Keeping Students Engaged as Summer Approaches

We’ve reached that time of year in most schools when students are watching the calendar counting down the days until summer vacation begins. For teachers, this often means having the additional challenge of keeping students engaged who’d rather be getting an early start on their vacation.

We surveyed ABCTE alumni and asked them what they do to keep students engaged as the end of the school year approaches. Here are a few of the suggestions we got back from our teachers and the comments are open for you to share your own ideas.

Many times teachers reduce their expectations at the end of the year which gives students the sense that "We are not doing anything important". I keep up the pace until the end, making sure to schedule several applicable labs into my lesson plans.

Career project that includes a presentation scheduled for the last couple of days of school.

Art projects and activities that require student responses at their level [kindergarten]. Throughout the month of May, every Friday is "free dress day" (students wear uniforms). As a school, we do a "Field Day" on the last day of school that all the students anticipate.

We participated in an independent experiment science fair.

Lots of fun, mixed in with work!

I keep students engaged by varying instruction and creating activities that generate student interest, such as mock trials and historical simulations.

The comments are open and we'd like to hear your suggestions on how to keep students engaged as summer approaches. For those of you reading this who are not teachers but would like to be, or for those working in a school who still need to become certified, learn how ABCTE can help you earn your teaching certification through a flexible and affordable program.