Tag: May

Creative Thinking, K-12, Teaching Tools

May I Help You With Some Resources for This Month?

Terri Eichholz

Well, it happened. May snuck up on me and here we are. It was amusing to wake up to some Twitter drama about Teacher Appreciation Week, which is generally the first week of May, but Google has deemed that it doesn’t start until next week. Supposedly, whoever actually decides these things decided TAW needs to be during the first full week of May, and when the month starts on a Monday instead of a Sunday that doesn’t count. I don’t really know who is in charge of these seemingly arbitrary calendar declarations, but I do think the cherry on top is that it’s actually Principals’ Day. So, Happy Principals’ Day to those of you who are one or are aspiring to be one. And for goodness sake, just appreciate teachers every day and that dilemma will disappear once and for all.

May Wakelet

I do have some Teacher Appreciation links in this month’s Wakelet if you are so inclined. I also have May the 4th (Star Wars Day), Cinco de Mayo, and Mother’s Day resources. And — I know some of you are going to grit your teeth in frustration, but remember some schools actually started their years in late July, early August last year — the link to my End of the School Year Wakelet.

Other Wakelets

If you haven’t checked out my collection of Wakelets, you may find some other desperately needed resources here. From Brainteasers and Puzzles to Fun Stuff, if you are trying to survive testing or just the sheer exhaustion of making it through this many months of the school year, there are plenty of options to help you keep putting some “zing” into your lessons even if you feel like you’ve used them all.

Celebrate with a Pool Party

And, if worse comes to worse you can always download my Summer Pool Party Creative Thinking Packet. It’s free and I’ve used it with all ages to give students the opportunity to practice their S.C.A.M.P.E.R. skills.

from my Summer Pool Party packet
Education, K-12, Teaching Tools

Give Them a Surprise Ending (Reblog)

Terri Eichholz

As the conclusion of another school year approaches, I thought it might be fitting to re-publish this post from last year with suggestions for ways to end the year “strong.”

I always laugh when people say that we should end school earlier in the year because the last few weeks are a waste.  What do they think would happen if school stopped in April?  Somehow I doubt the teachers or students would be any less eager for the last day.  The way I see it, the only way to fix this problem is to never have a last day – or to never tell anyone when it is.

“Ok, boys and girls.  Bus riders are dismissed and so are car-riders and walkers. Oh, and by the way, there’s no school for the next 2 1/2 months.”

Yep.  That would go over well.

A surprise end-date probably won’t get the approval of any school board on this planet, so I recommend a surprise ending, instead.

What do I mean?  I mean, don’t resort to the predictable, let’s-show-movies-and-wear-pajamas-and-read-all-day plans that are the fallback for so many teachers this time of year.  This is your time to M. Night Shyamalan your way into teaching fame!  (But not in a spooky “Guess what, you’re dead, too,” way – more in a “School is way more than filling in bubbles on a piece of paper” way.)

How can you surprise them?  Here are some activities that could make the highlight reels of your students’ year.

What suggestions do you have to make these last days memorable for your students?  Put them in the comments below!

End the year like this... (image from Tetsumo on Flickr)
End the year like this!
(image from Tetsumo on Flickr)