The students have said their goodbyes, you’ve cleaned out or organized your classroom materials, and readied your space for summer cleaning. You’ve made it through this school year, and although the song, “My Way” has the connotations of finality, you know the next year will be here before you know it. You might be jumping into more professional development and learning opportunities for the summer, or perhaps, you are moving into a different career. But right now, in this specific time and space, you deserve an opportunity to stop for a few minutes, rest, and reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of this year.
As you process and celebrate all the ways you’ve made an impact this year, we invite you to write, sketch, or doodle your responses to the following prompts (inspired by the blog post, “20 Teacher End of the Year Reflection Questions,” by Rachel Lynette and Cassi Noack).
1. What would you like your students to remember about this year with you as their teacher?
2. Describe some of your biggest challenges from the year, and how you worked through them.
3. What did you try this year that you’d like to do-over?
4. How did you grow – personally and professionally?
5. What are you proudest of this year?
Congratulations on bringing this year to a close. You made it, and you made a difference.
Well done – you did it your way!