Mommy Monday: summer schedules with preschoolers

With summer slowly approaching (yes, I have over 2 weeks left of teaching.... the end is near though!), I've started thinking about my plans for summer break. It's easy with a long vacation like this to just sit around and do, well, nothing sometimes. And while there is definitely a time and place for that, I also have a lot of things that I want to do some fun things that I can't do with my kids during the school year! With preschoolers (and especially one of my two), it's helpful to have some semblance of routine and predictability. So this summer, I'm making a very loose schedule for my family to help everyone stay relaxed but kick my butt into gear to go have some fun too!

I say loose because, while I do want to create some predictability and routine for my girls, I also want to allow for unexpected whims and opportunities. Summer is ideal for that! The beauty of having a schedule is it gives us a starting place- something to look forward to, something to expect, something to help keep our lives balanced (not too hectic but not too lazy)- and know that the rules are there for the breaking! Our schedule is somewhat constrained by the fact that the girls will spend Tuesdays and Thursdays (and some weekend time) with their dad, so I picked things that we could still do together on those days without taking up a lot of time. Here's what I've come up with for this year:

Sundays are already a bit crowded with some dad time and church time already, but the girls and I love to eat out and there are so many restaurants I have been wanting to try, so that is our goal for Sunday. I tried to build in some low-key days- Mondays I'm hoping we can run errands around town, especially going to the library and the grocery store (my girls' favorite places to visit!). On Tuesday they are gone most of the day so I'm thinking we will make a special breakfast together- the girls love cooking and they love meals like pancakes, french toast, and breakfast burritos where they can "build their own" food on their plates :) One of the main things I look forward to in the summer time is spending time with friends that we don't get to see much during the school year because our schedule is so busy. I'm going to start talking to my friends this week and try to plan some outings and play dates for Wednesdays (and Saturdays when the girls are around)! Thursdays the girls will be gone again but I am hoping to do some kind of low-key craft or musical activity with them in the evening before bed. I'm going to try to plan some sort of outing on Fridays- the beach, the zoo, a special park, museum, fruit picking, and farms are all places on my bucket list this year. We'll see how much we can fit in!

That gives us some structure for the week as a whole, but what about the daily routine? Well, for one thing, you can check out my post about the visual calendar I have for the girls here, but for more on the specifics for this summer, tune in next week for part 2!! :)

If you were one of my first 300 followers on TeachersPayTeachers, make sure you have checked your TpT inbox and downloaded your freebie- it will only be available this week and then it's gone! If you missed it this time, make sure you go follow me so you don't miss any more freebies, and you can get the file for just $1 right here (I'm using it already- I'm kindof in love with the summer colors!): 

I'm linked up:

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Teacher Tuesday: my cleaning to-do's for the end of the school year

So, my last day of classes is coming up in about 3 weeks, so I've started thinking about the things I need to do to get ready for the end of the school year. If you missed it, I shared my favorite lesson plans for the end of the year a couple of weeks ago. Today I want to share my top cleaning tasks that I need to complete before the end of the year.

1. Tackle the Closet Monster

OK folks, this is real life right here. That is the actual inside of my closet. I don't know how this happened. After coming in new last school year I spent an enormous amount of time throwing out old stuff, clearing shelves, and organizing new things in my closet. At the beginning of the year you could actually see stuff in there. And now, this. *sigh* After almost a decade of teaching I still haven't found the secret to keeping a closet organized all year. So my number one task is to do it all again- go through everything, throw away old stuff, and reorganize so I can see things again! I am going to start the process now, going through stuff in stages whenever I have time, but realistically I will probably have to finish it over the summer.

2. Exterminate the Dust Bunnies

Can you see the dust on that shelf? I did my best to get a good picture but of course dust bunnies are a bit camera shy. No matter if you can tell in the picture or not, the point is that my room is dusty. Very dusty. The shelves, the speakers, the tables, and even some of the instruments are just covered in the nasty stuff. So task number two is to clean it all up! I will most likely be getting some of the students from the last class I see on the last day of school to help me take care of this one.

