One of the best parts of the school year is…
…when it’s over.
No matter how good the year had been or what we achieved, I always enjoyed the end of the school year.
Not just because I was exhausted and drained from pouring myself into my program…
But also because the end means a new beginning.
So as the school year was winding down and my classes thinned out…
I would plan the next year.
Not during post-planning or after I’d had a vacation…
But before we’d turned everything in and closed the grade book on the school year.
I did this for two reasons:
- Everything is fresh…maybe even a little raw…from the current year.
- It gave me a better perspective.
Sometimes the year was rough and I needed a reminder of what had gone right (as minor as some of those things felt by the end of the year).
Some years were awesome and I needed to figure out how to repeat that success.
Either way, I would sit down and do a simple End-of-Year review.
You can do it too. Just answer these 4 questions:
1. What went well?
Find something positive, even if it is simply: I did not strangle Brody when he continued to say “YEET!”
2. What went wrong?
This isn’t the blame gang. Just the facts like: The tools kept getting left out in the shop and we are now missing some.
3. What can we do differently?
Think of ways to head off issues that came up this year: The officer interviews can be done by community members instead of the Alumni.
4. What should we repeat next year?
Don’t assume you will remember, make note of what you did well: Posting a Sign Up Form for specific banquet desserts kept us from having nothing but cookies.
Even after a hard year, if I did an End-of-Year Review I always went into summer feeling like I could tackle next year…
…after some post-planning cake…and a very long nap…and some salt water therapy…
Keep counting down. We’re almost there.
Alicia Tomlinson, owner, creator, and compulsive planner
