by Marianna Monheim, Rissa Hanneken, Jennifer Martinez, and Tammy DeShaw updated May 19, 2024
What Should You Reflect on As the Year Ends?
During the hectic end of the year for upper elementary teachers, it can benefit you to take a moment to stop and reflect. These reflections can take many forms. You may choose to think about a routine or procedure you’d like to change up next year, or reflect on a great year with your students. When you set aside time to reflect intentionally, you may also notice that you’ll end the year on a good note – your mind will be free and clear to enjoy those last few days with your class!
Let’s look at a few questions teachers can ask themselves while wrapping up the school year.
What Systems Can I Add or Modify to Make Things Easier Next Year?
I want to walk you through an end of year reflection I did after switching from a self-contained classroom to departmentalized teaching. I realized that I had thought a great deal about classroom management systems on the behavior side of managing multiple classrooms…yet I had papers coming out of my ears because I wasn’t intentional about the academic side of things.
At the end of my first year of teaching ONLY ELA to 2 classes, I sat down to think about what would make my life easier. One of the best switches I made was moving to a choice-board based system with clear directions for weekly work for both reading response and spelling work. Not only did it cut down on the number of loose papers floating around my room, I was not repeating directions over and over. Plus, it was a lot easier to explain grades to my 50+ families!
If you’re looking for done for you systems for reading response and spelling, head to my TPT store!
How Can I Keep Students Engaged All the Way Up to the Last Day?
As we hit the final stretch of the school year, it’s a challenge to keep those students focused. The weather’s warming up, and every day, the pull of summer grows a bit stronger. It’s tempting to let things slide, but experience shows that it’s crucial to keep the learning going all the way to the finish line. Rissa from Teaching in the Heart of Florida believes that’s where injecting some fun and engaging reading activities into your lesson plans can make a difference.
Whether it’s through interactive storytelling sessions, themed book days, or fun escape rooms, keeping reading fun helps maintain classroom engagement. These activities don’t just fill time; they ensure that learning continues vigorously until the very last day. They also help manage the increased energy levels in the classroom, turning potential distractions into productive enthusiasm. As Rissa reflects on past years, it’s clear that when we mix up the routine with exciting reading challenges, not only do behavior issues decrease, but students also retain more, ending the year on a high note and ready to jump back into learning after the summer break. Learn more about using engaging reading activities in this post: Engaging and Effortless End of Year Reading Activities.
How Can I End the Year on a Positive Note?
The end of the school year can bring stress, exhaustion, and a never ending list of to-dos. It’s easy to become so overwhelmed that you lose sight of focusing on what really matters – those final few moments with your students.
Jennifer from everything just so shares five ways to end the year on a positive note that are easy to implement and involve little to no prep for you.
The first being, stay in the moment – as difficult as that may seem. Your time with this class, with these students, is almost over. Each year has its own personality and your relationship with each student is unique. Don’t be so busy you forget to be present with them as the year comes to a close.
All the things that have to get done will – the papers will get filed, the classroom will get packed. But there’s only so much time left with those little humans. And many of them are dreading the day they say goodbye to you.
So soak up as much as you can while there’s still time. You’ll be glad you did.
Read this post for ways to end this year on a positive note.
How Can I Help My Students Reflect on the Year?
No matter how eager everyone is for summer break, it’s no secret that it’s still a bittersweet time. You’ve spent nearly a full year with your elementary students and watched them learn and grow, and now it’s time to say goodbye! Every educator has to work through this tumultuous time, but luckily there are tactics to make the process easier—like reflections.
In that vein, Tammy at The Owl Teacher suggests hosting a chalk talk reflection! It’s an easy low-prep activity that engages kiddos during these exciting last days, and as a bonus, you won’t have to grade anything!
To get started, come up with four or five reflection questions such as “What was the funniest thing that happened this year?” or “What was your favorite activity?” and write one question each on chart paper. Then, hang these questions around the room and have your students grab a marker and go around adding one response per question.
The caveat is that students can’t talk during the process, and they should try to come up with an answer that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Then, at the end, we go over the responses and reminisce as a class. It’s always a great time to share these memories one last time with your kiddos.
To read more on these chalk talk reflections, pop over to The Owl Teacher’s blog!
