Welcome to the Teachers Need Teachers Podcasts, the podcast for teachers who don't want
to just survive teaching, but actually thrive. I'm your host, Kim Laprie,
and I am so excited that you are here. So it's April,
and you know what that means. The end of the school year is almost
upon us. We get to put this whole school year behind us and finally
get that well deserved and much needed break. The finish line is in sight,
but those last hundred meters can feel like an entire marathon right And for
many years at this time of the year, I wondered how I was going
to make it to that last day of school without losing my damn mind.
So in this episode, I'm diving into ten battle tested tips on how to
not just survive, but actually thrive during this final stretch of the school year.
I'm going to be covering three different gearing up for the finish line,
keeping your cool, and taming the tempest. So first things first, let's
talk about how to prepare for what's ex expected of us, Because there are
things that you are going to be required to do at the end of the
year that if you're a new teacher you need to find out about and if
you're a seasoned teacher, you know that these are things that every year they
sneak up on us because we're not preparing for them. So first you need
to focus on the essentials. The last couple of months really aren't a great
time to teach new material. Your students aren't really in the mindset to absorb
anything new, and can you really blame them. It's kind of like when
you're in a training of some sort and it's towards the last hour or two
of that training and you've pretty much checked out if you didn't check out from
the beginning. So it's important to understand that students are also in this mindset.
They're also looking forward to the summer, well most of them are,
and so trying to teach them something new, especially if it's difficult, is
going to be kind of an uphill battle. This is actually the best time
to be reviewing core concepts, wrapping up any loose ends in terms of what
you taught them, and preparing them for some upcoming and of course or final
exam. So basically it's a really good time to just have them apply what
they've already learned and to not try to bombard them with new things that they
honestly won't remember after they leave you, since it's coming so late in the
year. I also tend to not like to give projects. Don't get me
wrong, I've given projects before because it just seemed like a good time.
It's just really like low barrier to entry because all I have to do is
just give them the instructions for the project and let them do it while I
get to just monitor them. However, I have found that this has actually
been a nightmare scenario. A lot of times, the class time that you've
allotted them for projects gets interrupted by things like ceremonies or maybe testing. Plus,
because it's at the end of the school year, I don't have as
much time to grade it, so then I'm scrambling towards the end to try
to finish it. The students want feedback or they're a grade on that project
that they work so hard on, and so it just tends to be a
little bit frustrating for me at the end of the year if I have all
of these projects that I have to get graded and input it into my grade
book. Also, you might have found that if a project goes on too
long, which a lot of times end of the year projects tend to do.
Students lose focus and start to exhibit more off task behaviors. So your
plan to do something that was more engaging and easier on you actually ends up
backfiring. And we think about it. If you have students who blaster the
project quickly, what are they going to do while everybody else is finishing up.
You can give them extra work, but then they're still going to goof
off because now it's unfair that they get more work. They're basically being punished
for getting done quickly. So you can just see that it can be difficult
to manage if you give something like that towards the end of the year.
So what types of things do I like to do at the end of the
year. Like I mentioned before, I do like to do reviews. I
like to get something that involves less of me grading. So maybe these are
multiple choice things, or maybe it's something like a cahout or just something fun
for the students to do that doesn't involve me having to create a bunch of
assignments. And then I do like group work because it keeps the kids engaged.
And again the students aren't necessarily learning something new, and they can be
reviewing and it's just easier for me personally to manage. So the second tip
is to plan for the future. And it doesn't necessarily have to mean planning
for like far out into the future. It could just be planning for the
summer. So we want to start thinking about things that need to be packed
up and put away for summer cleaning. Or maybe you're going to be switching
schools. Maybe you'll be switching grades, so you have to pack up all
of your fourth grade materials because you're being moved to sixth grade, or maybe
you're being moved to another classroom. So it's a good time to start planning
for that now instead of getting really stressed out, procrastinating, and even worse,
having to stay into your summer so that you can get that done.
