How to Finish The School Year Strong

Finish well. Today, Linda Kardamis shares common mistakes to avoid and positive things to do that will help you have a successful finish to your school year.

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Enhanced Transcript

How to Finish The School Year Strong

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e309
Date: May 10, 2018

Vicki: One of the most popular shows of last year was Linda Kardamis from Teach 4 the Heart (http://teach4theheart.com/). Weโ€™ll link to that show because she had so many great ideas there.

Now, Linda,weโ€™re going to talk about how to finish the school year strong. How can we finish strong? So many people get so tired and they just want to put their feet up on their desk!

Linda: Yes, and thatโ€™s actually my first tip.

Donโ€™t coast!

As much as you want to coast, donโ€™t coast. Instead, be intentional with your time and choose. Make a mental decision, โ€œIโ€™m going to make these last days count.โ€ It all starts there.

Vicki: Oh, it does.

But how do we decide what to do? We can either say, โ€œOh, there are all these things I havenโ€™t taught,โ€ or โ€œYou know what? Iโ€™m just done.โ€

Linda: (laughs)

I think itโ€™s important to keep first things first because there are always a million things to do, so you really have to prioritize. Ask yourself, โ€œWhat really needs to get done?โ€ โ€œWhat should I let go, and you know, wait until next week or next month or the summer?โ€

Vicki: That is so hard to do.

Linda: (laughs)

Vicki: Whatโ€™s another tip for us?

Linda: I think at the end of the year, youโ€™ve spent time developing all these relationships with your students. Youโ€™re about to be done with them, but this last month or two is your opportunity to draw on those relationships that youโ€™ve built. Youโ€™re closest to them that youโ€™ve been all year, and so use that.

Draw on the relationships that you have built all year

This is your chance to inspire them, to guide them, to counsel them, and to speak truth into their lives.

So be looking for those opportunities and take advantage of them.

Vicki: Oh, and kids remember what we do first and what we do last. I was sitting at a mamaโ€™s desk today talking about some great things that her son can do. She just teared up and said, โ€œSchool is about getting grades, but sometimes we forget to talk about, โ€˜You do this well, but I canโ€™t put it on the report card. But this is you, huh.โ€™โ€

Linda: Yes, itโ€™s a great way to encourage them as theyโ€™re heading into their summer and finishing up the year. For sure.

Vicki: Whatโ€™s next?

Linda: Next I would say, this just goes to really practical tip.

As you are looking at your material you are hoping to cover between now and the end of the year, and saying โ€œOh my goodness, I donโ€™t have enough time to do all of this,โ€ this is a good time to stop and take inventory of that and be strategic.

Take inventory of whatโ€™s left to cover and be strategic

The last thing you want to do is keep plodding along and miss whatever was last in your curriculum math, or your book, or whatever you have.

This is a good time to sit down and be intentional and ask yourself, โ€œWhat is most important?โ€ and make sure you get that in, even if itโ€™s not the next thing sequentially.

Vicki: OK, Iโ€™m going to be honest. In one of my classes, Iโ€™m actually tracking to finish a little early. What do we do if somebody is actually a little ahead?

Linda: This is actually my next tip.

I ran into this problem, because Iโ€™m a leader. I was always either right there, sometimes I finish early.

My word of caution is donโ€™t finish too early or if you do, have a really good project based learning activity or something that youโ€™re doing at the end.

Donโ€™t finish too early — or have a great end project if you do

If youโ€™ve finished too early — I did this my first year — I was like โ€œWeโ€™re done a week early! Weโ€™re just going to do fun review activities!โ€

But as soon as the students saw that we were done, they checked out. All of my review activities were a disaster.

Maybe add a project at the end or do something just stay on your schedule so youโ€™re not done-done too early.

Vicki: I hate to say it, but I actually love it when students come in by choice to work on stuff on the last day of school – theyโ€™re like, โ€œI want to put an extra touch on that movie!โ€ โ€œOh I really want to add this or that!โ€

I think we just have to capture every moment, donโ€™t we?

Linda: Yes, and thatโ€™s such a great idea.

Like I said, if youโ€™re having a project like that, that they are really passionate about,that theyโ€™re finishing up, and trying to put the last finishing touches on, I think thatโ€™s a great way to end the year for sure.

Vicki: Whatโ€™s next?

Linda: I think, as youโ€™re leaving the year, itโ€™s really good to communicate with your parents, especially the ones of the kids that struggled.

Communicate with ALL parents, especially the ones of kids who struggled

The temptation is to just be like โ€œDrop your report card, and just get out of there,โ€ but itโ€™s really good to go back and get one final touchpoint with those parents. I like to recommend things if they can do over the summer, even if I know that the voice in the back of my head is going, โ€œThey arenโ€™t going to care.โ€

You donโ€™t know that. Just take a few minutes. t can be the same email that you copy and paste and then adjust, but send out something to those parents, with some recommendations for the summer, things they can do, and maybe a last word of encouragement for their students.

