Next to building student relationships, establishing consistent routines and procedures are the best classroom management tools you can introduce to your students. Creating predictable routines for students decreases behavior issues and increases student engagement in class.
After a year where many students were online for most, if not all of their learning experience, it will be even more important this fall to establish routines for students. Some of the so-called “learning loss” is simply students forgetting what it looks like to be a student in a classroom. In the district where I work, we were online from March 2020 until the end of the school year in June 2021. Which means the last time my incoming 8th graders were in a classroom was when they were in 6th grade! They are not the same students they were then and it will take some time to reestablish what school looks like for these students.
Summertime is a great time to rethink what routines and procedures you need to teach in your class. Below is a list of routines you will want to be sure to teach in the first few weeks of school. Taking the time at the beginning of the year to teach routines and procedures will mean a more productive, more engaged class all year!
Entering the classroom
Believe it or not, how to enter the classroom is a skill you need to teach secondary students. How students enter your class will help set the tone for student behavior during class.
When establishing a routine for entering class, think about what you want students to do when they come to class (warm up, silent reading, journal writing, etc…), do they need to get out any specific materials (planner, notebook, book, etc..), as well as, what should the noise level be?
These are all things we think students should already know, but in reality they don’t, or they’ve forgotten. At the beginning of the year, I intentionally teach (and practice) the expectations.
Attention Getters
How will your students know when you want their attention? There are many things you can do to get students attention:
- Call and Response: Teacher says a word or phrase (“Ready Set…”) and students finish the phrase (“…You Bet!”). You can create your own or make this a first week activity and let students create one for the class.
- Rhythmic Clapping: Similar to the call and response above, create a rhythm of claps. Teacher begins the rhythm and students complete it.
- Countdown: Teacher states “I need your attention in 5…4…3…2…1” giving students time to finish conversations or tasks as teacher counts down to 1.
- Music or Doorbell: Teacher uses sound (song or a doorbell) to signal to students the teacher needs their attention.
Be creative with your attention getter, but be consistent so students know when they hear your phrase, clap, count, or sound that you are trying to get their attention. If you use more than one attention getter, start with one, practice and when students are responding well, introduce another one. If you try to introduce too many at once, students will get confused and stop responding.
Technology
This coming fall, many districts are moving from Chromebook carts in every room to every student having their own Chromebook or device (1:1). In the past I’ve had more control over technology use in class, I had routines for how and when to use Chromebooks, so I’m having to rethink my technology procedures.
Here are some ideas to think about as you develop your classroom procedure for technology:
- Demonstrate what you want students to do first. Show them the sites they will be on, review any tools they may need to use, etc… This will help cut down on the amount of troubleshooting you’ll have to do with students later.
- Set clear expectations for when students can be on their devices – just because students have a device doesn’t mean they have free reign with that device.
- What will you do if a student does not comply with expectations for computer use? Will you have paper copies available?
Admittedly, this will be a new routine for me this school year. I’d love to hear your ideas for establishing routines and procedures in a 1:1 classroom. Please comment below or share your ideas on our Instagram page.
Turning in Work
How many of you have students that do the work but fail to turn it in? I remember as a new teacher, many years ago, this was something I never thought I’d have to teach. It made sense to me that if I did the work, I had to turn it in, in order for it to be assessed. However, I learned that this is something I need to intentionally teach and review often. I think students get into the mindset of “I completed the work,” and then forget about it until they see it on their progress report as a missing assignment.
While planning for the upcoming year, think about how many ways there are for students to turn in work (paper and digital). Although my students will be 8th graders, I’m planning to address how to turn in work more often than I normally would. On days we turn in work, I know I need to be intentional about reviewing the ways to turn in the work. If the assignment is digital, demonstrate the steps, if the assignment was on paper, physically walk over to the location for turning in work.
Early Finishers
One procedure that may get overlooked as you are busy planning your lessons is what students should do when they are finished with a task. If students don’t know what their options are once they’ve completed an assignment, they may become a distraction to their peers.
Keep a list, or a station, available for students with options for what they can do when they are finished. I typically create a space in my classroom where early finishers can check the list and/or gather any necessary materials. The key is to keep the options fun and engaging but not busy work that students will see as “extra” work or a punishment for completing work early.
Here are a few suggestions I rotate through at my Early Finisher’s Station:
- Read a choice book – This is always on my list!
- Play educational games – There are many sites like sheppardsoftware.com and freerice.com that provide ELA educational games.
- Writing Task cards – There are a variety of options you can give students to practice writing skills.
- Complete unfinished work – Just because a student finishes a task early, doesn’t mean they are caught up on all assignments. Students can use the time to complete unfinished work.
Have you started thinking about how you will reengage students in in-person learning?
What routines are you rethinking this summer?
Share your ideas in the comments or come over to our Instagram page and join the conversation.
