End of the School Year Survival
Tips and Strategies

The end of the year is tough.  No doubt about it.  Truth be told, it's the teachers who start counting down the days before the students!  Here are Midgley's survival tips, along with a few links to other worthy articles because, let's face it, we all need as much help as we can get this time of year!!


​Start  A Countdown 

Yup.  You read that right.  I have a stack of post-its where I track the number of days left.  It gives me great pleasure each morning when I first sit down at my desk.  I peel off yesterday's and write the next number.  


​Keep them Working

I often wonder why teachers get frustrated that kids aren't following rules, when the lesson plans include movies and games?  Keep those kids working!!  
All that said, it would be in your best interest to plan fun engaging activities.  My favorite project revolve around having students reflect, analyze, and apply the concepts we've learned over the course of the year.
Master the 6th-grade transition with the exact systems
​I use to build independent scholars.


​Engage them with Projects

At this point in the year, your students should be able to do a lot of work without you.  If you have a fun, cooperative group, you may choose to do a hands-on, simulation project with your students.
But there's also a good chance you are at the point in the year where you are tired and over all the STEM/STEAM hands-on stuff.  You just need your kids to be engaged, learn, and have some fun without it becoming a nightmare.  In that case, consider projects where you provide a Student Project Guide and some templates.  Make it low-key to save your sanity.


​Keep Smiling and
​Act Like it's Just Another Day

Kids will reflect your attitude.  If you are happy, energetic and excited about your lessons, your students will be too.  If your instructions come across with an annoying tone or lazy attitude, your students will not be interested in putting effort into their work.


​Here are a Few other Worthy Survival Articles:

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Teaching with Textbooks | Teach Like Midgley

​I’m Hillary Midgley, and I help teachers move from classroom chaos to streamlined success with no-frills systems that make managing student work easy. New here? Start with the Manage Student Work ebook.