End of Year, General Teacher Tips

Tasks to do before the End of the School Year

Linda Asaro
May 28, 2023

The end of the year is upon us! There is no tired like teacher tired for sure. I know that you are ready to pack your bags, wave goodbye, and drive home for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. Before you do, there are a few things that you should really consider putting on your to-do list before the end of the school year.

Even though it’s hard to think about, it really will be a huge help. Your future self will thank you! You are going to hear me talk about your “future self” a lot here. The focus is going to be for YOU to help YOU. You are helping that version of yourself that will be coming back in a couple of short months. That version will have a classroom to set up and be ready to welcome students.

blog post on tasks to do at the end of the school year — With a few easy items on your to do list, you will be setting your future self up for success!

A Tale of Two Teachers at the End of the School Year

Before we get into it I wanted to tell you a “Tale of Two Teachers”.

A Tale of Two Teachers: Teacher #1

The first teacher (AKA me) was a very unhappy teacher. It was a very, very rough year for me. Aside from an unexpected change in my social studies curriculum, I needed to have surgery on my arm. This was when we went fully digital. I felt like I was sitting at my computer for the entire day. Like many of you, my arms were in a bent position and it did something very strange to my biomechanics. Something called the ulnar nerve was knocked out of place. I needed to have surgery that was somewhat extensive and a very long recovery. Therefore, my school year ended a little bit earlier. Quite frankly, all I really wanted to do was get out of there. I was in pain and honestly wondering how I would return at all.

So I did what I needed to do for my kids as far as getting them wrapped up before leaving. I left a decent outline of plans for a substitute who would inherit my class for 6 weeks. Other than that I didn’t really close up in a good way. I was not concerned about what was best to do before the end of the school year. I just needed to get out of there. When August rolled around I was completely stressed out thinking about it. I wasn’t ready to go back early, but eventually, I gave in because the stress of thinking about it was worse than the stress of doing it.

A Tale of Two Teachers: Teacher #2

Let’s move on to the second teacher tale. The second teacher, AKA me again, was a much happier teacher. It’s not that my year was that much easier but I didn’t have the stress you just read about, even though I don’t really know if there’s anything such a thing as an easy school year. It was the year after my surgery and I had the memory of how stressful it was getting back to work fresh in my mind. I wanted to be more proactive with what to do before the end of the school year.

So I made a plan for myself. Over the years I have learned that I am much better and function much more efficiently with a plan. I wrote out everything that I wanted to do, whether it was collecting personal items, writing down what I wanted to accomplish over the summer as far as curriculum, or cleaning out a closet. If I thought it would help me in September, it went on my list. I started this in May (I teach until the end of June). I gave myself one small task to do each day. The day that I left I felt so good and so happy. As happy as I felt in June, it couldn’t compare to how happy I felt when August rolled around. I knew that I was very prepared and ready to go.

So with those two tales in mind, I really want to encourage you to help your future self. Every time you think you don’t want to be bothered, you need to understand that you are doing it for you. It’s time to think about what to do before the end of the school year

What to do Before the End of the School Year

I’d like to give you 4 examples of what to do before heading out. I am intentionally keeping this list short because I know that the end of the year comes with a long list of things to do. I also want you to be sure that if you are making a list you schedule it into your calendar. These are tasks to do during prep time. They are also tasks that can be completed when my kids are working on something fun and not super important. I have my kids doing end of the year activities such as making memory books. So when they are working on something engaging and fun like this, I allow myself the luxury of doing something that I need to do before the end of the school year

The List: What to Do Before the End of the School Year

1. Clean Your Closet

I know, I know…cleaning a closet is the worst. At home, I would rather do anything, and I mean anything than clean a closet. I have procrastinated closet cleaning with things like doing school work, cleaning the bathroom, and going for a run. I’m not sure why messy closets seem to be a trigger for me. So that’s why I have to do it when kids are busy as it feels like a “treat” to do something like this with kids in the room because it’s not draining my prep time. Don’t get me started on the mentality that we teachers have about feeling like it’s a treat to work in our classroom, but I’ll save that for another time.

