Free Article: Wrapping up the School Year with Social Thinking

facebook iconX iconpinterest icon

arrow icon

mail iconfacebook iconinstagram iconX iconpinterest iconlinkedin icon
Wrapping up the School Year with Social Thinking: 'Thoughts for Educators and Families'

Wrapping up the School Year with Social Thinking

Thoughts for Educators and Families

May 20, 2025© 2025 Think Social Publishing, Inc.

A teacher recently shared her thoughts on the end of the school year, referring to it as the time when educators and families have everything to do, and students have…nothing to do. While this, of course, is an overgeneralization, many of us might be able to relate. So how do we finish up the school year with Social Thinking in an intentional but also realistic way?

A teacher recently shared her thoughts on the end of the school year, referring to it as the time when educators and families have everything to do, and students have…nothing to do. While this, of course, is an overgeneralization, many of us might be able to relate. So how do we finish up the school year with Social Thinking in an intentional but also realistic way?


Brain Wires

In the You Are a Social Detective! Teaching Curriculum and Support Guide we include a lesson on teaching students about the brain and learning styles. We’ve had fun and success creating brains out of modeling clay and using pipe cleaners of different lengths stuck into the clay to represent the different wires we each have in our brains. Read more here.


While this is a popular activity at the start of the school year, we find it is also a great way to wrap up and reflect at the end of the school year. Here are some discussion questions we use in our work with students:

  • What wires have you grown this year?

  • What has helped you grow these smarts? (Specific strategies? Materials? Experiences?)

  • Who has helped you grow these smarts?

  • Which wires are you most proud of?

We also like to encourage thinking and discussion about our future selves. The end of the year is the best time to identify the strategies and supports that can help us launch into next school year. Here are some questions to consider:

  • What do you want your teachers to know about you?

  • What helps you learn?

  • What helps you feel comfortable at school?

  • What strategies haven’t worked as well?

  • What wires do you want to grow more?

Recording student responses now and sharing them with future teachers can be of great help to the next transition. Feeling logistically overwhelmed by that idea? Consider checking out https://www.futureme.org. This website allows you to write a (free!) email to yourself, to be delivered on the date of your choosing.


Free Infographic: 9 Guiding Questions for End-of-the-Year Student Reflection (Download)


product


Related Resources to Support the Concepts in This Article

Products & Curriculum Sets

Professionals and parents around the world are using our expansive collection of curricula, books, games and posters to teach social competences to ages 4 and up.

Free Articles

Social Thinking is proud to provide an extensive collection of free articles devoted to helping individuals build stronger social awareness and social functioning using the Social Thinking Methodology.

On Demand Courses

Utilizing more than 25 years of clinical practice and the latest research, these one-of-a-kind online training courses explore a large range of aspects required for developing social competencies, including self-regulation, executive functioning, social problem-solving abilities, and much more.
Helping Early Learners Build Social Competencies

Using the We Thinkers! Curriculum Series

Free Webinars

Our free webinars are rich resources for learning 10 core Social Thinking concepts and exploring key social emotional learning topics, including stress management, social anxiety, executive functioning, and self-regulation.