Beginning of the Year Procedures

As you are getting ready for that first day, remember to teach your expectations for routines and procedures that you want students to follow.  Teach your expectations BEFORE your students engage in an activity.  MONITOR their behavior during the activity.  Then give students FEEDBACK (Both constructive feedback and positive feedback).   Continue to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE!  Practice later that first day; practice the next day; practice later that week; and continue to practice throughout the year. 

Examples of important routines/procedures to teach could be:

1.     How to sharpen pencils:

·        When should they sharpen their pencils?

·        Can they talk while waiting in line to sharpen pencils?

·        How many students are allowed to be in line at the pencil sharpener?

·        What path do they take to and from the sharpener?

·        How many pencils can they sharpen at a time?

Other suggested procedures or routines to teach might be:

2.     Restroom use

3.     Getting a drink of water

4.     Lining up

5.     How to get teacher’s attention

6.     How to walk in hallway

7.     Lunchroom/playground behavior

8.     Assembly behavior

*Check out this list developed to help you walk through the steps needed to prepare in detail for classroom procedures and routines.  Not all will apply to you, but it’s a great tool to remind us of all the things to plan for.  Hope it is useful for you.

(Thanks to Mike Otto, principal in St. Joseph, MO, for sharing the list linked above)