Actually, what's kind of cool is you can employ your students to help you
out a little bit during those times when they start to get restless. It
can be a good time to have them help you take things down the wall
or have you put things into boxes, and it kind of gives them something
to do take a little bit of a mental break during those review sessions.
I also encourage you to put any repair or work orders that you'd like to
have completed over the summer. So maybe there's a leak somewhere that you want
them to take a look at, or there's a patch of carpet that they
need to replace something like that. Maybe your desk is broken or the drawer
is broken and you'd like the custodians to fix it over the summer, then
now would be a good time to start making a list of those so that
you can give it to whoever's in charge of that. I also like to
make sure that I gather all the work that I've collected and have forgotten to
hand back to the students, and I make a plan for that. That's
actually something that you can space out over time, so that during the last
say, five ten minutes of class, when students are really losing their mind,
it's a time when you can give back their papers and their work a
little bit at a time, so you can kill those last few minutes.
My next tip is to focus on what you can control. This is actually
kind of hard even for someone like me, because we can tend to worry
about all of the things that are happening. Maybe students are getting more and
really maybe there are still parents that are hounding you. You could be worrying
about a notice of non renewal, things like that, and so we want
to try to reframe and focus on the things that are within our control so
that again we don't lose our mind. So if you just had standardized testing
and you were worried about their scores, it's out of your control. Now
you're not going to find out, probably until the summer, how they did.
So there's just no use in worrying about that. And if you did
get a notice of non renewal and you've already gone to the process of fighting
it or discussing it with your union if you have one, and you're still
going to get that, then it's time to start looking forward to the next
adventure and the next opportunit community for you, instead of dwelling on the fact
that you're not coming back. Now. I know that's a lot easier said
than done. Just remember that if they don't want you there, there's going
to be a school that does. And it just feels so much better to
be somewhere where you're appreciated and not being criticized and hounded by your administration and
other colleagues. So there are definitely better things that you can look forward to.
And the same goes if you have a particularly difficult class, you know
they're difficult, they've been that way the whole year. That with me and
one eighth grade class. What I can control is how I react to what
they're doing and the way that I structure the class periods so that I can
minimize how crazy they can become. So instead of dreading seeing them every single
day, I just focus on how I can control and manipulate the situation to
try to just keep the chaos contained as much as possible. Tip number four
is to celebrate accomplishments. I personally like to take some time to acknowledge how
far my students have come and how much they've grown. We think it's kind
of fun to actually look back at their first piece of writing towards the beginning
of the school year and just see how much better they are now. So
you can do some kind of reflection piece like that, although I want to
take too much time because kids can get really bored with that, but you
could also have some kind of celebration in class or rays to recognize your students,
and it's just something that kind of lightens the mood at the end of
the year. I also wouldn't be afraid to show a movie. I know
this can be controversial, but it's the end of the year. Unless your
school has some kind of school wide activity or maybe like a festival planned,
the last few days of school can actually just feel like you're there to get
the federal funding. You know what I mean, You're just there. You're
wondering why are we still here? There's literally nothing to do. So if
that's the case where there's nothing planned the last one, two three days of
school, just show a movie. Just have them bring their own snacks or
provide them with popcorn or something like that. Let them sit on the ground
and just show them a movie. So next, let's discuss how to keep
your sanity in check, because let's be honest, the last few months can
be pretty stressful. So tip number five is don't be a martyr. It's
okay to take breaks. I would schedule at least one or two personal days
during this time, just so that you can have some time to reset and
so that you won't sit there freaking out and losing your mind. You're probably
going to need some time away from certain students, if not a whole class.
I remember that I did that with that one class. I had to
get away from that class just for a day because they were starting to become
out of control. And even though I knew that it was really fair to
do that to a substitute, I didn't want to be a mean teacher at
the end of the school year and have them leave with that kind of impression
of their experience with me. So taking a day off just made me a
better teacher, and it just really helped with the vibe in my classroom towards
the end of the year. Something that you can consider. There's a three
day weekend usually for the Memorial Day weekend. Maybe make it a four day
weekend and take that Friday off too. Plan for it now so that it
doesn't creep up on you and you can have a solid lesson planned for that.
