If you’re a teacher, you are now in the home stretch. And you are probably are feeling really worn out from all the stuff that has to be done during the last month of the year (including state testing). There are so many memes on social media about the end of the year and while they are hilarious, most of us are trying hard to stay strong, keep the kids focused, and end the year in a positive way. We need to keep teaching until the very last day, but we need some ideas for how to do that in an engaging way.

First, some thoughts from one of my favorite bloggers, Vicki Davis of Cool Cat Teacher:

You can do it. You can finish well. Love the kids. Make memories. Share moments of laughter. You’re teaching until the final bell rings and then as your words ring in their head – if you’ve said good and worthy things – you might just have the opportunity to teach them the rest of their lives.

So, how do we do that? Here are 21 ideas!

1 – Think about some fun learning units or lessons you could do at the end of the year. Anything that is more project-oriented or takes more time than what you can usually spare during the year might be a good choice. This is the part of the year where your students are “trained” to work together well and they know your expectations. So take advantage of that and bring in every project or fun idea you can. For instance, our students will be creating “chariots” for Spheros and we will be holding chariot races during the last week of school!

2 – Have your students create a memory book about the school year. There are lots of ideas for this on Teachers Pay Teachers, but you can also make up your own prompts. Think about a list of favorites — favorite science unit, favorite thing you learned in math, favorite read-aloud book, etc. Open-ended prompts work best. You can make the memory book on paper, of course, OR you can make it into a technology project using Google slides. I’m happy to share the Google slides memory book we created for our fifth graders. Email me and I’ll send you the link.

3 – Your students could also write advice for next year’s students. Think about open-ended prompts for this as well. While it’s fun to have a letter from every student that you can give to your students next year, it’s also fun to have groups of your students work on this project and create Google slides of that. You can show the presentations to your class next year.

4 – Write a six-word memoir about the year. We also do these on Google slides (clearly, we love that tool!) and our technology specialist incorporates them into a slideshow for our fifth-grade graduation event. You could create a slideshow for your own class. These are fun and meaningful.

5 – We take a grade level photo of all of our kids on the playground equipment. We then get copies made of the photo. Students decorate inexpensive picture frames like THESE. When the picture frames are dry, we insert the pictures for a fun memento of the year.

6 – One of my favorite end of year activities is something we do on the last day of school. We call it “the REAL EOG” since our state takes EOG’s, or End-of-Grade tests. This is a series of reflective questions, asking for student feedback on whatever you want to know — what they liked, what they would prefer to be different, what helped them, what did not help them. We create this in Google forms and have all of our students complete it on the last day of school. They are always a bit shocked when we say that we have one more EOG to take, but then they are pleasantly surprised! If you want a copy of the questions I use, send me an email.

7 – Do any of your students have a special talent or passion? Give them the opportunity to teach! This could be the result of a Genius Hour project, or it could be just a chance to share. This year, I have a student who has a passion for origami. We’re scheduling time for him to show some simple origami projects and my kids can’t wait. Another student developed a strong interest in the American Revolution and has created an entire Google slides presentation of his research. Ask your students if they would be interested in sharing something like this and you may be surprised at what they are capable of teaching everyone!

8 – If you have taken pictures of your students throughout the year, make a slideshow using Animoto or WeVideo!

9 – Allow some (or all) of your students to interview a classmate — about the year, about what they look forward to for summer and for the next school year, about books they recommend. They can videotape the interviews. You, of course, have final editing rights! These are also fun to show the class.

10 – At the beginning of the year, we had our students write letters to their “future self” about their goals for the year. We give these back at the end of the year and it’s fun for students to read their letters to themselves and see how they have achieved goals and often even surpassed them. Even if you don’t have letters like that from the beginning of the year, it’s fun to have them think back to the beginning of the year — what they were worried about, what they wanted to learn how to do — and spend some time writing or just talking about how far everyone has come.

11 – Have your students use Flip Grid or WeVideo to make brief videos about favorite books. Let them work together and create a script first, but encourage creativity and “selling” the book. You can show these videos to your class next year!

12 – If the weather and your school safety plan allow, spend more time outside. You could read outside, take whiteboards and do math review outside, play various review games outside. Take advantage of the spring and early summer weather.

13 – Write end of the year haiku or acrostic poems. These could be focused on a certain field trip or different learning activity from the year. They could be about other students, or just about the year in general.

14 – If being outside is not an option, consider having a classroom “camping day” or “beach day”. Allow students to bring bath towels, beach towels or blankets. You can find campfire scenes or beach scenes on youtube and keep that up on the Smartboard all day. Consider bringing a fun snack like pretzels, popcorn, or low-sugar cookies.

