The last few weeks of school and the last couple of lessons
in the year can be hard to plan for. The syllabus has been fully covered and
students are eagerly awaiting the holiday and may lack focus or motivation.
This can put quite a lot of pressure on a teacher trying to make the most out
of the last week or two of the school year. There is, however, quite a lot you
can do to teach your class new things and valuable skills while also having a
fun time. These are some of the best ways to get the most out of the last few
weeks of the school year.
Provide opportunities to reflect
Providing a moment of reflection for your class can be a
valuable learning experience. Reflecting over what they have accomplished
throughout the year and evaluating how they have grown encourages their
critical thinking, self-reflection and even collaboration. Including time to
reflect on the past year in the last few weeks of school can help your students
take a critical look at the objectives they set for the next year, what they
would have done differently and find reasons to be proud of themselves. If you
want to make good use of your time in the last few lessons of the year, then
you should strongly consider providing opportunities to reflect on the past
school year.
Fun & Games
The last few weeks of school should be both valuable and
fun, think of it as a lesson that also rewards your students for their hard
work during the year. It’s important to not put too much pressure on yourself
or your students at this time too. Some activities and team-building exercises
you can do with your class include:
- Act
out skits and scenarios
- Play
charades
- Bring
in a variety of board games
- Organise
a simple treasure hunt using things they learned in past lessons as clues
- Play
guessing games
- Writing
a story together as a class
- Set
fun and silly mini-quizzes
- Find
fun ways to get to know the class and fun ways for students to interact
These are only a small handful of some of the fun learning
experiences you can play for your class during the final few lessons of the
year.
Get Creative
An engaging way of having fun with your students during the
last week is getting them to express themselves creatively. You can provide a
variety of materials and art supplies and let your students make something
unique that they would present to the class. You can organise crafting tables
where your students can work together to create things like paper planes,
bracelets, slime, and other fun and simple crafts. Clay is always a hit,
combining creativity and motor skills is always a novel way of having fun with
students. The list goes on and on but using this time to allow pupils to
express themselves creatively and use their imagination is a great way of
rewarding them for their hard work while learning something as well.
Recognise Achievements
Prize giving usually happens at the end of the year to
celebrate the achievements of hard-working students, but not every student will
win something. By holding your own prize giving in class you can reward
students for the things that make them unique and acknowledge the improvements
you’ve seen in them throughout the school year. The awards can also be a fun
and silly way of bonding and engaging with your class. The funniest student,
the friendliest student, or even the student with the best pencil case are only
a few examples of the fun ways you can give each student their moment in the
spotlight to make them feel good about themselves and feel acknowledged. Every
student worked hard during the year, and this is a novel way of rewarding
everyone.
Other Ideas
There are other things you can do during this time that may
require more planning or permission from the school. Field trips are something
students look forward to, can provide a lot of entertainment and also be great
learning experiences. Planning a picnic in the school, having a class party and
other similar celebrations are all exciting ways to cap off the school year for
you and your students.
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