Back To School Without The Chaos: Simple Routines For A Smoother January

The first days back after break don’t need to feel like a sprint through fog. We map out a gentle re-entry that keeps your class connected, your planning sane, and your energy intact. Instead of diving headfirst into new content, we focus on three anchors that make the day feel calm and productive: a purposeful morning meeting, a cozy read-aloud that sets tone and focus, and a respectful reset of routines and procedures.

We start by rebuilding community with short shares and simple goal setting that invite students back into voice without draining attention. A few playful “would you rather” prompts create laughter and momentum, while a shared text becomes the day’s steady heartbeat. We talk through choosing a story that highlights perseverance, empathy, or problem solving, then show how to draw out quick comprehension without turning it into a heavy lesson. When students return sleepy and dysregulated, narrative focus and light structure are your best friends.

From there, we walk through a practical routine review: modeling what lining up looks like, clarifying how to ask for help, smoothing transitions, and patching the small systems that frayed in December. We explain why review before new content is not a delay but a performance boost, and how avoiding overplanning protects both you and your students. By the end, you’ll have a simple three-step plan you can run tomorrow: morning meeting, meaningful read-aloud, and routine reset, with optional spiral review if time allows.

If this gentle start resonates, share it with a colleague who needs permission to slow the pace, then subscribe and leave a quick review so more teachers can find the show. Your work matters—and a calm January begins with a single steady day.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Would You Rather

January Sub Plans

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And New Year Framing
• 1:00 Self-Care And Oxygen Mask Mindset
• 2:07 Naming The Post-Break Whiplash
• 3:02 Build A Calm Re-Entry Checklist
• 3:32 Morning Meeting And Goals
• 4:37 Would You Rather To Re-Engage
• 5:02 Cozy Read-Aloud As Anchor
• 7:14 Review Routines And Procedures
• 8:08 Ease In: Review Before New Content
• 8:54 Three Simple Anchors For Day One
• 9:19 Encouragement And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 276. Back to school, not back to chaos. Gentle routines for calm return. So, welcome back to One Tired Teacher in the New Year. Happy New Year! So, today we're gonna talk about what it looks like going back to school, but not going back to craziness because that's the goal of this episode. Hope you stick around.

SPEAKER_00: 0:35

Welcome to One Tired Teacher. And even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching. Here she is, wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She she is awake, right? Okay. From Trina Deborah Teaching and Learning, your host, Trina Deborah.

