Seeing the words, “back to school” on flyers, headlines and television ads can evoke such strong memories of school shopping for things like pens, pencils, paper, binders and notebooks—something even today I have to resist when entering a store at this time of year. 

It also meant clothes shopping, getting the “first day” outfit, new sneakers or shoes. These traditional shopping sprees lasted beyond my school years as I became a teacher and still had things I needed to get ready to go back to school.

There’s a lot to do 

There is also the classroom, which needs to get prepared as well—to take on a “first day” fresh look, updated bulletin boards, welcome-back messages and such. 

There are many details that have to be squared away. Teachers in general have lists of things that have to be checked off before that first day of classes when the students return. There are class lists to check that the students are in the proper levels and that classes are equally sized whenever possible. 

Teachers look at the special needs students might have. They check the list of allergies to be aware of or medical issues that could need attention during the day. 

Then there are the lesson plans to be prepared, counting and gathering texts for the number of students in each of their classes. Sometimes teachers need to get recertified in CPR or other first-aid requirements. 

Unprepared for class and other bad dreams

Anxiety is always something that going back to school can bring on in teachers as well as students. The nightmares of finding yourself walking into class without your books or your assignment is not restricted to young people only. There are nightmares about being asked to teach physics when you are not a science teacher, or being asked to present the CPR workshop for the whole staff when you are not certified, or not able to find your classroom or your keys to open the door. 

All these similar feelings of being unprepared for whatever the day will bring can cause nightmares for all heading back to school. 

The teachers’ wish list

When asked what teachers want when heading back to school, all teachers wish to have parents who will be proactive. It is a well known fact that parent involvement is key to student success. With all the digital access parents and students now have to their grades, their assignments and to their individual teachers, the element of surprise when an issue arises should be minimal. 

Teachers’ other wish is to have students who are ready and willing to learn, just for the sake of learning, not only for what will be on the test. 

With digital access to so much information, students’ desire for knowledge has lessened over the years and thus patterns of learning have changed dramatically. Many teachers have had to adjust their materials to match the way students learn in these digital access days. 

Finding ways to make the subject matter relate to everyday life is sometimes the biggest challenge for both teachers and students. 

Saying goodbye to summer

“Back to school” probably means the same as it always has for the students: the end of summer. The long hot days of lying in the sun, swimming in a river, pool or beach, riding bikes or playing outdoors until the sun went down have come to an end. 

The freedom of summer was always harder to give up than just about anything else, especially if the days of going back to school were sunny and warm. 

The change back to a more rigid schedule was often a shock to the system, sleeping until noon to be confined to the weekends. Getting back into the routine of going to bed at a decent hour to be “bright eyed” the next day always seemed like such a chore. 

For families: excitement, fear and scheduling

For students, it is probably a strange mixture of excitement as well as anxiety. New classes and new schedules where old friends might not be in the same classes or even the same lunch periods. Where to sit, who to sit with, where are the classrooms on the schedule located? So many questions and so little time to figure them all out by the first day. 

I remember as a parent, the words “back to school” were both a curse and a blessing, a flurry of activity to get projects finished, vacations in and preparing for the fall. The curse was trying to wrangle a schedule to pick up and drop off kids from school to activities, sports, theater rehearsals, doctors and dentists appointments, music or dance lessons while working full time. Going back to school always meant less family time; it was harder to all be at the same table at mealtime because coming and going was the standard. 

At the same time the blessing was also getting back into a schedule, having their social activities be more reasonable, more routinely confined to weekends. 

To all heading back to a fall schedule, as a parent, as a student or as a teacher, I wish you the best.

Colette Ballew is a retired teacher.