First Days of School

Research shows that teachers can save valuable hours of instructional time by systematically teaching routines and procedures in the first weeks of school. Classrooms with specific procedures for turning in work, lining up, working independently, etc. have fewer off task behaviors.

How I Teach Procedures and Routines:

1. Model the CORRECT way - I show the class the way I want them to do something. I pretend I'm a student. I break down each small step and teach the routine.
2. Model the INCORRECT way - Students love this part! If I am teaching a routine, I show them what not to do. I demonstrate all the potential things that can go wrong. I make it look silly and exaggerated.
3. Students model - I have a few students model the procedure from beginning to end and I point out things that could be better. The other students observe only.
4. Whole Class - Lastly, the whole class does the routine or procedure. If someone does it wrong, we stop and start again. I try not to prompt so they learn to do it without my assistance. I praise them when they do it correctly.
5. Practice over and over and remind!

How I Teach Class Rules:

1. Creating the Rules:

By asking the students how many rules their have at home or how many they had in 3rd grade. Usually it is a large number. Then I tell the students that there's only one rule in fourth grade. They are really surprised about this because they are used to a long list of rules. I tell them that the biggest role in fourth grade is to TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES. However, we still have to come to an agreement what good choices actually look like, sound like, and feel like within the classroom. I give students a graphic organizer and they meet in groups to go over their ideas. I ask them to imagine or picture their ideal or dream classroom. They say things like "everyone would use kind words" and "no one would get hurt." Then I tell them my ideal classroom exceptions and we add to the list.

2. Practice the Rules:

The next thing we do is practice the rules by modeling. I model the behavior, students model, and then the whole class does it. We also role-play and I describe scenarios and ask students how they would respond. I also put the students into groups and they create a skit to demonstrate an example of making good choices and a non-example of this choice. They love this. It's a fun way for them to start the year off working with others, without having to complete an academic task. We also discuss logical consequences that would result from not following one of the rules we agreed upon.

3. Post and Agree:

After we agree on the rules, I type them up and mount them on a poster. We read them and discuss them once again before every child signs the poster. They agree to abide by the rules and accept the consequences. We post this agreement on a bulletin board and keep it up the entire year.

4. Respond to Rule Breaking and Reteach:

When students break the rules, I use logical consequences that are not punitive. In the beginning of the year I simply correct behavior with a conversation. I remind and reteach the rules.