Our time is important. We care a lot about the kids we teach, and they need to know that the time we spent together was worthwhile. So, don’t just let the year end. Celebrate learning, celebrate the moments you’ve had, and enjoy the time you still have together.
We like to hear cheers at the end of the race, and it’s a big deal when kids graduate. The end of every school year should really be the climax. It ought to be fun. So, as teachers, we have to be very careful not to let the bell ring and leave the kids wondering what just happened. The end of the school year should be a time to look back, think about the year, and have a party.
Let the kids take over teaching.
Divide the class into groups and give each one a subject you’ve learned about this year. Give them time to think about their topic and come up with a good way to review, which they will then have to grade. You judge them based on how well they know their facts and how well their review activity works.
Have the students write a book for kids.
When writing for younger kids, your students will need to keep things simple and focus on the most important parts of your course. This is a fun way to add art to the curriculum and a great way to review. Students could write a children’s version of a Shakespeare play, a history of Ancient Egypt for young readers, or a picture book about how life goes through different stages.
Host a talk show or a meeting of “experts.”
As a way to talk about The Chocolate War, you could have a show like Oprah’s about bullying or school violence. Or a talk about the “Great Scientific Achievements of the 20th Century,” with students playing Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Stephen Hawking. Put students into groups and have them research their topic, write a script about it, and put on a show for the class.
Activities for the end of the year: Think about what you’ve learned this year.
Make a scrapbook for the class.
Each student should make one page. Give them some ideas (My favorite book we read in class, the best experiment we did in chemistry, something I learned about myself, etc.) and encourage them to write about their favorite memories from class. Add photos of the students, the classroom, or what they are doing in class. Make a copy of the scrapbook for each student, or make a digital scrapbook that students can access online.
Have the students write themselves letters.
Ask your students to write themselves a letter in which they look back on the year and make “resolutions” for the next one. Give them ideas for what to write about, like one thing they are proud of from this year, one thing they would like to do differently next year, one thing they want to remember, and so on. You can either mail these letters to your students just before the next school year starts, or you can make plans with their new teachers to give them out when school starts.
Ask your students to write letters to the ones who will come after them.
Have the students you’re teaching now write letters of advice for the students you’ll be teaching next year. How would they tell you to “make it” or do well in your classroom? What parts of the course are the hardest? Make sure to tell your students ahead of time about any special traditions or “surprises” you don’t want them to find out about.
Each student should have their own portfolio or profile.
Work with each student to make a personal profile that shows off their best work from this year. Depending on the level of your students, this may include samples of their work, a self-evaluation, and a written teacher evaluation. If you can, make two copies. One copy should go to the student’s parents, and the other should go to the student’s next teacher. Keep in mind that this activity works best when students rely more on their own work and self-evaluation than on comments from the teacher. You could also have them make an online portfolio.
Ask the students what they think of the course.
For students who are older, evaluating the course can be helpful in many ways. You might be surprised by how they judge their own work, and they might have good ideas for how to change the course. Even better, you’re showing them that everyone can learn from constructive feedback and that we all have things to improve.
Do something that will teach you something but won’t be too stressful.
Teach that fun unit you’re always too busy to do. Most teachers want to do fun units or activities, but they never have enough time. Why not get it done now? Food math, logic puzzles, Mythbuster-style experiments, or lessons on advertising or political cartoons are all legitimate educational activities with a high “fun factor” that will make it easier to keep students interested and motivated.
Go outside.
Find a way to teach outside when it gets warmer. Students can use math or science skills to learn about nature or write a poem about the weather. Have a messy or noisy thing to do? It’s a great way to enjoy spring to do it on the field.
Change up the way you do skill drills.
Every teacher has skills or information they want their students to practice, like reading, writing, learning the Periodic Table, or remembering the Pythagorean Theorem. Choose a specific skill to teach and focus on that. Have a reading fair, call it Grammar Week, or hold a contest to see who can remember the most math theorems.
Find a fun way to practice these skills. For example, if your students need to improve their reading skills, could you let them read Sports Illustrated or X-Box: the Magazine? If they need more time to write, have them write profiles of their favorite TV stars or even their own autobiographies. Practice is easier than learning something new, but it’s still a good use of class time.
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