Special Education for Beginners | Managing Paraprofessionals, Special Education Strategies, First Year Sped Teachers, Special Ed Overwhelm, Paperwork for Special Education Teachers

5 Quick Wins for Back-to-School Prep (That Won’t Steal Your Summer)

• Episode 215

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Let’s be real — August sneaks up fast. The to-do lists pile up, caseloads change, para schedules shift, and IEP meetings seem to pop up before you’ve even unpacked your room.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing 5 simple, actionable prep tasks you can tackle this summer — without spending hours in your classroom or losing your well-deserved rest. These are quick wins that can be done in short bursts of 15–30 minutes to give you a major head start when back-to-school season hits.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

✅ Why tiny prep tasks now can save your sanity later
✅ My favorite quick wins that don’t require full-on “summer work mode”

  • Prep your para handbook
  • Update or create templates
  • Build a caseload spreadsheet
  • Create an IEP calendar
  • Build a Basic Back-to-School Checklist

Mentioned in This Episode:
🗂️ Back-to-School Bundle for Special Education Teachers
Get all the editable templates, forms, handbooks, and checklists I talk about in today’s episode — ready for you to personalize and use.
👉 Grab it for 50% off here


Connect With Me:
Instagram → @spedprepacademy
Website → www.spedprepacademy.com
Email → jennifer@spedprepacademy.com

Writing individual impact statements based on a student’s unique disability  and needs can be a big struggle AND a big time suck.! And in case you haven't noticed...extra time is not something you have a lot of.

My IEP Impact Statements Growing Bundle will give you  the resources you need to make writing impact statements a breeze.  





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Speaker 1:

Well, hey there, welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. I'm Jennifer, your host, and today we are continuing our June Summer Strategies series, all about how you can rest, reset and recharge while still doing a few intentional things that will make your life a whole lot easier come August. In the last few episodes we've talked about reflecting on the school year you just finished or are finishing up, finding balance during summer and giving yourself permission to actually rest, because you deserve it. But I know so many of us, myself included, feel a little itch to do something during summer that helps us feel a little bit more prepared for the year ahead. So today's episode is all about quick wins, little back to school prep tasks that you can do now. That won't steal your summer. Let's to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain, and now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me.

Speaker 1:

Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom to help you handle all the classroom curveballs that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos, to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape, because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever crazy, completely overwhelming laugh, so you don't cry. Profession of being a special education teacher. So let's face it. August sneaks up really fast. We always think we have more time than we do, but before you know it the calendar rolls around to the end of July and that little voice of panic starts to creep in. What's next year's schedule going to look like? Maybe I should try to do a better job of training my staff. I want to be more organized this year.

Speaker 1:

And then you actually get to August or September and those first weeks of school can feel so overwhelming. New caseloads, ieps to read over, para schedules to make, iep meetings already on the calendar, parent emails start stacking up, behavior plans to review. It's just a lot. And I've been there lying awake at night running through the mental to-do lists, already feeling behind before the school year even starts. And in those moments it can feel like there's nothing you can do now to get ahead. But lucky for you, that's not necessarily true. Sure, you can't finalize your entire caseload right now or make your master schedule. There are always pieces that you just have to wait for, but what you can do is set up the systems that will support you when those things hit. You can get your templates ready, organize your files, prep your paramaterials and take care of some of the small behind the scene tasks. That will make your life so much easier when everything starts moving at full speed.

Speaker 1:

And that's exactly where today's simple, quick wins come in If you want to lighten your load before the chaos hits. I'm talking small, intentional steps that take about 15 to 30 minutes here or there that can give yourself such a head start without sacrificing your much-needed rest. These aren't major projects or full days spent in your classroom. They are simple, manageable things that your future self will be so thankful for. So let's go over a few quick wins you can start on now. Even choosing one or two of these will make a huge impact when school rolls around again.

