A Few Things to Do Before the End of the Year

There is something about after spring break that feels like the end of the year is creeping up. As if the beginning of the last quarter is really the beginning of the end. As if, the days which were already rushing by are now flying so fast that it is hard to keep your wits about you. As the sun comes back – even as they call for more snow, as the days get longer, as the paperwork starts for the next year’s classes, we realize that the end of the year is coming whether we like it or not. Whether we are ready or not.

So as the year starts to slowly unwind and I realize just how deeply I will miss this group of kids again, I am thinking of what I would still like to do. After all, there is so much still to be tried, still to be explored, still be built together. There is still so much to try and now is a great time to do a few things that will often leave a lasting impression.

Now is a great time for another round of book clubs. We do two rounds in one year, more than that is overkill, less than that is a missed opportunity. These center around the theme of overcoming obstacles and allow us to channel the extra energy students bring in the lighter months into discussion. It also gives students a chance to sit with self-selected book people as they choose their next read together. I get to listen in on their conversations to see how they have grown and they get to show off their newfound knowledge as well as confidence when it comes to discussing texts. The last round finished in December so there has been a nice break between then and now. The choices in text they were given can be found here and if you would like to read more about book clubs, see this here.

Now is a great time for more picture books. With state testing and other more high pressure learning opportunities we have been taking the last ten minutes of class to relish picture books, particularly funny ones. As we dive into our “Overcoming Obstacles” book club, which tend to deal with heavy topics, the humor from our picture books provide a nice balance and offer a great way to end our 90 minute block together.

Now is a great time for surveys. I love tapping into the minds of students, after all that is pretty much the premise of all of the work I do, and right now they have some fantastic things to share if you only ask. And by fantastic I mean things that can help you grow. Now is a great time to ask whether they feel valued and respected, what their summer reading plans are, how you can better support them, and also what they would still like to learn. I recently did a beginning of the quarter survey and have been using their answers to guide my planning. In a few weeks, I will ask for their help in assessing the year; what should we have done more of, what should I never do again and such. The trust that we have hopefully built up really allows me to reflect on the past year and to have them help me think of the new one. These students are, after all, the best professional development I can receive.

Now is a great time to plan for summer reading. While I would never require my students to read over the summer, after all, that falls far outside of my rights as their former teacher, I do want to encourage it with all of my might. This is why we have been talking about summer reading all year but now it really becomes a starting point. I try to ramp up conferences with students in order to help them sort through their habits as well as ask them point blank how they will keep reading throughout the summer when there is no teacher there to nag them. With more than 1/3 of my students reporting that they didn’t read a single book last summer, I am really hoping to help a few kids onto a better path. This means book talks, book shopping, and continuing to work on our to-be-read list until it gets emailed home that last week of school.

Now is a great time to plan for a book giveaway on the last day of school. Last year, we planned a new event for the last day where we gave every single student on our team a brand new book. With the help of school funds and Books4school.com we were able to spend a few hundred dollars and provide 150+ kids with incredible choices for their summer reading. This was one more way we hoped to entice them to actually read over the summer and also meant as a parting gift for all of our students as a way to thank them for the year we had had together. However, pulling that many books together takes time and so now is a great time to start planning for that. Can you secure donations for books? Is there a way to get a brand new book into the hands of every child?

Now is a great time for another read aloud. As we wind down together, there is something special about settling in with one last shared book. The last three weeks of school, we will crack open the pages of a final read aloud together to see how far we have come in our comprehension of text, but also just to continue to build community. Contenders in our classroom right now include The Bridge Home and Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie but I will also be asking students for suggestions to see what mood they are in.

Now is a great plan to start thinking of summer check outs. I allow students to check out books from our classroom library every summer and so does our school library. For me it means checking out books and keeping track of them in the last week of school and then asking students to bring them back when school starts again. For our library it means having extended hours a few days for kids to check out, a few days open throughout summer, and then again asking them to bring back all books when the new year begins. While I inevitably lose a few books every summer, I also have a lot of students read more books because they finally get to check a great book out that they have been waiting for or can have an enticing pile to take home to hopefully tempt them . There is no reason for all of my books to just sit on my shelf all summer when they could be in the hands of readers.

Now is a great time for more free writing. Many of our students have been asking for more creative writing and so we have been making time for this as well. Using prompts from The Creativity Project, John Spencer, or student generated, students take 10 minutes most days to either write about the prompt or continue their own story. They then share with those they would like to share with. It has been a really wonderful way to reclaim the joy of writing as students continue to work on who they are as writers.

Now is a great time for more discussion. I don’t know about your students, but ours are chatty! And while I love a fun class, it can also be exhausting to constantly try to get them to settle into more quiet activities, instead we plan for more discussion-based explorations such as book clubs, as well as our heated topic debates. Rather than continue to fight their voices, we plan on channeling their voices for productive means, much like we have throughout the year.

Now is a great time to have some fun. Because the days are winding down, because the sun is coming back, because these kids won’t be ours much longer, now is a great time to just relax and have some fun. We teach the age group we teach because we love them (hopefully) and I don’t want to forget that. While 7th graders can be a challenge, they are an incredible challenge to have, and one that I wouldn’t trade for much in the world. why not embrace it? enjoy it? And have some fun these final days together.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first book  Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.      Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.