end of year Archives - Faulkner's Fast Five

5 Ways to Use Class Time After the Yearbook is Complete

The yearbook is complete, submitted, done. Now what? You have several months of school left, and you aren’t sure how to keep your students on task for the remaining days. Does this sound familiar? With spring delivery or even summer delivery books where students take yearbook/journalism as a class, it’s often difficult — and even daunting — to come up with creative and constructive ways to use that time. As we all know, doing nothing is not an option! In this blog post, I’ll share 5 ways to use class time after the yearbook is complete.

1) Listen

Podcasts are super popular right now, and I think they are here to stay! The trick with using podcasts in yearbook or journalism class after your big publication is off to the presses is in choosing a series. Another tip is to choose a podcast show or series that has its roots in journalism. We also enjoy podcasts because they are mobile. I grab a Bluetooth speaker with my phone, the kids bring chairs and Enos, and we head outside on a pretty day!

Here are several podcasts I have used in class after the yearbook has been submitted that I think work wonderfully in the yearbook classroom. Also hop over to my free podcast catalog for even more. Search “yearbook.”

This American Life, Serial Season 1: This podcast series was done by journalist Sarah Koenig. It is a true crime series about a student who goes missing. Grab my free Podcast Series True Crime Listening guide here, and your students will be set. Rated for older students.
Up and Vanished, Season 1: Another in the true crime family, this podcast is a series as well. In this one, a teacher goes missing. Rated for older students. *Tip: Consider sending a permission slip home for parents/guardians to sign for anything that might be questionable.
Dolly Parton’s America, Season 1: Whether you are a Dolly fan or not, this podcast is perfect for notable interview techniques, storytelling, and just feel-good fun. As students listen, have them complete a double entry notebook for each episode. This listening strategy allows them to decide what’s unique, interesting, and special as they listen and note their reactions as well. A no-prep double entry notebook sheet is included in my Podcast Analysis Pack for Print and Digital. Rated for older students.
It’s All Journalism, Beyond the Ivory Tower, Picture This, Grammar Girl, or Stuff You Should Know. These are all content-specific podcasts where students could pick and choose something they are interested in learning about. The task: Write three interesting things from the podcast, two questions, and one other thing you wonder.

2) Read

Engaging students with something to read is never a bad idea! (You have to know I’m an English teacher, too!) However, you don’t have to be an English teacher to embark on a reading journey with your yearbook students after the yearbook is submitted. Novel selections abound and articles are endless online. Plus, to make your job easier, select a novel or article with a pre-made guide and/questions. Here are a few suggestions:

Columbine by Dave Cullen- This is a nonfiction piece that reads like fiction. It was ten years in development and researched by journalist Dave Cullen. In it, he dispels the myths that surrounded the tragedy with facts, evidence, and quotes – all while maintaining a safe distance from giving Eric and Dylan the credit and accolades they craved. Its detailed characterization draws readers in from page one, and its complex structure challenges them while keeping students engaged from beginning to end. You can get a complete unit guide here or just a set of questions/answers for each chapter here. Rated for older students.
Peeled by Joan Bauer – This fictional novel is perfect for piquing student journalists’ interested in mystery, and it ties in nicely with a journalism class. A reporter for her high school newspaper, Hildy Biddle is just waiting for a chance to prove herself as a real journalist. Not content just covering school issues, Hildy’s drawn to the town’s big story–the haunted old Ludlow house. It’s a fun, quick tale that you won’t have to beg your students to read. Rated for any age. A unit guide for this is on my to-do list.
Legacy versus Likes by Mike Smith – If you’ve never met or heard of Mike Smith, then now is your chance. Mike is full of energy and life and passion. This book, published via his work with Jostens, challenges readers to make a difference in the world. Along with engaging anecdotes and real-life tales of challenges and lessons learned, this book asks tough questions. My students were captivated and convicted by this quick read. The best thing about it for you is that it comes with built-in questions and tasks!
Article of the Week for Journalism – Reading pedagogy suggests that students are most successful with a text when they revisit it more than once with a different and meaningful purpose each time. The “article of the week” approach does that. With this resource, I’ve designed daily tasks unique to the articles linked in that give students a meaningful and skills-based reason to revisit the article of the week again each day. It’s no prep, and students learn vocabulary and figurative language in addition to the interesting weekly challenges that ask them to look beyond the article. Answers are included. Grab a set of 9 or the entire bundle!
Article of the Week for High School (General)
The New York Times also offers daily current events and self-guided lessons of the day. You could mix these up a bit and use their picture of the day as well.

