There’s about one week of school left before the end of the school year. My school year ends on June 4th. Students know it, parents know it, and so do the teachers. You can tell that school is coming to a close. It’s in the air. Teachers are starting to box up items and are planning their last few lessons of the school year. The last class newsletters are being posted and student lockers are starting to empty. The media specialist and library team is attempting to retrieve all of their books for inventory. Teachers that are retiring or leaving are giving away their resources and some teachers are moving classrooms. The sound of tape closing up moving boxes echos around the school. Multiple bulletin boards are being stripped down to reveal their natural cork board surfaces. The classroom walls will soon be bare as teachers start thinking about the next school year.
Yet, we have one week left. There’s been a lot of emphasis on the first five days of school, but in this post I’d like to address the last five days in one of my classes.
Monday is Memorial Day so students will begin the week on Tuesday. Two of my classes will be taking an assessment during the last week of school, which means that I can’t close out my grade book until the tests are graded. Both classes have been exploring fractions and measurement and I don’t think the assessment will take longer than one period. My class that isn’t taking a test is completing a scale factor project.
On Wednesday students will complete their last math journal reflection of the year. I’m in the midst of creating some questions for this and hope to finish it up by Monday. Basically, I’m going to have the students analyze all of their assessments and SeeSaw account. They’ll then reflect on the progress that they’ve made this year. They’ll pinpoint a few strength areas and areas that could use some strengthening. Since I loop with many of the classes I’d like to have the student create a summer goal that we can discuss when they return in August. Students will bring home the tests that Wednesday to be signed and returned.
I plan on having Thursday be a research day for our math genius hour projects. Students have already created a questions and are currently in the research phase. Some students are putting together their presentation while others are just beginning. I don’t intend on having the students present his year as they’ll continue this project next school year.
Friday is designed as an end-of-year celebration. Students will play different math games that we’ve used throughout the school year. Some of the games are digital, while others involve cards and dice. The last 10-15 minutes of class is used to fill out a class survey. Again, I’ll be working on this over the weekend, but you can see something similar that I’ve used in the past here. I say goodbye and tell the kids to have a great summer. Some students are excited to get out to the bus and leave, while others want to talk about the year or what they’re doing this summer.
Field day is scheduled for Monday. I generally don’t see the students much during field day. I help out the different teams and at the end of the day all teachers have bus duty. The fifth graders are “clapped-out” of the building and all the teachers wave goodbye as the busses leave.
Similar to other teachers, I have mixed feelings about the end of the school year. It’s great to celebrate another year and the progress that’s been made. But there’s also something different about coming back to your classroom that’s empty. The clean up process begins and eventually teachers head home and another year is in the books. I’m looking forward to recharging over the summer, but also have a few different work-related events. Before you know it, I’ll be back to setup my classroom for another year.
Educational Aspirations 