My recommendation is to empty the closet first. Better yet, ask two students to empty it and sort it out as they do. You can supervise and start throwing things out as they are going along. Then, put it back in an organized way. Even the messiest classroom closet has not taken me more than an hour to do. It really is a rewarding experience for you when your classroom supplies come in and you have an organized place to put them.

2. Plan the First Two Days of School Before the End of the School Year

OK, I know this is really pushing it. This is, though, one of the most important things to do before the end of the school year. However, many of us do the same types of activities at the beginning of the year. It is usually icebreakers, going over classroom routines, and stuff like that. So even if you don’t write a formal lesson plan, knowing what you will do is going to relieve so much stress.

And yes, you should make your copies now. You have to trust me on this…you are going to feel like a new person walking in with this all ready to go. P.S. Put your copies in ziplock bags and store them in your clean closet. This way, they don’t get musty over the summer. If you need ideas for “getting to know you”, I have some fun and meaningful activities available:

First Days of School Stations

Getting to Know You Color by Code

Back to school activity for middle schoolers — Activities like this are perfect for the first day of school!

FREE First-Day Activity

You are in luck because I just created a FREE back-to-school flip book! I know your kids will love this one. Just print, trim, and have it on their desks as they come in. It’s my way of thanking you for reading my blog:

free back to school activity flipbook for middle school

3. Have your Opening Bulletin Board Ready to Go

Some of you are thinking that I’m crazy and maybe you disagree that this is important to do before the end of the school year. But when I think of things that stress me out in September, my bulletin board is one of them. I can’t actually make my bulletin board ahead of time because we have to have everything off the walls and boards each year (which in and of itself is crazy), but I do have my plan and have it ready to go.

My opening bulletin board comes from an activity that my kids do at the end of the year. They are doing things like writing letters to future students, creating a newspaper article about the year, and creating a survival guide. I have several end of year activities that will give you plenty to create a really nice opening bulletin board in my TPT store; click here.

Then, I keep my papers in a ziplock and put the letters that I will need for my bulletin board in another ziplock. If you are someone who can make your bulletin board ahead of time, meaning actually hanging the stuff up, then go for it! I would recommend covering it with newspaper so it doesn’t fade. I can’t tell you what a life-saver this is for me. Plus, I am someone who wants my bulletin boards to be more than cutesy…I want my kids to actually be excited to look at it and with a purpose.

4. Create Next Year’s Calendar

I am a huge believer in having what I call a “skeleton” calendar for the year. First I put in the dates for each month. I schedule in days off or days that I know we have something like testing, trips, and such. I create this on a simple Google document so that I can easily add to it, and I also share it with my teammate so we are on the same page. Then, I put in what unit and lesson we are doing.

I keep this very, very loose. I have a freebie for this, so grab it here. This honestly doesn’t take more than 30 minutes to do because I am not overly concerned with being specific and I know it can change. But having a bit of a plan to start with has been a huge time saver for me, and I highly recommend it. And grab that freebie, because I’ve done the most time-consuming part for you, which is plugging in all the dates. Calendar Freebie

You can do it…and it will help!

So like I said, I am keeping this list short and sweet. There is enough to do before the end of the year, so doing just these 4 tasks is going to make a huge impact.

If you start now, you are going to be all set. I would venture to say that what is going to help you the most is not the actual task, but the mindset that it will put you in. You are giving yourself the gift of freeing your mind of 4 items that you would otherwise have on your mind as the summer starts creeping to a close. You will be setting yourself up for success not only for next year but setting yourself up for a summer where you can actually relax and not think of these things. I believe we all deserve that, and if you are someone who can really do that without having anything in place then I believe you are in the minority of teachers. And if you are, you probably aren’t even reading this in the first place.

Don’t Forget to Grab Your Stuff!

So don’t be like me and have 2 tales of yourself…have one tale, and let it be the happy tale.

Don’t forget to grab your calendar freebie, and don’t forget to check out my end of the year activities which will not only give you free time to work in your room while your kids are busy but will give you something meaningful to create a bulletin board for next year’s students.