3) Watch

You just can’t wrong with a movie (or two) every now and then. Movies really do provide numerous opportunities for learning, and I am an advocate of using them as a text. I either have movie guides made for specific movies, or I grab one of my movie guides that go with any movie. I like to use movies that in some form or fashion relate to journalism, yearbook, photography, or media. If I have a group of mostly seniors, I’ve sometimes used that to inspire my choice. Along those same lines, it does not have to be a movie; you can also use documentaries. Amazon, iTunes, and Youtube have numerous documentaries that students find interesting. Below are a few that I have on hand for using in my yearbook class after the book is complete. These are all for older students.

Age of Adeline (Fiction), Photography connection
Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Fiction), Photography connection grab my free movie guide
Campus Confidential (Fiction), Journalism connection
Cyberbully (Fiction), Media connection, grab my no-prep guide here
The Pursuit of Happyness (Fiction), Connection for senior students
Searching (Fiction), Media connection
Ivory Tower (Docudrama), Connection for senior students
The Social Dilemma (Docudrama), Media connection
Just Mercy (Based on a true story), Journalism connection
WACO (iTunes docudrama series by CMT/Paramount), Journalism connection
Columbine 20/20 Interview Documentary with Sue Klebold, Journalism connection, grab my free guide here
Any TED Talk
Mean Girls 2, Journalism connection

4) Sell Books

When the yearbook is done, you can’t ignore the second biggest task of the year: selling books! Whether you have been hosting sales campaigns throughout the year or not, now you have time to focus on it specifically. Be sure to reach out to all students. Develop a plan to contact each one. I like to assign my staffers groups of students to reach out to during our last big sales push. We also do an “adopt-a-student” promo, where we ask for community members to donate money for our lower-socioeconomic senior students to receive a book for free. I tell those students they were given a “book scholarship.” We usually have in the neighborhood of 15-20 books donated. Get the student body “bought in” with these ideas:

Funny sales flyers in the hall or on student cars and lockers
Yard signs
Social media posts (Canva is free for making eye-catching designs)
Videos
Ice cream party for all buyers
Countdown wall displays
Cover reveal

5) Plan Distribution

Hopefully, distribution day is a huge event at your school, too! And if not, now might be the perfect time to plan for one. I have an entire blog post on distribution, so I’m going to link it here. Definitely hop over and give it a read. This is certainly an important way to use class time after the yearbook is complete; you want students to be excited about picking up the book you’ve worked so hard to create!

Hopefully, these 5 ways to use class time after the yearbook is complete will help you and your staff make the most of the last few days at the end of the year. If you have clever ways you use class time after the yearbook is submitted, drop a comment below!

Love this content? Join a group! There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple. Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey. I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

Written by: Julie Faulkner, 2021

Internet-Free Activities for Middle and High School Classrooms, Any Subject

Recently, we experienced a school-wide Internet outage where I teach, and being without access to the World Wide Web really threw my students and me (along with everyone else in the building) for a loop. The days we were out of Internet, I had planned for students to make presentations that were stored in Google classroom, print papers to turn in, among other things that required Internet. It’s not the first time the Internet has gone down in our rural school, but going without really kicked my Plan B mindset into gear. So, I’ve put together a list of fabulous Internet-free ideas and resources for middle-high school in any subject that can be used in a pinch – or with some planning – when Ralph, or whoever, breaks the Internet.

1) Get Crafty or Build Something:

Collage projects are pretty much my go-to, hands-on activity when I need to grab something fast, plan for a sub, or fill some time. Even my high school students love to cut and paste and create, and I think it’s even a fun way to sneak in a little reading. I always catch them actually reading the magazines we use. Plus, reusing those old magazines is the best way to recycle them. In English class, I have students make character poems, character personality collages, book covers, social media posts, and the list goes on and on.

