Just wondering what you all do for the very last day in secondary school. For us, finals will be done, and each period will be about 35 minutes. I'm not sure how best to wrap things up and send my students off into their summer... ideas?
science... but I'm also just wondering about people's overall approach to the last day, regardless of content area...
My last assignment for seniors is to write a "thank you" letter to someone that made getting to graduation easier. Letter recepients are typically family members or teachers, sometimes friends. If they provide the address, I provide the envelope and postage and deliver the letter to the post office. My neighboring teacher has students (also seniors) write 10 instructions to next year's incoming freshmen. These are then shared with freshmen the following school year. Another teacher I know has her students write a plan to make the next school year even better ... these are given back to the students the next school year. And, another teacher I know has her students fill out a form (favorite song, current transportation, best friend, biggest crush ... ) and she keeps these for students to use at their high school reunion.
I think it's ridiculous to have classes after final exams. What's the point? Anyway, I usually show a movie on the last day--usually Disney's Hercules. They can bring in snacks to share if they like. My students have worked very hard all year and this is my gift to them.
I actually use this time as a course evaluation time. I talk with them 1st to see what were the likes and dislikes. Then I give them a course evaluation for to be filled out .
Our freshmen are in the junior high and go up to the high school next year. So I have them write me a letter dated on their high school graduation date. They are writing to tell me what all they have done and accomplished in the three years they have been at the high school. They also tell me what their plans are after graduation. I save them and give them to the kids the week of their high school graduation. Some of the letters are right on, some are funny, and some are a disappointment. But mostly fun! Jenngugs: This is completely off topic, but if you get out of school on June 20, when do you guys start school in the fall? We have been out since May 23 and we start school on August 14.
For my promoting 8th graders i read Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss. 7th graders? They watch Animaniacs and sign yearbooks.
We have half days the last three days of school and the only thing they do is finals. They take two finals each day and then go home as soon as they are over.
My seniors had a post-final 'mock ten-year reunion.' They were to come to class prepared to talk about where they were, what they were doing, etc., in the characters of their future selves. This is pretty senior-specific, but I posted it because it was SO MUCH FUN. We had hors d'ouvres and sparkling cider in wine-glasses, and people really hammed it up, getting into character (talking proudly about children, complaining about bosses, excitedly describing masters theses). I wonder if it could be modified to fit other grades (mock graduation speech?). Granted, it was the last period of the day, so people had already had plenty of time to sign yearbooks.
I went to a HS like that, but I recall that the last year I attended that they eliminated the day and moved it before finals as a prep day for finals kinda similar to the "reading days" that a lot of colleges have before finals. They realized that no learning occurred that day and that a lot of students got into trouble on the last day because they figured that there would be no major consequences. Other from teachers telling us our unofficial grades on the last day I didn't see any point to the "day after finals." Nowdays with email they can just email the students their final grades a day or two later anyways. In college we would email our instructors a day or so after finals to know our grades upwards of a week before they were officially available. I don't see why HS students couldn't do the same.
I had my grade 11 class watch a movie and my middle "special class play Math games. My night students (working adults that are finishing Highschool) asked me to use the last lesson to finish their Final Project, which I accepted. It's not easy teaching on the last week of school. The students don't have any more tests, so they really don't feel like working...plus the grades are all decided by then. Anyway, I'm glad classes are over!(I don't teach on Fridays) Now it's other kind of work until the end of July, but less hours.
For my 9th graders this year - by their request - We played the "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader" DVD game (in teams). We weren't allowed to have parties so we had class "buffets" and brought goodies from home to share
