End of the Year Clean Up

As the end of the school year nears, I want to share with you a system for cleaning my classroom at the end of the school year. It will save your sanity and keep those little learners busy on those last few days of school.

Who Should Help with the End of the Year Clean Up?

The first year I taught, I felt like I had to complete all the end of the year cleaning. It took forever and it was exhausting. Honestly, this was unproductive. Then, I got smart and got all those little hands busy. I do not clean the classroom room at the end of the year, but instead the entire classroom cleans the room together. Let me show you how we do it together.

Steps to Classroom Clean Up

Set up to get students to help clean up the room

Step 1. I change the choice board which normally is for Daily 5 into cleaning jobs in the room. Each student can select their job from the choices. They have to pick something. ( You can use center clips as well. I have done that in years past.)

Step 2. I prepare the materials in the baskets each task will require. Some baskets are empty because they do not need any supplies. Here is a picture to show how the baskets will look. Check out the the yellow table will be to check the dry erase markers. The purple table is to check and sharpen pencils. Then, the blue table is to sort and organize the number cards 1-100. Next, the red table is to sort the addition and subtraction cards into groups. Finally, the green table is cleaning, so it has baby wipes.

Keep a List of What Comes Next

The tasks listed above are a great start, but you also need to keep a running list of things that need to be done next. Therefore Step 3. I have additional areas to be cleaned listed and ready. I write it on top of the dry erase board. This way when a job is completed, that choice needs to be changed. Since my list is ready, I don’t have to think or plan, I know what does on the board next. And yes I add to this list ALL THE TIME.

How Do I Get The Class to Help?

How do I get the class to do this? First, I ask them to help clean up for the next group of Kinders. Many are hard workers and we have fun with this so they RUN to each task. Don’t forget there is the choice option as well.

For each job completed, I give a reward. The small jobs like checking for working markers or erasing the word family charts, I may give a mini marshmallow. The BIG jobs like sorting sight word cards or cleaning shelves may get a bigger prize. I am up front about various rewards to encourage hard workers.

Tips I Have Learned Over Time

Here are a few tips and tricks over the years to help with the end of the year clean up. I have learned to always make puzzles and games first. They take the longest since I have so many puzzles and games. I also help man the puzzles and my aid took games. I also scatter the cleaning areas I post to the choice board so my kids are not all on top of each other.

Once an area is done… I close it for the year. THE END. It is no longer an option. As we clean, more and more of the room gets closed down. It is truly a beautiful thing. Also keep in mind that many, if not all, of these tasks have learning elements. Like organizing number cards 1-100, or sorting addition and subtraction cards.

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Comments

Jessica Stanford says

May 23, 2012 at 1:01 am

What a great idea!!

Blessings,

Jessica Stanford
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Lorri says

May 23, 2012 at 2:31 am

I'd love more ideas on this! It seems I have lots of stuff everywhere !!

DO you have a specific list of what you clean?

Mrs. Cupcake says

May 23, 2012 at 3:08 am

For some reason, the kids love to clean!! It's great to get their help 🙂
❤Teri
A Cupcake for the Teacher

Cindy Del Valle says

May 23, 2012 at 3:13 am

Thanks for the idea!! The thought of packing up my entire classroom right now is not appealing to me AT ALL!!

Cindy
Primary Reading Party

Susie Q says

May 23, 2012 at 4:12 am

This is a super idea! I am moving to a new classroom so I have a lot of clean up to do. Today I had the little darlin's help me with organizing the classroom library –you know how books throughout the year get put in the wrong place, etc. It also gave us a chance to talk about all the different genres of books too!

Learning With Susie Q

susieqsclass@gmail.com

S. Parker says

May 23, 2012 at 4:40 am

I do something similar. I do the same thing with puzzles and games. If anything is missing they write on a post it what it is just in case we find it hiding behind something.
I also have them help me organize my guided reading library and as they return books from their book boxes.

Buggy In Kindergarten says

May 23, 2012 at 9:01 pm

I really like the idea of having the kids help clean. I did most of the work myself, with the help of a teacher friend who was already done. However while watching a movie on Tuesday I did have one of my can't-sit-still-without-going-crazy kids label all of the tables and chairs for me. That was one task done that I was not looking forward to doing… and last week sometime I chose 3 friends to sort coins so that I could put math kits back together.

School Sparks Renee says

May 24, 2012 at 5:31 pm

You've got this down pat!! Great ideas – especially the one about starting with puzzles and games. 🙂 Renee