With only a month or two left until the end of the school year, high school [1] students can get a little antsy, U.S. News reports. Increasing temperatures seem to trigger daydreams of summer vacations, and perhaps post-graduation plans, which means history lessons and calculus tests often drop a couple spots on students’ priority lists. Most teachers are aware of students losing focus in April and May, and don’t want to see them sully their grades because of it. By following these tips from fellow educators, teachers may be able to help students focus and finish the school year strong. 1) Save the fun stuff for spring: Although not all teachers have much leverage with the topics they cover at the end of the year, teachers who can should opt for more engaging lessons in the spring, says Frank Noschese, a physics teacher at John Jay High School [2] in Cross River, N.Y. By doing so, he says, “when the kids start to tune out, you can bring them back in.”
“I tend to [teach] waves, light, sound, and music in the 4th quarter toward the end of the year,” Noschese says, “Because those are really exciting for the kids and not as abstract as, say, static electricity and circuits…”