Keeping Things Running Smoothly
Posted by Hope Spencer on 30 Apr 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Management, Classroom Routines, Teachers and Teaching
From the minute I get out of bed in the morning until I arrive at work, I operate on autopilot. I follow the same motions as I fix my hair and put my makeup on. I eat the same breakfast and pack the same meal in my lunch bag almost every day. Then I get in the car and drive the same route to work. Following this routine assures that I have everything done in the morning and that I get to work on time.
But sometimes, things happen to break up the routine. Funny thing is, a coworker and I follow the same interstate route to work. One day, we started talking about the unique groundhog that we each have been looking for at the same spot on the road. That groundhog sits on top of a wooden traffic breaker right next to the interstate! And, get this, this is the second year we have watched him. I mean, I assume it’s the same one. How many groundhogs sit on a perch to watch the traffic?
In the classroom, having a routine helped my students know what to expect. We had routines for calendar time, reading groups, transition times—well, we had routines for just about everything! Everything seemed to run just a bit more smoothly once everyone was familiar with our classroom routines. Sometimes things happened to break up the classroom routine too. When our day was disrupted, whether by a fun event like a field trip or an assembly or an unusual event like a fire drill, my students and I always felt a bit out of sorts.
How about you? Do you have routines that keep things running smoothly in your classroom? Which ones seem the most important to you and your students—and what are your best teacher secrets for getting back on track when something happens to break up that routine?
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We have a basic routine we follow in my kindergarten class, but the most important thing is starting the day with Calendar time. During this time I go over the schedule for the day, using a special pocket chart for scheduling. I tell the children the order of events for the day and a brief description of each event, such as, “During math we will draw pictures to subtract” or “Lunch will be early today because the big kids are taking the PASS test.” Throughout the day the students frequently ask me what we are doing next or when we are eating lunch. I always tell them to check the schedule, and by now they can read well enough to read the schedule for themselves. I have found that having a posted schedule helps them and me in this way.
I worked with Special Ed for 8 years. One thing that helped with our routine was was having a hanging pocket with schedule cards. They had pictures on them. We would go through the schedule first thing. That way they were able to anticipate what was next just by looking at the pictures. This has also worked well with the preschool classes I have taught.
Routine is DEFINITELY important in our Preschool day! The children know that when they come into the classroom they have “Free Choice” time, then it’s “clean up” time, then “Circle Time” and so on. During Circle Time we always do things in a particular order. Since I teach in a Catholic school, we always pray first. Then we do the calendar for which we sing the days of the week (as the other Kathleen mentioned!), we figure out what day it is, then we count out the days to see what the date is, we also have a pattern, and we end up saying the entire date with the month, day, and year. After that we do the weather and then the Pledge of Allegiance. If something accidentally gets skipped, the children let me know! Even on days when something else is happening, we try to do this “Circle Time” somewhere during the morning. Having a routine gives the children, I feel, more of a “stable” environment. They can almost always count on knowing what to do at a particular time. I think it gives them a sense of security.
I have had the same basic routine for almost 20 years. Kids come and kids go but the routine stays the same. It is a flow that carries us through the day. The last few years as things changed in Kindergarten I started doing more with the calendar. We say the month, then we either do patterns or count the # of days then we sing the days of the week. If we (I) forget the singing we have to stop what we are doing and go back and sing the days.
This is what the kids want to do. But I find that it is what works when the day gets off, we just go back to that part of the routine that we left off at.
Tomorrow we are having a St. Judes Trike a Thon so our day will be so different that there is no going back. After the parents leave we will take a walk to the farm and feed the animals. When we come back we can finish our daily routine. So I guess we can get back to the routine after all.