June 20, 2025

Try These Summer Hacks to Jump-Start a Better School Year

It is no secret that overplanning and overpreparing for the next school year can produce some stress, to put that mildly. It can also be a colossal waste of time. In most circumstances, we have yet to meet our incoming group of students and are not aware of their individual personalities and learning needs. Trying to assume and anticipate the details and specifics of what lies ahead can be fraught with errors and misconceptions. However, this observation does not mean that we should not spend time thinking and doing some general preparation.

The key is to focus on issues and activities that are not heavily dependent on the specific makeup of the students with whom we will be working. Having some tasks out of the way can reduce our stress and allow us to focus our attention elsewhere. Improving resource and material organization, thinking through key processes, and previewing areas of potential challenge can often help us to identify actions and activities that can smooth out the start and protect momentum during the year. Here are five activities to consider this summer that can position us and our students for a good year:

Declutter, organize, and store. Summer can be a great time to take a fresh look at our teaching and learning space—physical and virtual—and make some changes. Over time, we can become accustomed to living with disorganized bookshelves, extra furniture, and disordered equipment areas and not realize the extra work and inefficiency they create. Summer break can be a great time to cull and organize. Letting go of some things and securing new storage space can reduce the clutter and distractions while freeing up space for other uses. In our digital world, we can sort, organize, and abandon resources, old lesson designs, and other files. Our inboxes might use some cleaning out. Deleting emails we no longer need and organizing what remains can free up space and make locating past correspondence easier. Similarly, Google Drive and other tools and storage spaces might benefit from organization. A few hours spent this summer can reduce stress and make the start of the new school year much smoother and more efficient.
Make some new content and skill connections. Think about concepts and skills in the curriculum where students struggle to make connections or find it difficult to see a compelling purpose. Brainstorming potential uses can generate creative applications and compelling reasons for learning. Think about local businesses, organizations, and other activities where a connection might be made. Of course, a few well-crafted AI inquiries might generate some interesting and useful applications and arguments to share with students. When we share good reasons and compelling purposes for new learning, we can reduce resistance and even stimulate interest and enthusiasm for the learning that lies ahead.
Create some micro-lesson videos. Now can be a good time to review concepts and skills where students often struggle and create some proactive resources to address the most common challenges. Consider making some brief (four- to six-minute) videos that can help students find their way through these common rough spots. The videos might include examples, step-by-step processes, and useful tips and explanations to clear up common confusion. Choose a recording device with which you are comfortable, relax, add some fun graphics, and have fun!
Go tech tool shopping. Finding and becoming comfortable with the right tech tools can be a challenge during the school year. Summer can be a great time to research and try some options. Check with colleagues about their favorite tools and consult online reviews and expert opinions. Securing and practicing with a new tool (or tools) now can build our confidence and save time as we put them to work in the next school year.
Collect and position key resources. Finding and securing resources to support new content and skills can be a challenge and stress-producer in the middle of a busy school year. Now can be a good time to review and make a list of the most significant resource needs and pressures we are likely to face in the coming year. Starting now to locate and pre-position key curricular and other resources can lower our stress and smooth out the process of getting ready for new units and key projects.

Of course, there may be other anticipatory, preparatory, and inventory activities that you find helpful to complete during summer. If so, be sure to share them with a colleague and help them to have a great start to the next school year, too.