JessicaDon’t start packing your classroom until you read this! Did you know? Packing your classroom isn’t supposed to happen during the week after students leave. This end-of-year teacher checklist will have you completing tasks incognito during the last weeks of school. Leaving you duty-free by the time the final bell rings for summer.
Because it’s my mission to help teachers build a better lifestyle (hello, enjoying ALL of the summer) while managing teaching tasks in less time, you can grab your copy of the Ultimate End of Year Teacher Checklist to help you get a jump start on getting MORE time to enjoy outside of school! Download your copy here.
The Ultimate End of Year Teacher Checklist
Okay, so I know that the end of the year is overwhelming for many teachers. Sometimes it’s just nice to wait until the kids leave and then start packing up the classroom for the summer. But there are two problems when you do that… 1) you’re not honoring your time, and 2) you’re not getting paid for it.
So, how do you tie up loose ends and prepare for a successful end to the year while students are still in the classroom?
This end of year teacher checklist will help.
Keep reading this if you’re asking, “What does an end of year checklist for teachers involve?”
With so many things to think about at the end of the year while still trying to finish teaching the curriculum, you have to get through is hard. Having a checklist of things to help you remember what you need to do to prepare your classroom for summer is essential (bonus: you can set yourself up for success for the following school year).
The following checklist can be broken down into 3 Must Dos to help you enjoy summer sooner.
1. Organize from the Inside Out
Too often, teachers think of cleaning and packing up the classroom as tasks that require posters to come off walls and chairs and desks to be stacked up. Teachers can do some todos before the cleaning starts.
You can start organizing from the inside out three to four weeks from the last day of school by
❏ Finishing assessments (both district assessments and classroom assessments)
❏ Completing the end-of-year grading and getting a jump start on entering grades in your grade book
❏ Prepare notes/have conversations with colleagues for the upcoming classes
❏ Do a digital cleanout – declutter your inbox, move any data or photos from the year into an archived folder, clean up your desktop, and organize folders
Pro Tip – create and save digital copies of essential lessons and resources. You never know what happens to your laptop over the summer 🙂 And you don’t want to lose your stuff.
❏ Organize and Clean the places people don’t see — start with cabinets and closets.
Starting with these tasks can help you to get a jump start on your end of year tasks without admin or students noticing and get you to enjoy your summer sooner.
2. Clean the Classroom
Two to Three weeks before the last day of school, you can start to clean and organize the classroom.
❏ Purge what you don’t need and dispose of any outdated or unnecessary materials, such as old assignments or decorations
❏ Take back things that don’t belong to you (i.e., library books)
❏ Label and pack cabinets → organizing things into Rubbermaid-like bins
Pro Tip: Take photographs of cabinets, walls, and classroom areas that you liked and worked well to help you remember how to put things when you return the following year. Tape the photographs to the bin where you pack materials for each classroom space.
❏ Plan a clean-up day WITH your students (clean tables/chairs/tidy trays/book boxes)
ProTip: Send books home in small increments each day so kids don’t have a significant bulk on the last day
❏ Clear the Walls (note: wait as long as you can on this one because when the wall decor goes down, 1) it changes the mood in the classroom and may give students the ALL CLEAR to bring out their ‘schools out’ attitude)
3. Plan in Advance
One Week before the last day of school, you can reflect on the year and plan for the following year.
❏ Celebrate the year with your students with some fun end-of-year activities
❏ Reflect on the year – complete an end-of-year self-reflection (what went well, what didn’t)
❏ When cleaning up – have a tub labeled ‘back to school’ If you come across things you know you’ll need for the first week of next year – pop them in the tub.
❏ Order your new planner so it’s ready to go when you get back
❏ Prepare your ‘meet the teacher’ info in advance
Pro Tip: Make copies of your first few days and put them in file folders labeled for the first week of school.
❏ Say goodbye to students and colleagues, and plan to stay in touch over the summer.
More ideas for the end of year teacher checklist
End of the Year Teaching Tips – Creating Your To-Do List (Video)
Easy End Of Year Classroom Pack-Up Checklist That Will Make Packing A Breeze (Blog)
End-of-Year Checklist for Teachers (Blog)
As the school year ends, teachers need to take time to wrap up loose ends and prepare for a successful end of the year. This end of the year teacher checklist provides a helpful guide to ensure that teachers complete all necessary tasks before the final bell rings. As an added bonus, grab your PRINTABLE copy of The Ultimate End of Year Teacher Checklist, and get more time to spend enjoying your summer!
