That’s a Wrap!

As this post goes live, I know that many of you are still heading towards the “end of the school year” finish line. Me? Well, I am still in my pjs, sipping on coffee, and feeling very happy that this Sunday will not be spent grading papers and writing lessons plans.

This year was AWESOME but really, really exhausting so I am so excited that summer vacation is here. But, my rest and relaxation is going to be squeezed in between other things because I am neck deep in my graduate school portfolio, reading and studying our new writing program, and prepping for a tech session that I am presenting at this summer-just to name a few things.

Kind of goes to prove that educators are never “done”. But, we knew that, right?

I wanted to recap just a couple of things that occurred in Ms. Young’s Learning Cottage over the last few days of school.

I LOVE this cute little Ikea chalkboard. We have used it a lot this year. The students had their pictures taken beside the chalkboard at the beginning of the year, and I thought it would be fun if we took our last day of school pictures beside it, too! Their first and last day of school pictures went in a memory book that we put together, and I just could not believe how tall and grown up my kiddos are now! Wow! What a change. One of my students suggested that I do a growth chart with my class next year to show how much everyone grew in second grade! Great idea, kiddo! I might just have to do that.

I do classroom superlatives on the last day of school like many others. Mine are simple. The students get a voting form where they nominate students for specific awards. We give awards for “best mathematician”, “most helpful”, “best smile”, and many others. Then, we put our chairs in an aisle. I stand up front, turn on some upbeat music(selected by the students..This year they chose “Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie and “Happy”), and call out awards. The students get really into walking down the aisle, cheering, and being in the spotlight. My class was really close this year so it was a special moment in our room. 

If you follow me on IG then you know that my dog makes appearances in pictures on my account often. Maybe TOO often, but he is my baby, and I just love him to pieces. My students hear about my dog, Hero, all year long so I really think they feel like they know him. Each year Hero is coming to visit is one of our end of the year balloon countdown options. He was SO great with the kiddos. They wore him out, and he ended up sleeping for the rest of the day. 

I have never sent home summer packets to help the students work on skills over the summer. I always worry that it is just a waste of copying. However, my class this year came a LONG way, and I didn’t want them to forget all that they had accomplished this year. I searched forever for a perfect summer packet and eventually decided on the Getting Ready for Third Grade packet from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. LOVE her stuff. If you are looking for a super prep packet then I strongly suggest hers! My kiddos also got a cursive handwriting book to finish at home, SUNsational glasses, and their memory book complete with cool crayons. 

 I also managed to pass out end of the year gifts to special folks this year. Some went to parents for volunteering, special mentors, my awesome ELL teacher, and my secret Wildcat who totally spoiled me with sweet gifts all year long. I found these cute mason jar soap bottles at FiveBelow and got the tag idea from Elizabeth over at Kickin’ It In Kindergarten.

And…this is what I did when school got out on Friday. I headed straight to the lake. The boyfriend’s parents live on the lake so we spend a lot of time out there. It is so relaxing. Just what I needed to start off my summer vacation with a bang!