May 19, 2025 • 18 mins
The end of the school year often flies by in a blur of countdowns, celebrations, and chaos—but without a little intention, you and your students might miss out on something really important: true end of year closure. In this episode, we’re sharing simple, purposeful ideas to help you slow down, reflect, and wrap up the year in a way that honors your students’ growth.
Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/end-of-the-year-closure
Resources:
- Freebie: End of Year Roadmap
- Freebie: Looking Back Reflection Awards
- Looking Back, Looking Ahead Bulletin Board
- Collapsible laundry baskets
- @Matt_swack on Instagram
- Join the Teacher Approved Club!
- Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
- Shop our teacher-approved resources.
- Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
- Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!
Related Episodes to Enjoy:
- Episode 9, Breaking Up With End of Year Awards
- Episode 11, Closing the Year
- Episode 193, Why Smart Teachers Start Planning for Next Year in May
- Episode 194, Want a Smoother Back to School? Do These 5 Things Now
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:00):
This is episode 195 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:28):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're sharing the threekeys to ending the school year
with heart and intention, andwe've got a teacher approved tip
for creating your own sense ofclosure.
Heidi (00:49):
Let's start with try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in yourclassroom right away. Emily,
what is our prompt this week?
Emily (00:57):
This week, try what we call a one spot tidy. Set a
timer for just 90 seconds andhave your class do a quick
cleanup of one small area ofyour room. You could even have
several of them all around theroom doing this, and it can just
be one drawer, one bookshelf,one supply bin. And the beauty
of this approach is that itbreaks down end of year cleanup
into little manageable chunksthat feel doable, even when
(01:19):
everyone's energy is rockbottom.
Heidi (01:22):
I love that idea. Instead of one massive, crazy cleanup
day that is going to leaveeveryone cranky, you can try
planning these micro cleaningmoments instead.
Emily (01:32):
The satisfaction of seeing even one small area
transformed can be surprisinglymotivating for everyone. If you
like this idea or anything elsewe share her on the podcast,
would you please make our day bygiving us a five star rating and
review on Apple podcasts?
So let's talk about end of theyear closure. And I have to say,
(01:52):
as I was working on thisepisode, every time I wrote
closure, it made me think offriends when they were like,
That's what I call closure.
Heidi (02:00):
You gotta snap your phone shut.
Emily (02:03):
Well, if you've been listening for a while, you might
remember, and if you do, we'resuper impressed, that way back
in episode 11, we first sharedthis framework that we're gonna
talk about today. And itactually is one of our favorite
episodes we've ever done. It'sjust we completely forgot about
it until, like, a week ago. Weboth came across it when we were
looking at podcast episodes, andwe're like, Hey, this is a good
(02:23):
idea! So we're going to revisitthat today, and the three ideas
are reflection, transition andcelebration. And guess what?
They still hold up as apractical guide for wrapping up
the school year with intentionand meaning.
Heidi (02:37):
If you have been feeling overwhelmed or unsure how to
create a real sense of end ofthe year closure in your
classroom, this is the episodefor you. Because, you know, May
is a lot. You are jugglingassemblies, grumpy kids, packing
up and finishing grades. It'skind of tempting just to crawl
to the finish line.
Emily (02:55):
But if you want the year to feel complete for you and for
your students, building in evena few moments of closure can
make a big difference, and itdoesn't have to be complicated.
Heidi (03:04):
Our first key to closing the school year with heart is
reflection. These last weeks ofthe school year are the perfect
time to help students pause andrecognize just how far they've
come since August. Withoutintentional reflection, that
growth easily goes unnoticed orunappreciated, especially by the
students themselves.
Emily (03:22):
Yeah, learning happens so gradually that sometimes it's
hard to see the transformationuntil you take a step back and
really look.
Heidi (03:29):
One of our all time favorite reflection ideas is
year mapping. You divide yourstudents into groups, and then
you give each group a subjectarea, like math, reading,
science, and they write downeverything that they learned in
that subject this year, and thenyou can combine the pages into a
giant map of your school year.
Emily (03:45):
Oh, and they'll be so proud to remember all the things
they have learned this year. Youcan also use digital
reflections, especially if youteach upper elementary students,
you can have them create a myyear of growth PowerPoint, where
they select examples of theirwork from throughout the year,
and then they can explain howeach piece shows their
development in a skill, and theycan reflect on challenges that
(04:07):
they overcame. And it mightsurprise you, because students
may choose to showcase piecesthat aren't their best work, but
instead they kind of representsignificant turning points in
their learning journey. Kids canbe surprisingly astute at
noticing their own progress ifthey take the time to really
look at it.
