Tips for Wrapping Up The School Year



Before you say "It's a wrap" for this school year, be sure to check out these ideas for making it a smooth finish! #organization #ideas


Believe it or not, we're nearing the end of the school year!  But before we can call it "a wrap", there's a few loose ends that need to be tied up.  

Your #2ndaryELA friends discussed some of the best ways to close out the school year both on Twitter and on Facebook Live in the #2ndaryELA Facebook Group.  
(You'll see comments from both Twitter and Facebook in the post below.)

Read on for some of their best ideas and suggestions!




Q1: Do you give any specials gifts or mementos to students at the end of the year?
A1: not really because I have on average 260 students a year, so it isn’t very cost effective.
A1: Jumping in here late tonight- Kelli from TN - 7th and 8th ELA- when I taught in elementary grade levels I would give books - but now since I am secondary and have 5 times the students I do not.
A1 in middle school I don't do student gifts. We do a reflection and celebrate!
A1 No gifts in the past in high school, but thinking about it for this yr in 6th grade
A1: I don't give any gifts, but at the end of each year I have the students write their name in the center of a piece of paper on which other students write compliments. I love joining in and the students love reading them!
Q2: What do you have to do to “shut-down” your room for the year?
A2: As far as I know, this year I don't have to do ANYTHING! Last year we moved into a new building and had to remove EVERYTHING to store at home until August. It was quite the task, so I'm happy for an easier shutdown this year!
A2: Some years we have to take everything out but some years we can just box it all up. I try to do a little each day in the 2 or so weeks leading up to the last day.



Lauralee Epplin Moss15:25 I wipe down my room. Once I came back to a sticky mess. Gross.
A2 I take down personal items, most of my wall decorations/posters, box up my desk and get everything off the floors!
A2 We have a fairly short checklist of cleaning up our room. We can leave things up and don't have to pack much up.
A2: We have to clean out our rooms completely. Nothing can be left. They buff the tile floors over the summer.
A2: put up desks, clean off counters, clean the whiteboard. Our Custodiangives is a checklist and a summer cleaning schedule
Q3: How do you organize your things to help you be better prepared for the next year?
A3: I try to keep paper assignments organized in binders, so they are easier to find next year. Everything else is organized in Google Drive folders. If it weren't for I'd be a mess!
A3: Everything will be binders. Notice I said - will be, I am still working on it.
A3: I have tried making lists of what's in every box so I am not constantly searching through boxes for the item I need.
A3 I want to take the first couple days after the school year ends to jot down notes about what to do differently. Next year I'll keep of notebook as I go
A3 I will go through any extra copies I made and toss anything I know I'm going to change
A3: my room is very organized now so that helps. I have a cupboard I put things in so it is ready to go next year.



Emily Clausen19:43 A3 My temptation at the end of the year is to shove stuff wherever I can to be “packed up”...but the years that I take the time to sort through papers and pack things in an organized way, I am always happy I did when coming back for the next year
A3 I have been purging paper files over the last few years - I've got about three more drawers to go! I keep binders of some things, but now mostly everything in Google Drive. I've been scanning hard copies this year-it helps!
Q4: Do you work on lesson plans over the summer? PD? Anything school related?
A4: Of course! I'm attending a tech summit in May and a middle grades conference in June as well as the PD! This summer I'm going to work on flipping our novel unit; then in July we have summer cheer camp :)
A4: I have 4 district PD days and 1 department collaboration day right after school gets out then I work on plans at my own pace through the summer
A4: Not if I can help it! Well at least not until late July. (We go back August 5)


Erica Pasquale Young20:26 A4: yes! We just changed our whole curriculum for next year


Erica Pasquale Young22:04 We literally just rewrote the scope and sequence. We never had themes before (it was a mess...I’m glad it changed), but I just signed myself up for a ton of work
A4: I do. My kids are older and I am able to tweak lessons and read PD books. I occasionally will go to a summer PD if it’s something I really want to do.
A4 Guilty of doing lots of summer work. With 3 little ones, I'd rather put in some time over the summer so I have less work during the school year
A4 Hoping to attend ISTE in Philly at the end of June
Q5: Share your best teacher summer relaxation tips.
A5: Do things that bring you joy! I like to read, go to the parks with my own boys, play frisbee, & work on projects around the house. In short, I like to let my mind wander.


Erica Pasquale Young22:27 I’ll read for June, think of ideas in July, and plan in August
A5 My advice to to set aside a certain amount of time to work on school stuff and stick to it
A5: Relaxing outside in the sunshine listening to music or reading a book.
A5 My goal is also to read a book a day :)
A5: I try to take the month of June and half of July off and not do anything school related. Then I start getting things ready and planned middle of July
A5: I love getting away to the lake where I have ZERO phone signal and plenty of sun! Being able to enjoy a good book is a plus too :)


Tina Boss-McIver28:01 My husband just put 24 tomato and pepper plants in the garden; I will spend lots of time canning, but I find this relaxing! :)


Erica Pasquale Young25:35 A5: Hammock time! I also don’t do any work after 8 pm at all!
I hope you found some new ideas for closing out the school year!  This was our last #2ndaryELA chat for the 2018-2019 school year but we're already planning for next year!  Would you please take a moment and give us some feedback?  We really want the chats to be useful to you.  :)

You can catch up on past chats here:



Thanks for stopping by!