Teaching and practicing classroom routines and procedures is the BEST way to reduce classroom behaviors. Children want to know what is coming next. Students’ anxiety can be reduced if they know what to expect. For just a moment, I want you to think about what time of day was the biggest challenge for you this past year. Now, ask yourself, why was it a challenge? When I first started teaching, I found transitions to be a struggle. My students were so loud. Do you know how I solved this problem? I took the time to TEACH students how to transition quietly. We talked about how transitions should look and sound. I modeled it. I had students practice it, multiple times. Another fun tip, have students practice the WRONG way. They love this. Then, we practice the right way. This worked really well…until December. Then, we stopped and practiced. Here are some routines and procedures for you to think about teaching students.
Morning Routines
What do you want students to do when they come in the classroom? You need to teach them where to put their belongings, such as their backpack and lunchbox. What kind of voice level should they have? What will they do once they have put their work out? I always start my day with Morning Work Buckets. You can read about how I use Morning Work Buckets here. If students know what to expect when they walk in the room, this will reduce their anxiety. To start your class off on a positive note, it is important to develop a consistent morning routine.
Transitioning
Take some time to think about how you want transitions to look and sound. Will you use a timer or music to signal when it is time to transition? How often will you have transitions? I recommend that you try to reduce the number of transitions students have. You will find that students misbehave when they have too much transition time. You will need to model and practice transitions. first, it is important for you to know how long transitions will take. If students are cleaning up materials, it will take longer then if they are just going from their desk to the carpet. As a teacher, transitions can be difficult because they can take longer they expected, increase class volume, and increase off task behavior. If this time is a struggle for your class, I recommend that you take a few minutes to think about WHY this is a difficult time for your class.
Classroom Jobs
Routines help students know what to expect. This is why I like to use classroom jobs. It lets students know who is charge of the lights or whose turn it is to pass out papers. There is nothing worse then students fighting over whose turn it is to hold the door or pass out papers. I change my jobs daily. I have students’ names on a clip and move it down each day. There is always a few kids in the class who can remember everyone’s job, so I don’t have too. You can get these class jobs here. students know that everyone gets a turn at every job. Their frustration over, “when is it my turn,” is reduced because they understand everyone gets a turn. If you have a student that gets frustrated with this, teach them how to count how many days until they get to be the calendar helper. This when reduce their anxiety.
Requesting to Get Up or Leave
Do you want kids to raise their hands when they have to blow their nose? Do you want to have a special signal to use the bathroom? I always like to talk about “good times” to use the bathroom (transitions, recess, play centers, independent work). I am hesitant to tell kids when it is a “bad time.” I have seen too many students have accidents. I also prefer not to use the word “emergency.” If they ask to go during a whole group lesson or small group time with me, I ask if they can wait. if the answer is no, I let them go. However you decide to handle bathroom, water, and tissue breaks, be consistent with students. Consistency is part of building a routine and it will reduce classroom behaviors.
Lining Up
I believe lining up is both a routine and expectation. If you want you kids to follow your expectations, lining up needs to be part of your routine. How do you want students to line up? It is important to think about this because if you have your students line up the same way every time, it becomes part of their routine. they will know what to expect. In abc order? Number order? How do they stand in line? Body facing forward, hands by their side, with a bubble in their mouth. This also takes lots of modeling and practice. We using walking feet. We keep our hands to ourselves. Once we are lined up, we also practice walking in the hallway. Be sure to praise students following your expectations. When I say, “I like how Tommy is facing forward,” I notice everyone turns forward (well, almost everyone).
End of Day
How will your day end? I think this is just as important as how it starts. You want your students to leave your classroom feeling loved and cared for. You need a routine for you are going to end your day. You do not want them to leave in rush, feeling scattered, or leaving something important behind. While I know it is important to teach students how to be responsible, it is okay to double check cubbies and lunch box bins to ensure nothing was left behind. You never know what kind of anxiety may be provoked by leaving a lunchbox behind.
I hope this has given you a few ideas to think about when teaching classroom expectations. It may take some time out of your day for the first few weeks of school to practice classroom expectations, but you will save time late on in the year because you will not have to stop instruction as often. Classroom routines reduce student anxiety, and, ultimately, teacher anxiety.
For more back to school ideas, check out these posts.
❤ Creating a Caring Classroom Community
❤Classroom Routines and Procedures,
