Top 10 Must-Teach Classroom Routines & Procedures
It’s back to school season and that means making a plan to have a smooth transition back into classroom life.
Explicitly teaching your routines and procedures is essential to making your year a success.
1. Emergency procedures
We repeat the same emergency procedures multiple times each year but we can get lazy about it. We’re pros at fire drills and probably even earthquake drills but what about the other drills, like lockdowns or floods (if that’s a concern in your area). What’s the difference between a hold & secure and an actual lockdown? What if there’s an animal in the area? What if a student needs to use the washroom during an emergency? In a real emergency, how do we release students to guardians?
Last September, my school went into lockdown (everyone was fine, don’t worry), and it was a huge reminder to read up on your school’s emergency procedure documents. That time it wasn’t a drill, it wasn’t a joke, it was real. It can be hard to stay calm when you have a classroom full of scared students. If you are prepared and you’ve talked about expectations with your students, you will be in a much better position should anything ever really happen.
2. Recess and lunch procedures
This includes things like washing hands before and after eating, where to eat, where to put compost/recycling and what to do when they are finished eating but the bell hasn’t rung. You’ll also want to talk about the process for going outside and coming back in. This will include topics like changing shoes, dressing for the weather, where they can play, the signal to return to class and where to line up.
3. Attention grabbers & signals
No matter how you choose to get your students attention, make sure it’s something that you practice over and over until you get it to the level you’re happy with. It may be a call and response, a word, clapping or ringing a bell. You may also have them do something like put their hands on their head, drop their pencil, freeze…You can have different attention grabbers or signals for different things.
A few that I use in my classroom:
“Pause” - Look at me and freeze. Used when I need them to stop very briefly before resuming their task
“Mains sur la tête”/ “on s’arrête” - Call & response with a movement
Clapping beats - Usually used in line ups
Wind chime - Clean up from quiet reading
Desk chime - Bring the noise down
Bell - Clean up from independent activity
Mission Impossible theme song - Clean up from centres
“Coo-wee!”- Students respond with the same sound and then need to be silent. Used outside or in noisy areas. It's not a word so it stands out and the tone travels well (used to use it in outdoor camps). It’s also unique, so my students immediately know it’s me saying it.
4. Using the washroom & getting water
How will your students tell you they need to use the washroom?
When is an appropriate time to go?
Which washroom do they use and where is it?
What behaviour is expected while using the washrooms?
Where are the water fountains? Can they have a water bottle on their desk?
5. Lining up
Do you have a specific order you want the students to line up in?
Will they be dismissed to go line up individually, by table, by group…?
Remember to go over being quiet and keeping their hands, and bodies to themselves.
6. Walking in the hallway
You don’t want to be the teacher with the out of control class in the hallway. Calm bodies and voices turned off is important but don’t forget to also talk about not touching artwork, tables or anything else they might walk by. It’s also important to discuss your expectations of when you cross paths with another class, other students or staff members in the hallway.
7. Supplies
Is your supplies individual or communal?
What to do if they lose any supplies.
What to do if they need to sharpen their pencil.
Where do you keep duotangs or notebooks? If you have younger students, it’s worth spending time on how you want them to put things in duotangs or binders.
If you use technology, what are the procedures around taking and putting it away, appropriate use, logins, cleaning…
8. Morning arrival and end of day procedures
What do students need to do when they come in the door in the morning. Other than putting their things away, do they need to get out agendas or messages from home, return any home reading books or get out any homework. If they need any of this, where does it go?
Depending on your routine and the age of your students, they might go straight into independent work, some kind of literacy or math centre or start silent reading. Make sure students know what to get started on, where to look for instructions, where materials are and what your expectations are for noise level during this time.
At the end of the day go over topics like how will students need to put away supplies, hand washing, outdoor shoes and where to line up. Depending on your school’s options for after school transportation or care, it might be a good idea to have a cheat sheet by the door so you can make sure everyone gets to the right place. This is especially helpful for substitute teachers.
9. Where to put finished and unfinished work
In my class I have one bin for finished and one bin for unfinished. Students assume everything goes here unless they are told otherwise. Sometimes I don’t want it in the unfinished bin, I just collect everyone’s at once and keep it somewhere else. You may have a folder system or want students to put away notebooks or put work into duotangs.
10. What to do when finished
You will ALWAYS have students who are just too fast and complete everything you put in front of them. My suggestion is to keep them occupied with early finisher activities. Reading, drawing and completing any unfinished work are always easy and require no prep. You may have bins where students will find additonal work, games or centres that they may do once regular work is complete.
I have different choices depending what it is they’re finishing and how quiet I want them to be.