Heidi (04:25):
And I have found that reflection doesn't always have
to be a formal activity. One ofmy favorite things to do at the
end of the school year wasduring morning work. I would
remind the students of how atthe beginning of the year, when
we would do our morning work, itfelt so hard and they felt like
they would never be able to doit. And then I have them look
back at some of the first pages,because I kept it bound in the
(04:46):
whole year book, so that madethis easy. If you don't have it
bound, you might have to pull upsome beginning pages and show
the kids what one of those earlypages looks like and how easy it
looks to them now. They are justso amazed at how far they've
come when it seemed thatbeginning. Idea that this would
be an impossible task.
Emily (05:02):
Yes, I love that, and it's so easy. I think that's why
it's so helpful to incorporatereflection throughout those
final weeks of the school year,rather than saving it all up for
the last day. When we makereflection an ongoing
conversation at the end of theyear, the students have time to
really process how far they havecome and all the things they've
learned.
Heidi (05:21):
And don't forget that as the teacher, you need your
reflection to what worked thisyear. What do you want to
repeat? What do you never wantto do again? Our free end of
year roadmap is a great place tocapture all of those thoughts,
and we have a link to that freeresource in our show notes.
Emily (05:38):
And that naturally leads us to our second key to a
meaningful end of year, which ishelping students transition to
what's next. Transitions are anormal part of life, but they
can bring up a lot of mixedemotions for students. Hey,
sometimes even for teachers.There's excitement about moving
forward, but also anxiety aboutthe unknown. By calling out
these transitions directly, wecan help students approach them
(06:01):
with confidence instead ofnervousness.
Heidi (06:04):
One transition activity that can be a fun tradition is
to do a passing of the torch.Have your current students
create welcome packages for nextyear's class that can include
things like advice, sharingtheir favorite memories of the
year, or describing what toexpect in your classroom. These
are so sweet to read itbeginning of next year, and
students really love writingthem. You can add a twist by
(06:25):
having students create shortvideo tours of your classroom
learning centers and explaininghow they work. That's just a lot
of fun for everyone, and a funway to fill some of those long
last days.
Emily (06:35):
It's such a great way to give kids ownership in the
transition process. It's alsohelpful to demystify the next
grade level with like a littlepreview. So if possible, you can
arrange for students to visitnext year's classrooms for a
quick activity or chat with theteachers.
Heidi (06:51):
But even when that is not feasible, you can take your
class on a super quiet hallwayfield trip to peek at those
classrooms and get a glimpse ofwhat they are up to. Make sure
you point out the fun thingsthat you know is happening in
those classrooms, to get yourkids excited about their next
transition.
Emily (07:06):
That simple connection point can create so much
excitement about the transition,and it helps give your students
context for what next year willlook like for them. Heidi, you
had an idea that you liked to dofor transition called a looking
back looking forward timeline.So tell us about that.
Heidi (07:21):
I love doing this. So you start as a class, you brainstorm
memorable moments from the pastyear, then you just list them
all on the board, and eachstudent chooses one of those
memories to draw and writeabout. This could be anything
memorable to the class, like afavorite read aloud, a fun go
noodle activity, a field trip, amemorable math lesson. You'll be
surprised at the things theyremember and the things that
(07:42):
they don't, maybe a little bitdisappointed in the things they
don't remember.
Emily (07:45):
Yeah, so as the teacher, you might want to come up with a
few suggestions ahead of time,because it's likely that they
won't be able to generate enoughmemories on their own.
Heidi (07:54):
No, they all get stuck on, you know, Halloween parade
and the class party. And ifgetting one memory per kid is
too difficult. You could alwayspartner students to work on this
together. So you have the kidsdraw their memory and a little
paper polaroid frame, and youcan add a writing page if you
want them to write as well. Andthen you collect these to make
an end of the year bulletinboard. You print the header that
says Looking back at blankgrade, and obviously you fill it
(08:16):
in with your grade level. Buthere's where the handy part
comes in. When it's time tostart setting up your class in
the fall, all you have to do istrade out 'back at' to 'forward
to' and now your back to schoolbulletin board says, looking
forward to blank grade. All youhad to do is change a couple of
words.
Emily (08:33):
And you're not limited to using this as a bulletin board.
