“Look for magic in the daily routine.”  Lou Barlow

I love routines.  I do well with schedules and checklists and everything organized.  Routines just make things so much simpler to me.

But, a new year with new students, new coworkers, and sometimes new administrators, pretty much always brings new chaos—whether it’s in the form of challenging children, a cantankerous coworker or poorly implemented new protocol (that last one happens way too often…) some type of chaos is bound to ensue. 

I can’t always do anything about coworkers or administrators, but cantankerous children, now they, thankfully, are manageable and actually easily mitigated with clearly set routines and expectations.  

I know not everyone thrives on routine and structure, but I sure do and so do the vast majority of students I’ve had over the years. It’s crucial to clearly lay ground rules and this, generally and understandably, is more difficult for those new to the classroom than those who are more seasoned warriors.

The following are some simple classroom tips to help set the tone and quickly get into effective classroom routines to ward off as much chaos juju as possible!  This is not as comprehensive as it could be, but that would likely take multiple issues of blog posts.  X)

Use a PPT slide to state the day’s outline, every day.

This is easy to dismiss as just one more thing to do, but it’s actually pretty quick and can save you many needless questions at the start of a class period.  Not everything goes on the slide, but if I’m collecting an assignment, the first thing on the slide is to have that on their desks and ready to pass to the front.  I am not hunting down work.  That isn’t reality.  I recommend keeping slide template that you like, putting the date up there and then a blurb about the day’s learning/assignments.

Have a routine for the bathroom, water fountain, clinic, etc.

It’s great to utilize a sign-out (and back in) sheet for this routine.  Some years I have kept it by the door, but I’ve had some years with sneaky students and those years I have had to keep the sheet at my desk to make sure students are legitimately signing in and out.  These sign-out sheets really help a lot in the event that admin sends out an email about vandalism or other unsavory activities.  Plus, then if a child isn’t doing well in class and a PTC is requested you have exact documentation as to how much time that child is spending outside of the active learning environment.  I have definitelyfound that useful.

Make the assignment submission routine clear (and the consequences in the event they are not).

However you opt to collect work, the best way will be whatever you consistently do.  Whether they have it out and ready for you to grab, they have it out ready to pass up when you request it or you use submission bins in an assigned area of the room.  Having a designated means of work submission greatly helps the flow of class and curbs the chaos since there are less interruptions.  I like to put a reminder on the daily agenda PPT slide for students to have the work out and then I walk by and pick it up as I introduce the day’s materials.  I tried submission bins one year but found them to be a bit of a hassle because they weren’t readily seen (due to the room set up).  And worse, students would congregate at the bin and get distracted.  And still worse, one could take another’s work and put their name on it.  Ugh.    

Have a binder check routine.

It took several years of trial an error to have this run smoothly.  Binder organization is important because it teaches students a basic skill that they will need throughout their lives.  Studies have shown that organization is linked to academic success, so it really is important to reinforce this skill, and building the checks into a structured weekly or biweekly routine helps students build the skill an helps you hold them accountable for their own learning.  Binder checks do not need to be, and in fact should not be, complicated and time consuming.  Students are expected to have all their quarterly materials in the order that I (usually) keep posted in the room, so on the day of the binder check I only look to make sure a specific handful of assignments, and not every single one, are in the correct places.  It’s designed to be a very easy grade.

Have a clear (and consistently enforced) cell phone routine.

I know a lot of teachers have pockets and chargers available for students at the back of the room where the phones are out of reach.  I just like them away.  And some schools and districts are now outlawing them during school hours, which I am all for.  Whatever method you opt for, just make sure you follow through with it or it will crumble very quicky.  So very quickly.

Utilize a clear routine for absent students and make-up work.

Students should have somewhere to go for their work, be it a folder, a cabinet, bin or whatever receptacle works best for your classroom.  This puts the onus on students to get their work and saves you time in getting it all together for them.  There was one year where I taught double block reading, and those classes were always very intensive and so usually about 12 students.  That year I gave each student a folder and when they were absent, I wrote their name on the assignment and put it in their folder.  When I received parent emails, I could easily go check and say your child did not retrieve their work from when they were out.  That was also the year I first had a student tell me he was going to be absent for a week for a cruise.  What?  It happened many, many times in the subsequent years, and I never failed to be amazed that parents pull their child midyear for a week (or more) vacation and then get upset when their child can’t catch up.  

Group work routines.

I liked to do a good mix of group and independent work.  In school, in the 90s, work was much more independent, and I think too much group work just masks how low some of the low-level students really are because it allows them to piggy back off the higher performers.  Therefore, there needs to be clear group work routines instilled at the start of the year to make sure every student is doing their full part with any subsequent group activities.

Lastly, if you need any materials to kick off the year, you may find the below helpful!  

There is a free, but not editable substitute brochure in my Free Little Resource Library! And if you want to do some group work that holds each group member accountable, I have a great mock trial activity for Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Happy Teaching!

M.D. Saints
Reading the Rapids
Liberty Dog Writing Co.

The dogs and I had a daily morning walk routine for quite a while.  Then when our baby arrived a little early, it came to a sudden halt.  But now we are mostly back into our morning routine and they are so happy!  And I am so happy!  And our son is so happy because he seems to really enjoy looking at the trees and cars and houses and wagging tails in front of him!

*The first, second and fourth header routines first appeared in my blog post from last year’s back to school season on August 9th.*