Teaching Middle School ELA

Episode 320: Creative End-of-Year Reflections That Stick

• Caitlin Mitchell • Season 2 • Episode 320

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The final weeks of school don't have to be a countdown to summer filled with movies and worksheets. This pivotal time offers a golden opportunity to help your students reflect on their journey and recognize just how far they've come in your classroom.

Ready to finish your year strong? Listen now to discover how intentional reflection can create the perfect bookend to your students' ELA journey.

Caitlin's Journaling Spotify Playlist: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6NTHZhBj1LwIvfRF5gAFd8?si=368bcb58b9084045

đź“— 6-Word Memoirs Examples:

  • “Wrote an essay. Survived. Barely.”
  • “I found my voice in writing.”
  • “Books changed my brain this year.”
  • “Started shy, ended loud and proud.”
  • “I read. I wrote. I grew.”
  • “Grammar still haunts my dreams. Help.”
  • “I never liked reading… until now.”

đź“ť Example Prompts to Use in Hexagons:

  • “A time I felt proud of my work…”
  • “Something I learned about myself as a reader…”
  • “One writing skill I improved this year…”
  • “A story or book that stuck with me…”
  • “A challenge I faced and overcame…”
  • “What I’ll remember most about ELA…”
  • “I used to think ___, but now I know ___.”
  • “This year in one word: ____”

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Speaker 1:

Well, hey there teachers, and welcome back to the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. I am so glad you are here today because we are talking about something that really matters as the school year winds down. You know you've poured your heart into teaching all year long. You've guided your students through stories that made them think right, which is what we love about being English teachers. You forced them to write in ways that perhaps stretched them outside of their comfort zone, and perhaps there were lessons that built their confidence bit by bit, and you just watched them start to emerge into who they're supposed to become like. And that's the beauty of being an ela teacher. It's just such a remarkable subject that we get to teach, but now we are at the finish line, and so, before we send our students off into summer, there's this little window of time that we get to teach, but now we are at the finish line, and so, before we send our students off into summer, there's this little window of time that we have that we can help them stop, look back and realize just how far they've come in your class. So today's episode is all about fresh, flexible ideas that are meaningful, that are low prep and, most importantly, that are going to be memorable for your students at the end of the school year. So if you are looking for ways to make these final days intentional without burning yourself out, then you are in the right place. And let's dive in to today's episode. Hi there, ela teachers, caitlin here.

Speaker 1:

Ceo and co-founder of EB Academics, I'm so excited you're choosing to tune into the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. Our mission here is simple to help middle school ELA teachers take back their time outside of the classroom by providing them with engaging lessons, planning frameworks and genuine support so that they can become the best version of themselves both inside and outside of the classroom. And we do this every single day inside the EB Teachers ELA portal. This is a special place we've developed uniquely for ELA teachers to access every single piece of our engaging, fun and rigorous curriculum so that they have everything they need to batch plan their lessons using our EB Teacher Digital Pl planner that's built right into the app. Over the years, we've watched as thousands of teachers from around the world have found success in and out of the classroom after using EB academics programs, and we're determined to help thousands more. If you're interested in learning more, simply click the link in the podcast description and, in the meantime, we look forward to simply click the link in the podcast description and, in the meantime, we look forward to serving you right here on the podcast every single week.

Speaker 1:

All right, so we are diving into one of my favorite kinds of episodes creative classroom ideas that you can actually use during one of the busiest seasons of the year. So today's episode is about fresh, creative reflection ideas that will help your students wrap up the year and really give you that sense of closure, your students that sense of pride and ownership of their learning journey. Right, it's really. These are great ideas to have like a nice, like bookend at the end of this chapter of their lives, as opposed to just saying goodbye.

Speaker 1:

So before we talk about strategy and ideas, I want to talk about why and why reflection matters, especially now. So obviously this time of year, students are very excited for summer, they've already got their summer energy and I know it's really really tempting to throw on a movie, print out a packet, really really tempting to throw on a movie, print out a packet, whatever it might be, and just call it a day, but reflection has so much power. Even you as an adult, know how important it is to reflect on your practices, to reflect on your life, to reflect on periods of challenges, of trial, right. I went through this massively in the last year through my divorce, through my health challenges, all of the things that I had going on right Like I went through this massively in the last year through my divorce, through my health challenges, my all of the things that I had going on Right. And so reflection matters for our students too. So when we give our students time and we give them the space to really think about man, what did I just go through? What did I read? What did I write? What did I learn? How did I grow Not just academically right, but personally we are helping them make meaning of their lives.

