Episode 320: Creative End-of-Year Reflections That Stick

You've guided your students through stories that made them think right , which is what we love about being English teachers .

You forced them to write in ways that perhaps stretched them outside of their comfort zone , and perhaps there were lessons that built their confidence bit by bit , and you just watched them start to emerge into who they're supposed to become like . And that's the beauty of being an ela teacher .

It's just such a remarkable subject that we get to teach , but now we are at the finish line , and so , before we send our students off into summer , there's this little window of time that we get to teach , but now we are at the finish line , and so , before we send our students off into summer , there's this little window of time that we have that we can

help them stop , look back and realize just how far they've come in your class . So today's episode is all about fresh , flexible ideas that are meaningful , that are low prep and , most importantly , that are going to be memorable for your students at the end of the school year .

So if you are looking for ways to make these final days intentional without burning yourself out , then you are in the right place . And let's dive in to today's episode . Hi there , ela teachers , caitlin here . Ceo and co-founder of EB Academics , I'm so excited you're choosing to tune into the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast .

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All right , so we are diving into one of my favorite kinds of episodes creative classroom ideas that you can actually use during one of the busiest seasons of the year .

So today's episode is about fresh , creative reflection ideas that will help your students wrap up the year and really give you that sense of closure , your students that sense of pride and ownership of their learning journey . Right , it's really .

These are great ideas to have like a nice , like bookend at the end of this chapter of their lives , as opposed to just saying goodbye . So before we talk about strategy and ideas , I want to talk about why and why reflection matters , especially now .

So obviously this time of year , students are very excited for summer , they've already got their summer energy and I know it's really really tempting to throw on a movie , print out a packet , really really tempting to throw on a movie , print out a packet , whatever it might be , and just call it a day , but reflection has so much power .

Even you as an adult , know how important it is to reflect on your practices , to reflect on your life , to reflect on periods of challenges , of trial , right .

I went through this massively in the last year through my divorce , through my health challenges , all of the things that I had going on right Like I went through this massively in the last year through my divorce , through my health challenges , my all of the things that I had going on Right . And so reflection matters for our students too .

So when we give our students time and we give them the space to really think about man , what did I just go through ? What did I read ? What did I write ? What did I learn ? How did I grow Not just academically right , but personally we are helping them make meaning of their lives .

We're helping them make meaning of this 45 minutes that I spent sitting in Mrs Mitchell's ELA class . Every single day , we're helping them realize something really , really important , and that is that they've grown , that they've changed , and that school isn't just something that happens to them .

It is something that they've co-created , that they've participated in and that they've shaped . And so this is your chance , at the end of the school year , to create a bridge between where they were , where they are and where they're going .

So I'm going to give you a couple ideas that I think are really neat for the end of the school year that I highly suggest that you use with your students .

And if you do use any of these , please tag me on social media at EB Academics so that can see , because I love to look into your classroom , and if you're an EB teacher , put this in our Facebook group inside of our community . Okay , the first couple are very simple

and then they get like deeper and deeper as they go on , all right . So idea number one and this one's really cute is a class timeline gallery walk . So , instead of summarizing like a book or a unit , or have your class create a class timeline gallery walk .

So , instead of summarizing like a book or a unit , or have your class create a collaborative timeline of something that they've read or a literary piece . They're actually going to do this for the entire school year . So each student in your class is going to pick out one moment from the year that stands out to them .

Maybe it's a specific lesson or a specific story , or a specific class discussion , or a specific field trip , or just a specific moment in time that they had in your class and they're going to illustrate it and write a short description of it , why they chose that as , like , the one moment that they want to put on the class timeline , and then you're going to

post it on a timeline that spans your classroom . So , however you choose to , um , display this in your room , right , and then your students can do a gallery walk and see what everybody else put and come back and discuss and reflect as a class . So this is such a great visual way , right , to review , review the year .

But it also gives every student a moment of ownership , like they all got to participate in this , and it also shows how much you guys all accomplished together . So that's idea number one . Idea number two is simple , but

I love it . Oh my gosh , I love it so much . I hope you all do this . It is a playlist of the year , so your students are going to curate a soundtrack for the school year . So every student is going to choose one song that represents a moment or a theme from class .

So it can't just be like their favorite song , right , it has to be something that has meaning , something that represents something , um , so it's not just some random . Oh , I love this song and I want to throw it in Right . I'm thinking of one that I mentioned in a past Sunday stack newsletter um , by Chance Pena the Mountain . Is you right ?

That would be a song for my last year , for my 38th year of my life , because , holy cow , right ? It represents so much to me . So it's something that your students really have to be thoughtful about . So not only are they picking a song , but they're going to write a short explanation as to why they chose it .

They can either link it to like a character or one of the stories , but really like this could probably have the most impact by having them link it to their own personal growth . Now here's where it gets even more fun . You can take this and create a real playlist on Spotify .

Obviously , you want to make sure it's school appropriate , but put it on Spotify , share it with families , include it in the end of the year email . That is such a fun modern twist on a reflection project and your students are going to have that playlist for forever .

Like I think back to gosh when I was in high school and we would make burn CDs right off of LimeWire of our favorite songs , right , and it's like fall 2024 . I don't know if any of you guys name your playlists that , but that's what I named mine , right ? And so this is your class's curated soundtrack for the year . So cool , love that idea , all right .

Idea number three pretty simple , always brings a smile , though is to host a mini awards show in your classroom . But students are nominating books , characters or even writing pieces for different awards . So you can ask ChatGPT to come up with superlatives or award titles to use , and that makes it super , super low prep for you .