If you want to know more about how to create good lesson plans,
I'll be sure to leave a link in the show notes so that you can
listen to that episode. The next tip is to continue to prioritize yourself.
Yes, you can get bogged down with all of the things that you need
to do towards the end of the school year, and just get bogged down
with the stress of having to deal with these students who are just acting insane.
So it's really important more than ever to prioritize your health, especially your
mental and physical health, and take time to disconnect. Plan activity so that
you're not spending a lot of time thinking about school at home. Plan things
that you can do so that once you walk out of that school every single
day, you are leaving it all behind and you don't have to worry about
what's coming next. Make sure you're getting an adequate amount of sleep, you're
freeding yourself well, you're moving your body, all the things that you know
that you should be doing. But this is a time when the stress can
make you sick. This is the time when the stress can make you want
to quit, even though normally you weren't even really thinking about quitting. It's
a time that can be really, really stressful. So prioritizing yourself is going
to go a long way. My next tip is to connect and commiserate with
your colleagues. Normally, I don't necessarily think it's good to just have a
wine fest with your colleagues, because that could just lead to a lot of
negativity. But this is kind of the time when it's okay because you just
sometimes need to vent, right. You can try to vent to your family
members and friends and they'll listen for a little bit, but I don't know
about you. After a while, I kind of feel bad doing that because
they don't really know what's going on. They don't really understand, and they
can't relate unless there are fellow educators. So lean into talking to your colleagues
if you have that kind of connection with some of them, or even if
you don't, you can still in the copy room just say, oh,
my goodness, this is so fresh, and it's just nice to get it
out and talk about it with them, and then you can all share your
frustrations and celebrate successes with each other, maybe bounce ideas off of each other
in terms of how to keep the kids from becoming too restless. I remember
one year where another colleague had some difficult students and I had some difficult students,
and so we would send something with that student. It wasn't really anything
that was important. We'd make up some kind of paperwork to give to the
other teacher, and that would give the student time to walk over to that
classroom and walk back and a lot of times that would redirect them or have
them clear their head enough to where they weren't as difficult for the next block
of time. So we've covered the essentials in terms of how to prepare and
how to keep your cool, and now we're going to talk about taming the
tempest, which is basically managing the classroom energy, especially when your students are
a little restless or a lot restless. So it goes without saying that you
need to plan some engaging activities. Isn't a time for your normal lectures.
The kids just I don't care if they are in twelfth grade or in second
grade. It is really hard for them to handle lectures at this point in
the year. I mean, if you have to do traditional lectures, that's
fine, but just know that they are going to be more restless, less
likely to absorb the information, and we'll probably get into more trouble and you
have to be prepared for that, and you have to accept that. You
can't actually get really mad at them about that because it's just their nature.
