Setting Up Your Classroom: A Checklist for Classroom Prep

Do you, like many teachers, walk into your classroom after the summer break and immediately feel overwhelmed? Classroom prep can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to teaching or have moved rooms.

Even though I am not in the classroom now, I remember the feeling well. Some years, the extra furniture crammed into my room over the summer barely left me enough room to squeeze by. Other years, the room was entirely empty, leaving me on a scavenger hunt for furniture and my stuff.

Over the years, I developed a pre-planning checklist to calm my nerves and keep me on track. I’ve typed it up to share. Since no two classrooms are exactly the same, I made it editable. You can change it to fit your classroom prep needs.

While pre-planning is always busy, I did get more efficient with years of practice and tips from awesome teammates. Some tasks are best done first. Prioritizing your tasks is an essential part of efficient classroom prep.

1. First, cover the bulletin boards.

Seriously, just get the background and borders up. It’s much easier to do this without any furniture against the walls. Then, you can add the bulletin board contents later. Here’s how I simplify my bulletin boards.

2. Next, arrange the furniture.

First, sketch out the layouts you are considering. It will help you minimize heavy lifting. Once you have a plan, go ahead and get things in place. First, move the big stuff. Then, move the small stuff. Get help and know your limits.

3. Then, clean before unpacking.

This is probably the only time during the year when all the surfaces are empty. So, get those surfaces clean. While the custodians have probably cleaned your room during the summer, there will be dust—lots and lots of dust. Trust me, cleaning now will benefit you all year long.

4. Know what to prioritize.

One crazy year, furloughs cut preplanning to two days, and the second day was Sneak-a-Peek. That year, I was moving classrooms and walked into an entirely empty room…no chairs…no desks…none of my boxes. I spent half of my day finding my stuff. Spend a few minutes figuring out which tasks you need to do now and which tasks you can do later.

5. Remember to give yourself grace.

That year, there was no way I was going to have a perfect-looking room for Sneak-a-Peek. Thankfully, my principal explained that some of us had literally just gotten into our rooms. She explained that the rooms would not look as finished as they normally would before releasing the parents to go to the classrooms.

I had put the background and border up on my bulletin boards, arranged my desks and furniture, set out the nameplates and labels, and carefully set out the necessary paperwork. However, the walls were mostly empty, and all my boxes were shoved in the closet, still unopened.  The boards were bare except for a sign that read, “Students work coming soon.” 

I wasn’t happy about it, but there was nothing I could do. I did my best—that’s all I could do—and you know what? It was okay in the end. Sometimes, you have to give yourself grace and let your best be enough.

⬇️👇🏼⬇️ Don’t forget to grab your FREE checklist. ⬇️👇🏼⬇️

Have a great year! You’ve got this. Just take it one step at a time.