I don’t know how other school districts do it, but in mine we always have at least one teacher workday at the end of the school year. I have become a professional at being able to leave early on this day.

The end of the year teacher workday is usually a day set a side to do “close-out” activities. We are expected to clean out our room; packing up all technology and removing all personal items.  We verify our grades and back-up our computer files. This is basically the essence of that last day for teachers. So I have a few tips to help you be able to leave early on the last day.

1. Begin De-Cluttering Your Classroom Early

Do not wait until the last week of school to start de-cluttering. I typically begin about two weeks before the last day. I start by packing up my personal items that I no longer need.I also start taking down any decorations at this point. Only the required posters and signage are left on the walls. Bulletin boards  also come down at this point.

Then, I tackle the papers. Anything I have that is from a previous marking period is trashed. If I find graded papers from the current marking period, I hand them back to students. Last week, I handed back a graded assignment from April.

2. Start Working On Grades

Chances are you already have a student or two who is completely done with school for the year. Either they’ve started their vacation early with family or they have started a mandatory early “vacation.” Either way, go ahead and put any comments in for their final grades and make sure you’ve double-check for any ungraded assignments you may have for them.

Putting in grade comments is probably one of my least favorite teacher responsibilities. It is tedious to go through and select pre-written comments that sum up a semester of behaviors for a student. So this is also something I do early. If students are sitting in class working on an assignment, I will open my grade book and look around at them while I select comments. Which brings me to my next point.

3. Use Class Time

Whenever possible, use your teaching class time to work on close-out items. Whether its 5 minutes of independent work or a project day, there is likely something you can do. I started cleaning off one of my shelves during class. It was emptied and the bins stacked just by cleaning one out every few minutes.

This also allows you to utilize your students. Need something rinsed off? Send a student to the bathroom with it. It gives them a break and saves you a trip. Need something off a top shelf? Ask a student. (or maybe that’s just me. #shortpeopleproblems)

4. Move Stuff Out Little By Little

If you have a lot of personal items to take home don’t leave your big “pack-up day” to that last day. Get started early by taking a box here and there after school. That way, on your big packing day you won’t have as much to do. This also helps with space in your house, as you bring things home you can begin to visualize how much space your items will take up, and if there is anything you want to trash to use less space.

When you do your big pack-up, do it before that last day. In my district, we have two early dismissal days on the last days of school. I usually borrow my mom’s van on one of these days and load it up after the kids are gone for the day.

5. Making Leaving Early Your Goal

Finally, set a goal to see how early you can leave. One year, I got to work at 8am and left before 10am. I know that I have never stayed past noon. When you get your close-out checklist (everyone gets those right?), start looking at what you need to check off. If anything doesn’t apply to you, have it checked right away. Then, make it a goal to have something checked off each day. Usually on the last day, the only things I have left is having my room signed off (that’s because they won’t let us do it earlier) and turning in my key.

I hope that I have helped you be successful at leaving early. Have a happy and safe summer!

Martina