But you're thinking things like most likely to inspire a sequel . So which book would that be ? Or a character I'd want as a best friend , or a plot twist of the year . So it's not about your students per se , it's about the texts that you guys have read , and so then students can obviously submit votes anonymously .

You could do this in a Google form , whatever it might be . Maybe students create little certificates or slides or whatever it might be . Um , but it's a celebration of the stories that you guys read , and really it's a reflection tool , kind of in disguise . Okay , idea number four Love this one .

You've probably heard of it before , some of you have probably done it , but it's worth repeating is a six word memoir for students journey throughout the year . So it is powerful , but it's quick .

So , essentially , the idea is exactly what it sounds like You're going to ask students to write a six word memoir or reflection that captures their experience in your ELA class this year . So they can be funny , they can be heartfelt , they can be poetic , they can be honest Anything that feels true to who they are right .

So I'm going to put some examples in the show notes for you that I came up with , but I'll share some of them with you right now too . Wrote an essay , survived barely . I found my voice in writing . Books changed my brain . This year started shy , ended loud and proud . I read , I wrote , I grew . I never liked reading until now , so things like that .

So you teach your directions for you guys , introduce the concept , explain what a six word memoir is . It's a super short , powerful way to sum up their experience or their journey through the year . Only six words , that's it , nothing else . Um , you can share examples . You can use the ones that I just um set out loud to you .

I'll put those in the show notes . Uh , you want to give students time to brainstorm , right ? Maybe put some music on Um . I can include my journaling playlist for you guys in the show notes . I love it . I think I've put it in a past podcast episode for you too , um and have them draft their memoir . They can put it on anything that you want .

You can put it on index cards that they design , um and like , decorate and hang those up around the room . However you choose to do this , you can get super creative , and then I would have students volunteer to read theirs out loud . You can post them around the classroom afterwards too .

Whatever it is that you want to do along those lines , it could even be a fun bulletin board for the end of the school year . Okay , next one . I think this is the last one . Yeah , this is the last one , okay , so last idea reflection hexagons

. So we know hexagonal thinking or hexagonal thinking . This is like that , but it's more based on reflection than anything . So we are going to take hexagonal thinking and put this reflection lens on it . So , instead of connecting characters or themes , students are going to reflect on their ELA journey by responding to prompts inside of the hexagons instead .

So then students will connect their hexagons with each other's based on shared experiences , and this will create , like that meaningful visual web of all of their learning , all of their growth and how really important we're all connected , right ? So I'm going to put some examples of prompts to use in the hexagons in the show notes for you guys .

But there are things like a time I felt proud of my work , one writing skill I improved this year , what I'll remember most about ELA , et cetera , and I'm going to give you directions now for how to actually , like execute on this . So , number one you'll prep the hexagon . So print out hexagon templates .

You can use colorful paper that makes it look a little bit prettier , right , when we're hanging it up . Um , you want to have hexagons that are relatively larger , since students are going to be writing reflections on them . So I would do like five to six inches maybe .

Um , choose your prompts , so pick , you know , five or so reflection prompts and either assign them or let students choose their favorites , and you can either print different prompts on each hexagon or print the blank hexagons . Um , and display the prompts on the board for students to write the prompts onto the hexagons that you gave them .

So you don't have to , like , do a ton of prep . If you do it that way . Okay , then you're going to give students like 15 to 20 minutes of writing time . So students are going to write their responses and complete sentences inside each hexagon and you want to encourage students to be honest , to be creative .

Maybe they even do a little drawing on their hexagon , right ? They can illustrate them or decorate them if they have time . Whatever it might be , okay . So that's the first kind of like setup . But now we're going to connect the hexagons and that's where the collaboration comes into play .

So , once all the hexagons are done , you're going to ask students to walk around and look for connections . They're going to place their hexagons next to others that relate to a similar theme , a similar moment , a similar feeling , and they can use tape , magnets , sticky tacks or however you choose to do this on a whiteboard or a wall , pushpins , whatever .

And what you'll start to see are clusters of shared experiences Students who grew in writing , students who overcame speaking fears , students who discovered a love of reading and it's so special because it becomes this beautiful visual representation of the class's collective journey Like this is how we are all connected .

We are all intertwined right In this experience from this year together . So some bonus ideas for this . You can let students read each other's reflections with like an interactive gallery walk , and you can have them walk around with sticky notes and add compliments to their classmates written responses .

You would also do this in a digital version , although I think it's going to be a lot more beautiful and more meaningful and touch them more deeply if it is visual in person . And then what's cool is you can actually keep it up for next year , right ? So at the beginning of the school year next year , like this could be your welcome back bulletin board .

Like this is what last year's class experienced together and this is what I'm excited to get to experience with

you this year . So it's like future pacing your next year's class . Okay , all right . So I hope today's episode sparked some ideas that you're excited to try . Whether you go with one of these , maybe you use some of them , maybe you use it as inspiration and you come up with your own spin on it .

I just want you to remember this your students are going to remember how they finished your class . It doesn't have to be fancy , it just has to be intentional . Let your students see just how far they've come . Give them a moment to feel proud before they walk out of your door for the last time . Okay , all right .

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast . If this episode gave you a fresh idea , I would love it . If you would please take just 30 seconds to leave a quick review on iTunes . It helps us reach more teachers , just like you , and it means the world to us at EB . All right , until next time . Keep showing up with heart , keep teaching with purpose .

Love you guys .