Routines are the backbone of daily classroom life. They facilitate teaching and learning. Routines don’t Just make your life easier, they save valuable classroom time. And what do most important, efficient routines make it easier for students to learn and achieve more. When routines and procedures are carefully taught, modeled, ND established In the classroom, children know what’s expected of them and how to do certain things on their own.
Having these predictable patterns in place allows teachers to spend more time in meaningful instruction. What follows is a list of routines and procedures. Every good classroom manager will have thought about each of these before the beginning of the year. Each of these takes you on a visual and audio tour explaining how to establish similar procedures In your classroom. Arriving In the morning: As children start trickling Into the classroom, they need to know exactly what to do. What should they do with their homework?
Where should they put their book bags? Where do their coats and other materials belong? What should they do while they wait for the rest of the class to arrive? When does class actually start? When kids know the answers to these questions, they can move smoothly through the morning routine and get straight Into learning. Taking Attendance and Displaying Schedules: After the bustle of putting away book bags, coats, and homework, taking attendance and discussing the schedule can help bring students together and build community in the classroom.
Throughout the Day. Students move through many activities during the course of a typical day, from whole-group lessons to small-group work, from reading time to math time, from Len- class work to specials outside the classroom. It’s Important to plan for these Len- between times just as carefully as you plan your lessons. With predictable routines in place, students can move smoothly from one activity to the next without losing learning time.