Speaker 1:

We're helping them make meaning of this 45 minutes that I spent sitting in Mrs Mitchell's ELA class. Every single day, we're helping them realize something really, really important, and that is that they've grown, that they've changed, and that school isn't just something that happens to them. It is something that they've co-created, that they've participated in and that they've shaped. And so this is your chance, at the end of the school year, to create a bridge between where they were, where they are and where they're going. So I'm going to give you a couple ideas that I think are really neat for the end of the school year that I highly suggest that you use with your students. And if you do use any of these, please tag me on social media at EB Academics so that can see, because I love to look into your classroom, and if you're an EB teacher, put this in our Facebook group inside of our community. Okay, the first couple are very simple and then they get like deeper and deeper as they go on, all right.

Speaker 1:

So idea number one and this one's really cute is a class timeline gallery walk. So, instead of summarizing like a book or a unit, or have your class create a class timeline gallery walk. So, instead of summarizing like a book or a unit, or have your class create a collaborative timeline of something that they've read or a literary piece. They're actually going to do this for the entire school year. So each student in your class is going to pick out one moment from the year that stands out to them. Maybe it's a specific lesson or a specific story, or a specific class discussion, or a specific field trip, or just a specific moment in time that they had in your class and they're going to illustrate it and write a short description of it, why they chose that as, like, the one moment that they want to put on the class timeline, and then you're going to post it on a timeline that spans your classroom. So, however you choose to, um, display this in your room, right, and then your students can do a gallery walk and see what everybody else put and come back and discuss and reflect as a class. So this is such a great visual way, right, to review, review the year. But it also gives every student a moment of ownership, like they all got to participate in this, and it also shows how much you guys all accomplished together. So that's idea number one.

Speaker 1:

Idea number two is simple, but I love it. Oh my gosh, I love it so much. I hope you all do this. It is a playlist of the year, so your students are going to curate a soundtrack for the school year. So every student is going to choose one song that represents a moment or a theme from class. So it can't just be like their favorite song, right, it has to be something that has meaning, something that represents something, um, so it's not just some random. Oh, I love this song and I want to throw it in Right. I'm thinking of one that I mentioned in a past Sunday stack newsletter um, by Chance Pena the Mountain. Is you right? That would be a song for my last year, for my 38th year of my life, because, holy cow, right? It represents so much to me. So it's something that your students really have to be thoughtful about. So not only are they picking a song, but they're going to write a short explanation as to why they chose it. They can either link it to like a character or one of the stories, but really like this could probably have the most impact by having them link it to their own personal growth.

Speaker 1:

Now here's where it gets even more fun. You can take this and create a real playlist on Spotify. Obviously, you want to make sure it's school appropriate, but put it on Spotify, share it with families, include it in the end of the year email. That is such a fun modern twist on a reflection project and your students are going to have that playlist for forever. Like I think back to gosh when I was in high school and we would make burn CDs right off of LimeWire of our favorite songs, right, and it's like fall 2024. I don't know if any of you guys name your playlists that, but that's what I named mine, right? And so this is your class's curated soundtrack for the year. So cool, love that idea, all right.

Speaker 1:

Idea number three pretty simple, always brings a smile, though is to host a mini awards show in your classroom. But students are nominating books, characters or even writing pieces for different awards. So you can ask ChatGPT to come up with superlatives or award titles to use, and that makes it super, super low prep for you. But you're thinking things like most likely to inspire a sequel. So which book would that be? Or a character I'd want as a best friend, or a plot twist of the year. So it's not about your students per se, it's about the texts that you guys have read, and so then students can obviously submit votes anonymously. You could do this in a Google form, whatever it might be. Maybe students create little certificates or slides or whatever it might be. Um, but it's a celebration of the stories that you guys read, and really it's a reflection tool, kind of in disguise. Okay, idea number four Love this one.

Speaker 1:

You've probably heard of it before, some of you have probably done it, but it's worth repeating is a six word memoir for students journey throughout the year. So it is powerful, but it's quick. So, essentially, the idea is exactly what it sounds like You're going to ask students to write a six word memoir or reflection that captures their experience in your ELA class this year. So they can be funny, they can be heartfelt, they can be poetic, they can be honest Anything that feels true to who they are right. So I'm going to put some examples in the show notes for you that I came up with, but I'll share some of them with you right now too.

