Establish Routines and Procedures

Effective teachers set up and frequently communicate routines, procedures, and expectations for classroom behavior. While these may vary class to class, routines and procedures are keys to managing an effective and efficient classroom. Keeping student attention, regulating participation, and providing support and feedback are important components of effective classrooms. Effective teachers have procedures to minimize distractions (e.g., talking out of turn, entering the classroom after the start of the lesson) and manage behaviors (e.g., error correction procedures, transitions) for both large and small group presentations and independent practice. While tactics for establishing classroom routines and procedures seem straightforward, they are often the most overlooked.

use rules, routines, and procedures

Effective teachers plan and teach the rules and routines for their classrooms. Students often see several teachers every day, each with their own set of requirements and procedures. Here is an activity to help students keep classroom demands straight. Provide students with a sheet of typical questions they might ask and give them the answers according to your classroom. One teacher put together a “Standard Operating Procedures” bulletin board and gave students personal copies of the procedures for their notebooks.

For example, “What do I do if I arrive at class and realize I have forgotten my notebook?” or “What happens if my homework isn’t done?” “How do I reenter the room when a lesson is going on?” For younger students telling the routine for lunch line up or bathroom breaks can proactively manage potential confusion and misbehavior. Providing this information to students on the first day of class and reviewing as needed allows students to be aware of classroom rules, routines, and procedures for your class and saves you time and energy in the long run. 

Teach Transitions

Achievement is linked to the amount of time spent actively engaged in learning tasks. Often much learning time is lost during transition times and behavior problems occur. Transitions between activities can range from several minutes to 20 minutes. Since the typical classroom may have several transitions per class period or day, effective teachers teach students what is expected during transition times.

For example, take the typical elementary school class. It may have 5-10 transitions per day. If the class completes an average of 10 transitions a day at approximately 8 minutes each, that is a loss of approximately 80 minutes of instructional time, or 20% of the school day. That adds up to an entire day per week of potential academic activity lost to transition time! Here’s how to better plan for transition:

Transition time needs to be quick and quiet. There are four basic rules for transition:

1. Move quickly and quietly.
2. Put your materials away and get what you need for the next class/activity.
3. Carry your chairs to your group and/or move your desks quietly.
4. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.

Effective teachers use direct instruction to demonstrate, practice, and perform the transition periods. Students are given the opportunity to model examples and nonexamples of transition. It is important to actively reinforce students for correctly following the steps. For example, “Bob, nice job—you did not talk during transition time and you did a great job quietly moving your chair to your cooperative learning group!” Once students are proficient with the steps, teachers can simply give the directions for the next activity and follow it by saying, “OK, it is time to transition. Ready, go.” Some teachers time and record the transition time and report to the students how long it took them to move. Others set a timer and say, “You have 60 seconds to transition.” The bottom line is that students will respond when they know exactly what they are to do, how they are to do it, and within what time frame.

Adapted from S. S. Paine, S., J. Radichhi, L. C. Roselini, L. Deutchman, and C. B. Darch. (1983). Structuring your classroom for academic success.

vARY TRANSITION ACTIVITIES

Some students transition faster than others, others enter the room from another class, or sometimes the teacher is conferring with another teacher. These are times when transition can be enhanced by providing sponge (i.e., fun) activities that can be done individually or in small groups to engage students while waiting for a lesson or class to start. Transition activities can also provide students a planned opportunity to take a mental stretch break. After students have engaged in a lesson requiring intense concentration, break it up with a transition activity. Effective teachers plan for these times and provide students with engaging tasks that meaningfully soak up the wait time. Some activities to try are noodle doodles, palindromes, or visual thinking activities.