I think it's better to plan something that's more interactive and more fun, maybe
something like what I had discussed with the modern classroom project model in my previous
episode, in terms of having videos. For whatever reason, students are more
engaged with watching a video than they are listening to me. They follow the
directions that I tell them via video than I tell them in person. It's
kind of interesting. So maybe you just mix it up during this time so
that it's not just the same old, same old. A different stimulus will
get them to focus more. So this is a time for more hands on
learning. Maybe some educational games that could be like a Daally thing that you
do as a warm up. Just find ways to keep them focused and motivated,
something that is more relevant and fun for them that maybe you had been
saving up all year. And this goes along with my next tip, which
is to take movement breaks. If you're an elementary teacher, you already know
about this. You know that you have to have the students move after a
certain amount of time, or else they will move without your permission. So
it's better to have them move in a structured way rather than when their bodies
just decided going to start gesticulating or whatever. So I would schedule short bursts
of movement, whether it's a stretch. As I mentioned before that I did
with some difficult students, sending them out on a fake errand maybe taking a
fun brain break where they get to mix up their groups somehow, or mix
up their seating chart with that eighth grade class. Sometimes you would take a
five minute walk down to the library and back, just so I could provide
them with time to talk, which is all they wanted to do to get
that energy out. And I tell you, when we came back from that,
they settled beautifully and got focused. So schedule things like that for your
students, especially this time of year. Now. My next tip is to
really embrace and understand why students are acting this way. I've alluded to it
many times. That class that I had, they weren't bad kids, they
really weren't. They just they were friends. And so no matter how I
arranged the seats, there would be someone there for them to talk to and
goof off with. Even if I put them near someone introverted. Even those
introverts would sometimes get into trouble because they just couldn't help it. It was
just that kind of energy in the classroom, and so they became obviously even
more restless at the end of the year, and I had to remember why
that was happening. They were eighth graders, they were about to promote and
go off to high school, and there was definitely like a nerve business and
this just elevated energy, this buzz in the school because they just knew that
this was it. And some of them their mindset was, well, this
is my last hurrah, So I'm gonna go and be stupid and do things
that I know I shouldn't because what are they going to do to me?
And let's be honest, what are they going to do to them? They're
gonna not let them promote. They probably weren't going to promote anyway, so
it didn't matter to them. And then there were other students who were really
anxious and they didn't know how to get that anxiety out, and so it
just came out in the form of like talking too much and not listening or
not doing their work. And sometimes they were bored because, let's be honest,
it's the end of the year. They worked really hard. Even if
they didn't work really hard, it's been a long year for them and so
at this point, they just can't absorb anymore. Their brains are fully saturated
with everything that you and their other teachers have taught them. So it's just
really hard to get them to be productive. And you just have to understand
that and embrace that and accept it, and finally you have to plan for
it. I'm not making excuses for them, per se, but when you
do understand and really plan for this, then you can minimize the amount of
frustration that you're going to have because you know your students. You know when
that breaking point is for them, when they're going to start acting up,
and you plan something for that as a preentive strike. Maybe you just plan
things where every single day there's a fun routine that they could look forward to
and they know that you're building in something fun, like a silly cahoot.
I know, I keep saying cahot and their other games, but you get
the point. It doesn't necessarily always have to be an educational game. It
could be a cahoot about cartoon care. It can be a cahoot about modern
slang words that they help contribute to, something like that. So that was
a lot to cover, but by following these tips, and really embracing them.
You really can transform the end of the school year from this horrible slot
to a time when you can really celebrate and have some closure with your students.
I have to say that with that particular class, we really did end
on a high note, and strangely enough, even though they stressed me out
for the entire school year, I missed them. I was really sad to
see them go. We had wrapped up that school year so well, so
positively, with so much energy and on a high note that they also missed
me. So just remember plan engaging activities, take care of yourself, focus
on the progress that you and your students have made together, and be as
proactive as possible. I mean, summer break is right around the corner.
If you're listening to this and it's not end of the year, doesn't mean
that it's not relevant to you. You can actually keep all of these tips
in mind because they apply anytime of the year, especially if you happen to
have that class. You know what I mean, that class or those students.
So I hope that this episode was really helpful for you and that you
got some solid tips in terms of how to prepare if you are a new
teacher, it's hard to know how to prepare for the end of the school
year. It's really hard to know what you're supposed to be doing because the
other teachers in your school, especially if you don't have a mentor, they're
stressed out with their end of the school year, and sometimes we feel bad
asking them for help. We feel bad for bugging them, but we don't
know what we're supposed to be doing, and then all of a sudden,
these school wide activities pop up or things that are expected of us, but
nobody told us about them, so then we just feel inadequate. So I
just wanted to help you out with that so that you can learn how to
be proactive. Now. It did create another episode that will be equally helpful
about preparing for the end of the school year, and it's episode one nineteen,
and I'll go ahead and link that in the show notes in case you
haven't listened to that yet. Thanks for hanging out with me today, you
guys, and I will talk to you next time.