As any veteran teacher can tell you, routines are one of the most important building blocks for a successful classroom.
When students are unsure of what they are supposed to be doing, they will fill that space with something they think they could be doing. We see this in every part of the school day: from building entry, to a quick "turn and talk" with a partner, to playing a sport in gym class. We can help our students be successful by making sure that our expectations are clear and remain consistent throughout the school year.
What routines do you need in your classroom?
I like to start by imagining that I am a student, from the moment they enter my classroom to the moment they leave at the end of the period. As I take this imaginary walk in my students shoes, I develop a list of questions about when, where, and how I should be doing things. Then, I set about answering the questions on my list.
A sample below:
When should I enter the room? Before the bell? After the bell?
Where should I sit?
What should I take out of my bag when I sit down? What should I put away?
How will I hand in work that is due today?
When will the lesson begin? At the bell? Is there a grace period?
When the lesson does begin, what should I be doing? Is there a Do Now?
How will the teacher take my attendance?
What do I do if I need to leave the room?
Am I allowed to charge my phone here?
What is the cell phone policy?
How will I ask any questions that I have? Should I approach my teacher?
When my teacher is talking, what should I be doing? Listening? Taking notes?
How do I ask a question? When is the appropriate time?
What should my notes look like? Will they be graded? Is there a format I should follow?
Group work time! Do I get to choose my partner(s)? What is my role in the group?
How will my classwork be graded today? How will my participation be graded today?
What should I do with today's completed classwork? When is it due?
How will I know that class is dismissed?
Once you have your list, you can decide how to answer each of these questions for your students. Yes, this takes a long time. But think about it this way - Either you prepare and answer these questions before they are asked, or you are forced to address them on the spot later, which can result in inconsistent or ineffective policies in your classroom. Nobody wants that.
What should my routines look and feel like?
Your routines should be consistent, intuitive, and manageable.
Consistency is key. If your routines are constantly changing, students will not be able to keep track of them, and this defeats the purpose of establishing them in the first place. This does not mean that you must remain committed to a routine that does not work (see the next section), but you should do your best not to change them too often. One strategy that you can use to remain consistent is by posting routine instructions where students can see them, thereby holding both yourself and your students accountable to them.
Routines should be intuitive. Meaning, they should make sense, and not ask the students to do something that feels unnatural or out of place. For example, the location for handing in the daily classwork should go by the exit door, rather than in the far corner of the room. This makes sense, as students can hand in their work as they leave, without adding additional burden or giving them the opportunity to forget.
Routines need to be manageable for both you and the students. My first year teaching, I sat down to create my routines, and some of them were just unrealistic. Actually, in retrospect, they were laughably complicated. For example, I originally planned for students to sign up for "Conferences with Ms. V" on a clipboard in the back of the room when they needed extra help. While this might have worked in some classrooms, it was definitely not sustainable for my 175 global students attending a generally unorganized school in Harlem. Not only did the students forget that they were supposed to go to the back of the room to request an extra help session, I had trouble remembering to check that clipboard, and then follow up with the students to schedule a meeting. This routine was quickly replaced by a system where students simply verbally requested extra help and we scheduled a time to meet. Skipping the clipboard was more manageable for all of us.
How do I know if my routines will work?
Well, you don't. But that does not mean that you should forgo creating thoughtful routines for your classroom. Like I mentioned earlier, plenty of the ambitious routines that I began my teaching career with went right out the window by the end of the first week of school.
However, there are a few ways to "check" the routines you plan to use. For each routine that you come up with, ask yourself the following questions:
Is it simple enough for a 5th grader to understand? (Yes, I teach 10th graders. Trust me on this one...If it is too complex for a 5th grader to understand, it is too complex for high schoolers to follow consistently.)
Will it work for all of my students, regardless of their individual needs and levels?
Does it add extra work for myself or my students that we will not want to sustain for the entire year?