Theme collage after studying “Brave” and Malala Yousafzai

America dream collage after watching The Great Gatsby

Character collages for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Character collages for The Great Gatsby

Coloring never goes out of style, and crayons have been around way before the Internet was born. Draw a scene from a book, illustrate a favorite quote, draw the plot, or draw a diagram of the solar system or various other subject-based topics that need to be reviewed through the year. I’ve been using these color-by-grammar or color-by-figurative language worksheets in a pinch forever, and they are always a big hit with my secondary English students.

If you teach secondary math, the Math Stop has a fun coloring-based activity that would be awesome in a no-Internet setting. Students develop their knowledge of graphing coordinate pairs, quadrants, and reflections about the x and y-axis with this fun and engaging art activity. Then, they make it personal by using the letters of their name to decode them into arbitrary numbers from a decoder box. In the end everyone has a cool and colorful design that represents his/her own name.

2) Play Games or Conduct Experiments:

Old-fashioned board games can be very educational whether you are playing them purely for the logic or teamwork of it, or if you are putting your subject-area twist on it. That’s pretty much how I do it; everything has to be English-related. (Wink) When I found these ready-made game cards with an extensive bank of 144 CCSS-aligned grammar and literature terms and definitions by The Littlest Teacher, I thought I had hit the jackpot! If you teach middle or high school English, you are going to want these!

I don’t know a student who doesn’t love a good game of Trashketball! You can set up a trashketball review game for any subject with little to no prep at all, and you’ll be set. For all things trashketball, I turn to the OCBeach Teacher. She’s the coach on this topic, and she has ready-to-go ELA games set up, so I don’t have to do anything but enjoy the game! She has full instructions and links to her no prep ELA review games here!

Mazes, Puzzles, and Escape Games. Oh My! These are all the rage now. I think I write about them in almost every blog post I do with resource-related tips and ideas because they are SO much fun! I recently used one of EoLA Ruth’s kinesthetic mazes to review frequently confused words, and we had a blast. The kids skirted around the room as fast as they could to figure out the puzzles AND answer the challenges! She has a free one for Independent vs. Dependent clauses. Other teachers are raving about Carol Miller’s The Growth Mindset Escape Game. Every now and then kids need a little reminder to get back into that positive thinking routine. Her Growth Mindset Escape Room is the perfect challenge for middle and high school students to both teach the concepts of a growth mindset and to have fun. Students are given a scenario where their school is taken over by the evil Dr. Dread and only way out is to use their brain power before it turns to mush! If you teach secondary ELA, my collection of escape games is growing like crazy! Check out the entire catalog here.

Other ideas include taking time to have students get to know their classmates better like with this fun Spanish speaking activity that gets them up and out of their seats to “Find Someone Who” can answer questions about classmates’ families, pets, favorite classes, sports and food. Download it for free! Truth or Dare would also pique your students’ interest, and I love how Reading and Writing Have uses this game – and others – to help students review vocabulary words! Whether you’ve chosen words from literature, from test prep lists, from a vocabulary book, or hand-selected words you think your students should know, the exercises in this bundle will complement them perfectly. Designed to work with any Tier 2 vocabulary list, these activities, games, and practice worksheets will get your students thinking creatively… without the Internet!
Experiments and STEM projects always catch my attention. I think it’s because I secretly wish I were a scientist! That’s definitely not in my future, but I love seeing what other teachers are preparing for their students. When I saw this Pirate Coding activity created by Curiosity and the Hungry Mind, I knew it was a treasure. (The puns are always intended.) Plus, I have a major soft spot for Pirates. (Again, what I wish I could be when I grow up.) You’ll be able keep upper elementary and middle school students engaged in unplugged coding and STEM challenges with these cool activities!

This STEM project from Professor Doubter piqued my interest immediately, and I think your upper elementary or middle school students will want to dive right in, too. This lab activity challenges students to prove there is REAL IRON in cereal by designing and conducting their own experiments to prove magnetic fields exist between objects! The only materials you’ll need are a strong magnet, hand lens, ½ cup of dry breakfast cereal (Total® brand) in a small plastic baggie, and small beaker/container of water. Grab the instructions and files here, and let your little scientists get busy!

Last but not least, how about just going outside to play? From your middle school students to your high school students, everyone will be participating. Have students toss a ball around and review a point from the lesson. Write vocab words on the sidewalk with chalk. Misty Miller has her students go outside and play tag with math integers. Integers Math Tag Relay is a great way to practice solving problems with integers while having fun.

