4 Things Teachers Should Do Before the End of the School Year

4 Things Teachers Should Do Before the End of the School Year

The end of the school year is hectic. Assemblies, field trips, awards ceremonies, and celebrations seem to fill up the calendar during that last month. Your “To-Do” list is a mile long filled with tasks that need to be completed before the end of the year. Why not add just a few more important items? Don’t forget to accomplish these things before the end of the school year.

Plan Ahead for Professional Development

Many teachers are so busy during the school year that professional development is not a priority. Summer is a more convenient time to squeeze in those professional development hours. Check out the graduate level continuing education courses given by your local university. Online coursework is a great option if you’re planning to work over the summer break. Enroll in coursework that will benefit you. Some school districts may even have a tuition reimbursement program.

Clean Out and Organize Your Desk and Classroom

Nothing feels better than leaving for summer vacation, except when you leave for summer vacation with a clean and organized classroom. Purge what you don’t use. I use the one year rule: if I haven’t used it in a year, it goes. If the items you are purging are in good shape, offer them to colleagues so they don’t end up in the trash. Organize what you want to keep. Take ten minutes at the end of every day, from now until the end of the year, to focus on one area of your classroom. Start with your desk and move around the room from there. By the end of the year, you’ll have a classroom you can feel good about coming back to after summer break!

Thank Your Teammates

You can’t do this job without your coworkers. Let them know how much you enjoyed and appreciated working them with a simple gift or thank you note. Potted plants, homemade goodies, or even a simple from-the-heart note are all great ways to say “Thank You For A Great Year!”

Treat Yourself!

The taste of summer vacation is lingering in the air!  You’ve made it. Treat yourself for your hard work before those last weeks of school. Get a massage. Eat at your favorite restaurant. Go get that book you’ve been meaning to read. Grab some appetizers during happy hour while you toast to another successful school year in the books. Or, if you’re anything like me, get a babysitter and take a long nap. After your personal pampering, you can return to school feeling rejuvenated to finish up the last weeks of school like a boss!

May the end of your school year be productive and positive. Cheers!  

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How to Make the Most of Your Summer Break Without Breaking the Bank

 

Our Education Blogger is a public school teacher with over a decade of experience. She’s an active NEA member and enjoys writing about her experiences in the classroom.

Making the Most of Your Summer Break Without Breaking the Bank

If you are lucky enough to have some free time during summer break, take advantage of it.  Don’t let the summer days slip by.  Make the most of your summer without spending much money!

Sleep In and Take Naps

How often do you really get to do this?  According to the American Sleep Association, sleep is a basic, biological need, and if we are deprived of sleep, our bodily systems fail.  The average adult needs about 8 hours of total sleep time each day (ASA).  So, no need to feel bad about sleeping in that extra hour or taking a quick snooze on the couch during the day.  It’s for your health!

Find Free Activities

Make a list of the free festivals, carnivals, fairs, and other summer activities that your city or town has to offer during the summer.  When you notice you have a free day, see what’s on the list for that day and have fun!

Exercise

Use your summer days to get back into an exercise routine.  Use your break to fine tune your routine so you can transition easily into the following school year.  The best part about summer is that there are a variety of activities you can do: swimming, biking, canoeing, kayaking, skating, jogging, hiking . . . well, you get the idea.

Have a Staycation

It’s time to explore your own town or city.  Take a stroll through a local hiking or nature area.  Visit a local museum, zoo, or aquarium.  Eat out at a new-to-you restaurant.  Or simply lounge at the pool soaking up the sun.

Get Outside

There are many benefits to spending time outdoors.  As the Harvard Health Letter titled “A Prescription for Better Health: Go Alfresco” says, spending time outdoors will raise your vitamin D levels, encourage you to get more exercise, make you happier, improve your concentration, and might make you heal faster.

Spend Time with Friends

Carve out time each week to have lunch with a friend, or a group of friends.  Maintaining meaningful relationships is important to your well-being.  The Mayo Clinic says there are many health benefits to having friends including boosting one’s happiness, reducing stress, improving self-confidence, reduced significant health problems, and longer life spans.

Get Ahead on Professional Development

If you have “extra” time during your summer break, think about squeezing in some professional development so you won’t have to work on it during the school year.  Don’t have the monetary resources to take coursework?  No need to worry, here is a list of 6 Free Professional Development Resources for Educators.

Organize

Take a few hours each week to do that “spring cleaning” you never got around to.  Focus on one room or area at a time.  Purge, clean, and organize.  You’ll feel like you can tackle the upcoming school year with ease if you have a clean and organized home.

 

How do you make the most of your summer break?

 

Developing A Growth Mindset… For Teachers

Developing A Growth Mindset… For Teachers

Our Education Blogger is a public school teacher with over a decade of experience. She’s an active NEA member and enjoys writing about her experiences in the classroom.

Dr. Carol Dweck, a psychology professor, created the terms “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset” after studying behavior in children. These mindsets refer to a person’s belief in their intelligence and learning. Having a growth mindset allows one to believe they can develop and expand their intelligence, so they work harder to do so. Students who exhibit growth mindsets are shown to do better in school than students who have a fixed mindset. People with fixed mindsets believe their intelligence is limited and nothing can be done to change it.

Teachers LOVE to teach students to develop a growth mindset. We are our students’ cheerleaders, support team, and personal encouragers in the classroom. A student in our classroom will do their best and achieve to the best of their ability. We recognize when students need help, encourage them to seek assistance, help them find strategies to succeed, and watch, smiling, as they use what we’ve taught them to become more autonomous in their school work, all the while patting yourself on the back and thinking “Yep! I helped do that; growth mindset. BAM!”