• Noodle doodles are simple words, phrases, or drawings that when creatively solved translate into clichés or sayings. For example, write EVELATOR on the board and encourage students to solve the puzzle. (What does this Noodle doodle represent? Answer: elevator out of order). Noodle doodles should take into consideration the age and skill level of the students.
• Palindromes are words, phrases, sentences, or numbers that are the same written forward or backward. For example, what is a five-letter word for an Eskimo’s canoe? (kayak). A number palindrome can be obtained by adding any two numbers together in a specific pattern. It goes like this: Add the numbers. If the answer is a palindrome, stop. If not, reverse the answer and add again. Try it for:

23+ 46= ??.

(23+46=69, 69+96=165, 165+561=726, 726+627=1353, 1353+3531=4884)

• Visual thinking activities are those that stimulate students to problem-solve visual puzzles. For example, how many squares are in a square of squares (see below)?

Noodle doodles, palindromes, and visual thinking activities provide students with the opportunity to have fun while they cooperatively collaborate and problem-solve. Have your students make some up and share them with the class during sponge time.

use “sure i can” work

Students do not all learn or complete assignments at the same time. Instead of students sitting idle with down time on their hands, effective teachers provide them with “Sure I Can” folders. This takes planning on the part of the teacher, but the results are   worth it! Effective teachers assemble assignments or tasks that students are automatic and proficient at and that can be done without teacher assistance or instruction. Folders can contain worksheets, page and item numbers of textbooks, or cooperative activities that can be completed with other students who are finished early or also waiting for assistance. Individual student folders can be kept at a designated spot in the room or in a student’s desk.

“Sure I Can” work provides meaningful practice related to current or recently taught material or problem-solving skills. “Sure I Can” folders are not meant to provide busy work or additional work to those students who finish assignments early. If students view them as such, they will quickly loose the motivation to work efficiently because when they finish they are rewarded with more work. “Sure I Can” folders should contain fun, creative activities that reinforce skills. For instance, try having your students create vanity license plates. Vanity license plates are those you see around that have a catchy riddle or message portrayed in eight digits/letters or less. Have students create them for topics or people recently studied. For example, tell students to create a vanity license plate for a soldier of WWI (e.g., BIG WON), or one that NUKES). Sound easy? Try it. Vanity license plates push students to engage in the highest form of thinking and learning. They must synthesize their knowledge about a topic, then apply it to create the plate.

Use “Help! I need assistance” assistants

Teaching is tough work. In classrooms of 25-35 students the diversity of skill development and behaviors is vast. Since there is usually only one teacher (and/or paraprofessional) in a class, tactics that allow for many students to be provided with opportunities for assistance are needed. This tactic is easy and used during times of independent practice or group work. Each desk or group is given a three-sided card to be taped on a desk. On one side of the card is written, “Looking Good! Keep on Working!” On the other side is written, “I need assistance,” or “SOS.” The signs are taped to the desk in a way that allows them to be flipped up when assistance is needed. While the student or groups of students are working, the sign is left hanging off the front of the desk, indicating no help is needed. When assistance is needed the sign is flipped up on the desk. The message facing the student(s) is, “Looking Good! Keep on Working!” The message facing the teacher is, “Help! I Need Assistance.” (This can be adapted to “We” if used for group work.)

Directions for making signs:

1. Using tag or poster board approximately 12 inches wide (it’s sturdier than paper), fold it evenly into two 4-inch sections (see example below).
2. Then fold two 2-inch sections.
3. Print “Looking Good! Keep on Working!” on one of the 4-inch sections.
4. On the other 4-inch section, write “SOS” or “Help! I Need Assistance” (substitute “We” if for a group).

5. If possible, laminate the board.
6. Fold the board into a triangular shape that has two 4-inch sides and a 2-inch base.

7. Fold the remaining 2-inch strip up inside the triangle, and tape or staple the bottom of the triangle together.
8. Tape the sign along the bottom edge of “Help! I Need Assistance” or “SOS” to the front edge of the desk (see below). This enables the card to be flipped up or down easily.