3) Write:

If you are in the middle of a writing unit, and the Internet goes out, you don’t have to stop what you were doing entirely. With every unit, my students benefit from analyzing sample papers. You probably have a few lurking in your file cabinets, and if you can plan ahead, I have several available in any mode, too. I like to put students in groups or set up stations and use task cards to guide their analysis. (See another post here or a video via Facebook for how I do that.) Peer reviewing and/or revising are also super important in the writing process, and if students have been drafting on paper or have old papers that have already been graded, you can have them pull out those copies and review. I use self-evaluation forms, task cards, and “sticky notes” to get kids reading, reviewing, and revising their writing.

Writing is such a big part of the educational process, and it’s really important in any subject. Just something as simple as having students write a fun narrative about “The Day Without the Internet,” or an expository essay explaining the effects of no Internet in school, or an argumentative letter to local legislatures persuading them to bring better Internet into the county – would be perfect. Have students read them aloud, and that will help with your grading! Science classes could write explanations of their most recent science experiment, and history classes could write summaries of an important event they just studied.

4) Read and Role Play:

I’m pretty certain every school has an old-fashioned library stocked with beautiful books just waiting to have their spines cracked. Take a visit! Also, our local newspaper delivers free copies of the weekly paper to our school. It came to my attention not too long ago that my freshmen hadn’t really ever read or picked up an actual newspaper. It’s hard to believe, but if you stop and think about it, that’s probably true. If you can get access to some newspapers, have students do a scavenger hunt looking for text features, main idea sentences, use of dialogue, etc.
Nothing makes reading come alive more than acting it out. Every unit I teach must include some kind of readers’ theater or role playing scenes because my students beg me for them. We either act out some scenes I’ve abridged or created, they create the scene by responding to a role playing prompt, or we just throw on some costumes and read the text we are studying!

Students responded to a role playing prompt and wrote “scenes” here for the play Trifles

Here students got dressed up to complete a second reading of Patrick Henry’s speech

Students reenact the famous scene from Act 4 of Macbeth

5) Listen to a Podcast or Watch a Movie:

While podcasts do require the Internet, you can play them right from your phone and use a Bluetooth speaker to project them for your class. I love podcasts, too, because they are mobile. Grab your phone, speaker, blankets, chairs, hammocks, worksheets, and go! Get my ready-to-go podcast worksheets for any podcast any subject here, and take a look at my growing list of podcast suggestions here!

Movies never go out of style, and they are perfect in a pinch. You can find so many ready-to-guides for tons of movies, so you can just press play!

All this made me think about back in the day when we didn’t have Internet, at least not so readily available and at such high speeds. What did we ever do? Also, there are other times of the year when using the Internet might not be an option, perhaps if you are in a testing window at the end-of-the year, or if you are displaced from your classroom for various reasons. Teaching and learning must continue, even if it’s going to look a little different or if your main lesson is going to be on pause for a little while. Sometimes you can plan ahead, and other times, it’s unexpected. Basically, the show must go on, and we teachers know how to make that happen.

Written by Julie Faulkner 3/2019, Photos Taken by Julie Faulkner or used with permission

5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

It’s getting to be that time of year when things get a little crazy – a little sideways. Students – and teachers – are starting to tune out! So hopefully, these ideas will make these end-of-year days less stressful, and more fun. Plus, these 5 ways to keep students tuned-in at the end-of-the-year are all student-centered and standards-based, so the kiddos stay engaged, and your job is easy. Join me for a fun recap of 5 ways to keep students tuned-in this time of year. Perfect for any secondary education classroom.

1) Make It Real

When the CCSS started to roll out and there was so much emphasis placed on nonfiction, I’ll be honest – like many other “old English teachers” – I was nervous about giving up so much class time to those texts over my beloved classic fiction texts. Now, I love finding nonfiction texts that stand alone and/or that pair with my fiction. And, honestly, the kids LOVE it when they know it’s real. Students really “tune-in” with nonfiction because sometimes it’s so hard to believe that it is actually real! Sometimes I have them go searching on their own for real information – like in my mini research project on banned books in my Fahrenheit unit. Or other times, I’ll pair the info for them and have them dig into the material in class like in my lesson on the LeRoy HS outbreak after we read Act 1 of The Crucible. Also, take a look at several bundles of hot topics informational text lessons I have ready-to-go. Whether you teach English or not, finding ways to bring in the “real-world” aspect of your subject matter really gives your topic purpose, and I find students are much more likely to buy-in.

