Classroom management strategies for teachers – The Adjourning or Ending Stage

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This is the fifth & final paper in this series.

Previous papers discussed the ‘forming’, ‘storming’ ‘norming’ & ‘performing’ stages of classroom lifecycles.

Transitions are times of loss as well as times of opportunities.

We often don’t mark the ending or the completion of our important relationships well. This can deprive us of the rituals that signify we are leaving one way of being & entering another. Observing the
rituals of transition points in our lives deepens our sense of meaning & helps us to be aware that we will be entering a new phase with different demands & opportunities.

Acknowledging that you are passing through a threshold helps us all to develop & grow. The challenges & opportunities of the next year will be different than those faced this year. While it is good to have celebratory rituals, we also need to take time to reflect on how the past year has changed us, what we have learned & how we can use this year to develop even further next year.

If we rush this time of year we risk insufficiently acknowledge the importance of the people who we have shared time & experiences with. Endings are just as important as beginnings.

Ending well

Ending involves the break-up of the class at the end of the year. Students can move on to new things, feeling good about what’s been achieved. You can start to prepare for a well- earned break.

Recognition of & sensitivity to different student’s vulnerabilities is helpful, particularly if students have been closely bonded to you or to one another or feel a sense of insecurity or threat from this change.

Students may feel a mix of sadness or a sense of loss about the changes coming to their class as well as pleasure in their achievements. Given these conflicting feelings, class morale may dramatically rise or fall at various times throughout the ending stage.

While ending, some class members may become more sensitive & less focused on tasks & their productivity may drop.

Effective ending assists students to take away the best of their experiences to apply in the future.

What you will see during the ending stage

During the Ending Stage, the energy & focus of some students may drop.

It is important to remember that for some of your students their only experience of relationships ending has been dramatic & disastrous.
Other students may find focussing on learning at hand is an effective response to their sadness or sense of loss. Their productivity may increase.

What you may feel during the ending stage

It is a mixed time of the year. You probably feel exhausted, run off your feet, pleased with what has been achieved, excited about having a break, as well as sad about losing a connection with your students, all at the same time.

Make sure you get enough sleep. There is little point frantically rushing to the last day of the school year & then collapsing in an exhausted heaps & being sick for most of your holidays.

Try to plan to have the end of term, mentally end in the middle of the last week so you & your students have a few days to unwind before the break.

Students may feel a variety of concerns about the class’s impending dissolution. Some may be feeling anxious due to uncertainty about their individual next steps or future friendships.

They may feel sadness or a sense of loss about the changes coming to their relationships. At the same time, students may feel a sense of satisfaction at their own accomplishments.

It is highly likely that at any given moment students will be experiencing different emotions about the class’s ending.

What your priorities are, during the ending stage

The end of the year creates a natural review point for everyone. While any year is a mix of highs & lows, encapsulating the past year into a dominant narrative can be helpful.

Some useful questions & discussion points might be:

When you look back on this year what would say was the hardest time? (Often students find it easiest to express their most negative experiences first).

I’m sorry that happened, did it change?

If it hasn’t changed, what have you learned from this year about what not to have in your future?

If it has changed, how did you change it?

What did you do first? What worked best?

What worked best for you this year?

Was there a highlight or a best moment?

How did that come about?

How do you think you could make more of that happen next year?

What did you learn about yourself this year?

What parts of yourself changed? (You may wish to highlight a positive change you have noticed in each of your students).

It may then be useful to do a complete review of the year from your own perspective, highlighting particular contributions or moments month by month (ensure you mention every student in your class!)

The class needs to acknowledge the upcoming transition & the variety of ways that each student & the entire class may be feeling about the class’s impending dissolution.

During this stage, the class should focus on three tasks:

• Ending well by completing any final work.
• Evaluating the classes’ process, with a particular focus on identifying ‘lessons learned’.
• Creating a closing celebration that acknowledges the contributions of individuals & the accomplishments of the class.

Effective ending assists students to take away the best of their experiences to apply to their future as well as setting them up for a great next year.

More information

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Learning Strengths

Books for Parents

Unlocking Your Child’s Genius
Tricky Behaviours
The A to Z of Feelings (Bad Apple Press)

Books for Teachers

Guerrilla Tactics for Teachers (e-book)
Neurodevelopmental Differentiation- Optimising
Brain Systems To Maximise Learning

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