You could put it on your door oron the wall outside your
classroom. Could really put itanywhere you need a back to
school display, and if you don'twant to leave this up for next
year, it's still a really greatactivity for the end of the
school year. Don't be limited byour ideas. If you just like this
for a one off activity.
Heidi (08:53):
I like to put this in the hall as like a really long
timeline, so you could kind ofwalk through your school year,
it was a fun memory. And if youwere interested in doing this
with your own class, you canfind this set in our store. We
will put a link to it in theshow notes. It includes the
photo frames for students tocolor and different size writing
sheets, plus it has all thebulletin board pieces like a
title and some cute borderstrips, and a teacher guide,
(09:15):
where we walk you througheverything step by step.
Emily (09:18):
And yes, ideally, this is something you could put up in
May and leave up all summer. Butsome schools aren't cool about
that. Why do they wanteverything off the walls?
Seriously, I don't understandwhy it's so imperative.
Heidi (09:28):
They're not scrubbing the walls. Yeah, I don't get it.
Emily (09:30):
But if you are in that boat, we're so sorry. But even
if you want to reuse it nextyear and you have to take it
down, you can repost it. Justtake a picture of how you had it
set up, put it all into a bigenvelope or a folder, and you'll
be good to go for next year.
Heidi (09:45):
It's so nice to have a meaningful way to fill some time
at the end of the year. But myfavorite part of this activity
actually happened when schoolstarted up again. When I would
do this with my own students, Iwas surprised by how touched my
former little kiddos were to seetheir work still on display, it
helped them feel like they werestill part of my class. And I
really loved having a way toshow them that even though they
(10:08):
were getting bigger, they weremoving on, they would always be
my kids.
Emily (10:12):
I think that's what makes the third key to a meaningful
year end so crucial. Celebrationdoesn't just recognize
achievement, it also honors theconnections and joy that make
our class community special.
Heidi (10:24):
Celebration is really at the heart of what we want to do
at the end of the school year.This is where we can recognize
not just academic achievements,but the whole experience of
growing together as a class thisyear. The goal is to honor
individual journeys while alsoacknowledging the experience
that we have all had as a group.
Emily (10:41):
And you don't need elaborate party plans to mark
the moment, something as simpleas a compliment circle or even a
toast with sparkling apple juicein plastic champagne flutes can
make a special memory. Andsomething we always love to do
is student created awards.
Heidi (10:57):
Unlike traditional end of year awards, we want our
students to choose what they aremost proud of, not what we think
they should be proud of, andgive them an award for what
really matters to them. We havea free resource that will walk
you through this whole process,including several cute styles of
awards to choose from. And thereis a link to that in the show
notes.
Emily (11:15):
And we'll link to the episode where we talk about that
as well, if you want to deepdive into end of year awards.
Heidi (11:21):
Yeah, the show notes are where it's happening in this
episode.
Emily (11:24):
It really is.
Another idea is to use the powerof music to celebrate by
creating an end of year playlistwith songs that have become
meaningful to your classthroughout the year. So like the
song you always played duringcleanup time, or the one you
loved for brain breaks and theone that you practiced a million
times for the class program.Playing this playlist during
your final days together willevoke so many shared memories
(11:47):
and create that wonderful senseof nostalgia. You can even share
the playlist with parents sothey can keep listening at home.
Heidi (11:53):
You can also tap into that nostalgia by revisiting
some of your favorite readalouds. Like I don't know about
anyone else, but I was alwaysreading to my students, probably
multiple times a day, so we hadmany favorite books that were
fun to read again, and it's afun group discussion to
reminisce on all the picturebooks and the chapter books that
we had read during the year.
Emily (12:11):
These are such fun ideas for celebration. But don't
forget your support staff.Having students write thank you
notes or design small postersfor custodians, office staff or
specialists, it's a great way tocelebrate everyone who made this
year possible and impacted yourstudents.
Heidi (12:26):
But the final celebration moment that I think every
classroom needs is some kind ofa closing ritual. This doesn't
have to be elaborate, but itshould provide some kind of
emotional closure to your timetogether. With my second
graders, I ended each week witha closing circle, and that
ritual would be really easy toadapt for an end of year
activity. You just gathereveryone in a circle, and you
(12:47):
ask students to share theirproudest moment from the year.
You might have to prompt them alittle bit about, you know, some
ideas, because in the moment,they seem to go blank. Once
everyone has an idea, you goaround and they get to share
with the group, and then youhave them think of a wish that
they want for next year. Theywhisper it into their hands.