Hot Topics Informational Text Lessons: BUNDLE, Set 1, 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

Hot Topics Informational Text Lessons: BUNDLE, Set 2, 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

2) Make It Personal

We all know that secondary students can be ah hem… self-centered. (Bless) So anytime they get to talk about themselves, there’s interest. When my seniors read Fahrenheit 451, they do a generational Interview project as part of their reading tasks for the last section of my Fahrenheit unit. They – and their grandparents – really enjoy the project and the students learn so much about their families and themselves. Another way to make it personal and keep kids tuned in is with poetry that speaks to them. In my treating senioritis poetry pack, I’ve selected several poems that draw on students’ personal experiences and the follow up activities ask students to reflect on their past, present, and future. Another teacher shared this classroom success story about my poetry pack: “With less than a month left for the Seniors, they are losing their focus in class quickly. These are great assignments that keep them engaged and challenge them to keep at it. This is also great for Poetry Month (April). My student’s actual poems (from the extension activities) are being published in our campus newsletter to celebrate it.” Anything you can do as part of a lesson or short research project that allows students to make connections with their own lives will add a layer of interest they won’t be able to resist.

End of Year Poetry, Surviving Senioritis, Poetry Month Act, 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

3) Make It Interactive

I have to admit that I’d never used puppets in the classroom before with high school students, but now that I have, I can’t stop. I also have to admit that it was partly my students’ idea to conduct the first puppet show I ever conducted. When my seniors read The Canterbury Tales, I had made little cards with the characters on them. I wanted each student to read and research about that character to share with the class. One student was holding up her card and thought she was being funny when she said, “We should do this as a puppet show.” I said, “Actually, that’s a great idea. Yes, we should.” That night I glued Popsicle sticks on the cards and borrowed a puppet curtain my mom had made for my nieces. Voila! The next day we had a puppet show! After that, I let my emoji addiction get a little more out of control, and I made emoji puppets for accountable talk, review, point of view, and more! See my Facebook post about them. If you don’t have puppets for your class, then just consider what topic you teach that students to re-enact or role play. For an extra layer of rigor, have the students write the scripts, too!

Escape games are super hot right now, too, and you can find them in just about any subject and grade level. The end of the year is the perfect time to give one a try for review or just for fun. I’ve made full-length games for some favorite stories I teach, and I recently started to make mini escape games that last 30 minutes! All of my games are designed so that you can use a physical lock box that you buy premade or make yourself or digitally with Google. I love using the physical lock box for students, and I’ve created this quick video tutorial just in case you’ve wanted to try it, but have been a little apprehensive about it. When I conduct an escape game in class, I have 100% participation and engagement. It doesn’t get more tuned-in than that!

4) Make It Project-Based

Projects don’t have to be a lot of work for you. Nor should they be a lot of work to prep. One year I wanted something new and fun for Earth Day, so I rummaged through my junk drawers at the house and had student create uses for the various items. The skills we covered? Propaganda, Info-Text Analysis; Speaking and Listening, Presenting. That project is for sale here! This time of year, my yearbook students also work on projects to keep them busy until the books come back. They would be excellent for a yearbook class, business, art, or technology class. I’ve also successfully done short research projects, and I have a ton of those available as well on a variety of topics.

Earth Day Paired Text Reading Lesson, Speech and Poem , 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

5) Make It a Movie Day

Let’s be real for a minute. We can’t always show a movie, but if we are talking about getting tuned in, well, we can’t ignore the obvious. If you missed my post about how to incorporate media effectively, click here to go check that out. I will say that my seniors are going to be watching The Hunger Games next week. Why in the world, right? It was their idea – and it wasn’t because they just wanted to watch it randomly. In fact, they’ve been asking me all along our 451 unit if there’s a sequel to Bradbury’s magnum opus. (Can we pause to just say how awesome it is that they want to read MORE 451?!?!?) Then one day, it dawned on a student that there was quite a bit of intertextuality between 451 and THG. I had noticed the parallels before because I love THG! He made a pretty good case for it, so I thought this would be a fun way to end the unit. They’ll have to write something showing those parallels, of course. Plus, I’ve got you covered for tons of movies with ready-made, standards-based movies guides. All you need to do is get the DVD and press play. Click over to my other blog post, as well, with more Tips for Teaching with Movies.

