Who knows what the end of the school year will bring. This year, some schools may end up going back to the classroom to finish the school year, and that would be awesome. However, for many, this school year is going to be completed from the safety of our students’ homes.
As teachers, we are great at adapting, re-imagining, and coming up with clever ways to engage students without getting to work with them in our classrooms. As we approach the end of the school year, one in which many teachers will teach virtually for over a quarter of the school year, many of us will say goodbye to our students virtually as well.
Even though it saddens me to consider that I may not return to my classroom this year, I am not going to let the end of the year pass without celebrating with my students. So, without further ado, here are some ideas for celebrating the end of the school year virtually.
Letter to your future self
Click on the image to grab this freebie!
This year has been full of firsts and lasts for students. Depending on the age of your students, they may be graduating and moving on to college or “adulting.” Others may be going from underclassmen to upperclassmen or middle school to high school. No matter how old, they are going to see significant changes in themselves over the next year. The end of the year is a great time writing to our future selves, setting goals, making predictions, talking about family, dreams, and expectations.
Writing a letter to our future selves is something I do most years with my students, and I have a free resource to guide you through the process. Just click here to check it out. Historically, this would be a paper/pencil assignment, and we would go the whole 9-yards to create a real-letter writing experience, complete with stamps and an envelope. However, with our classrooms becoming more virtual, I’ve come up with a more modern take on this classic end-of-the-year assignment.
Virtual Option: Send it now! Since we are doing this letter virtually, why not add a fun little digital twist to this activity. Ask students to send the messages to you in an email, and you can immediately forward the email back to them and schedule it to send on this same day the following year. If you want the letters to be personal and confidential, ask students to put the letter into an email that they can schedule to deliver to them exactly one year from the date. Scheduling emails is easy to do on Gmail, and ensure the letters (or emails) will be delivered! Another option is the FutureMe.Org website. This will allow students to craft their own email and set a date to receive this email back. They can set it for a year, two years, or more! Students can craft their own email and set a date to have this delivered right back to their own inbox. Some students do prefer this method because it keeps their notes secret, as it really should be.
Create a class blog to share
Creating a quick website or blog is very simple; in fact, you can ask a student to create one for you. Using a platform like Blogger (available in your Google applications attached to your email), you can quickly create a blog for your class and ask students to write blog posts for the blog. You can create a series of topics under which they can post, or you can have them post some “greatest hits” from the school year. The greatest hits could include the following and more:
An assignment they are particularly proud of
A funny moment from class
A funny Mrs. _____________ moment
A great memory from the class
A post teaching someone else something they learned.
A “Passion Project” section where students can create posts about topics they love
Throw the list out to the students, and they will help brainstorm ideas for post topics.
Use Flipgrid to say goodbye
Flipgrid is a resource that everyone should be using during this virtual teaching time. Flipgrid is free for educational use, and the platform allows students to submit responses to prompts in short videos that can be recorded directly onto the platform. Students are then able to see other students’ videos, so the platform is excellent for building classroom community.
Here are just a few of the many prompts you could use on Flipgrid to close out the school year.
Say goodbye to the school year through a rap.
Say goodbye to _____________ English class with an original poem.
Tell us your favorite memory from _____________ English class.
You’re the teacher: teach me something you learned in my class this year (real or funny)
Present your best impression of the teacher (this has the potential to be highly entertaining)
Digital Scrapbook
A digital scrapbook is a great way to let students reflect on their year and document some of the good times. As with all things digital, you can approach this in many ways, here are a few suggestions.
Use a platform like Canva or Google Slides to have students create a digital scrapbook. If you use Canva, have each student create a new design, save it as a png file, and then paste it onto a Google slide project that you shared with the class. Students can then print the slides to create a scrapbook. Canva allows students to be a little more creative and practice using a new online tool.
If you don’t want to use Canva, this can also be accomplished by creating a Google Slides project, sharing it with students, and assigning each student to a slide. I like to include a few “class” slides that anyone can add to as well as the individual student pages.
Digital Spirit Days
What is school without Spirit Days? Create virtual Spirit Days by emailing students a list of activities or dress-up days that they can participate in from a distance. The class can then collectively get on a Zoom call or Google Hangout and enjoy the experience together. Flipgrid is also an option with this one.
Suggestions for Spirit Days
Crazy Tourist Day: Dress up like a crazy tourist and join us on a class Zoom call. (Flipgrid Prompt Option: Dress up as a crazy tourist, and tell us where you are going, what you saw/are doing, and what you are most excited to see/do tomorrow. Use your imagination!)
Respect Your Elders Day (Send a physical letter to a grandparent, family friend, or a nursing home resident, and document your experience with a reflection.)
School Song Day: Record yourself performing the school song/chant AND the moves that the cheerleaders do to the song.
Digital Class Party
On the last day of “school,” get everyone together for a hangout or call and celebrate with a class party. A couple of people could even plan some games (Get creative, there are tons of games to play on a chat).
Teacher Tic Tok Challenge
Create a new dance and post it as an assignment on Tic Tok, Flipgrid, or another video platform. Have students learn the same dance, and record themselves completing the challenge.
End of the year reflections
If you are hoping to get a little writing in on those last couple of days of school, ask students to spend some time reflecting on the previous year. I have a free resource called 18 End of Year Reflection Prompts available in my store to help give students more reflection ideas. These could also work as video prompts for Flipgrid or as questions to post to Google Classroom or another online learning platform.
Even though the end of the school year hasn’t gone according to plan, don’t be afraid to have some fun with your students celebrating the year and looking forward to the future!