SPEAKER_01: 0:57

Hey, so happy new year. I hope you had a very enjoyable holiday and you had a chance to get back to what you feel it feels good to you that you had a moment to take for yourself instead of like constantly giving, giving, giving. Which I feel like sometimes as women, mothers, teachers, sisters, daughters, all those roles that we play, sometimes I think that's the story of our lives. Um, and I just want to remind you that it's okay to take a to take time for yourself, that it's important that you do that. We we tell people to do that on airplanes. Why would we be any different in life? We we have to put our own oxygen mask on first before we can save others. So it's true, it's true then in an emergency, and it's also true in everyday life. It doesn't mean we have to put ourselves above everyone every second of the day. It just means that if we don't take that time to nurture ourselves, we're gonna have a really hard time showing up in the way that we want. All right, so let's talk about back to school without the chaos. You know, there's been plenty of years that I have felt like I didn't have enough time off, you know, that that everything came so quickly. And and that often feels that way when Christmas is it feels earlier and then like your break starts earlier, and then you're you've got Christmas, and then you've got New Year's, and then you've got bam, you're like right back to school just a couple days later. It depends on when you go back to school, but in my district, it was like, you know, January 3rd or January 2nd. That even happened one year. And I think that can be really hard because it feels like it just abruptly stops. And so we have to we have to acknowledge that and recognize that for ourselves so we don't feel you know the instant overwhelm that can sometimes occur. I think one of the best things that we can do is to kind of kind of kind of have a calm re-entry checklist, maybe. I don't know if you have to call it a checklist, but kind of an idea of some things that you know right from the get-go will help ensure that it is calm and that it doesn't feel insane. Usually, this is the good news. Usually, if especially if you're an elementary teacher, I guess this is probably true for all teachers. Kids are a little tired when they first come back because they've been sleeping in and they've been on a different schedule. And so all of a sudden, you know, we're up and at them, and here we go. So that's one benefit you can look forward to. But you what what you want to do is you want to have things that you can count on. So one thing that you might be able to account on is really what you're gonna do in that first morning meeting. Like that's you're gonna have a morning meeting with your class, you're gonna welcome back, welcome them back. You're going to embrace them in a way that makes them feel happy to be back to school and also loved and nurtured. And, you know, one thing you can do is spar conversations, talk about what people did over the break, um, maybe even set some goals for the new year. That's often a thing that we think about doing. It doesn't have to be a big formal production, it can be like turning and talking to a neighbor and discussing something that you want to do. That's, you know, you want to get better at something, or you want to, you know, improve something, or you want to change something. So that's a thought. Another fun thing that I like to do, I I have, you know, my would you rather questions. And I think that's a great way to get kids like re-engaged, and that can be a really fun thing to do. So with some would you rather questions. Would you rather jump on one foot or would you rather hang upside down all day? So things like that where they have to kind of think. So that's one thing that you can do. Another thing that you could add to your your routines or your um calm, cozy re-entry checklist could be a really special read, read aloud, like reading as the anchor, whether it's a you know, a cozy winter story or the first one that came to my mind is Brave Irene. I love Brave Irene. I think it's such a cute story about this girl and her mom, and the mom is like a dressmaker and she has to get the dress to, I feel like it's somebody important, the Duchess. I'm pretty sure it's the Duchess. And then she gets sick. And so the daughter has to take over and actually help because it is um, it is, you know, imperative that the dress gets to the Duchess. So it's a really it's just it it's a problem solving. I don't know why my computer keeps doing that. I'm sorry. Um I put my you know, I ever put always put everything on do not disturb when I'm doing a podcast. And then for some reason, this is like breaking through, which is like, are we having an emergency? Because I I don't think so. So I think that I alright, I got it. So anyway, all right, back to Brave Irene. So Brave Irene is a story of problem solving and perseverance, and I think sometimes that can be a really nice way to start off on a new year, and and then we are moving into you know 2026, or we are in it now, we are officially here into 2026. That can be one thing that is possible, is maybe a cozy read-aloud, or a read-aloud that lets kids feel connected, or you know, represents an attribute that you're wanting them to think about for the new year, like maybe grit and determination, or even compassion and empathy. And these are just ideas. So you so you have a solid read-alud that you're gonna work with. You can do so many comprehension things around that, or it can just be as part, it could be just part of your morning meeting or part of your welcome back situation. Another really positive thing to do when you're coming back from a break is to kind of review some of those routines and procedures that you put into place and kind of remind kids what does it look like when we're aligning up? What does it look like when we have to go to the bathroom? What does it look like when we're finished with something and we haven't moved on as a class? Like, what does it look like to ask a question? Like things, things like that. So reviewing those things can be really helpful. And adding anything that wasn't working quite well when you left in December, but you just didn't have enough energy to address that's this is the time. Address it now so that you can have the remainder of the year can be positive. And and I don't necessarily mean like it has to all be positive, but I mean it can be productive and efficient moving forward. So that's an idea as well. Okay, so my my major tip here is don't feel like you have to jump straight into brand new content and that you have to, all right, we're on a pacing guide, we've got to get going, let's go, we're on this, let's go, everybody. Let's snap to, let's let's hop to it. We have to remember that just for ourselves, we need a little bit of easing in. I think that's so true for kids too. And a little review goes a long, long way. I think that's true for teachers, and I think that's true for kids. So just remember that. All right. You don't have to you don't have to you don't have to earn rest by over planning. In fact, make it simpler for yourself. Give yourselves just those three ideas. I'm gonna have a solid morning meeting in place, I'm gonna have a really productive, inspiring read aloud, and I'm going to review some procedures and routines. And there you go. Those are the anchors to your day, and everything else can fit in or not. So keep that in mind. I hope, I hope this episode helps you and inspires you to start 2026 with a fresh, a fresh, exciting perspective. I'm gonna try to make January's episodes a little shorter so that you can feel like, okay, I I've got my I've got my marching orders, I can jump, I can do this, and I'm ready to go. So that's all for today. And again, remember that what you're doing, it matters, and what you do is enough. And you don't have to beat yourself up or overwhelm yourself in order to get the job done. So try to remember those things. Until next time, sweet dreams and sleep tight.