and get ready for back to school in August I put the new border up. That way my room has a fresh feel, but I don’t have to take everything down and start from scratch!
-Ashley

I put up fabric for bulletin boards and will keep the borders the same for several years. I order as many fall copies through our district print shop as I can so that they can be filed away. I also have students help tidy up all of my book bins, games, and marker/colored pencil bins so that they are ready for the fall. We have to have everything up off our floor and mobile shelves have to be emptied so I have developed over the years a system of where things go/fit on top of permanent cabinets or shelves & counter tops that seems to help too.
-Stephanie

Looking for some bright and fun classroom decor for your classroom? Check out this classroom decor bundle in my website shop!

Clean and Organize 

Recycle extras, reflect on the year, purge unneeded items, organize cabinets, kids organize inside recess items, reorganize class library, take down bulletin boards/wall displays to titles only, make first week copies, lay out beginning of year checklists, print & put together my next year planner/grade book.
-Kristin

All my current students help scrub and clean the classroom items, sharpen the next group’s pencils/coloured pencils, check for dry markers, ensure all “games” don’t have missing pieces, organize our classroom library, etc. They absolutely gain a sense of pride knowing that they helped the future grade 2s and that the now grade 3s did it for them. And honestly, they are more thorough than I could ever be. They love helping out and learning new skills that can be transferred to home. And the students save me hours if not days of cleaning and organizing. It’s a win-win!
-Tara

I put all the things away/file stuff that I haven’t and purge a lot of things I never used.
-Renee

Want to get ahead on labeling all of your supplies, manipulatives, and word work items? Grab this set of classroom labels and get a head start before the year is over!

Prep Math Manipulative Tubs

This next end of year teacher tip is one of my personal favorites. Every end of year season, I have my current students prep the math manipulative tubs for the next year’s students! Using math manipulative tubs has been a game-changer in my classroom, which you can learn more about in this blog post!

To prep these for the back to school season, I have my students ensure the math tub labels are attached to the tubs and that each manipulative is restocked and ready to go! This sneaks in a little math practice and organizational skills at the end of the year, too. 

If you’ve never used math manipulative tubs and want to try them next year, you can still have this year’s students help you prep them!

Grab these math tub labels for FREE by filling out the form below and getting them delivered straight to your inbox.

Share Your End of Year Teacher Tips!

Do you have any great end of year teacher tips to share? Comment below or share them on Instagram or Facebook with our teacher community!

Make back to school time easier with these resources below!