Well established routines won’t always mean your classroom runs like clockwork every day (this is the real world and not a Pinterest video after all), but it will help manage transitions, set up work routines and make the classroom a safer, calmer place to be.
Manage the flow
When you first begin setting up your routines, think about the natural flow of people into and out of the space. Think about where you want students to move to first, next and last.
Plan the easiest and safest way for everyone to get to their table, a meeting space and a place to collect their supplies. You can add colours, labels or floor markings to remind students about where they should be.
Go for consistency
Most students love routine because it helps them anticipate what will happen during their day, and it helps them feel relaxed, confident and secure.
Choose classroom routines that you use consistently, with the same verbal and visual prompts each time.
Avoid changing routines especially early in the year, as this will only add to the confusion.
Instead, think about key words and phrases you can repeat or visual cues like timers, pictures, labels or floor arrows to remind students about routines.
Plan the transitions
For some students, transitioning from one activity or place to another can be really challenging. If this is the case in your classroom, make sure you give lots of time for students to process and think about the transition that is coming up.
You could use a visual timer, a verbal prompt or a visual schedule with times and activities to help ease transitions.
You can add photos of key people and places in the school to guide transition times. Some students may do best if they have a helper who can support their transitions within the classroom or school environment.
A place for everything
You’ve probably seen lots of photos and videos of those picture perfect classrooms with stunning wall décor, themed labels for pencils, books and lockers and a perfectly organised teacher desk. All the class supplies are lined up neatly and nothing is out of place.
If this is your classroom, that’s amazing and you should keep doing whatever it is you are doing to make it happen. If it’s not, relax!
Mostly those ‘place for everything classrooms’ exist only in pictures, not in the everyday world of real teaching.
Instead, aim for establishing simple placement routines that give students a place to put the things they use. Focus on having the things they use frequently placed closest to where they will need them.
Put the things they only use occasionally away and get them out only when they are actually required. This reduces the clutter in your classroom and encourages good life long habits for personal organisation.
Think about whether you want students to use shared resources at their tables or have their own pencil case of supplies.
Remember that no matter what you do in the quest for ‘a place for everything’, someone will always lose a pencil or have the wrong book.
Plan how you will respond when this happens (keeping a few pencils close by can minimise the disruptions) and how you will quickly keep the learning flow happening.
Visual and verbal cues
A visual schedule that you display as part of your morning routine can really help get the day off to a good start. This can be a print or digital schedule that shows students what they will be doing during the day, when and with whom.
Use consistent verbal prompts that relate closely to the schedule, so everyone understands what is happening.
After an activity is completed, remove it from the list so the next activity is always at the top.
Try using a quiet voice when you want student attention instead of raising your voice, so students have to really focus and listen closely.
Visual schedules, along with other visual cues like tabletop reminders, physical gestures and daily checklists, all help students anticipate what is coming up in their day.
They reduce the amount you need to use your voice so you can save your vocal cords for the things that really matter.
As you begin your school year, remember that classroom routines exist to make each day productive, safe and enjoyable for everyone.
Work towards routines that you can implement easily, rather than devoting too much time and energy to things that look great in a video but don’t stack up in the real world of classroom teaching.
