The move out of teaching starts to get super real when you need to heft your entire classroom library into boxes. And when you are faced with decisions like if you should rent out storage space to house your STEM activity supplies, class sets of books and those delightful student knicknack gifts.
Maybe this dawning realization of the mountains of work ahead of you are causing doubts to creep in about the decision to leave teaching, but I’m here to emphasize that even though in the moment (er, week) it feels like you are wading knee-high through a befuddlingly thick scholastic stew, the end result is worth it.
I’ll preface my advice by mentioning that I am a seasoned classroom mover. Not only because I left the classroom role twice, but also because of switching grade levels and rooms and general shuffling.
Surely I’ve convinced you that these are expert tips.
1. Purchase supplies
I know it may seem counterintuitive and you’d rather not spend another dime in this career, but you need someplace to put the stuff. You can amass cardboard boxes or go fancier with some lidded plastic ensembles. This all depends on your needs and quite possibly your mood as you troop to the store on a Saturday. I chose to invest in lidded crates with clasps to make it easier to throw them into my trunk and not have the contents spill out. Also, they are durable for long-term storage.
You’ll also need labeling devices like a permanent marker and masking tape.
My final recommendation for moving supplies to gather is a binder and fill it with plastic sheet protectors– the clear films that you can insert paper into. This will be your dedicated Memory Keeper and will embrace closely, like a hug, the sweet letters and cards gathered over the time spent in this job.
2. Purge as much as possible
I give this direction as a typical teacher hoarder, still to this very day eagle-eyed in my pursuit of free or low-priced classroom supplies. Given the massive scope of what we do and provide to our students, it’s no wonder we’re scrambling to thrift and gather and recycle in order to make that pedagogical magic possible.
But this will be much easier if you can let go of items.
Give away what you truly don’t need, and you will see your classroom packing workload visibly reduced.
3. Come up with some categories and have students help you pack up at least 1-3 categories
I never was one who wanted to sweep up the entire classroom while school was still in session. That felt like the animated film Grinch plucking up every item from the Lou Who residence, even down to the poor mouse’s crumb.
It was far more important to me to keep control of things instead of laying bare a wilderness of an empty room with kids still there. And it just seemed like a depressing end to see our happy place of education and community stripped to the blank walls.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t pack up a few things.
I’d recommend having student volunteers help you put away a category– a classroom library, for instance. You can survive the last days without the entire library. I say this as a teacher who incorporated reading into her last minutes in the classroom. Welcome with open arms the read aloud.
4. Enlist outside help if you can
When the last bell sounds, and you are left alone with that bulking behemoth of work ahead of you, turn on a fun playlist and ask a loved one to help before you get swallowed up by all of the educational resources you’ve gathered over the course of multiple presidential terms.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have my mother by my side for nearly all of my classroom cleanups.
This help is truly impactful, as you will likely not only be sifting through piles of physical items but emotional as well. Having someone who can aid you in this quest, someone who can snap you back into productivity mode when your singular desire is to stare off into the impossible distance and become one with your Giant Accumulated Stuff Pile, will help immensely.
5. Label
Label your boxes so you don’t end up undertaking the seriously unfun task of lifting, rearranging and opening each one just to peer at the contents and not even find what you were looking for in the first place.
6. Set aside out future useful items for easy access
There may come a day, six months from now, when you are in dire need of a pencil but find that the box containing the pencils is wedged under the collapsing weight of other boxes crammed into a closet that you can barely pry open.
I used to be a teacher— you’d reminisce– I was drowning in pencils.
Be smart about the arrangement of your items in storage. Office supplies like writing utensils, stapler and staples, tape, paper and sticky notes can be useful outside the classroom. Position this box within easy access.
Another category of things you may need access to is basic supplies for tutoring (if there’s a remote possibility you’ll tutor). For example, I tutor in primary grade reading, so having the relevant supplies and instruction materials in reach will be far easier than mussing through a poorly planned tower of heavy boxes.
Less relevant categories (these will be your bottom of the barrel, back of the closet box representatives) include: class sets of books (only needed if you’re returning to the classroom), professional development books and holiday/seasonal resources.
7. Say good-bye to your room, high-five the custodian who is also in the building at a random time of day and enjoy your summer!
