Tight Transitions
Description
What Is It?
Tight Transitions is a quick and effective practice that students perform to move from one activity to the next during a lesson without extensive guidance from the teacher.
Why Use It?
Maximizes learning time
Supports student practice of routines
Helps manage discipline
Helps build a respectful classroom environment
Instructional Steps:
Review lesson plans and routines to identify what transitions occur in the classroom. These may include (but are not limited to) entering class, distributing and collecting materials, moving in and out of groups, and/or dismissal.
Plan the most efficient and practical way to accomplish the task or transition.
An effective way to teach transitions is to scaffold the steps: teach the steps one at a time. For example: “When I say one, please stand up and push in your chairs. When I say two, please turn to face the door. When I say three, group 1 please line up.”
Break tasks down into smaller steps that are clear and age-appropriate.
Teach students to follow the procedure step-by-step.
Allow time for students to practice repeatedly, possibly using a stopwatch, until students perform the task in a specific amount of time - quickly and orderly.
Quick Tips
Get students excited about practicing the steps in a specific routine by making it a game where teams can compete against each other and/or the clock.
Alerts: Spending too much time practicing routines takes away from instruction. Basic routines should take four to six days to establish and can be perfected over time, not all in one day.
Resources
Did you know?
Examples of quick activities that teachers use when students first enter the classroom are below. They do not require teacher input; they engage students with content and start the lesson/day by giving learners a feeling of success.