Wrap It Up: Reflect on the Week’s Wins & Challenges

Overview

Welcome to this Wrap It Friday article for our Back To School Case Study Series.

• What: Count this as your how to guide towards understanding how to properly wrap all that hard work you executed as part of your master project plan! Celebrate this huge win of taking what you envisioned in your classroom and bringing it to life just as you wanted!! Before you celerbate, remember that all of this content you read applies to any class management project that focuses on Back To School planning. While we call this Wrap It Friday, as part of our series, please adjust this to your schedule (e.g. if you don’t wrap a project on a Friday all is fine:)). Once you have your vision, you map it out with a plan of action, you execute and monitor, it’s time to reflect and adjust for future projects!
• Where: You will use the downloadable resource and content in this article to complete the Wrap It Friday step of the project management workflow process for all things class management/organization. In the long term, count this as another resource added to your project management toolbox!
• Why: We know that class management is often the hardest thing to deal with as an educator. The strategies you implement for one class may not work for another. This is where our free resources and project management strategies (adapted for classroom spaces) are here to help! With consistency, organization, and implementation of the project management practices we share, you’ll find class management to be much easier to wrangle!

Quick Summary

Hopefully you are following our series on back to school and what project management looks like during this season. If not, make sure to check our past posts here, here, here, and here. Just like the world of project management, when you run a project, it goes through a workflow of planning to execution and eventually wrap. So far, we have discussed a lot about how to plan your projects to make your learning space the best it can be for back-to-school season. And we have explored how to execute your tasks with precision to stick to that planning. But what happens when back to school season is over and your projects are done?

Outside of celebrating the win for making it out of this season unscathed and accomplishing a lot of teaching goals on your list, you need to wrap that project up and put a bow on it! There are many benefits of project wrap. One of them is the opportunity for you to see what worked, what didn’t and use that as motivation to adjust in the future. Another big benefit of project wrap is that you have a documented history of the projects you have completed!

In those moments where you felt defeated going through the teaching season – go back to your project wrap history and look at all that you accomplished for your students (or what you students have accomplished with you guiding them!). If you are planning a project as part of a PD session but need some ideas, go check your project wrap history. You will be surprised all of the tactics, tips and tricks you can think of just from viewing your past project work.

In your growing educators project management toolbox, let’s add the project reflection journal to your inventory. This tool helps you pause, process, and learn from your experience. It’s a simple tool that encourages meaningful reflection and helps you build a habit of journaling as you get into the rhythm of the school year.

What You need

Product: Project Reflection Journal Template. This is presented in a clean, easy-to-use format. Here are your key highlights:

• Prompts to reflect on wins, challenges, and student engagement
• Space for personal insights and future planning
• Designed to support teacher growth and intentional practice

How to Use It

Option #1: Use this journal after you complete a project you have planned from the very beginning or set goals with measurable tasks to complete. Think of this as your opportunity to reflect, strategize for the future, and support your success as an educator in your learning space.

Option #2: Use this journal at the end of your first week—or any week—to reflect on what worked, what surprised you, and what you want to adjust. You can write freely, respond to prompts, or even use it as a discussion guide with a mentor or team. The goal is to build a reflective practice that supports your growth all year long.