Speaker 1:

The first quick win is to prep your para handbook. One of the biggest time savers you can tackle right now is getting that para professional handbook ready to go when August arrives. Your paras will need those clear expectations and you will need something to reference that doesn't require repeating yourself over and over again. Having a simple, well-organized handbook gives your team a solid starting point for routines, behavior, expectations, confidentiality, schedules and roles. And the great thing is, once you create it, it's done. I used my pair of handbooks for years and each year I would just have to tweak and adjust them as the team changed. If you don't have one yet, don't worry, I've already created an editable version inside my back to school bundle, which I'll share more about at the end. This handbook is a total game changer for leading your team Quick win.

Speaker 1:

Number two is to update your IEP planning templates. We know that IEPs aren't going anywhere and, honestly, once school starts writing them while juggling, everything else just feels overwhelming. So right now, while things are quiet, spend a few minutes setting up some templates you can use to save yourself some time during the school year. The templates I recommend creating are teacher, parent and student input forms, present levels of performance, draft templates with common sentence starters and areas to address, so that you have that information when you are ready to write an IEP service. Minute trackers, progress monitoring data sheets, meeting agenda forms, iep meeting notes pages and a communication log for parents. When these pieces are already set up, you can later plug in the individualized information. You won't be starting from scratch every time and you will feel so much more organized going into each meeting.

Speaker 1:

Quick win number three is to build your master caseload sheet as soon as you get your roster, or even your tentative roster. Build your master caseload sheet and what this looks like is just a spreadsheet either digital or paper pencil that includes student names, service minutes, related service providers, behavior plans, medical alerts, iep due dates, evaluation due dates and parent phone or email Really just anything you might need to reference quickly throughout the school year. When I was in the classroom, I did paper pencil and I put it in the front of my teacher notebook and I would reference it all year long. Having it ready makes scheduling, problem solving and team meetings so much easier. Quick win number four is to create a year at a glance IEP calendar. One of the biggest stress relievers you can give yourself is a simple visual calendar that shows when all of your IEPs are due throughout the year. So pull out your IEP due dates for each student, or as many as you have access to right now. Plot them on a one-page calendar or digital spreadsheet. Color code them if you want to quickly see which months are heavier. This allows you to plan ahead and avoid getting blindsided by a cluster of meetings that sneak up. All at once, you will know where your busy months are and you can schedule your prep time accordingly. And if you don't have access to those finalized dates yet, you can still start with estimated months based on last year's meetings and update it once you have your full caseload.

Speaker 1:

And then quick win number five is to build a back to school checklist. Write yourself a simple checklist of things you know you always forget Classroom supplies what do you think you're going to need to purchase before school starts? What visuals are you going to need to print? Paratraining topics that you might want to hit throughout the year, behavior plan reviews that need to be taken care of, or a meet the teacher form that you want to give out to your parents before school starts. You can start a note to future self with all of those little reminders that come flooding back once school starts.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're listening to all of these quick wins, thinking, jennifer, they sound great, but I don't have the brain space to make all of this from scratch right now. You are not alone, and that's exactly why I created my back to school bundle for special education teachers. Inside this bundle you will get the editable para handbook, supply lists, iep input surveys, teacher reflection forms, editable meet the teacher templates, caseload, organization tools and so much more. Everything is editable, ready to personalize and designed to help you get your systems in place without losing your summer. And for right now, for a limited time, I'm offering this full back to school bundle for 50% off. You can grab it by heading to the link in today's show notes or search back to school bundle for 50% off. You can grab it by heading to the link in today's show notes or search back to school bundle on the SPED, prep Academy TPT store. It will be half off for the remainder of June and then it will go back to full price. So don't wait.

Speaker 1:

Included in this bundle are 26 products covering everything I shared with you in the quick wins, as well as so much more. You've got how to create IEP goal bins, how to create IEP goal binders, how to create social stories, how to work with paraprofessionals, countdown boards. There's just so much included in this bundle, so make sure and grab it before June's up. So, in closing, I want you to remember that summer is for rest, but if you are someone like me who likes to chip away at some small tasks, these quick wins can give you such an advantage in August. Small bits of prep now means less stress, fewer late nights and more time spent actually supporting your students when school begins. Thanks for joining me today. Next week, we will be talking about an opportunity to prep your paraprofessional team, and I'll walk you through how to become a team from day one. Until then, enjoy your break, don't forget to grab that bundle, take care and I'll see you next week.