End Of Year Time Saving Tips

As the year begins to wrap up in May or early June (depending on when you school year ends), as teachers we often start the cleaning up process. We start by taking down bulletin boards, throwing out broken items, missing pieces, overly used materials…. You get the picture! This is a great way to start getting ready for our summer exit! However, as a self-contained special education teacher, I had other items on my to-do list to tackle as well. 

I would begin by taking a look at each student’s data binder. As we all know, each student has IEP that holds legal value. I wanted to make sure that nothing was left pending or out of place, so the next teacher could take over. Are the data tracking sheets up to date and with corresponding work samples?

In a self-contained classroom putting things away is a no-no. Students need their structure, schedules, and work. Otherwise, just a warning, you will have chaos in your classroom. And that is no way to wrap up the year. You can start incorporating more fun projects, sensory activities, and science experiments. Don’t forget to have fund with your students. Prepare for ceremonies, parent activities, and any end of year giveaway projects.

I would always do a breakfast with a music show along and a slideshow with my parents. It was always a hit! In most cases, parents would take their kids with them and that would give me some time and the opportunity to tackle my end of the year to-do list.
 
One of my favorite things to do as we reach May and June is that I would start preparing things for the following year! I know it seems a little crazy but hear me out!

Planning week never has enough days or time to set up for open house, meet and greet, and sometimes even first day of school. So as the years went on, I started working smarter not harder. If you are in self-contained classroom, creating a lot of the materials require a lot of time and dedication. But if I got a head start on these material creations, planning week and classroom set up was much easier!
​
So here is my cheat sheet of things I would start creating:
-create 2 sets of student varying border colors visual icon schedules (print, laminate, cut, and velcro).
-create the visual icon schedules black strips backup... at least 10-12 just in case
-Create the check in boards to all the centers
-Written schedules
-Hands and feet pairs silhouettes like 20
-Any visual icons related to each center to help students become independent
-First/then boards
-Token Boards
-Rules

By the end of the year, everything looks beat up and over used (most of them!). I always like to start my year with fresh looking visuals. My paras were trained that I did this every year. Think about how much time you will save during planning week if all the visual supports are ready and ready to be posted in your classroom.

If you have volunteers or high school students who need hours this is a great task to give them.

Save time by starting this routine at this end of this school which will help you be ready for the beginning of next school year!

I hope this tip helps!!