3. Conquer the Paper Mountain

I'm actually not in as bad of shape as I thought I might be in this area, but I definitely have a lot of piles of paper in my room- on my desk, under tables, in my paper sorter. It's crazy. Before the end of the year I need to go through and pass back all of the student papers I have forgotten to give back, file away important documents that are sitting around waiting for a home, and throw away the rest. This is another project that I can work on in stages these last few weeks, but hopefully I will get it done before summer vacation!

What's on your to-do list for the end of the year?

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Mommy Monday: a mirror for the shorties

I made a small update to our bathroom this week and it has made my 3-year-old girls so happy! It took me about 30 seconds and cost $1. Presenting: the girls' own bathroom mirror!

Last week I shared my girls' current set of chores, which includes personal grooming like washing hands, brushing teeth, and combing hair. I usually do those things right along with them, and I realized that they often saw me looking at myself in the mirror while fixing my hair, for example, and wanted me to hold them up so they could see themselves in the mirror. You can see my mirrored cabinets above the sink in the photo- it is way too high for the girls to see, even with their step stools and lots and lots of stretching! It took me a few weeks but it eventually hit me that they would enjoy having their own mirror so they can see themselves in the bathroom like I do. Duh, but it's amazing how often I fail to see the world from their perspective!

Anyway, I already had a dollar store mirror on hand (I had planned to use it for another project long ago- it didn't work out...), so I pulled it out to try to figure out how to mount it in the bathroom. In my case, I have a little ledge where the mirror can rest perfectly, but if I didn't have that I would just use some command strips made for the bathroom (trust me, you can't use regular command hooks/strips in the bathroom- I've tried multiple times. sigh.).

And there you have it! My girls absolutely LOVE being able to see themselves without help, just like Mommy. And I love watching them grin every time they catch a glimpse of their reflections- too cute!

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Teacher Tuesday: summer reflections- thoughts to ponder

Although I have almost a month left of school, I'm starting to see posts on Facebook and hear from friends who are on summer vacation now (and, not gonna lie, it's making me a little jealous!). While I make it a point to take some time away from work and give my brain and heart a break from the classroom, I also value the time I have in the summer to reflect on my teaching practice and come up with strategies for improvement. Today I want to share some prompts that I find helpful in reflecting on the previous school year, and preparing for the next, in a constructive way.

1. What are my favorite memories from this school year?

It's easy to get caught up in analyzing the nitty-gritty or stewing over systemic problems out of our control. Intentionally spending some time remembering those really great moments has really helped me focus on the positive and on what really matters- the real, human, amazing moments we have with kids.

2. What am I most proud of from this school year?

Did I take the initiative to get some extra professional development? Did I lead a committee or organize an event for the wider school community? Did I get an award or recognition? Did I get a shy kid to dance with wild abandon in my classroom?

3. What did I do differently this year that worked?

Hopefully, as teachers, we are constantly changing and adapting. Sometimes we try a new initiative, program, lesson, or teaching strategy (by choice or otherwise) and it is a total flop, but sometimes it turns out that this new way was better than our old way and we improve!

4. What did I do differently this year that didn't work?

OK, so what are the things that flopped? Let's make sure we learn from those and don't repeat those mistakes.

5. What were the biggest stressors this year?

We can all remember times that we were stressed out. What was it, specifically, that made us feel stressed?

6. What can I do to minimize those stressors next year?

If the stressor was a district policy change, how can I adapt my teaching to make the new policy less stressful? If it was a coworker, what can I do to improve the relationship? If it was the workload, how can I prepare now so that the work is not as overwhelming? Even if the stressor is out of our control, there are ways we can control the impact it has on our work and well-being.

7. What new ideas do I want to try next year?

Back to the changing and adapting concept- what are some new lessons, behavior management strategies, organizational methods, professional development opportunities, or teaching methods I want to try next year? I find tons of inspiration on teacher blogs, Pinterest, and my colleagues' classrooms!

I hope these prompts help you as you reflect on your year and prepare for the next. If you have other questions that you have found helpful, please share! I would love to hear them and I'm sure other teachers would benefit as well. Happy summer!

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