Here’s to a great rest of the year. Comment below with ways you successfully keep students tuned-in at the end-of-the-year.

Updated 2021, written by Julie Faulkner

How to Avoid Catching Senioritis from Your Students

Avoid Catching Senioritis from Your Students; Tips for Surviving the End of the Year in a Secondary Classroom

It’s that time of year when things are starting to wind down. It’s after state testing, and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I teach juniors and seniors and that senioritis starts to creep in about March for the seniors who know their days in public education are just about over. Well, what if those feelings of apathy, tiredness, discontent, and general aggravation aren’t just coming from the students? What if you – the teacher –are starting to feel the summer slide, too? You know the symptoms all too well from seeing it in your students, so if you have that same diagnosis this time of year, here is how to avoid catching senioritis from your students and end the year strong.

1) Clean

There’s no better way to avoid getting a bug than to do a deep clean. I don’t know about your classroom, but mine gets so dirty throughout the year with kids coming and going. I’m not talking about piles of papers here or general disorganization; I mean dirt and dust bunnies galore. My board is smeared and finger-printed, and the desks are grimy despite cleaning them down as often as I can. This time of year, I break out the 409 and paper towels and give them all a good scrub – mine included. I’ll even borrow a mop and scrub around the baseboards. I always feel much more refreshed — and healthy — after I’ve given my room a good wipe down.

2) Organize

Piles of papers. Folders stacked here and there. Graded — and not graded — work heaping up. Books waiting to be checked back in. This pretty much describes the scene in my classroom by May. A messy room and/or desk does nothing for my motivation to be at school, and it even makes me want to just throw it all away, which wouldn’t be a good idea since I would have to start all over again in the fall. I have a decent system for organizing and filing, but it just seems to get away from me this time of year while I’m working on closing out yearbook, finalizing grades, and planning graduation. Having a system in place is key, though, because when I do have a second to clean up, it usually doesn’t take too long. I think the major road block to getting organized and maintaining that organization is an over-complicated process. An over-the-top organizational approach eventually gets overwhelming, and in the fast-paced life of a classroom teacher, things need to be simple. When I think of classroom organization, my main concern is not cute caddies and containers for my pencils, tape, etc. (I do have a classroom design/style/theme that I love, though. You can see that post here). Rather, I think of my day-to-day routine, and what it takes for me to plan, teach, grade, and manage my classroom without chaos. I’ve tried many different methods for organizing, and after a while, I think I’ve got it down to what works for me. Even though I teach multiple grades – three out of three preps every semester – I still use the same system for everything. Here’s how I take my desk from chaos to clean in five easy tips that have truly simplified my life over the years.

Have a place for students to turn in work. I’ve seen (and tried) different folders for each class or each student even. I’ve seen accordion files or hanging files for students to turn their work in. I’ve tried having a different place for late or make up work. I can never keep up all of that sorting, and eventually, I just give up. What I’ve come to find is that the more places you store the “Grade Me” work, the more opportunity for it to get misplaced. And that method takes up a lot of real estate in the classroom, too. I’ve been using one basket as a place for students to turn in work for about three years now, and it has been the ONLY thing to stick – and work. Whether it’s make up work, late work, or daily work, it goes in the “Grade Me” basket. Whether it’s first period, second period, or fourth period, it goes in that one basket. Now, if I’m collecting work from one period, once everyone has turned in his/her paper, I’ll go ahead and paperclip all those together. If I have the answer key handy, I’ll even attach that to the pile as well. Then when I’m ready to grade, it’s all right there in that one place. Yes, make up work or work from other classes gets mixed in from time to time, but that’s ok with me. I know and kids know if their work makes it to the basket, I will eventually see it and grade it. It’s also simple for the kids, and we all know why that’s important. If they can’t figure it out, you can forget it.