Then, you know, we all close oureyes while we're holding our
(13:07):
hands cup together. And then onthe count of three, we say our
class cheer, or, you know, wecould just count down. And then
we let our hands go, and we letour wishes float up into the
world where they will befloating around in their new
classrooms waiting for them whenthey come back to school in the
fall. It's so simple, but it'sjust really profoundly
meaningful.
Emily (13:28):
I did that a few times too, and it really was just the
perfect little period on the endof the school year. A good way
to get teary.
Heidi (13:35):
Oh yes, definitely.
Emily (13:37):
When you incorporate these three keys, reflection,
transition, and celebration intoyour end of year plans, you
transform those final weeks froma countdown to a meaningful
conclusion. Your students willleave your classroom not just
with their report cards andsummer reading lists, but with a
deeper understanding of theirown growth and a sense of
anticipation for what's comingnext.
Heidi (13:58):
And something you should start anticipating is our
upcoming teacher summer talksevent happening in mid June.
This is a free audio summit withlots of back to school
strategies from experiencedteachers designed to fit into
your summer schedule withoutrequiring you to sit in front of
a screen for hours during yoursummer.
Emily (14:16):
We'll be sharing more details about that soon, but in
the meantime, we'd love to hearwhat your class will be doing to
end the school year in ameaningful way. Come join the
conversation in our teacherapproved Facebook group.
Now for our teacher approved Tipof the Week, where we share an
actionable tip to help youelevate what matters and
simplify the rest. This week'steacher approved tip is create
(14:37):
teacher closure too. In all yourplanning for student closure,
don't forget that you needmeaningful endings as well.
Taking time to process your ownjourney through the school year
is essential for yourprofessional growth and your
emotional well being.
Heidi (14:51):
And surprise, our end of year roadmap is the perfect free
resource to help you do this.You can reflect on the teaching
strategies that really workedwell this year, challenges you
navigated and personal growththat you experienced as a
teacher. And it's just all aneasy to use handy dandy digital
format that you can just pull upwherever you need it.
Emily (15:12):
If you haven't downloaded the free end of your roadmap
yet, what are you waiting for?The link is in the show notes.
Heidi (15:19):
To wrap up the show. We're sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily (15:24):
I'm giving extra credit to my new collapsible laundry
baskets. Ooh, fancy. They arefrom clever made and I got them
on Amazon, and they come in aset of two, which is great,
because you always need morelaundry baskets. But the key is
they fold totally flat whenyou're not using them. And I
have tried other collapsiblelaundry baskets before, and they
(15:44):
are either too flimsy, so thatonce you get the laundry in
there, they kind of fall apart,or they're too bulky when you
collapse them, you know, likethose, like silicone ones, that
you collapse and they're still,like, three or four inches tall.
No, this is, like, basicallyflat when you collapse it and it
stays collapsed. It's so good.This is, like, the perfect
Goldilocks laundry basket.
Heidi (16:05):
I'm wondering, I'm just thinking of, like, teachers who
are gonna have to be haulingstuff home for the summer that
they might need to work with. Doyou think that would be like,
that would work fortransporting, like, big, you
know, teacher manuals and booksand stuff?
Emily (16:17):
Maybe. I mean, it's pretty sturdy because it holds,
like, it's got a, like, solid,solid bottom, and then the top
is made of, like, a steel frame,and then it's got, like, really
sturdy, like, a pop up bracethat pops up on the sides when
you want it up. So I think itcould. I think it could. You
might want to be careful about,like, carrying it, I don't know.
You'd have to test out how muchweight it could hold, so you
(16:39):
don't bust them. Like a reusableshopping bag is not as sturdy,
but less expensive if they bust,so you'd have to weigh out and
decide which things go in whatkind of container.
Heidi (16:50):
It could be nice. So if they fold flat, you could just,
like, tuck it in your cupboardover the rest of the year and
just pull it out every May orJune. It can be real handy.
Well, experiment and see.
Emily (17:01):
Yes, let us know, people. What are you giving extra credit
to, Heidi?
Heidi (17:05):
My extra credit goes to Matt Swack on Instagram, and
it's Matt, M, A, T, T, with anunderscore, Swack, S, W, A, C,
K, and I'll put a link in theshow notes. But his account on
Instagram is just full ofbeautiful drone shots of nature.
There's just waterfalls andbeautiful trickling streams and
lush green trees, and it's justgorgeous. Not a lot of the
(17:29):
landscape that we have aroundhere, so it's lovely to see, and
it's so calming. His account isone of my favorite ones to watch
at the end of the day to unwind,so if you need a little
breather, check out Matt SwackInstagram, 10 stars. So good.