But what about teachers? Can this growth mindset and fixed mindset stuff be applicable to educators, too? Do you notice any educators who are lacking this mindset? Are you one of them?

I understand. Being a teacher can be rough. Something changes each year, and it’s usually just after you’ve mastered it. Like those fancy new tablets that were just ordered, or the latest writing textbook your building just adopted. Typically, teachers aren’t excited about change when what we have been doing seems to be working . . . or so we thought.

Just like our students, we should be demonstrating a growth mindset. We can’t get stuck focusing on the things that have worked for us for the last five years. Our students are changing, their needs are dynamic, and the world we’re sending them out into is ever-evolving. It is our job to continue finding innovative ways to reach the youth in our classrooms. Educators must be open-minded to changes and challenges that come our way. We must believe that what those same changes and challenges will make us better at our job, and, in turn, create lifelong learners of our students.

Teachers who demonstrate a growth mindset:
    • Collaborate with colleagues
    • Take ownership of mistakes and share them with students
    • Seek out assistance and mentoring
    • Share teaching goals with colleagues
    • Learn from weaknesses and challenges
    • Maintain a positive attitude and use positive language regarding their own abilities

So, at your next faculty meeting, before you scowl and snicker about the latest changes coming your way, stop and think about what you would tell your students. Maintaining a growth mindset can make you a happier, more successful educator.

 

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7 Ways to Use Humor in the Classroom

7 Ways to Use Humor in the Classroom

Our Education Blogger is a public school teacher with over a decade of experience. She’s an active NEA member and enjoys writing about her experiences in the classroom.

 

Did you know that using humor in your classroom can help your students learn?  In a Monitor on Psychology (American Psychological Association) article titled “How laughing leads to learning,” author Zak Stambor reports “when used effectively, classroom comedy can improve student performance by reducing anxiety, boosting participation and increasing students’ motivation to focus on the material.”

 

Before you start jotting down those one-liners, consider the following guidelines before implementing comedy in the classroom:

 

Timing is everything.  Plan out when you’re going to insert your comedy into your instruction.  Students may remember the content better if it is tied to something memorable, like a humorous anecdote or joke.

 

Keep it appropriate.  It’s best to avoid foul language, no matter how “mature” your students might be.  Also, be sure the comedy is age appropriate.  If students don’t understand the joke, it will have less impact.

 

Make it relevant.  Your humor should be connected to the content being taught, but also to the students whom you are teaching.  Don’t use an outdated joke for a modern concept.  You’ll be hearing crickets instead of giggles.

 

Know your audience.  Will the class lose focus if you get too silly?  Adjust your level of humor and its frequency according to the needs of each class.

 

Get funny before a big test!  Using a bit of comedy before a big test can reduce student anxiety and improve performance.

 

Don’t overuse it.  You don’t have to be funny ALL the time.  Your students may miss important content if you’re constantly cracking jokes.

 

Avoid sarcasm.  Some students may not perceive your style of sarcasm and can be put off by your flavor of humor.  Some people may also feel offended by sarcasm; they see it as a lack of respect.

 

What if I’m just not that funny?  No need to worry.  If you can’t get them laughing, you should at least be able to put a smile on your students’ faces using some of these suggestions:

  • Incorporate memes, videos, or songs
  • Add funny items to test/assignment questions
  • Post funny quotes in the classroom
  • Dedicate a bulletin board to jokes, cartoons, puns, etc.  Ask students to bring in items.
  • Have a Joke-of-the-Day, invite students to share
  • Laugh at yourself, share with students your own ridiculous experiences and stories

 

Humor can be an effective teaching tool.  Capturing the attention of students with a joke may help them remember content more clearly.  A bit of classroom comedy can also lower student stress and anxiety levels and improve student engagement.  Having a bit of a funny bone also makes you seem more human to your students, thus creating a more comfortable setting where students are more likely to learn.

 

References

Stambor, Zak. “How laughing leads to learning.”  Monitor on Psychology, vol. 37, no. 6, June 2006, p. 62. American Psychological Association.

 

10 Tips To Remember When Talking To Students About Difficult Topics

Our Education Blogger is a public school teacher with over a decade of experience. She’s an active NEA member and enjoys writing about her experiences in the classroom.

 

Speaking with students about traumatic topics can make any teacher uncomfortable.  However, it is important to open up dialogue with students, especially when something distressing occurs.  Our students are not immune to traumatic situations.  Teachers play an important role in helping students process tragic events.  Don’t shy away from talking to students about sad or scary situations.  By speaking with your students, and having honest conversations, you send a message to your students that you care for them, support them, and will be available to them should they need you.

 

10 tips to remember before you begin talking about a difficult subject:

  1. Make parents aware you’ll be discussing the event in your classroom
  2. Find out what students know
  3. Listen to students
  4. Be as specific as possible, and clear up any misconceptions
  5. Answer questions with facts, and if you don’t know, don’t speculate
  6. Reassure students of their safety at school
  7. Be prepared with plenty of resources – limit graphic pictures and videos
  8. Talk about it – allow plenty of time for questions and discussion
  9. Keep it simple – mostly for elementary students
  10. It’s okay to get emotional – talk about why

 

After you’ve engaged your students in this emotional dialogue, don’t forget to take care of yourself.  These conversations can wreak emotional havoc on you.

 

It’s okay to give yourself a break after your mentally exhausting discussions.  Try to do things that will make you happy, lift your spirits, or have a positive impact.  Avoid, or turn off, all sources of media . . . at least temporarily.  Take a walk or do some yoga.  Read an uplifting book.  Spend time with family or friends.  You can even do some volunteer work or get involved in activism group.

 

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