Routines & Procedures
Classroom Routines
Classroom routines are actions automatically done by the students. Once routines are established in the classroom, students will be able to do them with automaticity and without teacher prompting or supervision. (Wong, 2009, p. 170)
Daily Class Routine
Classroom Procedures
Procedures are used to provide a guideline for commonly occurring actions in the classroom. In the first few days of school, it is important to introduce students to the classroom procedures they are to follow for the rest of the year. Classroom procedures should be modeled, practiced, and repeated multiple times before students are expected to follow the procedures. I plan to incorporate the following procedures into my classroom.
Getting Students' Attention
Getting Students' Attention
- To get students' attention, the teacher silently raises a hand.
- Students, who notice the teacher's hand raised, quickly finish what they are saying, raise their hand quietly, and look at the teacher.
- Once all students are quietly raising their hands and looking at the teacher, the teacher signals all students to put their hands down and proceeds to provide instruction or further directions. (Withers, 2012)
- Students enter the room politely.
- Put away belongings (e.g. backpack, coat, lunch).
- Place homework in folder. (See Procedure for Turning in Homework)
- Sit at desk and quietly begin Warm-up Work, which is listed on the front blackboard. (Murray, 2002)
- Students enter the room politely.
- Return any belongings or materials to their proper place in the classroom.
- Sit at desk and silently read or begin to work on next assignment, which will be posted on the blackboard.
- Students clear off their desk and place their chair on top of their desk.
- Gather any homework or materials that need to be taken home; place in backpack.
- Pick up and throw away any trash within three feet of your desk.
- Stand in line in front of the door, waiting quietly for the dismissal signal. (Murray, 2002)
- When directed by the teacher, students push in their chair and line up in front of the door.
- Students will stand quietly in line, until the teacher guides the students out of the classroom.
- The last student out of the classroom shuts off the light switch.
- As a part of the procedure for entering the classroom at the beginning of the day, students will place any completed homework into their personal homework folder.
- Each student will place his/her homework folder into the designated homework file box, where the teacher can easily collect all students' homework at the end of the day.
- If the teacher is not instructing, a student, who needs to use the restroom, should raise two fingers in the air.
- The teacher will response with a nod of the head to signal the student permission to leave the classroom or will inform the student of a more appropriate time to leave the classroom. (Never make a student wait more than 5 minutes to use the bathroom.)
- The student will take a hall pass and quickly go use the bathroom and return to the class within 5 minutes.
- Students missing a pencil or students who have an unsharpened pencil should take a sharpened pencil from a labeled basket of ready-to-use pencils in the classroom.
- Unsharpened pencils can be placed in a separate basket.
- One student's classroom job will be to sharpen any pencils in the unsharpened pencil basket and place them in the basket of ready-to-use pencils. (Wong, 2009, pp. 202-203)
- When students having missing or incomplete homework, the should refer to the "Extra Assignments" folder in the back of the homework file box. This folder contains extra copies of homework assignments or worksheets.
- Students will have the opportunity to finish missing or incomplete homework without a grade deduction; however, students will be required to complete any unfinished homework along with a written explanation for the reason why the homework was missing or incomplete
- When students finish an assignment early, they should check their notebook for any unfinished work that still needs to be completed.
- After any unfinished work is done, students should do their classroom job if applicable.
- Then students are free to sit quietly at their desk and read a book, write or illustrate a story, assist a nearby peer needing help, or research a topic of interest. (Murray, 2002) View sponge activities for more ideas.
- During group work or individual assignments, that are not apart of summative assessments, students should first ask two other students for help or clarification.
- If the student still requires assistance after seeking help from his/her peers, the student should signal the teacher by raising one pointed finger in the air.
- The teacher responds by signaling the student back with a thumbs up, which tells the student, "I will come to assist you as soon as I can."
- The student puts their hand down and continues to work until the teacher is available to help the student.
- When finished with a paper that is to be turned in to the teacher, students will place their paper in the center of their desk pod.
- One student from the group, who is assigned the role of paper collector, will take the group's papers and place them in a special folder designated for that desk pod.
- A jar will hold popsicle sticks with one student's name written on each stick.
- When calling on a student, the teacher will draw a popsicle stick and call the name of the student written on the stick.
What Happens if Procedures Aren't Followed?
Unfollowed procedures do not call for a punishment; however, when procedures are not followed, it becomes necessary to reteach and review the procedures. A student, whose actions do not align with a proper classroom procedure, should be asked to state the appropriate procedure. If a student cannot recall the proper procedure, another student may share or model the correct procedure. When a procedure is not followed by multiple students, it will be necessary for the whole class to review the procedure. First the students are gently reminded of the procedure. Next the students practice the proper execution of the procedure with the whole class. Clear modeling and receptive practice of procedures at the beginning of the school year will help students to remember and carry out classroom procedures throughout the year.