A Realistic Guide to Surviving the Last Weeks of School

It’s the end of the school year, and you’re dreaming of summer vacation: sleeping in, enjoying a lazy breakfast, reading a murder mystery instead of a book about middle school math curriculum.

There’s just that pesky calendar. You’re 90% of the way through the school year but 100% exhausted. How can you make it to the finish line without losing your sanity?

Below are 10 of my favorite end-of-year strategies for teachers. These kept me afloat when I was in the classroom; I hope they can help you as well. And, once you do reach the last bell on the last day, have a great summer vacation! You earned it.

Survival Guide: The Last Few Weeks of School

Ten tips to maintain your well-being, serve your students well, and finish the school year strong:

1. Set Reasonable Goals

If there are four weeks left in the year, you won’t be able to accomplish four months’ worth of goals. Be realistic about what you can achieve in the time you have left. Look at your curriculum and identify the essentials. It might help to pick the two or three core concepts your students must grasp before advancing to the next grade. The rest? You’ll have to let it go, and that’s okay! Almost every teacher finds themself in this position at the end of the year.

The same goes with your goals for individual students and the growth you can help them achieve. You’re not giving up on anyone, but you are keeping a level head about what’s possible at this point. Right now, it’s about being realistic and doing what’s good enough.

2. Give Yourself a Break (or Breaks)

Teachers can fall into the trap of working nonstop during the last few weeks of school. You’re racing around trying to get everything done. You’re telling yourself it’s OK to work around the clock because summer break is coming soon.

Do your best to avoid this mistake (it is a mistake!). Take walks, carve out time for your hobbies, go see a movie, grab dinner with friends. Self-care is just as important at the end of the school year as it is in the beginning and middle.

3. Let Yourself Daydream

It’s completely acceptable to be excited about summer break. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad teacher or that you don’t care about your students. It just means you worked hard this year, and you’re looking forward to some well-deserved rest.

Give yourself permission to daydream a little (just not during instructional time, of course!) and to make plans for your time off. You can even jot down your ideas or summer goals in a notebook. Having something fun to look forward to can be highly motivating on particularly exhausting workdays.

4. Maintain Classroom Standards

Don’t let classroom management slip just because the year is almost over. The rules that applied on Day 1 still apply on Day 180. I know from experience that relaxing the boundaries too much creates chaos. Keep your routines predictable and hold students accountable to the expectations they’ve practiced all year long.

5. Give Your Students a Break

At the same time, try to recognize that your students are tired and eager for summer, too. This doesn’t mean letting classroom management slip (see: directly above), but you can consider planning some easier or lighter days to give everyone a little breathing room. Incorporate a few low-stakes review games, host independent reading sessions, or allow for extra brain breaks. Lowering the academic intensity, even just slightly, can prevent late-stage behavioral issues.

6. Celebrate Wins (Big and Small)

Take time to acknowledge how much your students have grown since the fall. Take time to acknowledge how much you’ve grown since the fall. You could hand out certificates, write quick, positive notes to parents, or just set aside a few minutes of class time for you and your students to reflect. Or if you want to go big, throw an end-of-the-year party with food, games, and prizes!

It’s so easy to look ahead; you want to keep moving forward and keep working toward the next goal. But don’t forget to look back, too.

7. Lean on Student Choice

Give your students more say in the last weeks and days. They’ve earned it! (And, honestly, you’ve earned a chance to not be the primary decision maker for once). Let them vote on which review game to play, what book to read, or which project format they want to use for their final assignment. Options increase student engagement, which means you’ll spend less time managing off-task behaviors.

8. Incorporate Outdoor Learning

If your students are anything like mine were, they’ll be asking you to go outside nearly every day. So if the weather allows, give them what they want and take advantage of the outdoors! Plan lessons or activities that can be done outside, like reading under a tree, nature-based science experiments, or even a class picnic. A change of scenery can refresh everyone’s energy and break up the monotony of the four classroom walls. (Just make sure to establish clear boundaries before you head outside so the lesson remains productive, and make sure it’s okay with your admin.)

9. Prep for Next Year (a Little)

Before you completely close the book on this academic year, spend a few minutes reflecting. I find it helpful to write down three things that went exceptionally well and three things I want to adjust for the future. You don’t need to write a novel! A quick bulleted list will give you valuable insights to look back on when August rolls around. Doing this now, while the memories are fresh, can reduce stress later and ensures you capture your best ideas for improvement.

10. Launch a Countdown Calendar

This can be something you do with your students or something that’s just for you: a calendar with special activities as the year winds down. This gives you small things to look forward to. For your students, it might involve a fun theme for each of the last ten days. For you, it might mean treating yourself to a specialty coffee every Friday. At the end of the countdown is the ultimate reward: summer vacation.

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