Packing up an elementary school classroom for the summer
brings a variety of emotions. While it’s exciting to gift, recycle, purge, and
tidy the contents of your classroom with thoughts of a fresh new year on the
horizon, its also quite a bit of work.
Rather than inefficiently working through the process before
and after school, get your packin’ up done during school hours with the
assistance of the most eager helpers in the world….your students. With a solid
packin’ up strategy and a few helpful tools, you can make the most all those
extra helping hands and be ready for summer when the last school bell rings (or
pretty close to it).
Student Portfolios
During the last days of the school year, every teacher has a
moment when they think, “Maybe I should just take all this work I’ve been
filing for student portfolios and send it home in the weekly folder.” Yes…so
tempting. Then you realize you kept those unique art projects and written works
for a reason…so your students can reflect on and celebrate the growth they’ve
made this year.
Schedule a time when every student in class sorts through
their
personal portfolio. Make sure they have room to spread out. Give them the
challenge of putting their work in chronological order and have them answer a
few reflection questions along the way.
Projects and Art Work
Which of these projects are you most proud of?
What makes you proud of this project?
Which project would you like to improve?
What would you do to improve this project?
What can you do next year to make your “wall worthy”
projects even more impressive than this year’s projects.
Writing Portfolio
Explain three or more skills you learned this year as a
writer.
What part of writing is most challenging for you?
What part of writing comes most naturally to you?
Which writing piece are you most proud of?
Why are you proud of this piece?
Which writing piece would you like to improve?
What would you do to improve this piece?
What can you do this summer and next school year to grow as
a writer?
What do you hope to learn as a writer next year?
Then, have them tuck their work inside an oversized
envelope, a binder, a folder, or a box to take home and share with their family.
Now your student files are empty and you can check something off your packin’
up list. Interested in prepping this quickly? Download my
Editable Student Portfolio Toolkit.
Tidy Up Team
Make a list of all the tidy up jobs in the classroom your
students can do without teacher assistance. Take the tasks on that list and
type up direct instructions for exactly how you want the job completed so you
don’t have to go back and redo it. Print your instructions on cards or as a
list that students can refer to any time they have a spare moment during the
last two weeks of school. Watch your long list of tidy up to dos downsize
dramatically.
I prefer the card approach in my second grade classroom
because I always seem to have an eager helper that isn’t so detail oriented.
Any jobs that aren’t completed to packin’ up standards can be placed back in
the to do pocket for another helper to pick up. If you are interested in using
the same approach, swing by my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for your set of
Editable Tidy Up Team Cards.
Class Auction
During the process of tidying up each year, you will come
across classroom resources that are outdated or not as precious as they once
were. Gather those goodies up and host your very own class auction. Your
students will happily take them off your hands and their parents will be thrilled
with the new collection of treasures their child brings home (okay that second
part probably isn’t true).
May your end of year packin’ run smoothly so you can spend a
few extra moments of your afternoon enjoying the summer sun. You’re almost
there! If you’ve tried any of the tips above, I’d love to hear from you in the
comments below.
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