End of the Year Student Gift

I can hardly believe it, but we are in the FINAL STRETCH!!!!!!  PRAISE!  Teaching has always been challenging but this year has been another story.  The level of mental (and of course physical) exhaustion I'm feeling is unlike any year prior.  I've had the most challenging class this year....with all sorts of needs.  Needless to say, I am TIRED and ready for a break.  

Today, I'll be prepping my students end of the year gifts.  Yes I know it's May 23 and we have 23.5 more days of school left (seriously, who's counting?).  However, as you know, the end of the year is BONKERS.  An ever-growing to-do list and kids who have checked out makes for an even more exhausted teacher!  

I like to keep my gifts simple, cost-effective, and thoughtful.  When I first started teaching, I thought I had to spend gobs of money on elaborate gifts for my students.  As I've developed as a teacher, I've come to realize that teaching is a gift in itself.  And let's not forget the hundreds (actually thousands) of dollars spent on the classroom and fun activities throughout the school  year!

If you've been around here for any length of time (shoutout to the OG's who have been with me since 2010!), you know I love Junie B. Jones.  I've read a chapter from her book each day, after lunch, for 20 years.  The love began during student teaching (shoutout to Minal, my cooperating teacher who introduced me to good ole' Junie!).  Needless to say, my students' end of the year gift is always a brand new Junie B. Jones book with a personalized bookmark.  I like to order the variety packs on Scholastic and let the kids pick their title. 

Does your class have a favorite series, character, or author?  I'd love to hear who that is!  Leave me a comment below and let me know!

Want to know the cost?  Well, I use Scholastic bonus points that I've accrued over the years to order the books.  A roll of thin ribbon for the bookmarks is about $3.00.  The bookmarks are in my TpT shop (linked HERE for you!).  I do use my own laminator, because I like the bookmarks to be stiff, but I can get four bookmarks on a page.   I'm only using 6 laminating sleeves.

The kids always cherish these personalized bookmarks (and of course, books, a class favorite)!!!  Don't worry, the bookmarks are editable!  Color and black and white versions included.  It's super easy to insert student names at the top and your name at the bottom.  Of course, you can always use a Sharpie and hand-write your name and kids' names in.  There is a set included for team teachers as well.  

Grab the bookmarks by clicking the cover below and get to personalizing!  I'm also linking the ribbon (3/8 inch works well) for you HERE-a bit more expensive to buy on Amazon than a craft store...(because it's April 23 and we are all mentally fried).  Enjoy!

xo

Megan 

End of the Year Reflection

It's that time again!  The end of the year.  My mom always says, "The days are long but the years are short" and she is so right!  It seems like I blinked at this year came and went.  It's crazy to think back to where we started.  This year, I began with 23 students, many of whom didn't go to preschool.  If they did attend preschool, it was closed down in March of 2020.  My students only received 1/2 year of kindergarten (we did a hybrid model last year, where students came to school every other day).  I began with 23 students who had only known "school" as a place where we wear a mask and stay away from others.  I am ending the year with 23 readers, 23 confident children who aren't afraid to try and make mistakes, and 23 kids who care for one another.  This year, more than ever, I feel greatly rewarded.  I feel as if I've worked harder than ever.  I also feel as though I was appreciated by so many, more than ever before.  All students grew tremendously from where they started, socially, emotionally, and academically.  It's important to look at the whole child and not just the academics when considering growth.  This can be quickly forgotten when we receive our class data.  

As you wrap up your year, keep in mind all that you've done to help your students grow!  Be proud of yourself and your students.  You worked HARD.  The world needs great teachers.  I know you are tired.  Hang in there and enjoy your MOST DESERVED summer break!

xo

Megan 

End of the Year Ideas

Good Morning!  As we near the final few days of school, I wanted to share some of my favorite End of the Year activities with you!  I'm down to 3.5 days left, but I know others have longer.  Hopefully you can pick up some ideas here for this year or pin/save them for future years! 

End of the Year Countdown

I started this end of the year countdown chain many years ago and the kids absolutely LOVE it!  The anticipation is so cute.  Every morning, they come in eager to find out what special activity we'll be doing!  This set comes with both pre-made and editable chain links.  It also comes with an ABC countdown if you want to make your countdown longer.  So far this year, we've blown bubbles, buddy read with another class, watched a movie, had a guest reader, and read with flashlights.  As the chain shortens, the activities become more involved.  Grab the countdown chain HERE.

