Three slightly weird things I recommend doing at the start of the school year
Aug 27, 2026
Are you a teacher who is planning ahead for September and wondering what on earth you need to do to get prepared?
You can find lots of boring, generic advice all over the internet, so I thought I'd share my own slightly weird things I recommend doing to get ready for your first lessons!
- No seating plans for classes. Unless it is completely mandatory in your school, I don’t actually recommend creating seating plans for a slightly sneaky reason… If you let the students sit where they want, and they talk/don’t listen/don’t work well when they’re sitting next to friends, then you know exactly who to separate them from! My only exception to this rule is students who are brand new to the school (eg Year 7), as they won’t know each other and it’s easier for everyone if you just allocate them a seat. And if you do feel the need to create lesson plans, can I beg you not to put the quiet, hard-working kids next to the noisy, disruptive ones?! It’s just not fair on the kids who want to get their heads down and actually learn, if they’re stuck next to a chatterbox every single lesson.
- Give your glue sticks names. I’ve seen people share this great tip online, and it seems to work really well! Think of fun names, write them on sticker labels, and allocate them to your glue sticks. I have no idea quite why this works so well, but I guess no one wants to lose poor Alain or Pedro the glue stick 🤣
- Get a year’s supply of tissues for your classroom. If you’re anything like me and the sound of sniffing makes you want to puke, then my biggest tip is to always make sure you have tissues in your classroom! They’re also great for clearing up the inevitable biro explosions (I will NEVER understand how this happens!), water bottle spillages and other random liquids that may make their way onto desks, uniforms, hands and faces 🤢
Do you agree with any of these? Have you tried the glue stick one? What are your most random tips for the start of the school year?
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