It's that time of year! Students are antsy, teachers are exhausted, and everyone is in need of summer break. But we've all got a job to do until school officially lets out. Whether you've got days or weeks left in your semester, continue reading for a few unique ideas to keep students on top of their game for the rest of the year.

Everyone benefits from a break. Long-term breaks let children rest as well as learn other skills not always prioritized in the classroom such as social skills and problem-solving, which are both necessary for development. Physical activities found outside of the classroom are known to improve focus, attention, and cognitive function. Unstructured playtime also allows students to use their imagination and creative skills to play games and activities.

This time of year requires a little more careful planning to keep students focused and ready to learn. Our role as educators requires us to meet students where they are, even if it means they are unfocused and distracted. Though it’s easy to become frustrated when our classes are acting disengaged more often, talking too much, or aren’t focused around this time of year, we can still control our attitude and our approach to how we teach our lessons. Continue reading for a few ways we like to keep students engrossed. 

7 Ways to Maintain Engagement Before the End of the School Year:

We can keep students “engaged” in many different ways, whether it means changing the style of the lesson or how we teach it. Continue reading for seven ways that you can keep students engaged in your lessons as the school year comes to a close. 

• Keep Students Moving. Help students get their energy and excitement out through movement. Get your students up and moving with some jumping jacks, stretching, or a short walk outside. Studies show that just 10 minutes of walking is a great way to enhance focus, memory, and problem-solving as well. 

• Embrace Project-Based Learning. Big or small, projects can be filled with teamwork, student interests, research, crafts, presentations, and more. Giving students something to work toward keeps students focused and thinking ahead. 

• Step Aside. Have you tried having students teach each other? They've been growing and learning all year, so mix it up and try having students teach their own lesson about relevant topics, topics they're passionate about, or research projects. 

• Stay Hands-On. If possible, we've found that hands-on activities are one of the most effective ways to keep students focused and on-task. Hands-on learning requires full participation and attention, challenges students to focus, follow instructions, and have fun!

• Change Up Your Classroom Set-Up. Simple but effective, switching up who sits next to whom can break up students likely to chat, giggle, or have a little too much fun together. This might also help you begin cleaning out your classroom for the end of the year. 

• Use Some Gamification. Gamification is one of our favorite ways to get students engaged. We are meeting them where they're at when we use vessels they're already interested in and familiar with to teach. Read more about gamification here. 

• Celebrate the Year! Your students have been working extremely hard all year long! It's time to incorporate a few ways to celebrate their efforts this past year. Through a party, hang up pictures, display student 
  
  

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