Have a place for students to turn in work. I’ve seen (and tried) different folders for each class or each student even. I’ve seen accordion files or hanging files for students to turn their work in. I’ve tried having a different place for late or make up work. I can never keep up all of that sorting, and eventually, I just give up. What I’ve come to find is that the more places you store the “Grade Me” work, the more opportunity for it to get misplaced. And that method takes up a lot of real estate in the classroom, too. I’ve been using one basket as a place for students to turn in work for about three years now, and it has been the ONLY thing to stick – and work. Whether it’s make up work, late work, or daily work, it goes in the “Grade Me” basket. Whether it’s first period, second period, or fourth period, it goes in that one basket. Now, if I’m collecting work from one period, once everyone has turned in his/her paper, I’ll go ahead and paperclip all those together. If I have the answer key handy, I’ll even attach that to the pile as well. Then when I’m ready to grade, it’s all right there in that one place. Yes, make up work or work from other classes gets mixed in from time to time, but that’s ok with me. I know and kids know if their work makes it to the basket, I will eventually see it and grade it. It’s also simple for the kids, and we all know why that’s important. If they can’t figure it out, you can forget it.

Have a place to store graded work until you can get it handed back. You probably already have a space like this in your classroom, but again for me, it must be simple and not take up much space. I just use a magazine bucket, but a hanging file folder box would work well, too. All my classes do have a separate folder in that box, and when it gets full, I know it’s time to hand work back. Just be aware that students needing to do make up work, might go pilfering through that box for answers on work you’ve already scored.

High School English Classroom Organization

Have a place for teaching materials that you are using on a weekly and daily basis. Again, this is something that I’ve struggled with for years and years, and I just now have a system that works. It also works for having materials handy for makeup work. It goes like this: one box, one hanging folder per class. The end. I think you might be noticing a trend. I like to keep everything in one place. This crate sits on the corner of my desk, and when I make my morning or afternoon copies, I drop them in the correct folders when I walk into the room. If I have multiple lessons going for one class – which I usually do in an honors class – there are smaller folders inside the hanging folders. And, I usually have a folder for the master copies (which came out of my binders and are in sheet protectors) and then another folder for the student copies. I actually have one crate for each prep, and the past few years, I have had three preps, so that’s three crates.

Have a place for master copies of teaching materials. I mentioned master copies in sheet protectors above. By master copies of my teaching materials, I mean one blank copy of any worksheets, etc. the unit plan overview, daily lesson plans, and the answer keys. These go in a sheet protector in a 3-ring binder by class: junior honors, senior dual enrollment, yearbook, etc. Any extra copies or ideas I find during the unit that I might use later go in a manila folder to be filed. As a side note, these sheet protector packs can get pretty hefty, so I use extra capacity sheet protectors that I get from Amazon. Those binders sit on the shelf behind my desk. When I’m ready to start a new unit, I pull out the sheet protector pack and move it to the daily materials box.

Have a place for teaching materials that need to be filed. Since I do have three preps out of three preps each year, this is probably the pile that gets the largest more quickly than any other pile. My “FILE Me’ box is big enough to fit file folders and several stacks of papers. Then, when I’ve finished a lesson and have extra copies or student work samples to file later – during my down time 🙂 – it’s all in one place ready to go in its long-term home in the filing cabinet. If I can, I’ll go ahead and pop it in the filing cabinet as soon as I can. But if it has to sit for a minute, at least it’s already in a folder.

3) Try something new and/or student centered.

Now that you’ve completed those lessons that are tried and true to get your students ready for state testing, etc. try something you’ve been curious about all year. This is a super simple trick to avoid catching senioritis from your students, or it may even prevent them from getting it! It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, which leads to boredom, behavior problems, and bad moods. I’ve wanted to try Kahoot – since last May – but I couldn’t fit it in during the year. Plus, I was just really uncertain of how smoothly it would go. Last week, I was not in the mood to do anything – specifically review for EOCs, so I decided it was time to shake things up. We still needed to review grammar before the state testing, so I decided to load some of my real world grammar fails images into Kahoot and just give it a try. Because I already had those made up, it was just a matter of loading those pics and adding the choices. It took me less than 30 minutes to prep it, and it was very easy to use in class. I put my students in groups and let them use one device per group to select their answers. The program basically walks you through the steps. You can also search public Kahoots for free and play with no prep at all! The kids loved it! I was in a much better mood after doing a little something different from the status quo!