Memory Book

Such a fun keepsake and GREAT time-filler the last week of school!  With several editable pages, you can add a photo of yourself, the class, and individual students.  Some years I laminate the front and back and bind the books.  Some years, I slam a few staples down the side.  Can you guess what I'll be doing this year?  Hint: We have 3.5 days left and have not started our memory books yet.  Hahaha!  Grab the book HERE.  Covers included for grades k-2.  Check out the listing for pages included.

Crafts

It's great filling time with art projects the last week of school.  Yes, it requires some prep on your end, but the kids are happy and you don't have to entertain them.  This "Cruising to 2nd Grade" craft and writing from First and Kinder Blue Skies is easy and cute.  Grab it HERE.  

I love making suns with my class as the final hallway art display.  Usually we make full suns, but this year I tried the project shown below.  I will definitely be adding it to my list of favorites in the future!  

Picture Books

Who doesn't love a good read-aloud?  Below are some of my favorites for the final week(s) of school.  You can check out all of my favorite picture books on Amazon by clicking HERE.  *affiliate link*

Mini Book

A mini-book is a great way to build vocabulary.  My students hunt for sight words to color within their books prior to reading.  Grab this summer mini-book HERE.   *It's also part of my mini-book bundle.

Games

There are definitely more games happening the last week of school!  Some favorites are: "Heads Up, Seven Up," "I Have, Who Has," "Who's Missing," and "Switcharoo."  Grab the "I Have, Who Has" game by clicking HERE.  *It's also part of my "I Have, Who Has" bundle.

End of Year Assessments

The end of the year is always busy with assessments and testing.  I use my "Beginning of the Year Assessment" pack throughout the year to check progress.  I check letter names, phonemes, number ID, number writing, and much more.  I also use my "Level 1 Trick Word Tracker" to check their trick words.  Grab the assessment pack HERE and grab the trick word tracker HERE.  

Cleaning, Purging, and Prep for the Next Year

It's such a great feeling to clean and purge each spring!  How do teachers accumulate so much stuff!?!?!  I try to be particular about what I bring into my room, but there is ALWAYS stuff to pitch and give away.

I like to get as many things ready for the fall as possible during the springtime.  It's extremely stressful, but having small things ready save time in the fall and allow more time for classroom setup, planning. and meetings.

Things I try to prep in the spring/summer months: take-home folders, Fundations folders, birthday gifts, forms, and spacer sticks.

Have a fantastic end of your school year!  Cheers to summer!!!!!

xo

Megan 

Cost-Effective End of the Year Student Gifts

 Hi, friends!  Long time, no blog!  It was tough trying to keep up with this 'ole blog during the 2020-2021 school year, as you can probably imagine.  I did my best, but posts were definitely sporadic!  This summer, I hope to post more frequently.

Although I am now finished for the school year, I know many of you are not.  I wanted to share what I did for my students this year as an inexpensive end of the year gift.  It seems like we teachers are always spending our hard-earned money on our students and our classrooms throughout the year.  While it's nice to give our kids a "goodbye" gift, it can be costly and all of those "little things" can sure add up.  This year, I tried hard to keep my student gifts under $25 total.  Yes, you heard me right, $25 for all 19 of my students.  Below is what I came up with.

Some cost-effective tips are: 

1.  Look for free labels & add something fun to them (ie: candy, sunglasses, bubbles, etc).

2.  Use Scholastic Books points to get your kids a free book.

3.  Buy in bulk

4.  Use Ziploc bags vs. expensive gift bags of buckets

**In the photo, I have a full size bag of Skittles shown, but to cut costs, I went with bulk from Costco and bagged them in snack bags.  They don't make a huge container of Skittles, so M & M's it was!  Candy is candy and my kids didn't care what the packaging looked like!  

I'll link everything included in the bags I gave my students in case you want to grab anything!  

1.  Sunglasses-Amazon affiliate link

2.  M & M's-Costco (I scooped out 1/2 cup for each student into a snack size bag and stapled a tag)

3.  Student Book-Scholastic Books link

4.  Ribbons (I had stickers left from a few years ago, but I found similar ribbons)-Oriental Trading 

5.  "Have a Sweet Summer" tags-free from Pocket of Preschool

6.  "Have a Bright Summer" tags-free from True Life I'm a Teacher (I taped this to the outside of the gallon Ziploc vs. tying it to the sunglasses, because I knew my students would want to immediately put their sunglasses on)

To grab my best-selling end of the year bookmarks, click the cover image below.  Lots of color options included!

