The May Madness has begun! You know, the frantic pace and frazzled faces that appear in every elementary school when the end is near! Well, as a recovering procrastinator (you know you are never really cured!) I tend to use this time to prepare for the new school year as well as wrap up the current one.  One thing that helps a procrastinator like me stay organized and ahead of the game is to remember the May comes every year, so the first thing I do is buy my plan book for next year! Crazy right, but it helps. I fill in the dates and make notes in the margins as to when I need to start making portfolios for the current year and when to start making idea books for the next year! So when I turned the page in my book for the last week in April there was a big note that said “Start making portfolios!” When I have a spare minute, students who finish early or a parent volunteer, I put them to work. Two weeks later the note in my plan book reads, “Start making Idea Books”.  I leave a lot of notes for myself so that I don’t get behind. During the year, we have monthly art shows in the community and I use the same trick by entering all the show dates in my plan book (Yes-they will be set before school is out this year), marking the date that all work must be finished and the date that the family invitation must be made and sent home.

So, how do get enough time and hands to get all this done while you are simultaneously, assessing, grading, photographing and uploading to Artsonia, oh, and don’t forget teaching!? I use student and parent volunteers. The hardest part about getting parent volunteers is being organized enough to get them working. I can sometimes set up things on a cart and type up directions (save them so you can use them next year!) so if I have parents that come in while I have a class they can work in the hall or storage closet using the cart. Sometimes they only have 20-30 minutes at drop off or lunch to help so being organize saves time.  I will enlist students who will be onsite after school anyway for the extended care program.  I even have parents come in and help with Artsonia by setting up a corner “studio” including a stool with a black cloth background, some simple directions on framing, and strips of paper on which they can write student names in the order they are photographed. If you are lucky enough to get the same person who can help all year, they can knock out a class or two in 20 minutes! By the last week of school, portfolios are assessed and home safely, art supplies are being put away, idea books are stowed for the new year, furniture is covered with plastic table cloths (the ones from the dollar store are fast and don’t need a lot of tape) and I am putting up Back to School bulletin boards in the hallway and covering them with craft paper to keep the safe through the summer months! The best part about beginning with the end in mind is that, after I have savored every last minute or summer, I walk into my school, pull off the paper and plastic table clothes, open my plan book and I am ready to roll!  Now, what do you do to wrap out the school year that you find most helpful? Do you think any of these things would work at your school?

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