Take a step back and look at it from an outsider's perspective. Does it still make sense, or does it feel overly complex?
Does this routine significantly contribute to the success of my classroom?
Remember, you do not need to re-create the wheel here. Many classroom routines are tried and true, for a reason. When adopting routines used by others, make sure that they work for you and that they suit your own personal teaching style. For example, a former colleague of mine always individually greeted his students, with a handshake or wave, as they entered the room in a line when the bell rang. This worked well for him and established a culture of respect and structure from the moment of entry. However, I personally would not use this routine in my own classroom, because it just does not fit with my own teaching style nor feel natural to me.
Like anything else in teaching (and life), if it doesn't work, change it. While you want to avoid swapping your routines as much as possible, it is better to abandon an unsuccessful routine than to force an ineffective one on yourself and your students for the sake of consistency.
How should I communicate my routines to my students?
Now that you have some ideas about how to create successful routines, it is time to communicate them to your students. If you do not explicitly teach your classroom routines, it is unfair to expect students to understand and adhere to them.
So, on the first day of school, while some classes are playing get-to-know you games and icebreakers, my class is learning their routines. Yes, I know how unbelievably boring that sounds. But, every year, I explain to my new students that this is our boring housekeeping day, and I promise that if they stick with me through the boring stuff, it will get really fun, really fast. I like to think that I keep that promise every year...
I communicate the routines in multiple ways on the first day of school.
I explicitly teach them using a slides presentation.
I create "routine" signs and posters and label various locations around the room. (Ex: "Hand in work here")
I provide the students with a one-page handout of the routines to keep on hand
After introducing the routines, I give a quick assessment on them. This looks like a short Exit Ticket or a Do Now quiz the following day. It asks questions like: Where should you put your completed classwork? Where do we keep the bathroom pass? and others. This not only allows me to hold students accountable for knowing the routines in the future, but the students also appreciate the grade boost that an easy assessment gives them at the start of the year.
What are some examples of successful routines?
Finally, I will leave you with five routines that work well in my classroom. As mentioned before, just because it works for me does not mean it will work for you, but you can use them as a starting point for developing your own effective routines.
The Do Now Timer: Our building has six floors and allows only two minutes for passing time between classes. Translation: Even our most dedicated students are often late. The routine in my classroom is to start a 5 minute timer when the first bell rings. By the end of the timer, students are expected to be in their seats, with an answer prepared for the Do Now Question. If they are ready to go when the timer stops, they are not marked "late" on the attendance sheet.
Note-Taking Norms: My classroom (in person) runs on computers, with students logging on to a chrome book and opening the daily work on Google Classroom. In doing so, they have access to the Slides presentation. The expectation is that students take 2-3 bullet points of notes in the "speaker notes" section of each historical content slide. These may not be copied directly from the slide, and must be from something I said or a connection that they have made to something else we have studied. This teaches valuable lecture skills AND provides an easy routine to establish what students are doing while I am talking.
"Call on the next person:" I always choose the first person to share out the response to a question. In fact, I plan them in advance to make sure that I hear from certain students. After the student responds, they get to choose the next person to share, as long as they choose someone from a different table. This has resulted in higher student engagement - they love to call on one another - as well as keeps the rest of the class on their toes and prepared with an answer.
The Pink Bin: Very simply, all work that needs to be handed in to me goes in the pink bin by the door. Easy to remember, easy to do, and quick for me to pick up at the end of the day.
Group Roles: My class completes work with their table almost everyday, during which they practice their collaboration skills. Each day, they are assigned one of three group roles: Facilitator, Timekeeper, or Encourager. At the start of the year, they receive cards to remind them of their roles. By October, they are able to self assign and get to work right away without my assistance.
The Gist
Is this a lot to think about before even starting the school year? Absolutely. Is it worth it to establish clear and consistent routines for your students? Without question.
The benefits that you will see from establishing clear and consistent routines from Day 1 of the school year will greatly outweigh the time required to create and maintain them.