That's it for today's episode.Remember our three keys to
closing the school year withheart and intention—reflection,
(17:49):
transition and celebration.
Emily (17:51):
And don't forget to download our free end of your
roadmap where you will findeverything from reflection
prompts to task checklists toset you up for success as you
transition from school year tosummer.
Heidi (18:04):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (18:08):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi (18:15):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily (18:21):
Bye.
This is episode 195 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:28):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're sharing the threekeys to ending the school year
with heart and intention, andwe've got a teacher approved tip
for creating your own sense ofclosure.
Heidi (00:49):
Let's start with try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in yourclassroom right away. Emily,
what is our prompt this week?
Emily (00:57):
This week, try what we call a one spot tidy. Set a
timer for just 90 seconds andhave your class do a quick
cleanup of one small area ofyour room. You could even have
several of them all around theroom doing this, and it can just
be one drawer, one bookshelf,one supply bin. And the beauty
of this approach is that itbreaks down end of year cleanup
into little manageable chunksthat feel doable, even when
(01:19):
everyone's energy is rockbottom.
Heidi (01:22):
I love that idea. Instead of one massive, crazy cleanup
day that is going to leaveeveryone cranky, you can try
planning these micro cleaningmoments instead.
Emily (01:32):
The satisfaction of seeing even one small area
transformed can be surprisinglymotivating for everyone. If you
like this idea or anything elsewe share her on the podcast,
would you please make our day bygiving us a five star rating and
review on Apple podcasts?
So let's talk about end of theyear closure. And I have to say,
(01:52):
as I was working on thisepisode, every time I wrote
closure, it made me think offriends when they were like,
That's what I call closure.
Heidi (02:00):
You gotta snap your phone shut.
Emily (02:03):
Well, if you've been listening for a while, you might
remember, and if you do, we'resuper impressed, that way back
in episode 11, we first sharedthis framework that we're gonna
talk about today. And itactually is one of our favorite
episodes we've ever done. It'sjust we completely forgot about
it until, like, a week ago. Weboth came across it when we were
looking at podcast episodes, andwe're like, Hey, this is a good
(02:23):
idea! So we're going to revisitthat today, and the three ideas
are reflection, transition andcelebration. And guess what?
They still hold up as apractical guide for wrapping up
the school year with intentionand meaning.
Heidi (02:37):
If you have been feeling overwhelmed or unsure how to
create a real sense of end ofthe year closure in your
classroom, this is the episodefor you. Because, you know, May
is a lot. You are jugglingassemblies, grumpy kids, packing
up and finishing grades. It'skind of tempting just to crawl
to the finish line.
Emily (02:55):
But if you want the year to feel complete for you and for
your students, building in evena few moments of closure can
make a big difference, and itdoesn't have to be complicated.
Heidi (03:04):
Our first key to closing the school year with heart is
reflection. These last weeks ofthe school year are the perfect
time to help students pause andrecognize just how far they've
come since August. Withoutintentional reflection, that
growth easily goes unnoticed orunappreciated, especially by the
students themselves.
Emily (03:22):
Yeah, learning happens so gradually that sometimes it's
hard to see the transformationuntil you take a step back and
really look.
Heidi (03:29):
One of our all time favorite reflection ideas is
year mapping. You divide yourstudents into groups, and then
you give each group a subjectarea, like math, reading,
science, and they write downeverything that they learned in
that subject this year, and thenyou can combine the pages into a
giant map of your school year.
Emily (03:45):
Oh, and they'll be so proud to remember all the things
they have learned this year. Youcan also use digital
reflections, especially if youteach upper elementary students,
you can have them create a myyear of growth PowerPoint, where
they select examples of theirwork from throughout the year,
and then they can explain howeach piece shows their
development in a skill, and theycan reflect on challenges that
(04:07):
they overcame. And it mightsurprise you, because students
may choose to showcase piecesthat aren't their best work, but
instead they kind of representsignificant turning points in
their learning journey. Kids canbe surprisingly astute at
noticing their own progress ifthey take the time to really
look at it.
Heidi (04:25):
And I have found that reflection doesn't always have
to be a formal activity. One ofmy favorite things to do at the
end of the school year wasduring morning work. I would
remind the students of how atthe beginning of the year, when
we would do our morning work, itfelt so hard and they felt like
they would never be able to doit. And then I have them look
back at some of the first pages,because I kept it bound in the
(04:46):
whole year book, so that madethis easy. If you don't have it
bound, you might have to pull upsome beginning pages and show
the kids what one of those earlypages looks like and how easy it
looks to them now. They are justso amazed at how far they've
come when it seemed thatbeginning. Idea that this would
be an impossible task.