Speaker 1:

Wrote an essay, survived barely. I found my voice in writing. Books changed my brain. This year started shy, ended loud and proud. I read, I wrote, I grew. I never liked reading until now, so things like that. So you teach your directions for you guys, introduce the concept, explain what a six word memoir is. It's a super short, powerful way to sum up their experience or their journey through the year. Only six words, that's it, nothing else.

Speaker 1:

Um, you can share examples. You can use the ones that I just um set out loud to you. I'll put those in the show notes. Uh, you want to give students time to brainstorm, right? Maybe put some music on Um. I can include my journaling playlist for you guys in the show notes. I love it. I think I've put it in a past podcast episode for you too, um and have them draft their memoir. They can put it on anything that you want. You can put it on index cards that they design, um and like, decorate and hang those up around the room. However you choose to do this, you can get super creative, and then I would have students volunteer to read theirs out loud. You can post them around the classroom afterwards too. Whatever it is that you want to do along those lines, it could even be a fun bulletin board for the end of the school year.

Speaker 1:

Okay, next one. I think this is the last one. Yeah, this is the last one, okay, so last idea reflection hexagons. So we know hexagonal thinking or hexagonal thinking. This is like that, but it's more based on reflection than anything. So we are going to take hexagonal thinking and put this reflection lens on it. So, instead of connecting characters or themes, students are going to reflect on their ELA journey by responding to prompts inside of the hexagons instead. So then students will connect their hexagons with each other's based on shared experiences, and this will create, like that meaningful visual web of all of their learning, all of their growth and how really important we're all connected, right? So I'm going to put some examples of prompts to use in the hexagons in the show notes for you guys. But there are things like a time I felt proud of my work, one writing skill I improved this year, what I'll remember most about ELA, et cetera, and I'm going to give you directions now for how to actually, like execute on this.

Speaker 1:

So, number one you'll prep the hexagon. So print out hexagon templates. You can use colorful paper that makes it look a little bit prettier, right, when we're hanging it up. Um, you want to have hexagons that are relatively larger, since students are going to be writing reflections on them. So I would do like five to six inches maybe. Um, choose your prompts, so pick, you know, five or so reflection prompts and either assign them or let students choose their favorites, and you can either print different prompts on each hexagon or print the blank hexagons. Um, and display the prompts on the board for students to write the prompts onto the hexagons that you gave them. So you don't have to, like, do a ton of prep. If you do it that way. Okay, then you're going to give students like 15 to 20 minutes of writing time.

Speaker 1:

So students are going to write their responses and complete sentences inside each hexagon and you want to encourage students to be honest, to be creative. Maybe they even do a little drawing on their hexagon, right? They can illustrate them or decorate them if they have time. Whatever it might be, okay. So that's the first kind of like setup. But now we're going to connect the hexagons and that's where the collaboration comes into play.

Speaker 1:

So, once all the hexagons are done, you're going to ask students to walk around and look for connections. They're going to place their hexagons next to others that relate to a similar theme, a similar moment, a similar feeling, and they can use tape, magnets, sticky tacks or however you choose to do this on a whiteboard or a wall, pushpins, whatever. And what you'll start to see are clusters of shared experiences Students who grew in writing, students who overcame speaking fears, students who discovered a love of reading and it's so special because it becomes this beautiful visual representation of the class's collective journey Like this is how we are all connected. We are all intertwined right In this experience from this year together.

Speaker 1:

So some bonus ideas for this. You can let students read each other's reflections with like an interactive gallery walk, and you can have them walk around with sticky notes and add compliments to their classmates written responses. You would also do this in a digital version, although I think it's going to be a lot more beautiful and more meaningful and touch them more deeply if it is visual in person. And then what's cool is you can actually keep it up for next year, right? So at the beginning of the school year next year, like this could be your welcome back bulletin board. Like this is what last year's class experienced together and this is what I'm excited to get to experience with you this year. So it's like future pacing your next year's class. Okay, all right. So I hope today's episode sparked some ideas that you're excited to try.

Speaker 1:

Whether you go with one of these, maybe you use some of them, maybe you use it as inspiration and you come up with your own spin on it. I just want you to remember this your students are going to remember how they finished your class. It doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be intentional. Let your students see just how far they've come. Give them a moment to feel proud before they walk out of your door for the last time. Okay, all right. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. If this episode gave you a fresh idea, I would love it. If you would please take just 30 seconds to leave a quick review on iTunes. It helps us reach more teachers, just like you, and it means the world to us at EB. All right, until next time. Keep showing up with heart, keep teaching with purpose. Love you guys.