There’s nothing quite like going back to school and back to so many things we love: the excitement for new beginnings, the students’ happy faces, the curiosity to start new activities and try new methodologies… But it’s also a pretty intense time, with loooots to organize, and it’s normal to be a bit nervous. That’s why there’s nothing better than having the best teaching resources all ready to go!
With Genially you can create tons of resources to help you teach, gamify, provide practice, and plan your classes.
And, as we know time is tight (at least now at the start of the year), we’ve got a gift for you to help you plan your classes: The Organized Teacher’s Kit. A compilation of more than 40 templates, lots of resources created by other teachers that you can reuse, and tons of ideas that will help you create great materials and use Genially in the classroom. Keep it close to you like you would a precious family heirloom, and share it with your education community.
As you will see, the kit contains everything you need for your classes. But if you’d also like to know which templates we think will work best in the first few days of term, here’s our recommendation.
Templates for planning your classes
1. Annual calendar
Get off to a strong start with the Genially school year calendar. You can see it all at a glance, add more details, and go directly to the event you’re most interested in and expand the information. Share it with your students and their families so that they can look it up whenever they need to; all you have to do is give them the link. It couldn’t be simpler. Pro tip: if there’s a date that’s super important, make it stand out by changing the color of the box to one that’s more eye-catching.
2. Weekly schedule
Science class Monday and Wednesday, math Tuesday and Thursday, tutorials Wednesday afternoons… Why try to keep it all in your head when you can have it all laid out nicely for you in this weekly schedule that you can access any time? With this template, it’ll be much easier to organize your week and learn new timetables. And thanks to interactivity, you can add extra information to each time slot.
3. Subject guide
Want your students to really get involved in your subject as much as possible? A good place to start would be with a guide like this one. Knowing what they’ll need to learn, how they’re going to do it, and how you’re going to evaluate them will help them to prepare and to seek out the best strategies for their own learning. Equip them with motivation and autonomy.
Materials for the first week back
4. Business card
Maybe your class and their families already know you, or maybe they don’t. If you want to introduce yourself in an original way, why not do it using this business card? It’s very easy to edit and will help your students remember the things you want them to know about you. You can even get your students to all use the same template to introduce themselves.
5. Revision quiz
Checking and evaluating what students have learned doesn’t have to bring on stress and tension, especially if you do it with an interactive quiz like this one. Individually or in a group, students can self-evaluate and revise the most important things from last year. Gamification is always a winner.
6. Vacation highlights
Back to school can be hard. That’s why it’s a good idea to do fun activities that help your class feel motivated and get them settled in. Use this corkboard to ask students for highlights from their vacations. They can complete the board individually or in groups, add pictures, videos, audios, and other interactive content, and then share it with the class.
7. Visual instructions
This resource is great for the first few days of class (especially for guiding the behavior of the littlest ones). How are students feeling in their new class? What is allowed and not allowed in the classroom? Use this pictograms template to review class rules in a dynamic and participatory way.
8. Interactive presentation
Want to capture the attention of your students from the get-go? Start by presenting a topic with this incredible presentation. This template will delight your class with interesting content such as videos and maps. Make it your own!
9. Flashcard
This activity never fails to pique their interest: surprise your class with a video, and then ask them questions about its content. You can create as many flashcards as you like! A great way to test your students’ memorization skills.
10. Timeline
It’s not easy to remember dates. Why not make it that bit easier for our students with this timeline? Review content from last year in a fun, interactive way. They can explore and interact with each date or event at their own pace.