Once in place on the students’ desks, you are ready to implement the tactic. By displaying “Help! I Need Assistance,” the teacher is quietly cued that she needs to check in with a student. The student keeps working by moving to the next item of the assignment or his/her “Sure I Can” folder. This tactic encourages ongoing active engagement in learning instead of down time waiting for teacher assistance.

Adapted from S. S. Paine, S., J. Radichhi, L. C. Roselini, L. Deutchman, and C. B. Darch. (1983). Structuring your classroom for academic success.

develop a consistent daily schedule

Develop a class period or daily class schedule. The predictability of a schedule or class format helps create anticipation for the class. One teacher listed his class format as follows:

Daily lesson format:

1. We will review what was learned yesterday.
2. We will correct homework and answer any ques- tions about it.
3. Homework papers will be collected.
4. We will begin the day’s lesson.

• I model what we are learning/doing
• You show me you know what we are learn- ing/doing.
• We practice together.
• Prove it! You show what you know.

5. We review the lesson.
6. Dismissal.

Often schedules are disrupted by assemblies, emergencies, and late or canceled school days. It is important to tell students that under these conditions there may be an alternate daily schedule that will be dis- cussed prior to the start of the class. Changes in schedule often create confused reactions from students. Accept these and calmly reexplain the reason for the altered schedule. The key is to proactively plan for daily routines and minor interruptions in order to better prepare students for active engagement of learning routines.

give specific task directions

Teaching students to follow directions is a worthy investment of time. While students are expected to follow directions, they are not always equipped with the skills to do so. They often lack in the skills to recognize the need to ask clarification questions. Provide practice by delivering specific directions and allowing students to respond. Here’s one idea:

1. Give a series of three or four directions.
2. Ask students to repeat the directions, using oral responding.
3. Then ask a student to repeat the first step.
4. Continue to choose different students to repeat or retell the direction in the correct sequence they should occur.

Variation 1

After selecting the first student to retell the direction, tell that student to pick the next student to retell the next direction, and so on. For example, Joe tells the first step and chooses Mary to recite the second direction. Mary picks Robert to tell the next direction, and so on.

Variation 2

After you are sure students know the sequence of directions and what it is they are to do, randomly ask for the directions out of order. “Paul, what’s the second thing we do?” “Kate, what’s the last thing we do?”

Use fast-paced questioning to keep students on their toes. Be careful not to frustrate those that process or think more slowly.

Using the specific task directions tactic provides students the opportunity to hear the directions repeated several times, which results in a better chance of following them correctly.

Variation 3

Give students Following Directions Activity Sheets. Use them to teach students the importance of reading all the directions before beginning a task.

follow directions…at home!

Practicing a newly acquired skill or one that needs fluency or mastery work in a variety of settings provides additional opportunities to practice and facilitates generalization of skill. Have students generate a sequence of directions that can be followed at home. This may sound easier than it is. Challenge students to come up with a series of three, four, or even five directions. Be creative. Encourage them to set a time limit requirement for completion. For example, steps for setting the table, steps for making a bed, steps for making a sandwich, and so on, all within a set time limit.

Encourage family members to get into the act. Have one be the timekeeper. Have them switch roles and complete the directions while the student times them. Make performance comparisons. Who did better? Why?

self-record to improve following directions

Self-recording is a procedure that students can use to decide if they have followed directions in performing expected behaviors. Keeping records of their performance serves as a visual cue of how they are doing. It also provides a systematic way to evaluate following direction skills and plan for what is needed to improve performance or task completion. Although many students automatically know how to follow directions, task completion is increased, and confusion is decreased when students are taught to follow directions and how to ask for clarification. Provide students with fun Following Directions sheets requiring them to repeatedly follow a simple set of directions. Or you may want to use the Following Directions sheets as probes and have students keep track of their progress and performance over several administrations of the same task. Teach students to generalize their skill at following directions to other class activities using the following self-monitoring questions: What am I supposed to be doing? Am I reading directions carefully? Do I understand them?