Emily (05:02):
Yes, I love that, and it's so easy. I think that's why
it's so helpful to incorporatereflection throughout those
final weeks of the school year,rather than saving it all up for
the last day. When we makereflection an ongoing
conversation at the end of theyear, the students have time to
really process how far they havecome and all the things they've
learned.
Heidi (05:21):
And don't forget that as the teacher, you need your
reflection to what worked thisyear. What do you want to
repeat? What do you never wantto do again? Our free end of
year roadmap is a great place tocapture all of those thoughts,
and we have a link to that freeresource in our show notes.
Emily (05:38):
And that naturally leads us to our second key to a
meaningful end of year, which ishelping students transition to
what's next. Transitions are anormal part of life, but they
can bring up a lot of mixedemotions for students. Hey,
sometimes even for teachers.There's excitement about moving
forward, but also anxiety aboutthe unknown. By calling out
these transitions directly, wecan help students approach them
(06:01):
with confidence instead ofnervousness.
Heidi (06:04):
One transition activity that can be a fun tradition is
to do a passing of the torch.Have your current students
create welcome packages for nextyear's class that can include
things like advice, sharingtheir favorite memories of the
year, or describing what toexpect in your classroom. These
are so sweet to read itbeginning of next year, and
students really love writingthem. You can add a twist by
(06:25):
having students create shortvideo tours of your classroom
learning centers and explaininghow they work. That's just a lot
of fun for everyone, and a funway to fill some of those long
last days.
Emily (06:35):
It's such a great way to give kids ownership in the
transition process. It's alsohelpful to demystify the next
grade level with like a littlepreview. So if possible, you can
arrange for students to visitnext year's classrooms for a
quick activity or chat with theteachers.
Heidi (06:51):
But even when that is not feasible, you can take your
class on a super quiet hallwayfield trip to peek at those
classrooms and get a glimpse ofwhat they are up to. Make sure
you point out the fun thingsthat you know is happening in
those classrooms, to get yourkids excited about their next
transition.
Emily (07:06):
That simple connection point can create so much
excitement about the transition,and it helps give your students
context for what next year willlook like for them. Heidi, you
had an idea that you liked to dofor transition called a looking
back looking forward timeline.So tell us about that.
Heidi (07:21):
I love doing this. So you start as a class, you brainstorm
memorable moments from the pastyear, then you just list them
all on the board, and eachstudent chooses one of those
memories to draw and writeabout. This could be anything
memorable to the class, like afavorite read aloud, a fun go
noodle activity, a field trip, amemorable math lesson. You'll be
surprised at the things theyremember and the things that
(07:42):
they don't, maybe a little bitdisappointed in the things they
don't remember.
Emily (07:45):
Yeah, so as the teacher, you might want to come up with a
few suggestions ahead of time,because it's likely that they
won't be able to generate enoughmemories on their own.
Heidi (07:54):
No, they all get stuck on, you know, Halloween parade
and the class party. And ifgetting one memory per kid is
too difficult. You could alwayspartner students to work on this
together. So you have the kidsdraw their memory and a little
paper polaroid frame, and youcan add a writing page if you
want them to write as well. Andthen you collect these to make
an end of the year bulletinboard. You print the header that
says Looking back at blankgrade, and obviously you fill it
(08:16):
in with your grade level. Buthere's where the handy part
comes in. When it's time tostart setting up your class in
the fall, all you have to do istrade out 'back at' to 'forward
to' and now your back to schoolbulletin board says, looking
forward to blank grade. All youhad to do is change a couple of
words.
Emily (08:33):
And you're not limited to using this as a bulletin board.
You could put it on your door oron the wall outside your
classroom. Could really put itanywhere you need a back to
school display, and if you don'twant to leave this up for next
year, it's still a really greatactivity for the end of the
school year. Don't be limited byour ideas. If you just like this
for a one off activity.
Heidi (08:53):
I like to put this in the hall as like a really long
timeline, so you could kind ofwalk through your school year,
it was a fun memory. And if youwere interested in doing this
with your own class, you canfind this set in our store. We
will put a link to it in theshow notes. It includes the
photo frames for students tocolor and different size writing
sheets, plus it has all thebulletin board pieces like a
title and some cute borderstrips, and a teacher guide,
(09:15):
where we walk you througheverything step by step.
