So my new semester starts next week (Jan 27) and we’re finishing finals this week. While I’m finishing up grades for the semester, I am trying to get ready for the new semester and I try a few things to set myself up for success:

Clean/ reorganize my classroom

My students loved on/messed up my classroom this semester and so now while I have time I will rearrange and clean up my space so my new students will have the opportunity to love on/mess up the space as well.

Print syllabus

New semester means new paper copy allowance! So I am about to go ham and print new copies of my syllabus for my new students.

Practice saying my new students name

 I take pride in learning my students names and saying them correctly so I practice to get myself prepared. 

Revamp Icebreakers and Stations

If one of the ice breakers didn’t work revamp it or get another one. Make sure my First Day Stations are ready to go. I got the idea for stations from twitter user @magicalmsmurphy. It worked so well first semester and I even got my a lot of my coworkers on board as well. The first day of school is so much less boring with her idea, but I want to revamp my stations. This idea definitely caught steam and everyone is putting their own twist on this so there are more ideas to look through. 

Readjust Pacing Calendar

This is my second year teaching, but this is the first year that I am going to teach the same content both semesters so now I can use my data to inform my teaching practice. Based on how my students approached certain topics I now know if I can take more time or spend less time.  

I am so excited to teach chemistry again this semester and I am confident that these refresh ideas will set me up for a great semester!

For those of you that teach semester based classes how do you get ready for the new semester?