Vicki: That is so important, because we really are partners with helping the kids, in some ways thatโ€™s like passing the baton to the parents over the summer, isnโ€™t it?

Linda: Yes, absolutely. Sure.

Vicki: Okay, what else?

Linda: My next tip is to try to leave things as organized as possible. Now, I did say โ€œtry,โ€ because I know itโ€™s pretty crazy, but just keep in mind the more organized you leave things now, the easier it will be if you are staying at the same place when you come in next fall.

Try to leave things as organized as possible for yourself for the fall

Even if you arenโ€™t teaching in the same place, though, taking a few minutes to jot down some notes for yourself — like this lesson worked, or this lesson didnโ€™t, or I want to try this again.

Even little things like that can be helpful. And like I said, maybe even tackling those desk drawers, the closet. If you have any time to do any of that, it will make things way easier for you come fall.

Vicki: I love that. I actually right now have started my โ€œSimplify Journal.โ€ Every single day I try to simplify my room in one or two ways and it just makes me feel free!

Linda: Oh, thatโ€™s great!

Vicki: Ok, yeah! Whatโ€™s our last one?

Simply commit to enjoying the last few days

Linda: The last one is just simply decide to enjoy these last few days. This is really simple, but it can make such a difference. Weโ€™re so often tempted to just count down the days, and thereโ€™s nothing wrong with the countdown, but itโ€™s mental. Are we really on mental countdown โ€œI just have to do this many more days!โ€

We can do that, or we can choose to say, โ€œThese are the last few days I have with this group of students. Iโ€™m going to try the best I can just to enjoy them, be in the moment, and to take advantage of opportunities that I do. I think that mental decision really does impact everything else.

Vicki: Why I left the business world, and what teaching pays me that I donโ€™t get from anything else is — itโ€™s so much fun!

I feel just like Iโ€™m not laughing every day with the kids and if weโ€™re not finding something funny, if weโ€™re not working hard at work worth doing, then why are we there?

Nobody wants be bored! They donโ€™t want to be bored, and I donโ€™t want to be bored! We just arenโ€™t phoning it in, we just want to finish and finish well, you know?

Linda: Absolutely, for sure.

Vicki: So, Linda, as we finish up, could you give teachers a 30-second pep talk of encouragement for finishing well and what it means to them in their professional career to be known as a finisher?

Are you a quitter, or are you a finisher?

Linda: You yourself will know how you finish. Just looking back when youโ€™re sitting, relaxing by the pool, or just taking a nap, you will know if you phoned it in or if you really finished strong.

And your students will know too. How will they remember you? Will they remember you as โ€œThank goodness weโ€™re done with that?โ€ Or will they know that you really put in the effort and that you care for them? Because, really, itโ€™s for them.

Vicki: Teachers, I canโ€™t stress this enough.

I do feel that sometimes, I think we are raising a generation of quitters. โ€œIf I donโ€™t get to play enough in baseball, Iโ€™m going to quit.โ€ Or, โ€œI donโ€™t get to run in that even, or I canโ€™t place in that event, so Iโ€™ll quit.โ€

And the thing is, we teach with our lives — whether weโ€™re finishers or whether weโ€™re quitters.

My philosophy is, something I do when Iโ€™m running, when my knees arenโ€™t acting up, I always sprint at the end.

Linda: Me too!

Vicki: Yeah! I read that thatโ€™s the only way you build more muscle and build more strength is to sprint at the end.

I think that at the end, I know that itโ€™s counterintuitive, but when you sprint at the end, you earn the respect of your colleagues, you earn the respect of your kids, and you can look at yourself in the mirror, and kind of blow on your knuckles, and go, โ€œYou know what? Iโ€™ve got this. And Iโ€™m doing it right, you know?โ€

Linda: Absolutely.

Vicki: Okay, teachers, so letโ€™s do this. Letโ€™s finish well!

Linda: Finish strong!

Contact us about the show: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted


Linda Kardamis provides practical advice and Biblical encouragement for Christian teachers on her website Teach 4 the Heart (http://teach4theheart.com/). She is also the author of Create Your Dream Classroom (http://teach4theheart.com/dreamclassroom) and the creator of Classroom Management 101 (http://teach4theheart.com/cm101) and Teach Uplifted (http://teachuplifted.com).

Blog:http://teach4theheart.com/

Twitter: @LindaKardamis

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a โ€œsponsored podcast episode.โ€ The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissionโ€™s 16 CFR, Part 255: โ€œGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.โ€ This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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2 comments

Dr. Frank Buck May 13, 2018 - 9:20 pm

“Sprint at the end.” What a great analogy. I agree that those who make the most of the last days of school earn the respect of the teachers around them. Even better, it earns the respect of the kids. Great episode.

Reply
Vicki Davis May 15, 2018 - 9:34 pm

Thank you, Frank! I always appreciate your thoughts.

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