Emily (09:18):
And yes, ideally, this is something you could put up in
May and leave up all summer. Butsome schools aren't cool about
that. Why do they wanteverything off the walls?
Seriously, I don't understandwhy it's so imperative.
Heidi (09:28):
They're not scrubbing the walls. Yeah, I don't get it.
Emily (09:30):
But if you are in that boat, we're so sorry. But even
if you want to reuse it nextyear and you have to take it
down, you can repost it. Justtake a picture of how you had it
set up, put it all into a bigenvelope or a folder, and you'll
be good to go for next year.
Heidi (09:45):
It's so nice to have a meaningful way to fill some time
at the end of the year. But myfavorite part of this activity
actually happened when schoolstarted up again. When I would
do this with my own students, Iwas surprised by how touched my
former little kiddos were to seetheir work still on display, it
helped them feel like they werestill part of my class. And I
really loved having a way toshow them that even though they
(10:08):
were getting bigger, they weremoving on, they would always be
my kids.
Emily (10:12):
I think that's what makes the third key to a meaningful
year end so crucial. Celebrationdoesn't just recognize
achievement, it also honors theconnections and joy that make
our class community special.
Heidi (10:24):
Celebration is really at the heart of what we want to do
at the end of the school year.This is where we can recognize
not just academic achievements,but the whole experience of
growing together as a class thisyear. The goal is to honor
individual journeys while alsoacknowledging the experience
that we have all had as a group.
Emily (10:41):
And you don't need elaborate party plans to mark
the moment, something as simpleas a compliment circle or even a
toast with sparkling apple juicein plastic champagne flutes can
make a special memory. Andsomething we always love to do
is student created awards.
Heidi (10:57):
Unlike traditional end of year awards, we want our
students to choose what they aremost proud of, not what we think
they should be proud of, andgive them an award for what
really matters to them. We havea free resource that will walk
you through this whole process,including several cute styles of
awards to choose from. And thereis a link to that in the show
notes.
Emily (11:15):
And we'll link to the episode where we talk about that
as well, if you want to deepdive into end of year awards.
Heidi (11:21):
Yeah, the show notes are where it's happening in this
episode.
Emily (11:24):
It really is.
Another idea is to use the powerof music to celebrate by
creating an end of year playlistwith songs that have become
meaningful to your classthroughout the year. So like the
song you always played duringcleanup time, or the one you
loved for brain breaks and theone that you practiced a million
times for the class program.Playing this playlist during
your final days together willevoke so many shared memories
(11:47):
and create that wonderful senseof nostalgia. You can even share
the playlist with parents sothey can keep listening at home.
Heidi (11:53):
You can also tap into that nostalgia by revisiting
some of your favorite readalouds. Like I don't know about
anyone else, but I was alwaysreading to my students, probably
multiple times a day, so we hadmany favorite books that were
fun to read again, and it's afun group discussion to
reminisce on all the picturebooks and the chapter books that
we had read during the year.
Emily (12:11):
These are such fun ideas for celebration. But don't
forget your support staff.Having students write thank you
notes or design small postersfor custodians, office staff or
specialists, it's a great way tocelebrate everyone who made this
year possible and impacted yourstudents.
Heidi (12:26):
But the final celebration moment that I think every
classroom needs is some kind ofa closing ritual. This doesn't
have to be elaborate, but itshould provide some kind of
emotional closure to your timetogether. With my second
graders, I ended each week witha closing circle, and that
ritual would be really easy toadapt for an end of year
activity. You just gathereveryone in a circle, and you
(12:47):
ask students to share theirproudest moment from the year.
You might have to prompt them alittle bit about, you know, some
ideas, because in the moment,they seem to go blank. Once
everyone has an idea, you goaround and they get to share
with the group, and then youhave them think of a wish that
they want for next year. Theywhisper it into their hands.
Then, you know, we all close oureyes while we're holding our
(13:07):
hands cup together. And then onthe count of three, we say our
class cheer, or, you know, wecould just count down. And then
we let our hands go, and we letour wishes float up into the
world where they will befloating around in their new
classrooms waiting for them whenthey come back to school in the
fall. It's so simple, but it'sjust really profoundly
meaningful.
Emily (13:28):
I did that a few times too, and it really was just the
perfect little period on the endof the school year. A good way
to get teary.
Heidi (13:35):
Oh yes, definitely.
