Do you have a daily ROUTINE?
Then, I get a cup of coffee.. that is ready for me.
( I set it to brew the night before while I am doing dinner dishes).
Later, I make breakfast & lunch.
Finally, I wake up hubby,
shower, & get ready for work.
I LOVE my morning routine.
When things run smoothly…I know what to expect.
EVERYONE knows what to expect & how to do it!
ROUTINES MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND!
Here are MY top 3 Routines
for a smooth running classroom.
ENTERING THE CLASSROOM ROUTINE:
I meet my kids on the playground.
Our “first” bell ( line up ) is at 8:20.
I go out to our line at 8:15 and remind ALL of my students to get out of their BACKPACKS their BLACK homework folder (provided by me at the beginning of the year..black because I don’t use black for any other folder in my room..and their READ AT HOME envelope with TAKE HOME BOOKS.
They have them “in their hands” before we walk to the door.
WHY?
NO ONE has to “dig through” their backpacks when we get in the door.
While we are at the door…I have a Home Depot shelving unit next to the door.
They put their backpacks and jackets ON THE SHELVES! Great beginning-of-the-day routine! NO backpacks or jackets on CHAIRS! No room!
After we enter..2 baskets on the table next to the door. One “homework”..the other RAH (Read AT Home) Envelopes.
Black folders in HW basket, Book envelopes in RAH basket.
DONE!
(Any notes or OTHER STUFF…in HW basket).
NOW, they get a chair
( stacked at the back of the room..see routine #3)
and WALK to their desk. They know the routines.
When the starting bell rings at 8:25
(5 minutes after we enter…)
I choose the HELPERS for the day.
You can only be a HELPER if you are sitting in your seat when the bell rings! I am prompt!
( No tardies, wanderers, “chatting”).
If you are TARDY…you won’t be a helper on that day if it’s your turn. You will have to wait until tomorrow if you are on time.
An incentive for getting to school ON TIME!
I choose my helpers.
2 of my 10 helpers for the day are
TECH TEACHERS.
I ask the TECH TEACHERS to choose a “quiet partner” to help them pass out Chromebooks ( We are a 1:1 school ) and earbuds ( they have their own in numbered baggies.
(We number EVERYTHING!)
They get their Chromebooks, long into our district reading/phonics practice program, and GO TO WORK!
ALL of this takes 10 minutes.
8:20-8:30
NO MUSS…NO FUSS! Routines help manage the classroom!
Transitions. THE WORST TIME OF THE DAY!
Solution: A NEW routine!
Kids are working. The “Hummm” of classroom work.
Happy Teacher.
And then…the timer goes OFF!
WE MUST STOP!
Time to TRANSITION TO SOMETHING ELSE!
NO!
First graders like to MOVE…and FAST!
So to help…we FREEZE!
Change the ROUTINE!
When the timer goes off…we freeze! I tell them they have one minute to clean up and return to their desks.
Always return to their desk.
Kind of like their “LANDING PAD”.
After everyone is sitting down ( well, almost everyone..there are always the 1-2 stragglers )
I say.. “One, two, three EYES ON ME!”
They respond ” One, two, EYES ON YOU!”
And then a call out… ( I have a list )
Could be “MACARONI & CHEESE”
They respond “EVERYBODY FREEZE!”
AND THEY DO!
I hold them “frozen” for 3-4 seconds.
THEY LOVE THIS!
While a few stragglers are getting to their desk, we play a game! A TRANSITION game. I only need a doc camera, my riddle cards, and a SOFT VOICE. If they can’t hear me..they can’t play! See my post on the TRANSITION GAME!
After we are settled, I can give directions for our next
activity. I do this SAME ROUTINE ALL DAY FOR TRANSITIONS!
No problems!
The LAST 30 minutes of CLASS. End-of-the-day routines.
It’s almost OVER!
The day has come to an end.
HOW TO GET THEM OUT THE DOOR?
STOP!
Many things to do BEFORE we leave.
REMEMBER…The class is ALL of yours.
It’s NOT my job to clean up, put everything away, and pick up the classroom AFTER they leave.
We ALL work here. The community is for ALL of us.
We dismiss at 2:30.
Clean-up ROUTINES!
At 2:10
we STOP, put our work away,
and FREEZE to go back to our desks.
At 2:15 we begin the EXIT PROCESS.
My 2 TECH TEACHERS (helpers) put ALL of the Chromebooks back into the cart ( I have taught them HOW to do this MANY TIMES.They know the routines.)
*UPDATE… They now put them in the cart & plug them in! I put a number on each Chromebook with Sharpie Paint Pens. Then I put a RED dot (Sharpie PAINT pen) on the side above the plug. They know ALL the red dots must line up, every number has to have a matching Chromebook, and they PLUG them in on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays! TECH TEACHERS are awesome!
2 of my other HELPERS are the
CLEAN UP CREW.
They EACH choose a ‘friend’ to help them
STACK ALL OF THE CHAIRS
into stacks of 6.
Push the stacks to the back of the room, and clean all papers, crayons, pencils from the floor.
While these HELPERS are working SILENTLY..
the rest of the class goes to the carpet. Workers who are TOO LOUD..can be FIRED! If you don’t do your job in the real world with a “respectful” tone..YOU can be fired! #lifelessons
Each day 5-6 of my students can come to
AUTHOR’S CHAIR Routine.
( 5 color coded groups )
As we transition to the carpet, I ask “RED GROUP” if they would like to “READ…in the teacher’s chair” OR PASS (for this week).
They read one story from their JOURNAL. Their choice.
We LISTEN ( being a good audience )
and then they can choose 1 person to
“ASK THE AUTHOR A QUESTION”.
We must listen, to formulate a HOT question.
At the beginning of the year, we learn the difference between a HOT question…and a STORY!
After all 5 have read…I have one student bring me EVERYTHING from their cubby. (Student mailboxes ).
I go over ALL work we are taking home.
I open the BLACK HOMEWORK folder, where I have taken out last night’s HW and put in tonight’s HW.
and
I show them their RAH books to read tonight.
After all of our work has been reviewed,
I excuse them 3 at a time to clean out their cubbies, take everything to their desk, get their backpack & jacket, take it to their desk, LANDING PAD, and pack up to go home.
When they are ready ..
LINE UP!
I start a GOODBYE CHANT…
“bye bye Butterfly..See you later alligator…etc”
They must be ready to go before we end the chant.
This takes a little practice.
NO… A LOT OF PRACTICE!
BUT…
We can get out the door in 5 minutes!
This ends my
TOP 3 ROUTINES
for a smooth running classroom.
Many more throughout the day.
I like routines in MY LIFE.
So do the KIDS!
What routines do you have that you do EVERY DAY?
Pick your top one & share in the comments.
We can ALL learn for each other!
Here are a few Classroom Management HELPERS to help YOU set ROUTINES!
Happy DAY!
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