The year is coming to an end … I know that! The weather’s warmer. The FIFA World Cup is on. Pants and sweaters are quickly being replaced by shorts and t-shirts. The students are getting excited about summer vacation, and in many ways, I know that the teachers are sharing this excitement. But this is where I’m struggling because school’s not quite over yet!
Don’t get me wrong.
- This Friday, our year end assembly is in the middle block.
- We have a field trip planned for Monday.
- Students are excited to share their final Passion Projects on Wednesday.
- Play Day is next Thursday morning.
- And next Friday’s the last day of school, and with a special pizza lunch, a visit to next year’s teacher, and a small year end celebration (because even I’m not that much of a Grinch 🙂), I know that there won’t be much work done then.
When we’re in class though, I’m trying to make the most of this classroom time. We’re finishing and sharing our Probability Problem thinking in Math, reflecting on our energy/environmental learning in Science and Language (one reflection and another reflection), and practising for our play and finishing our read aloud in Language.
I know that I need to get ready to move schools, but I’m reluctant to make too many changes too early. As the bulletin boards come down, supplies get packed, and furniture gets moved, I find that the students slowly start to change. Some get giddy with anticipation for the summer. Some students get anxious about school ending. And often our neediest learners struggle because of changes and more unstructured time.
As teachers, I realize that we’re constantly trying to weigh the needs of many versus the needs of a few. In this case, I think that we need to pay special attention to these needs of a few. It’s not that we can’t have fun (because I’m a big believer in the fact that learning should always be engaging, and hence, often a lot of fun), but I’m not willing to depart with routine quite yet. Some students require it, and all students benefit from it!
School is academic. School is social. School is a place to think. School is a place to learn. I’m happy to have over a week of learning left, and while at times it may be a struggle, I’m determined to still make school purposeful. It is with this in mind that I re-read my vice principal, Kristi’s, holiday blog post today, and I thought that some of these ideas might be perfect ones to try out in the remaining days of school. What do you think? Should our expectations of teaching and learning in June change? How? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
Aviva