Emily (13:37):
When you incorporate these three keys, reflection,
transition, and celebration intoyour end of year plans, you
transform those final weeks froma countdown to a meaningful
conclusion. Your students willleave your classroom not just
with their report cards andsummer reading lists, but with a
deeper understanding of theirown growth and a sense of
anticipation for what's comingnext.
Heidi (13:58):
And something you should start anticipating is our
upcoming teacher summer talksevent happening in mid June.
This is a free audio summit withlots of back to school
strategies from experiencedteachers designed to fit into
your summer schedule withoutrequiring you to sit in front of
a screen for hours during yoursummer.
Emily (14:16):
We'll be sharing more details about that soon, but in
the meantime, we'd love to hearwhat your class will be doing to
end the school year in ameaningful way. Come join the
conversation in our teacherapproved Facebook group.
Now for our teacher approved Tipof the Week, where we share an
actionable tip to help youelevate what matters and
simplify the rest. This week'steacher approved tip is create
(14:37):
teacher closure too. In all yourplanning for student closure,
don't forget that you needmeaningful endings as well.
Taking time to process your ownjourney through the school year
is essential for yourprofessional growth and your
emotional well being.
Heidi (14:51):
And surprise, our end of year roadmap is the perfect free
resource to help you do this.You can reflect on the teaching
strategies that really workedwell this year, challenges you
navigated and personal growththat you experienced as a
teacher. And it's just all aneasy to use handy dandy digital
format that you can just pull upwherever you need it.
Emily (15:12):
If you haven't downloaded the free end of your roadmap
yet, what are you waiting for?The link is in the show notes.
Heidi (15:19):
To wrap up the show. We're sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily (15:24):
I'm giving extra credit to my new collapsible laundry
baskets. Ooh, fancy. They arefrom clever made and I got them
on Amazon, and they come in aset of two, which is great,
because you always need morelaundry baskets. But the key is
they fold totally flat whenyou're not using them. And I
have tried other collapsiblelaundry baskets before, and they
(15:44):
are either too flimsy, so thatonce you get the laundry in
there, they kind of fall apart,or they're too bulky when you
collapse them, you know, likethose, like silicone ones, that
you collapse and they're still,like, three or four inches tall.
No, this is, like, basicallyflat when you collapse it and it
stays collapsed. It's so good.This is, like, the perfect
Goldilocks laundry basket.
Heidi (16:05):
I'm wondering, I'm just thinking of, like, teachers who
are gonna have to be haulingstuff home for the summer that
they might need to work with. Doyou think that would be like,
that would work fortransporting, like, big, you
know, teacher manuals and booksand stuff?
Emily (16:17):
Maybe. I mean, it's pretty sturdy because it holds,
like, it's got a, like, solid,solid bottom, and then the top
is made of, like, a steel frame,and then it's got, like, really
sturdy, like, a pop up bracethat pops up on the sides when
you want it up. So I think itcould. I think it could. You
might want to be careful about,like, carrying it, I don't know.
You'd have to test out how muchweight it could hold, so you
(16:39):
don't bust them. Like a reusableshopping bag is not as sturdy,
but less expensive if they bust,so you'd have to weigh out and
decide which things go in whatkind of container.
Heidi (16:50):
It could be nice. So if they fold flat, you could just,
like, tuck it in your cupboardover the rest of the year and
just pull it out every May orJune. It can be real handy.
Well, experiment and see.
Emily (17:01):
Yes, let us know, people. What are you giving extra credit
to, Heidi?
Heidi (17:05):
My extra credit goes to Matt Swack on Instagram, and
it's Matt, M, A, T, T, with anunderscore, Swack, S, W, A, C,
K, and I'll put a link in theshow notes. But his account on
Instagram is just full ofbeautiful drone shots of nature.
There's just waterfalls andbeautiful trickling streams and
lush green trees, and it's justgorgeous. Not a lot of the
(17:29):
landscape that we have aroundhere, so it's lovely to see, and
it's so calming. His account isone of my favorite ones to watch
at the end of the day to unwind,so if you need a little
breather, check out Matt SwackInstagram, 10 stars. So good.
That's it for today's episode.Remember our three keys to
closing the school year withheart and intention—reflection,
(17:49):
transition and celebration.
Emily (17:51):
And don't forget to download our free end of your
roadmap where you will findeverything from reflection
prompts to task checklists toset you up for success as you
transition from school year tosummer.
Heidi (18:04):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (18:08):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi (18:15):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily (18:21):
Bye.
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