Enjoy your last few days/weeks!
xo

Megan 

End of the Year Books

I have a whole pile of "end of the year" books that I always love sharing with my students.  However, this year, those books have been shared via Zoom calls.  I wanted to take a moment to share with you my favorite end of the year books, in case you want to share them remotely with your students, get them for your own children at home, or simply add your collection at school.  A few are available on Amazon, and the others are available on Scholastic.

Last Day Blues 
If you've read or have First Day Jitters, then Last Day Blues is a must!!  This book is written by the same author.  Mrs. Hartwell's class worries that their teacher will miss them during the summer, and they come up with a plan to ensure she won't be too sad.  The surprise is on them when Mrs. Hartwell and the other teachers in the school have a plan of their own!  I love how both First Day Jitters and Last Day Blues have surprise endings!

The Night Before Summer Vacation
This is a story about a little girl and her family getting ready to go on vacation.  They are trying to pack everything they need, but something (or someone) will most likely be forgotten!  You'll have to read the book to find out what or WHO was forgotten!

And Then Comes Summer
Kids will get excited about summer with this cute tribute to it!  I love the illustrations in this book!  Click HERE to grab it from Scholastic Books.

Summer Days and Summer Nights & Sweet Summer 
Both of these stories celebrate the wonders of summertime.  Summer Days and Summer Nights is a story about a little girl who sets out on a journey to explore the world around her.  Grab the 2-pack here from Scholastic Books.


Hello Summer!
This book has beautiful photographs of children celebrating summer.  I love that they've included pictures of children from multicultural backgrounds.  Grab the book here from Scholastic Books.

This year, I added two more to my collection.  I am looking forward to sharing them with my students next spring.  They are linked below.

  

 

*This post contains affiliate links*

Stay healthy.
xo
Megan

End of the Year Gift

The end of the year is nearing, although it doesn't feel quite right.  The excitement of those last few weeks has been torn away from us and our students.  Those moments we work so hard for all year?  Gone.  Although it's heartbreaking, time will heal.

One thing that has really helped me get through being away from school and my students has keeping in touch and emotionally supporting them.  Weekly ZOOM calls, phone calls, and notes home have occupied my time.  I also communicate via BLOOMZ and email.

I have been thinking ahead to May 24, which is our last day of school.  Usually, I send home my "Summer to Second Grade" work packets, a Junie B. Jones book, personalized letters to each student, a personalized book mark, and a few school supplies.  I am going to try my best to send this things to students this year, but it will look different.  I'll be sending my "Summer to Second Grade" work pack via email.  I'll be mailing out personalized letters to each child along with a personalized bookmark and lots of student pictures that I had taken throughout the year.  Sending a Junie B. Jones book won't be possible this year, as I would have to spend $60 in shipping alone.  However, the most treasured part of the end of the year gift bag is always the personalized letter and bookmark.  I usually give these items out during the final day of school because I love watching their reactions as they read their letters.  Although I won't get to watch them open their letters this year, I will be able to devote more time and thought into each one.  I won't be rushed like normal.  I won't be anxiously awaiting to cross "write student letters" and "make student bookmarks" off my ever-growing to-do list.  Silver lining.

If you're looking for a summer review pack, take a look below.  It covers a ton of skills for both Math and ELA that are typically taught in first grade.

Hang in there, friends.
xo
Megan 

Ten Tips for Tearing Down Your Classroom

Hi, friends!

I know lots of you are still working, but I am one of the lucky ones who is FINISHED!  I wrapped up my room last Friday and enjoyed the weekend by resting and visiting with some friends.  I recently had a friend at school ask me to do some organizational posts.  I thought about it and realized that I have always loved organizing and putting things in their place.  Hence, today's post is dedicated to the dreaded classroom cleanup!  Last Friday marked my 15th classroom cleanup.  I am by no means an expert, but I would like to think that I have some good tips to offer you after doing this 15 times!  Here we go with my top 10 tips for classroom cleanup/pack up!

1.  Get the supplies you need ahead of time.  

Just like any other task, prepare yourself ahead of time to make the most of the time you have to pack up your room.  Having the materials you need on hand will help your pack up go much faster.  Below is a list of items that I recommend you have readily available for your packing up adventure.

