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End of the School Year: Break Up the Monotony

I noticed the glazed look on my students’ faces before class has even begun this recently. I usually do one of two things when we get to this point of the semester and it’s always based on the personality of the group thus far in the semester.

Group projects are great to break up the monotony of listening to lectures. It gives students the chance to “take over” the class for awhile and show off their own work. It’s also a great way to give teachers a break as well. We don’t have to lecture for days and get to relax and watch the students take over.

Another thing that I do is to get the students out of the desks for a day. I’ll get them to sit in a circle at the front of the class and we’ll spend part of the class just talking about what’s going on in their life and classes outside of our own. We’ll spend some time talking about stress management and getting through the final weeks of classes. I think it’s good for students to have a chance to talk about all the other things going on in their lives and see how others are coping with similar stress. If it’s a warm day outside and I don’t think the group will get too rowdy, I’ll take them outside for this discussion and sit on a sunny patch of cool grass. It always seems to get everybody a bit more relaxed.

Specifically for the teachers, I highly recommend having a stress free gathering towards the end of the semester. I get my colleagues together one Saturday for something we don’t do often. The group determines what we do, but in the past we’ve done everything from getting together for a short coffee break to having a picnic in the local park.

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