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August 13, 2026
Start the school year with seven free resources and practical strategies to help you plan lessons, build classroom community and support every learner. Discover ready-to-use activities, time-saving AI tools and professional development designed for K-12 educators.
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Back-to-school planning can feel like equal parts possibility and organized chaos. Between preparing first-week activities, establishing classroom routines, getting to know students and connecting with families, educators have a lot to consider before the first bell rings.
Share My Lesson can help you check a few items off that list. These seven free back-to-school ideas bring together classroom-ready activities, practical teaching strategies, artificial intelligence tools and professional development from experienced educators and Share My Lesson partners. Whether you’re beginning your first year or preparing for another new group of students, start here—and share your favorites with a colleague.
Start with our Back to School: First Day of School and Beyond collection! If you haven’t checked it out already, now is the time: We have 133 resources ready to use.
Journeys in Film outlines Mood tools that can help counteract students’ negative self-talk. Bonus: Learn why Amber Chandler restructured her classroom midyear last year—and why you may want to make similar changes to start this year.
Lay the foundation for a positive classroom community with these well-being guides for grades K-6 and grades 7-12 from Education+. Another option: If you want to try fun and games to infuse your classroom with joy, connection and community, get started with online games, in-person games like Uno or Boggle and with this K-12 play-based social skills bundle from Proof Positive.
Be sure to check out the All About Me Wheel for grades K-2 from Twinkl USA, creating “I Am Me” poems for grades 3-5 from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, icebreaker bingo cards for middle school from Megan Ortmeyer, and using biography to create community for grades 6-12 from Amber Chandler.
Educator and author Barbara Blackburn shares research-based strategies for providing feedback that improves student learning as well as strategies for organizing classroom assessments.
Read this list of the best AI tools for teachers to save time, as compiled by Andy Kratochvil. If you’re eager for more, head over to our AI and Education community. Bonus: Join AI Educator Brain’s Kelly Booz and Sari Beth Rosenberg for a new webinar, Ready or Not: The AI Educator’s Guide to the Year Ahead.
If you haven’t already, check out Facing History & Ourselves’ webinar Starting the School Year with Community and Connection, one of many free, for-credit back-to-school webinars to support your professional growth.
From all of us at Share My Lesson, we wish you a wonderful start to the new school year! If you have favorite resources to share--or want us to create something new to help you and your students--please comment below.
Get the new school year started off on the right track with more resources on topics such as classroom management, social-emotional learning, family engagement, supporting English-language learners, building successful community schools, and more.
Empower your teaching with effective strategies and tools designed to support the whole student. This collection features insightful webinars and blogs covering student well-being, creating positive school environments, and fostering inclusive classrooms.
