Alas, it is the last 10 minutes of class, and you are slowly turning into a puddle of mush. Your students are as restless and anxious to get out of there as you are, and you have no will left to fight behavior battles.
And then you hear it. That first student unzips her backpack, shuffles it onto the table, and starts stuffing her books and papers and pencils into that backpack.
And, in an instant, every other student in the class has heard those sounds and has immediately looked up at the clock. It’s time. And suddenly, you hear a cascade of students gathering up their things, closing their Chromebooks, and walking over to friends. No reigning those kids back in now!
And then comes the dreaded part….
8 minutes left of class to go.
Your anxiety starts to creep in as you watch students begin piling up by the door, staring at their phones, and cracking open the door a smidge just to see if you’ll notice.
And then, in a flash! In the blink of an eye, one escapes and is off to lunch.
And just like that- the sheer momentum of a herd mentality takes over, and all the rest of the students stampede out of the classroom. That’s it. They’re gone.
6 minutes left of class to go.
Ahhhh yes… am I reading anybody’s mind right now? Does that story sound familiar to anyone?
Don’t worry, teacher friend, you’re in good company. I’ve been there- done that- and I know exactly how you feel.
The end of classes can sometimes feel like a hot mess of commotion, exhaustion, and embarrassment.
So, as a teacher who has been around the block a time or two, can I give you a few practical tips to help you finish your classes as strong as you started them?
STRATEGY #1: End with an exit ticket
An ‘exit ticket’ is a question teachers give out at the end of class to wrap the lesson up. It helps the teacher learn what students thought about the lesson, encourages students to think about what they learned, and asks them to use that knowledge to answer a question.
Your kids will absolutely grumble at this. And they will hate that you are making them do work in the last 5 minutes of class. But I promise you, they’ll still do it even if you pull out the exit ticket in the last 2 minutes of class.
Exit tickets are great because you can make them up on the fly as needed. If you can’t think of a content-related exit ticket, you can always ask students questions like, “Braindump: List 2 new ideas you took away from today’s lesson.” or “What part of today’s lesson are you still confused about?” or “What part of today’s lesson was the most interesting for you?”
I will say though, it is even better if you have prepared your exit tickets ahead of time and they align with your quizzes and exams (more on that here). But even if you haven’t done this, just remember that exit tickets are always an excellent academic and classroom management tool to utilize with students, whether the exit ticket is prepared well ahead of time or constructed on the fly.
STRATEGY #2: Set your own timer for when the bell rings
Establish with students at the beginning of the year that you respect that they need time to pack up their things; therefore, you will always set a timer for the last 2 minutes of class so they can do that. To make this easy on yourself, pre-set cell phone alarms to do this.
Now, little disclaimer here- this system only works, though, if two things happen: (1) You must be 100% consistent with having the alarms set each day, and (2) when that alarm rings, you must stop instruction immediately and honor those 2 minutes you promised kids to pack up their things.
Lastly, when you’re first rolling this strategy out, students will push the limits and start to pack up early. When they do this, simply say to them, “It is not time. Please remain in your seats working until our 2-minute classroom timer goes off.” And they will listen (albeit begrudgingly). And pretty soon it will become such a well-established routine that students won’t think twice about packing up until that alarm goes off.
STRATEGY #3: Put covers on your door windows
Students are notorious for looking to their peers to determine what they can get away with. If another teacher has let their class out early, and your students see those kids walking down the hall, it will inevitably create a cascade effect. And that is why I always put covers on the windows of my doors. Covers are great because they are a proactive strategy. If you don’t want your kids to be bothered by what’s happening in the hallway, put covers on your doors. It creates a nice little oasis in your classroom and will keep your kids working until the end of the period.
To wrap up...
Please know that navigating and managing classroom dynamics (up to the final bell) is no small feat. Our classrooms are dynamic spaces where learning and comfort intertwine. And as teachers, we are often caught between the tension of creating policies that reflect both our commitment to education and to empathy.
I hope you’ve found valuable strategies for managing your classroom in this post. And more importantly, I hope you’ve found comfort in knowing you are not alone in navigating the ups and downs of classroom management as a teacher!
P.S. If you’d like to see even MORE classroom management teacher hacks for the rest of your lesson, download my FREE “How to Manage Your Classroom Like a Boss” guidebook.
It’s an all-in-one guidebook that walks you through my best-kept strategies for getting students to start working at the bell, maintaining that momentum during class, and keeping your students working to the very last minute of class.
And the best news of all is it’s FREE! So download the guidebook now!
