The Final Week

The end of the school year can be anticlimactic. With state exams looming and summer within reach, it is easy to count down the days. Teaching is complex, demanding, and depending on the situation, downright harsh. There’s no blame in anyone sprinting towards the finish line.

Maybe I’m getting older, but for me, I’m starting to see the end of the school differently. Instead of waiting for it to end, I now view the closing of the year as the ending of a great story. A ten-month plot has been building, and it’s all come down to this. The finale, the last act — it’s a vital part of the story. Contrary to my earlier beliefs that test prep should be the priority, I now think the last few days should provide closure and allow us to celebrate our time together as a class. I owe it to my students and myself. The last week of school should be given as much attention as the first.

Thus, instead of counting the days that remain in the final week of school, these days, I’m in the business of savoring them. I spent the last week of class with several “events” to close the year. These events served as our final act. Here’s what it looked like.

Tuesday, June 6: Off the Wall
A really cool part of my classroom this year was the photographs I had on the walls. There were hundreds of them. They covered three of our walls, the door, and the SmartBoard. They mainly featured my students during class, but some included their families (and mine). Several class photographers used old iPod Touch to snap many of them. A Kodak printer did the rest. It was an unforgettable display.

To end the year, I decided to give the photos to my students. There was no other way. I called the event “Off the Wall.” After school, students came by the dozens to claim the photos they wanted. It was a mad dash to grab memories. While thrilling to witness, it was also sad to see all the smiling faces and memorable moments recede into pockets and backpacks. The photo collection was my favorite part of the room.

Wednesday, June 6: Cogen Reunion
My weekly cogenerative dialogues (or cogens) were a success this year. While the first cohort got off to a rocky start in October, I’m thankful things got smoother as the year went on. We accomplished a lot. This was the third year in a row I’ve used cogens to improve my teaching and classroom community. I was fortunate to have 22 students take part.

To honor them and bring closure to our time together, our Cogen Reunion brought all the members from the entire year together in one place. I created some cheap gift bags, and we spent an hour after-school thinking back on the year and eating pizza. Total fun in spite of the eery smog outside from Canada’s wildfires.

Monday, June 12: Book Release, Plus/Minus Awards, Flag Raffle, Last Pass of the Token of Appreciation
Today was a busy day. This was a consequence of us being remote on Friday because of air quality concerns. In my planning, I had evenly dispersed my end-of-year events so as to not get overwhelmed. Now I had to squeeze even more in today. Agh!

Class started with the release of Mathematical Voices, Volume 4. It was special to give each student their dedicated copy and personally thank them for making it possible.

After that, two cogen students from each of my three Regents-bound classes hosted the first-ever Student Choice Plus/Minus Awards. I had been meeting with the students for a couple weeks during lunch to plan out this award ceremony. This felt similar to The Algeys, which I hosted back in January. I helped create the nifty certificates, but the students came up with all of the awards themselves, which included polling the class. It was great.

After the award show, with 10 minutes remaining, we held our Flag Raffle. Early in the year, I had custom flags made for each of my five classes. Each displayed the names of students in a trendy word cloud. I hung the flags from the ceiling around the classroom. Having no need for them at the end of the year, I raffled them off to interested students. It was a unique takeaway from our class.

The last thing we did was pass the token of appreciation for the last time. The personality of each class was on full display in this heartfelt send-off to our weekly class tradition.

Tuesday, June 13: Class Offerings and Shaving Day
The last day of class. In addition to filling out my end-of-year report card and writing a letter to a future Algebra 2 student, my Regents-bound classes received a letter from me. I do this every year. In the letter, each student gets mentioned by name. I highlight their significance to our class and why I’m grateful for them being part of our class this year. During the last few moments of class, I read the letter aloud.

Given the physical transformation of my classroom this year, I accompanied this year’s letter with what I called a “Class Offering.” These Offerings were objects from the classroom that I gifted to students when I reached their name in the letter. I gave out lamps, quotes from the walls, art, pillows, signs, and plants, among other things. The week prior, I went through my roster and connected each student to a particular object in the room that I thought represented them.

As I walked around the room reading my letter and handing out offerings, I got emotional. It was hard to let my students go. I found solace in them taking a piece of our classroom with them.

After school, I held my much-anticipated Shaving Day event. To symbolize the growth that my students experience with me, I grow my beard out all school year. I shave in September, and my face doesn’t get touched again until my students shave it again in June. This is the fifth year I’ve done it.

After school, with many students gathered around me in a chair near the SmartBoard, my beard came off at the hands of my students. It was calmer and more focused than in years past, but still held the same excitement. A fitting send-off to a memorable year.

bp