#lastbell

The countdown is on. In just two shorts days, we flip the calendar to May. This obligatory “light at the end of the tunnel” is coming into view. Soon, sleeping late will commence. Vacation plans will come together. Toes will be in the sand. Unread books will finally be turned. Late night tv watching will happen. A second (and warm) cup of coffee will be consumed before you even dress.  No more dreams of forgetting to turn in your attendance or showing up late to an IEP meeting. Your “to be graded” pile will be empty for weeks.

Last week, Rosebro2 had “Blue Gold Dawn”. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it is sort of the beginning of spring football. The football team goes in at dawn (although when I dropped off Rosebro2, I didn’t see any sun rising at 5:30am). They went through a week of what I could only attribute as team building exercises. Rosebro2 was challenged physically and mentally, but enjoyed getting to know his teammates in a different way. As I was dropping him off one morning, I started thinking about this mentality. School is almost over. Yet, during this week these coaches were building up the excitement leading up to spring football. In a time when we think of winding down, they did extra to build excitement, enthusiasm, and commitment of their players. As I pulled out of the parking lot on Friday morning when dropping him off, I saw one coach plowing into the parking lot-I assumed he was late (maybe not, but that was my assumption). It got me thinking about how difficult it must be for those coaches to get up early-really early, rearrange their morning routines, and probably their own children and families suffered a little with this routine change. They had spent time prior to the week planning the week’s details that included different challenges, team work, and even breakfast. But they did it. They did it for the kids. This was so inspiring to me as an educator.

 I challenge every educator who reads this to throw that “summer countdown” to the wind. For just a moment let us stop and reevaluate our influence and relationships with students. I challenge every educator who reads this to celebrate the time we have left with our students. Let us teach them until the last bell on Friday, May 31^st at 11:30am. Effective teachers realize that the last weeks of school can have a huge impact on students. Do not waste the last few weeks of school on fluff and babysitting experiences. Our students will have fluff and babysitting (and don’t even get me started on movie watching) during the summer. It is not only boring to students; I dare say it is unethical.

Yes, the last few weeks are filled with testing, end of the year programs, field days, and collections. But it should also be about challenging experiences, engaging learners, taking chances, and creating WOW moments. Yes, this may take some time planning. It may take some adjusting your plans. It may take some extra efforts. BUT OUR KIDS DESERVE IT. Be intentional.

In the next month, I will be posting pictures of #MayMatters and #lastbell on my twitter feed. I hope you’ll do the same.