Another thing that gets me down this time of year being busy from bell-to-bell. At this point in the year, usually, there isn’t any new material to cover, but having nothing for kids to do – or giving them busy work day after day gets old. They eventually catch on and that leads to more problems. A student-centered short research project where students pick their own topic, manage their own product, and then present to the class is just what the doctor ordered. Check out my free Antiques Show and Tell Research Project or my catalog of other short research projects as well.

4) Have a party.

4) Have a party. Kids beg for a party this time of year. I’m not against parties, but I do want them to be on purpose. I’ve shared about my Great Gatsby party before. Click here to see more on that idea. Last week, my seniors finished Fahrenheit 451, and we had a final party where all the food was red, orange, or yellow. These are the times memories are made, and, of course, some sweet treats are surely the perfect antidote for senioritis. Look at how creative my students were in preparing their “hot” dishes!

5) Plan ahead.

What feels better than planning ahead and taking some of the pressure off those first few days of school in the fall? Where I teach, we don’t normally know our schedule or students until a couple of weeks before school starts, but I still always try to take time to reflect on what I did this year. If I have time, I’ll even ask the students to reflect and evaluate the class, so I have authentic feedback as I’m looking at next year. Take a look at ALL my planners – printable and Google-drive planners here!

Here’s to a strong end to the year and a great summer! Share your best end-of-year secrets for how-to avoid catching senioritis from your students below!

Updated 2021, Written by Julie Faulkner

Ways People React to Test Anxieties That Might Annoy Others: Are You Guilty?

Testing season is upon us, and with that comes test anxiety. Although, I’m not sure who has more anxieties about the tests – teachers or students! Either way the stress that goes along with testing is very real, so I thought a light-hearted post was in order. This post was inspired by a conversation I had with my students after they completed the state writing exam, which is timed and taken on the computers. We aren’t allowed to administer the test to our own students or discuss test content, but I always like to ask them how they felt about it afterwards. My honors group had been very nervous, apparently, because their senses were heightened to every possible distraction in the room. To say they were somewhat distracted by every
little thing would be a huge understatement. I couldn’t help but laugh as they shared their testing room experience with me. Perhaps their list of “Ways People React to Text Anxieties That Might Annoy Others” will give you a little chuckle.

1) Leg Shaking – Anxiety increases adrenaline levels, and when adrenaline goes up, your body has a natural “fight or flight” response. Leg shaking must equal the need to get up and run out of the room for dear life. It might make time pass more quickly for you, but the person next to you feels as if they are on a bad amusement park ride. If you’re a leg-shaker, try to just wiggle just your toes instead!

2) Heavy Mouth Breathing and Nose Sniffling – I almost laughed so hard I cried when my kids mentioned this to me, but it’s a reality. When that adrenaline gets going, breathing is a struggle. If you often find yourself short of breath during testing, try to do a few breathing exercises before entering the testing room, so you have that under control!

3) Mumbling – What signifies mumbling, you might ask? Well, if you are Goody Osburn (from The Crucible), mumbling could get you condemned a witch. If not, you might just be a testing room proctor who isn’t quite on her “A game.” In this case, the proctor was mumbling to herself and hovering during the entire test. When you are reading and writing on the spot, every moment counts. Being distracted by a mumbler, well, that’s not the charm you are looking for.

4) Loud Typing/Writing – Machine guns firing. That’s what my students
told me it sounded like when people began typing their essays. (Teenagers love hyperbole.) In a room of complete silence, though, I imagine that
is probably true. While some students were still trying to read the text, others were rapidly firing their sentences to beat the clock. Online testing… sounds like an efficient way to collect and grade responses, but in reality, it might not be the best “bang” for the buck.

5) Pen Clicking/Tapping – This is probably my biggest personal pet peeve. It’s not band class and we don’t need a drum roll, but some students/people can’t resist the urge to click, click, click, rap, tap, tapping at my chamber door….. Oh, sorry. I forgot I wasn’t quoting Poe. Yes, the tapping. If pen clicking is your go-to tick during testing, perhaps take a long some writing utensils that aren’t so interactive!

Are you guilty of any of these test anxiety quirks? You probably don’t even know you have these aggravating habits, but it is probably driving someone else in the room batty! May the odds be ever in your *testing* favor! Click on the keep calm image below to download a free pdf version of this cute sign! You can click over to my blog post “Best Test Prep Idea and Strategies for Middle and High School Students” for a huge collection of goodies, ideas, and more.