I was thinking earlier this week, what time of the school year is busier?...the beginning of the year or the end of the year. I honestly don't know, but one thing I do know is that I enjoy the end of the year business a little more because it means summer break is right around the corner. There are so many extra details to consider at the end of the year. Grade cards, records (records and more records), special days, award ceremonies, class gifts, closing down your classroom, and more. It's really important to get an early start on all of these loose ends or you will find yourself staying up for some late nights trying get everything finished. One way you can help get yourself organized is by setting up some end of the year totes during the last couple of weeks. The totes I set up were complete, donate, put away, toss. In each tote I placed items or notes for myself to deal with as soon as possible. My goal was to take care of everything in the totes before going home that day (although some items stayed in the totes for a few days). But even if the tote wasn't cleaned out before I left for the day, having everything I needed to do together in one spot really helped me stay focused on getting my end of the year tasks complete. By the way, if there was something in the tote I needed to complete outside of school, like getting gifts for the students, I took a picture with my phone to reference when I was out running errands. This system really helped me get things accomplished before the last day of school. And while I was not able to walk out the door after our end of the year teacher luncheon, I had all my "have to's" finished and had a chance to work on some bigger organization projects. One item in my complete tote was a summer review packet for our rising first graders. I sent our new firsties (and a few of our rising second graders) a supply list and a review packet. If you would like a FREE copy of this summer review packet with your students, click on the picture below. Another to do before wrapping up for summer break was to get my students a fun little end of the year gift. In the past I've given books, candy, sidewalk chalk, and framed pictures of the class. Student gifts this year were bubble wands. I really love sending my sweet students out the door with a small treat. If you are thinking of sending bubbles with your students and need a label for them, click on the picture below. I've linked an editable (and FREE) version of the labels I used. Our sweet girl is totally ready for summer break too. She will be in second grade. Am I a bit choked up?...yes. It is just crazy how quickly she is growing up. D and I love seeing the person she is becoming, but that doesn't stop me from wanting slow down time. The last days of the school year are super busy. But, with a little organization, you can end the year with plenty of energy to enjoy the summer.