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Login Create AccountAs you count down the days until summer, you quickly fill your mind with the end-of-year tasks. Trying to remember everything you need to do as these final weeks fly by is dizzying. Finish your year on a high note and start your fall feeling prepared with these seven checklists. You will be thankful for starting with a clean slate and thoughtful reflection. You will be free to focus on all of the other demands a new school year brings.
To make your life even easier and to ensure you don’t miss a thing, we have all seven checklists for you to download and post in your room.
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Students’ behavior markedly changes as the school year comes to a close. They exhibit a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, as the consistency they depend upon is about to change. While pep rallies, assemblies, and year-end celebrations are fun, the shift to summer is not a welcome change for everyone. In between all of the excitement, try and maintain your routine as much as possible.
Be sure to balance taking care of business while also sprinkling in some fun. Students still need to see that you have a daily plan and are not aching to jet to vacation. Look at 5 Outdoor Activities for the End of the Year for some ideas. If you haven’t established a “last week of school” set of traditions, consider this your year to start. Students have so much fun participating in making the five-day countdown memorable.
Here are some ways to wrap up the end of the year for your students:
It’s a rookie mistake to think you have to tackle shutting down your classroom alone! Many students love helping their teachers clean, run errands, and take on other special responsibilities outside of their regular classroom jobs. Either take one day or break your cleaning plans into a few chunks throughout the week with the help of your students. After all, it got this dirty with their help! Consult this comprehensive list of 40 end-of-the-year cleanup jobs when delegating tasks.
There will still be plenty only you can clean and purge, so use this list to help separate what you will ask students to support and what you will complete after they have left.
Thinking about supplies is thrilling and tedious all at once. On the one hand, you get to make fun purchases and share your passion for materials with students. On the other hand, you have to organize and inventory what you have, figure out what you need, and tackle how to budget for next year on a shoestring. Check out these three articles (1, 2, and 3) for guidance on ordering.
Here are some tasks to get you started:
If you store a class set of computers or iPads in your classroom, take the time to examine them. You will want to know how many are in working order before and locate any devices you have lent out before your first assignment next fall.
Here are some other tech-related tasks you can check off:
Your administrators will likely give you direction regarding how to check out for the end of the year. Organized administrators provide checklists, but it helps to cross your t’s and dot your i’s so that nothing gets overlooked.
Get a headstart with these items:
A school is always an interesting place when the students have left—it’s empty and quiet. Take this time to self-reflect. You have accomplished so much this year! You absorbed so much information and thought about everything from behavior management to classroom setup and supplies for next year.
Spend a few minutes to synthesize your takeaways and the year as a whole. Jot down notes, create to-do lists, and keep all of those ideas bubbling to the surface before summer amnesia hits!
Try these prompts:
Don’t forget about you! Closing down your classroom and managing the needs of students at the end of the year is exhausting. Take time each day to ensure your needs are being met. Find five suggestions for doing just that here. So often, teachers put themselves last. With the doozy of a year it’s been, you deserve to fill your cup, enjoy time away from the classroom, and leave school at school.
If you need some self-care ideas, pick some of these:
Working collaboratively with your students to close down the art room will free you up to enjoy those end-of-year parties. With a bit of forethought and these checklists, you will be able to delegate tasks and outsource help to get the job done swiftly! Prepare your classroom, supplies, and thoughts for the school year ahead. It is a gift your future self will appreciate!
What is a task you always do to close out the school year?
How do you balance shutting down the art room and end-of-year celebrations?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.