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END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year.

END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

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Page 1: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

END OF THE YEAR CHECK LISTHelpful suggestions to close out your school year.

Page 2: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year

You have spent the last nine or ten months in your home away from home—your classroom. Now it’s time for you to close down the year and you are slowly getting overwhelmed. Of course, the obvious requirements are foremost in your mind: grades, attendance and turning in your keys, but what about the other tasks you might have forgotten? Hopefully, this presentation will remind you of some of the smaller, but still important, tasks to complete before you head off for summer break.

Page 3: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Complete the check out procedures your

individual school has outlined for you. You probably received a “to-do” list to complete before you are released by your administration for the year. Make sure you complete this list carefully so you are not asked to return during the summer.

Pack up your classroom well, placing things carefully in storage. As mentioned in a previous Tip of the Month, large pizza boxes are an excellent way to preserve awkward bulletin board items and any miscellaneous things that don’t fit in your storage or filing cabinets.

Page 4: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Go through your filing cabinet and box up any

correspondence from the year that you’d like to keep. This is also a good time to go through your curriculum files. Reflect on the lessons you taught and keep the ancillary materials you created for lessons that worked well. Discard anything that really didn’t produce a good lesson so you are not tempted to re-use them next year in a pinch. If you didn’t do so throughout the year, sort your files, label them and if possible, lock them in your filing cabinet for safe-keeping over the summer.

Page 5: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Spend time tending to your media equipment.

If you have borrowed items from your media center/library, return them with all the required cords, manuals, pieces, etc. If you have your own media equipment, read the manuals to properly care for these items over the summer. Unplug them to protect them from power surges, remove bulbs to prevent damage and contact your technology department to turn items in for routine maintenance/care. Note the model number/serial number of any items you turn in if you want to receive these same items next year.

Page 6: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Copy all your computer files. Bring in your

own CD or external hard drive and copy everything you have created during the year. Don’t assume that you will have the same computer next year. More importantly, realize that each computer undergoes maintenance and new software uploads each summer. Your files might be deleted, moved or corrupted, so better to be safe than sorry. Copy everything!

Page 7: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Clean your classroom. Wash your boards,

surface clean your student desks, empty your trash and throw away anything you know you won’t need next year. Look at your classroom furniture and fill out maintenance or repair requests, if necessary. Recycle old paper/newspaper and discard supplies that have been overused (loose crayons, dull scissors, dried up glue, etc.). Clean out your teacher desk and pack up your supplies. Anything you leave, might not be there when you return from summer vacation.

Page 8: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Think about next year and be proactive. This

may be hard to do when you are so happy this year has come to an end, but this will pay off! Jot down some ideas or notes about what worked this year and what you’d like to change for next year. Look around and see what you could do now that might save you time at the beginning of next year (i.e., lamination, book check outs, bulletin board die cutting, etc.). It also wouldn’t hurt to tour the hallways to see if someone is getting rid of something that you might be able to use in your classroom. They might be willing to give you something you otherwise would have had to purchase on your own.

Page 9: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Talk with your departmental or curriculum

leader. Ask him/her about your participation on the team this year. Do they have recommendations for you? Discuss them in more depth and ask them about the goals he/she has for you next year. If school policy permits, ask him/her for next year’s classroom supplies in advance. This will allow you to create flashcards, classroom realia and lesson plans for next year during the long summer months.

Page 10: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Praise your team. If you are a

departmental or curriculum leader, don’t let the year end without acknowledging them. Reflect on each team member and send out an email thanking each person for their individual contributions to the department, the school and their students. Be specific about each person’s talents and thank them for giving their all. Copy the principal and each teacher’s supervising administrator.

Page 11: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Closing Out the School Year (cont) Say “thank you”. If you reflect on this past

school year, you most likely have received assistance from someone in the last ten months. Make a list of your “thank yous” and send them a quick email, a hand written note or perhaps even a small token of your appreciation (maybe their favorite candy bar or beverage). This will make his/her day and show how much you appreciated their help. If you’d prefer to give them an award or certificate for their desk or bulletin board, the next few slides have some fun ideas you can use.

Page 12: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

You are a life saver!

Teacher name hereTeacher name here

Thank you so much for

add your text here

Page 13: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Thank you for always being there for me!

You are a treasure!

Teacher Name here

Page 14: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Thanks Man!

Thanks for helping me out!

Teacher

Name here

Insertyourtexthere

Page 15: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Tech Savvy Award!

Teacher Name here

Page 16: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Leadership Award

Teacher name hereYou deserve this award

becauseinsert your text here

Page 17: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Team Builder Award

Thank you

teacher name here

for

Insert your text here

Page 18: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Patience Award!

Teacher Name Here

Thank you for being patient and understanding! I’m smiling because of you!

Page 19: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Thank You!

Teacher name hereThank You

forinsert your text here

Page 20: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Gracias!

Teacher name hereGracias por

insert your text here

Page 21: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Helping Hand Award!

Insert Teacher Name Here

Thanks for always lending a helping hand with (insert

text here).

Page 22: END OF THE YEAR CHECK LIST Helpful suggestions to close out your school year

Questions or Comments?or Comments? If you have any comments or questions about

this presentation, please contact Marcella Ryan, Mentor for Teacher Alumni, at [email protected]

If you would like to provide your own tips or ideas, please visit our WGU Teacher Blog and share your ideas at www.alumni.wgu.edu.

If you haven’t updated your WGU file lately, please send me your school district name and the grade/subject you teach.