Podcast: 14 Excellent Ways to End the School Year
Looking for creative ways to celebrate the last weeks of school? Here’s a toolkit of delightful, memorable activities from veteran K-12 teachers.
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The end of the school year can feel like the best––and worst––of times.
On the one hand, it’s a great stretch because “the routines and procedures are set,” and the kids have their sights set on summer vacation, says Kansas City-based middle school ELA teacher Jeremiah Kim. But the workload for teachers closing out the year can be intense. “We all just want to be done, but we still have these boxes to check,” he says.
In this episode of School of Practice, Kim joins host Kristin Leong to explore a toolkit of low-lift, delightful, teacher-tested activities that inject celebration, meaningful reflection, and even some review into the last few weeks of class.
Hang in there, teachers, summer break is just around the corner!
Related resources:
- 19 Highly Engaging End-of-Year Activities Teachers can help students end the year on a high note with activities that remind them how much they’ve learned in class.
- Wrapping Up the School Year in English Language Arts Secondary teachers can focus on students’ interests to keep them engaged while reinforcing previously learned skills or previewing new ones.
- Meaningful Learning to End the Year Strong These end-of-year activities for elementary and middle school can help ensure that all students continue to learn while having fun.
- Finishing Strong in Elementary School Teachers can make the end of the school year memorable for students by focusing on activities that reinforce the connections between them.
- 4 Meaningful Activities to Mark the End of School Giving middle and high school students a chance to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the next can be very beneficial.
- How to Celebrate the End of the Year in Elementary School Teachers can balance maintaining classroom routines with creating special moments for students to remember.
- 8 Epic Ideas for Ending the School Year Give your students a year-end sendoff that celebrates their learning.
- Research: Reappraising Academic and Social Adversity Improves Middle School Students’ Academic Achievement, Behavior, and Well-Being Researchers used a targeted “belonging intervention” where incoming sixth-grade students read stories from older middle schoolers describing their own fears and anxieties and their eventual success at fitting in. The younger students’ grades, attendance, and behavior showed marked improvements.