Welcome back! ‘It’s September already?’, I hear you say with some trepidation. It’s not uncommon for both students and teachers to feel a sense of unease when heading back to school after the holidays. In fact, it’s even got a name: Post-Vacation Depression.

What is Post-Vacation Depression?

It’s a combination of symptoms we feel when moving back into a structured routine after a period of relaxation - the holidays. These symptoms may include tiredness, concentration problems and mood swings.

All members of a school’s community can experience these symptoms but, due to their age, it’s often students who are hardest hit. While showing awareness and understanding is essential, the onus is on us as teachers to be on top of any classroom management issues that may arise in these first weeks and to engage students from the get-go. This will set the tone for the rest of the school year. 

Motivating students and helping them make the transition as smooth as possible can be difficult when we ourselves are feeling low, but we will thank ourselves later in the term for getting our classes on the right path from the very beginning. Here are a few tried and trusted techniques for getting back into our classroom routines:

1. Create a welcoming environment. Make sure your students feel comfortable. It’s their classroom after all. Use colour and decorations, such as our movement poster*, that inspire creativity and wellbeing. Have a space for their creations.
2. Set clear goals. Help students set objectives for the new school year. Make these more manageable by having termly, monthly or even weekly goals. Let them communicate these goals to you and other students – once they are out in the open students will more be willing to work toward them. Don’t forget to think about your own goals at the same time.
3. Take inspiration from students’ interests. What are your students interested in? Pokémon? Taylor Swift? El Clásico? Design activities with your students in mind to engage them in the learning process.
4. Use technology. The use of real-world tools such as voice notes, video, the internet and presentation tools is often motivating for students.
5. Vary interaction patterns. Do you tend to speak at the front of the class? Change it up and have your students working in pairs or small groups on collaborative projects or group debates and roleplays.
6. Encourage active participation. Encourage students to react to content. Open ended questions, classroom debates, and discussing topics in pairs are all great ways to get students talking. Students will take their cue from you. Ask follow up questions and react to content rather than language.
7. Praise students. Celebrate success, no matter how small. Recognizing the effort and progress students are making will encourage them to keep at it. Phrases such as “Well done” and “Fantastic” are nice but specific sentences such as “You said X perfectly. Well done” are much better.
8. Establish routine. From day one, start with a clear and predictable routine especially for younger students. Students feel comfortable when they know what to expect.
9. Model self-care. Talk about the importance of taking care of ourselves. Focus on rest, nutrition and exercise. Choose one of our Little Moments of Calm* activities from time to time to support this point.
10. Build a sense of community. Playing games together, speaking about each other’s lives and giving peer feedback on class exercises can help build confidence in each other and learner autonomy. Check out our Warmers and Fillers* for lots of ideas that will help your students bond.

It’s normal for some to feel low when the holidays end. However, with a little planning it can be a rewarding experience. New teachers, new classrooms, new students all pulling in the same direction!

At Go Beyond ELT, we aim to provide you with tools that will make “la vuelta” that little bit easier. With hundreds of worksheets and ideas from low-prep warm up activities and tips for teaching different levels to ideas for group work projects and worksheets based around popular songs we hope we have something for every student (and teacher!). 

Happy Teaching!

*Would you like a digital download of these materials? Find them in the Wellbeing Resources section on Go Beyond ELT, by Richmond Spain, our exclusive hub for Richmond users, where you’ll find helpful videos, printables for your class, ideas for activities, and more!