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Distance learning is something we never thought would happen in our classrooms, especially in such a short amount of time. On a Friday we were teaching our kids in our classroom, and by Monday we were preparing Zoom classrooms. Props to all of us teachers who flipped our classrooms so quickly and kept on moving with the curriculum. But now that it’s been 8…10…. maybe more because no one knows anymore, weeks of online school, the year is almost over. And trying to figure out how to wrap up these last days is a whole new problem. Here is what I did during my last 3-4 days with my middle schoolers. I hope it gives you some ideas or is a springboard for more awesome things to do.
Distance Activity: Play Random (non-content) Kahoot games
Friday’s throughout the distance learning was kept as Fun Friday’s. I had 30 minutes of scheduled class time Monday through Friday. I was available to answer their questions. But Friday’s we would assign a simple FlipGrid for kids to show a quick model, or explain something. So on Friday’s, they didn’t have as many questions as they would during the rest of the week. But I have several kids who need the routine of heading to class, and always ask what we will do in class. So I made some kahoot’s that were science review questions from the week. But the last few weeks, I just pulled up a random Kahoot for us all to play. We played a Tik Tok Kahoot, a sports logo one, and one about movies. It was fun to have several students show up on Fridays just to play a random Kahoot.
Last Day Activity: Guess the Gibberish
On the last day of school, we played Guess the Gibberish. Grades were submitted, so I wanted something fun that all my kids could participate in. So I started a google meet and invited all my classes. Just like with Kahoot, make sure to present your screen. It’s a bummer you can’t see the kid’s faces, but you can hear all the gibberish they are saying! I found 2 resources for this on Teachers Pay Teachers. Make sure to have the answers on your phone or notepad, so that you can tell your kids the answer. My kids had fun playing this, but they aren’t the best at sounding it all out. But it was fun and made the slides last longer because they collectively struggled. Students shouted out random words that didn’t make sense with how the words sounded. But it made it more fun because they struggled!
Have students write advice to next year’s students
I have the last day of school tradition in my classroom. My kids write a word of advice to the kids I will have the next year. These notes are hung on the bulletin board as kids fill them out. That makes it one less board I have to get ready in August! This year I switched it up to a google form or a flipgrid. Most students chose to fill out the google form- so make sure to offer that. And now I have the spreadsheet so I can add student’s advice and incorporate it into slides next year. Or they could be printed to hang up. But you’ll have the option to do whatever you want with them.
But my kids that are leaving love writing advice. I’m a teacher who loves to joke with my kids, so my kids’ advice always cracks me up. Also, as a teacher (especially during this distance learning) reading their advice made me laugh and smile. The kids retell funny stories, tell about the quirks you have as a teacher, or tell about their favorite lessons. Even if you don’t show this to your kids next year, give your kids some space to reflect on this year so you can read their stories.
So I hope that helps as you try to find something to do these last few days of school! I teach middles, so take that into consideration if you plan to try one of these out with older/younger kids. This year has definitely been one for the history books. I hope you find some fun and time to say goodbye to your students before you end for the year. Let me know in the comments what you did for the last days of school this year! I love hearing how creative teachers continue to be. You keep building and maintaining those relationships with our kids- even from across a computer screen.
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