Getting classroom routines and procedures for back to school figured out is essential to start the school year off on the right foot. If we don’t get these classroom routines and procedures figured out we are more likely to have a tough time with classroom management and this will lead to a rough school year, which nobody wants! In this post, I’m listing out several important classroom routines and procedures that will help you to figure out what things should look like with your students on a daily basis.
Arrival
Arrival is one of the most important classroom routines and procedures you can get set up in your classroom. Starting the morning in a smooth way will set the tone for the day and ultimately create a successful path for the rest of the day for both students and yourself. When my students arrive in the morning, they walk in the door and hang up their backpacks and turn in anything that is from the day before. Walk over to our lunch choice board and make their selection for the day, then eat their breakfast at their desk. Once they have finished breakfast, they will pull out their spiral review morning work and work on that day’s column. If there’s still time, they can go to the break boxes and choose one of the activities they wish to play with.
Lining up
Getting lined up for going somewhere may seem like a simple thing, but students need this to be super structured so that there aren’t any disagreements about who goes where. I have always lined my students up in number order (each student is assigned a different number that is alphabetical with their names). This just makes it so much easier than them having to remember the totally random order that you may come up with. Obviously, this may have to change slightly if you notice any issues as the year progresses, but it’s a great starting point.
To change things up a bit, we do use classroom jobs that go along with our line order. We have a line leader each week, this person knows where we are going each day and is responsible for walking us there in the most efficient way. They also mark our “Where are we?” board outside of our door with the correct location. We also have a caboose job in our line, this student will be in charge of turning off the lights and closing the door after all students have left the classroom so that others in the building know we aren’t in our classroom at the moment.
Getting Student Attention
There are so many different ways to grab your students’ attention, but we want to keep them as simple as possible. I usually use the Class Yes variations from Whole Brain Teaching. You can change it up by saying it in different ways, but keeping callbacks super simple will help students to actually remember what to say and will get their attention so much faster.
I also like to use a classroom doorbell. I plug it into the wall and keep the doorbell button itself on my teacher’s lanyard. Students learn that when they hear the doorbell they need to stop what they’re doing, put down whatever may be in their hands, and look at me.
Restroom
The use of the restrooms is something that can vary based on your school or district. However, I’m going to share how I do it. With upper elementary students, you can give a little more freedom, but not so much that they take advantage of the freedom.
My schedule has always been lucky enough to have the perfect times for classroom bathroom breaks built in. We will always stop by the restroom on our way back from specials, lunch and recess. Students get 5 minutes to get in and out of the restroom during those times. Another classroom job we have is restroom monitor. This student is in charge of making sure nobody is left in the restroom after the 5 minutes is up and will ensure that hands are being washed and the restroom is kept clean without toilet paper or paper towels all over the floor.
If students need to use the restroom between our built-in class breaks, they will sign out using a simple sheet of paper. They write down their name and the time on the paper and when they return they will write the time again. There is also a bottle of hand sanitizer sitting there in case they forgot to wash their hands upon exiting the restroom.
Transitions
When it comes to transitions, we want to make these as smooth as possible. If we don’t establish routines early on, there will be a lot of essential learning time lost. With my students, we ring the doorbell at the end of the subject. Students can look at our class schedule on the board and see what the next subject is. Then they will look at the board to see what they need to get out according to our daily slides. Once students are ready for the next thing, they will read, rest or draw until it is time. I usually set a timer of 2-3 minutes up on the board using my slides so that students know how long they have to get everything together. This also allows me to get all of my things out and ready for the subject.
Looking for more back to school ideas? Check out the blog posts below.