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5 Summer Habits I Live by That Make Back-to-Middle School ELA Less Painful

Every summer, I tell myself this summer, I’m gonna rest. 

Well… I’m gonna focus on my summer baby, hosting the annual MSELA Summit, but that’s IT… Then I’ll rest. Ha.

But by July 5th, in between alphabetizing my classroom library and planning summit interviews with guest expert speakers for the summit… I don’t rest. 🤦‍♀️

But you know what else I don’t do? I don’t experience the scattered, hectic, chaotic start to the school year that everyone around me seems to experience. By October, I don’t feel burned out like everyone else. 

It’s not magic, I’m not a unicorn, and I’m not one of those teachers who just doesn’t care anymore. It’s none of that. 

What changed is that over time—years—I discovered that a few small habits I rely on each summer are the habits that actually helped me breathe and show up again when school starts without crying in the supply aisle at Target.

When I really think about it, it comes down to 5 teacher summer habits that I lean on every summer. They’re chill. They’re action-oriented. They’re zero percent hustle, and 100% “future me will thank me.”

And I’m handing them over to you. 

The goal isn’t for you to drop what you’re doing and implement all five. Just pick one and see what happens. See how you feel. If that’s enough, great! We’ll celebrate the win. And if you feel momentum picking up, keep going with another one from my list. 

It doesn’t seem like “work obligations” in the summer when you’re the one choosing what habit to work through, when, where, and how to work through it. It feels freeing.

1. The “While I Watch TV” Habit: Low-Key Lesson-Tweaking

☀️ Revisit “that” unit… in stretchy pants.

Here’s the truth: You don’t need a full-blown teacher workshop with buzzing artificial lights and freezing air conditioning to prep a unit. You just need an old rom-com, a snacky snack, and the tiniest bit of direction.

This summer, I want you to grab one unit—just ONE. Maybe it’s the one that always sneaks up on you (hello, poetry month!), or the one that feels a little meh.

Put on something bingeable (I see you, The Summer I Turned Pretty), and spend one 30-minute session mapping it out:

  • What’s the bell ringer strategy for week one of that unit?
  • What text(s) will students read?
  • What’s your writing task? Is there space for student choice?
  • If you could only formally assess one thing from the whole week, what would it be? Is there a way to assess it in class so you never have to take things home or stay late to grade? 

Done = better than perfect. This kind of low-key tweaking has saved me more stress than I can count. Just taking it week by week while kinda-sorta paying attention to the comfy old sweater version of my favorite sitcom helps me relax and not overthink what I’m doing. The goal isn’t to trash the whole unit and start from scratch. The goal is to take the pressure off yourself and simply look for areas that might be tweaked so your students are doing more learning and you’re doing less grading.

🧠 Shortcut alert: Want the lessons already mapped out, done-n-dusted for you? Grab one of my teacher-friendly unit samples here.

2. The “Drive-Thru PD” Habit: Learn One Tiny Thing, Then Actually Use It

📚 No more PD guilt trips—just one actionable a-ha moment.

Here’s my hot take: You don’t need to read six educational books or buy another 400-page workbook from Instagram. 🙃

You need one smart nugget of insight… and a plan to actually use it.

Listen to a teacher podcast while you fold laundry. A few of my favorites that help me expand my thinking with no extra work:

🎧The 10 Minute Teacher Podcast from the Cool Cat Teacher

🎧Teach 4 the Heart Podcast from Linda Kardamis

🎧The ESL Teaching Podcast from Simply Ieva

Watch a session (they’re casual & conversational) or pick a day of sessions (days are organized by theme) from the Middle School ELA Summit while you sip your iced coffee. 

Then apply what you hear or see to something you already do:

  • Could you turn that whole-class short story into four stations?
  • Could you borrow that anchor chart idea and add it to your writing unit?

🗣️Want smart, practical tips from real middle school teachers who get it? The MSELA Summit is the back-to-school virtual event for Middle School ELA Teachers—though our upper elementary + high school teacher friends are always welcome. . . No one spirals the way ELA does, right?! We fill the whole event with quick, fun, action-packed sessions you can actually use right away in your classroom.

3. The “Google Drive Glow-Up” Habit: Label It Before You Lose It

🗂️ Your future self is begging for this.

Every year, we pinky-swear we’re going to organize our digital files. 

Every year, we type “final FINAL Romeo.docx” and hope for the best.

This summer? Let’s fix that.

Here’s what I do:

  • Make one folder called “2025 ELA”
  • Inside, create sub-folders like: Stations, Units, Bell Ringers, Assessments
  • Each day, move ONE file and rename it to something you’d actually search for

It’s not super fun, I know. But it is a small act of teacher self-care that sets you up for the year ahead.

To make it kinda fun? Gamify it (sort of) by setting a timer for 15 minutes just to see how many you can do. It’s crazy how fast 15 minutes goes by! 

And if you’re like, Nope, I’m done when that 15 minutes is up and I’ll just do this once a day—I totally get it. 

But. You might surprise yourself by wanting to hit “repeat timer” just one or two more times once that momentum is going. I’ve done it—I love those moments! 

💻 Shortcut: My lesson units and stations collections all come pre-organized by week and by type. Zero file chaos. 

4. The “Print Now, Forget Later” Habit: Prep Copies While It’s Calm

📠 The copier is wide open and judgment-free in mid-summer.

You know that weird, magical week in late June or early July when the building’s open, but no one’s really there? Use it.

Here’s what I do:

By the time that pre-first week calendar of to-do’s rolls around and your colleagues are elbow-deep in sticky notes and last-minute laminating? You’ll be sipping coffee and thinking about the next few weeks of the school year, well ahead of things. 

🖨️ Want a super-engaging first week that’s already printed and ready? It’s one of the six bonus resources I’m giving away when you grab the All-Access Pass to the MSELA Summit. 

5. The “Sunscreen + Systems” Habit: Relax, Then Routine

🌴 It’s giving: chill now, set the vibe later.

I’m a big believer in slow summer mornings. But somewhere around late July, I start craving a little structure again.

So I do a “systems reset”—nothing dramatic, just clarity on how my classroom will run this year (whether it’s your 1st year or your 30th year, dream here about what you want THIS time to be like).

Here’s my routine:

Even if nothing’s laminated, I know how my class will run. And that confidence is worth its weight in glitter pens.

🧠 The MSELA Summit has sessions that cover this exact thing—clear, easy-to-steal systems that help you save time and sanity.

You don’t need a 14-point productivity plan this summer. You just need a few small teacher habits that make life easier once school starts again.

So whether you’re lesson tweaking from the couch, finally taming your Google Drive jungle, or secretly watching professional development in your swimsuit—you’re doing it right.

🥂Here’s to a summer that’s restful and ready.

Get your free ticket to the MSELA Summit which is the annual back-to-school virtual conference specifically designed for Middle School ELA Teachers. 

Click Here for the Dates + Details!

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