15 – Your students could spend time writing thank you notes to adults in the school who make a difference to them. Rather than writing lots of notes (although that is fine too), encourage them to put some thought into it and only write two or three notes. This is an especially good activity for upper elementary students who may have been at the same school for several years.

16 – Make a graffiti wall out of bulletin board paper. Let students write things they will remember, funny moments or memorable moments from the year, what they will miss, etc. You could also let them use a whiteboard. Another fun graffiti activity is to do this outside with sidewalk chalk.

17 – My students love to answer “Would You Rather” questions during our class circle. Here’s a link to a great free resource for end-of-year and summertime questions!

18 – Get your students to help with end of year cleaning and organizing tasks. You’d be amazed at what they can do to help.

19 – Consider having an “awards ceremony” on the last day of school. There are some great ideas on Teachers Pay Teachers. This is one of my favorites. You can have your students vote on these or you could just award them yourself.

20 – Make plans for summer reading with your class. You could all brainstorm a list of books to read. Encourage your students to keep in touch with each other and talk about their books. Some options for talking to each other include actually getting together to talk, writing a letter and mailing it, using email, or using Edublogs.

21 – Keeping everyone focused and motivated to follow rules and routines is always a challenge at the end of the year. One thing I do during the last two months of school: select mystery students. Every morning I randomly choose five students who are that day’s “mystery students’. I tell the class that at random times, I will be watching to see if my mystery students are doing the right thing. I keep it simple and keep track with a sticky note and tally marks. Then, at the end of the day, I announce that day’s mystery students and reward them with an Oreo cookie or a small piece of candy such as a Jolly Rancher. If someone doesn’t get the reward, I don’t announce their name publicly, but I do talk to them privately and explain why they didn’t get the reward. This system always works, but mostly because it’s a change of routine. Try it and see what you think!

Taking time to change up the routine with different activities and to actually enjoy your students helps end the year on a positive note. It will create great memories for your students, but it will also help you to remember why you do this important work. If you have other suggestions or ideas, please share!

Teaching, especially classroom teaching, is difficult and getting more difficult every day. I have been teaching or working as a coach for teachers for 28 years now and have seen many changes, but one thing remains true. Teachers have to help each other take care of themselves in order to keep going and prevent burnout.

Even with all of the demands and all of the needs of students in our classrooms, most teachers I know still love the kids and find joy in many of their interactions with students. That keeps us going and helps us find meaning in our work, but it won’t sustain us without the support from other teachers and the self-care we need to provide for ourselves. We have to stick together in order to make teaching a sustainable career. Here are 16 ways we can support each other.

1 – When someone on your team or on your staff is dealing with a big life event (illness or death in the family or a new baby for example), writing a card or a note, providing a meal, or giving them a small gift can make a big difference. At my school, two faculty members are our “go-to” people to inform of life events on our team. When we know that someone could use some support, we inform these people who organize a meal sign-up or a contribution to a gift card. We also have a social committee at our school who plan social events for our staff (First Friday after school events at local restaurants, holiday and end-of-year parties). They also organize baby and wedding showers. But even if you don’t have an organizational committee at your school, it’s easy to write a note or send an email to staff, asking for support for someone who needs it.

2 – Plan to do something you enjoy outside of school. Get together with another teacher friend for a glass of wine, a pottery class, a yoga class, or just take a walk together. Encourage your teacher friends (and yourself) to continue to engage in hobbies outside of your school life.

3 – When you know that someone on your team is dealing with something difficult at school (a stressful IEP or parent meeting, a disciplinary situation with a student), offer to do something to give them a break. Even covering their class for a few minutes so they can go to the bathroom or go to the workroom or just walk around for a bit can make a big difference. If it’s you that needs a short break, ask a trusted teacher friend to help you out.

4 – If someone on your team has a potentially challenging parent conference scheduled, offer to stay later at work so that you can be available as support or just to provide a listening ear afterwards. If you need that kind of support, ask someone on your team to do that for you.

5 – When a new mom on your staff comes back to school after family leave, check in with them and offer support. They may be pumping breast milk during the day. Your school should be providing a private and comfortable space for that, along with the time. Can you do something for them (such as make copies) during that time so that they are less stressed? They are probably sleep deprived and may be stressed about leaving their baby in childcare. Simply letting them know you care will make a big difference to them.

6 – Consider other leadership opportunities for yourself or for a colleague. Not everyone wants to be a classroom teacher for 30 years, but not everyone wants to move into administration positions either. Are there other opportunities that you could consider? Being an instructional coach, mentoring, getting a different degree or certification so that you can move into a guidance counseling role, a media specialist role or a teacher for AIG or ELL students are all possibilities. Do you have a local university where you might be qualified to teach a class? Could you do some writing for teachers or help create curriculum? What about people on your team who might want or need a career change? Do you see qualities in them that might indicate a gift in certain areas?

