End of Year Closeout for High School Science Teachers : Finish Strong and Organized

June 1, 2022

So it’s time for the end of year closeout and sometimes it can become overwhelming. There is a growing list of things required in order to close out a school year. Admin will give you a long list of tasks that need to be accomplished and signatures that need to be collected but that doesn’t include what needs to be done in your room. my goal in this blog post is to give you some clarity in order to help you make your end of year closeout less stressful and set you up for a smoother transition into the next school year.

End of Year Closeout

The first thing that I would recommend is to do everything that you need except for deconstructing your room in advance. So basically this includes all paperwork that you need to go through and either trash or safe, declutter any locations that need tending to, and organize everything into a nice place. You do not want to deconstruct your room ahead of time because it throws students off.

At the end of the school year, students get a little wild as it is and we do not want to stimulate them further to become unhinged. A great way to finish out the school year is to get students to help with the deconstruction when it is that time. You could start this a day or two before school has ended or you could have them help you once they have completed their finals. Grouping students up or pairing them together to do specific tasks is a great way to help alleviate some of the things off of your plate and put them to work and help to keep busy to channel there end of school year excitement.

End of the Year Planning Checklist

Since this is a yearly task, you could assemble a simple end of the year planning checklist to save on your computer. That way you can go back to it year after year to make sure you have taken care of all you need to before leaving for the summer. One of the things that I have on my end of the year planning checklist is to write out a pacing guide for the following year. Since I teach High School and more specifically biology and Anatomy I already have most of the pacing done from one year to the next. We do not stray too much from that original map pacing guide, however, there are always times that we need to include that may throw us off the schedule. These things include homecoming, pep rallies, PSAT testing, and other miscellaneous dates that may need to have a tweak to our schedule.

End of the Year Classroom Clean Up Checklist

I also like to write out lesson plans for everything that I will teach during the first week of school. If your school is anything like ours you are packed full of meetings whether they are useful or not. I have found that by preparing for the first week of school while my mind is still on school I am better able to come up with a plan of action for the first week of school. When I come back from Summer during pre-planning I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we are coming back to school. It is hard for me to put my focus hat on in order to get my lessons together.

Another task that I do before I leave for the summer is to make a list of supplies that need to be ordered for the next school year. I do this by going through each of the lessons that I’m planning on teaching as well as all activities and items that are needed. I put the items that I need into an Excel spreadsheet and I am able to quickly go back to this year after year and replenish any supplies that I need. Things that I include are our kits for both my Biology and Anatomy classes, dissection specimens for my anatomy classes, and any chemicals that need to be reordered. Again, I like to focus on this before I leave for the summer because that gives me one less thing to think about when I come back to a new school year.

Summary

Preparing for the end of the school year is exciting for both teachers and students. Including your students in the deconstruction of your room, mapping out your lessons and pacing for the next year along with creating a list of supplies you need for the next year allows you to go into the summer knowing that you are better prepared for the next school year and enjoy your time off. Because you deserve it!

Don’t forget to grab your FREE COPY of The Ultimate Guide to Engage Students To Learn Anatomy | 7 Secrets To Implement Today

I love sharing helpful content with y’all and would love to connect on IG or Facebook. I’m on TikTok too! Follow me and send me a DM with what you need more of because I’m here to help! If you are looking for even more inspiration, find me on Pinterest!