Secret Piece of Trash: The Best End-of-Day Hack!

 

I remember my first year of teaching. I also remember how the last 15 minutes of school would often ruin my whole day. Some fifth graders would help me clean, but most of the time, I would wind up staying after to tidy before the janitors came through. It was also complete chaos for 15 minutes.

That was until I ran across a game-changer: Secret Piece of Trash. 

Here's how it works: 

  1. Scan your classroom for a "secret" item or piece of trash on the floor.
  2. Tell your students they have 5 minutes to clean up, search for the secret item, and gather their things to go home. The goal is to have all students in their seats and ready by the end of the timer.
  3. Set a timer (I love Class Dojo's timer).
  4. There are two rules. First, students can not bombard you asking if theirs is the secret piece. You'll keep a close eye out! Second, you will not reveal the secret item until the floor is spotless.
  5. When the timer ends, reveal the secret item and who picked it up! Reward with Jolly Ranchers for best results. 
Janitor's Paradise!


Room looking a little dusty? Try the Clorox Wipe challenge every week. Each student gets one wipe. The dirtiest wipe at the end of cleanup time wins! I did this wipe challenge and had students wiping the inside of the a/c vents. 😆

Yes, I may still have 5 minutes of productive chaos looking for trash and getting ready. However, we end that chaos by spending the last 10 minutes watching Mystery Science mini-lessons. New ones are posted each week, and it makes the last 10 minutes of the day peaceful. 

I went from 15 minutes of "chaos" to 5 minutes. In addition, I now have a clean room and bonus science time. I'll count that as a win!

Do you have any tried and true hacks for the end of the day? Share below! 

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