7 – Not everyone wants to get involved in politics, but politicians sure seem to love getting involved in education. I have seen some teachers get energized around the idea of advocating for the teaching profession through a professional organization or by directly lobbying state legislators. If this idea is exciting to you, look for ways you can get involved and make your voice heard. Writing is one way, participating in face-to-face meetings is another way, and campaigning for legislators or for school board members might be yet another way to get involved.

8 – Think about ways that you can contribute to creating a positive and supportive climate at your school. Some ideas I have seen: starting a prayer group or Bible study with other teachers; having a book study group with other teachers; having a bulletin board set aside for posting one-sentence notes of appreciation for others; sharing successes or “wins” at the beginning of faculty or other meetings.

9 – Keep a “happy list” or a “happy file.” Someone suggested this to me years ago and it has been a very positive part of my life. Set up an email file and store any emails you receive that are particularly uplifting in some way. Keep a box or storage bin for notes or letters from colleagues, parents or students that make you remember WHY you are doing what you’re doing. Keep a document where you add any and every positive thing that happens at work. Often people will say something to you in the course of the day that makes you feel happy or appreciated, but it’s easy to forget that in the course of the day. This document lets you quickly write it down so you won’t forget it, and you can come back to it at any time.

10 – School districts are notorious for having 50 billion goals and initiatives every year. 50 billion is an exaggeration, but it might not feel that way sometimes! The problem with this is: if everything is important, NOTHING is important. So think about your goals within whatever goals your school or principal has identified as being the focus. Write them all down — all the goals for yourself or for your classroom. Now prioritize them. Put them in order from most important to least important. Take a look at that list. Can you now narrow it down to your top five most important goals? How about your top three? Narrowing down your goals to what is most important for you and your classroom will help you stay focused and shut out all the “noise”. I’m not saying to ignore the goals and initiatives — you’ll have to do something with them, no matter what — but think about what matters most to you and for the students in your classroom.

11 – Do the same thing with your calendar. You do not have to attend everything. If you try to attend your students’ extracurricular events, try to limit how many of those you attend in one week. If it’s a busy week with several meetings, where can you cut back on something else? I try to maintain a “rule” for myself of no more than two evening events or meetings per week. I can’t always abide by that, but when I do it makes my weeks so much more enjoyable and relaxed. Some weeks are worse than others, but it helps to try to cut back on everything that does not have to be done or attended that week.

12 – When your team meets together for planning or for PLC meetings, it helps to allot 5-10 minutes for an opening transition and 3-5 minutes for a closing transition. I know this is hard to do when time is so limited and everyone is busy. But when you start your meeting with a chance for people to decompress (briefly), get focused on the agenda for the meeting and ask any clarifying questions before you get down to business, it helps keep everyone from getting derailed during the meeting. Same with the end of the meeting – allow for a few minutes to wrap up by stating where you will start next time, what are the next steps/things to do, and take a deep breath before going back to your classroom or to whatever next activity is on the schedule. This is one example where taking the time to do these simple things will actually save you time and help your team be more efficient in the long run.

13 – Actually stop and eat lunch. This is another tough one. Very often I am in planning meetings or PLC meetings and eating lunch while we’re meeting. I can’t change that on my schedule, but on the days when we are not meeting at lunch, I try to stop and just eat and focus on my food for a few minutes. Try it for just one day per week and see if it doesn’t help you feel more relaxed.

14 – Here’s another tip you will think you don’t have time for — go outside at lunch or during a break and walk around. Get some fresh air, a bit of exercise and a changed perspective. Even just walking your students to recess or walking around at recess will make a difference.

15 – When you’re sick, take a sick day. If you need a mental health day, take a sick day. Yes, I know that writing sub plans resembles a military general’s plans for going into battle, but your health matters more. Getting some extra rest, taking some time to get well or to spend a day doing things for yourself will make you so much more effective when you are at school.

16 – The importance of self-care cannot be overstated. This entire blog is basically devoted to that idea. You can give and give and give all day, but if you never give anything to yourself, you will burn out much faster. This is not just advice for a career in teaching — this is advice for your life! The only way to keep going in anything that is important to you (teaching, parenting, any other important work) is to take care of yourself FIRST. That doesn’t have to mean expensive or time-consuming tasks that take you away from your family or your work. This is about doing small things for yourself throughout the day. It might mean getting up a little earlier to fit in a short workout before school. It might mean taking a leisurely bath or shower before bed. It might mean taking a nap after school. If you need some simple tips for getting started with self-care, see my 5-day quick start guide HERE.

We have to take care of ourselves and we have to look out for each other. I would love to hear your ideas!