• Gallon Ziploc bags-for bagging up games/activities
• Clorox Wipes-for wiping things down as you go.  Hello dust bunnies!  Gross!
• Magic Erasers-for removing the stubborn crayon marks on your containers
• Large scrubbing brush (handheld)-for washing bins and containers
• Dish soap-for washing bins and containers
• Small notebook/pen-for making lists
• Canned air-for spraying your keyboards and computers out
• Tote bag or extra box-for transporting items home and/or to Goodwill 
• Wheeled cart-for wheeling the stuff you don't want down to the "Free Table" in the lounge 
• Masking or Duct Tape-for labeling furniture with your name 
• Signs labeled with your last name and room number printed off the computer (example: "Wheeler, Room 8"-for labeling your large furniture items 
• Large, wheeled trash can-for all the TRASH you will have!
• External hard drive or cloud storage 

2.  Go through everything.  

While you are going through your items, keep in mind the following three categories:  keep, donate, trash.  Remember that I said to have a large cart and large trash can in your room prior to starting?  This is where they come into play.  As you are going through things, put things in their correct spots!  Ask yourself, "Do I use this regularly?"  "Have I used this in the last year?"   If you answer "No," then donate it or throw it away.  Everything you keep should have a place and purpose.  If it doesn't, get rid of it!  No shoving or piling.  No "I'll put this stuff away later."  Doing it right away ensures that your room stays tidy.  The last thing you will want to do in August is put away a pile of stuff that you should have put away in the spring!

I filled THREE of these this year.  Oops.

This was my "give away to other teachers" cart...I filled this up twice.

Here's a crate full of things that I gave away to my kids.  

Inside recess games were gone through and organized

3.  Sort through your student library.  

Go through every book in every basket in your student library prior to packing the baskets up.  Make sure all the books are in the correct basket and that they are all in there neatly and going the same direction.  Think about thinning out some baskets that have a lot of titles in them.  Give those books to kids, donate them to Goodwill, or give them to a new teacher.

4.  Create a "Back to School" bin.

This is where you'll put all those pre-prepped labels, copies, cutouts, etc...that I mention in tips #7 and #9.  Keep this BTS bin very handy, so you can grab it quickly in the fall.

5.  Clean as you go.

Yes, the custodians will (hopefully) be cleaning your rooms during the summer.  However, wiping things down as you go will make you feel better.  Use those Clorox wipes to wipe out bins.  Use your Magic Eraser to remove pencil/crayon marks from tubs.  Use your dish soap and scrub brush to scrub out bins that are extremely dirty.

6.  Make lists as you go.  

Keep a notebook and pen handy as you are packing up.  Note the supplies needed for fall (tape, magnets, Velcro, etc...).  When you come in to set your room back up in August, you'll have what you need to start right away.  Assess which containers need labels.  Note that in your notebook.  During the summer, you can get your labels ready.  I love the labels below from The First Grade Parade!  Also note what you want on your bulletin boards.  Did you have boards that you really loved this past year?  Write down/draw a sketch of what it looked like.

7.  Get ahead on your copies if possible.

Some people get completely overwhelmed with this, but I am telling you, if you spend a little time getting some copies made in the spring, you will thank yourself in August!  The copies that I am referring to are those that you know you will need regardless...think behavior calendars, desk name tags, handwriting books, computer login cards, data binder supplies, transportation tags,  reading logs, beginning of the year assessments, Positive Notes Home, etc...You get the idea.

Transportation Tags are ready for August! 

Reading logs are ready to go for August!  

8.  Take pictures! 

Take pictures of bulletin boards that worked well for you during the school year.  Photograph the way you had specific areas organized.  This will help you remember how to set things up again in the fall.

Calendar Board 

Front Board 

My "Whole Group Classroom Rewards" fit nicely on this board! 

Fundations Trick Words Word Wall

9.  Plan and prep your "Meet the Teacher" materials.

This goes along with "getting ahead on your copies."  If possible, copy off those meet the teacher forms, Open House Supply Signs, Transportation Tags, and letters that you distribute during meet the teacher day.  I keep all of mine in a container that is labeled "Back to School--see tip #4!"  This container is the first thing I pull out when setting up my room.

Open House directions pages make putting classroom supplies away a breeze!  

Open House Signs make sorting supplies so simple for families!

10.  Enlist the help of your family/friends!

Here's Mr. Wheeler helping me tear everything down from my front board.  He is 6'7, so he comes in quite handy!  I decided to remove everything because it was over-stimulating for my kids.  I am using my Fundations Phonics alphabet above my word wall now.  I'm also hoping that this front wall will get painted this summer...lots of  chipped paint and hot glue marks.  Whoops. 

My final tip is a self-care one: TREAT YOURSELF!  You've earned a massage, manicure, or whatever else you might enjoy!  Congratulations on making it to summer break!

xo
Megan