Purpose of Establishing Routines

How do you feel when you are asked to do something and feel that you were not given clear directions?

Are there unpredictable spaces that you travel through on a daily basis?

As empathetic educators, our answers to questions like these can help us frame how we think about the routines and procedures in our classroom. According to Berit Gordon, a primary reason we have clear classroom routines and procedures is to minimize the "unpredictability and chaos" that most of our students experience on a daily basis.

I am convinced that being explicit about the routines and procedures we are setting up is one of the most proactive strategies teachers can use to maximize instruction time and minimize and respond to intellectual and behavioral disruptions.

Voice Levels

I wanted to start this section by discussing the procedure and routine of establishing voice levels. Voice levels, and the Voice-Movement-Task model, may seem more aligned with classroom behavior and management, but it serves as an excellent way to begin establishing behavior expectations as in the class.

For instance, if a typical Do Now routine, in which students come in and respond to a question or prompt, does not have a clearly stated voice level expectation, students may come in and immediately become off-task. If you establish that you are expecting them to work independently or quietly with a partner or group, and you mention that they should be at a voice level or 0 or 1, then a subtle procedure is being formed around the gentle direction of voice levels.

The examples are many, and the practicality of having a routine voice level check can go a long way to maximizing learning time.

Including students in the creation of routines and procedures

When creating student learner profiles, I should take into consideration how my students' culture, identity, personality, strengths, and weaknesses can be leveraged in routines. This can be simple, like giving a student who needs to move more often the ability to help pass out papers or move across the room for materials. It can be complex, like incorporating culturally specific mannerisms like allowing students from a more orally focused culture to share their answers verbally as opposed to just writing their ideas down. Below are some other methods and strategies I plan on using to acknowledge students' backgrounds and lives when creating routines and procedures:

Listing routines on a big checklist for the whole class to look over and annotate
Giving students a chance to provide feedback and potential improvements of routines
Asking questions that require students to identify if a routine "works" or "does not work" for them
Having students provide an example of how a routine can be modified or improved, for them, or for the whole class
Connecting routines to classroom norms and behavior expectations
Explicitly mentioning that the routines are supposed to be predictable because so much in life is not
Having student-led discussions about how unpredictability and lack of structure can cause stress and anxiety
Setting the tone and guidelines of routines and procedures, but always asking for student input to co-create the routines and procedures

10 Procedures students may need support with

Participating and turning in work
Collaborating and asking for support
Managing time individually or with others
Thinking of and offering solutions to problems
Being flexible and adapting to a changing environment
Working on frustration tolerance
Reading and reading out loud
Writing, handwriting, spelling, grammar, word choice tone etc...
Speaking in various settings, small group, partner, whole class
Listening actively and reflecting back for clarity (Talk Moves)

Essential Classroom Routines

What are the essential routines to creating a predictable but varied learning environment?

Starting class

Coming into the class, getting materials, and looking on the board for directions such as journaling or discussion at a certain voice level.

Opportunities to participate

Cold Calls, Whip Arounds, and the general expectation to be ready and willing to share with the class. Building the routine of many "at bats", random participation, and time for practice and reflection.

Debrief

Making sure that each lesson has a clear recap and closure. This can be something like an exit ticket, a turn and talk, or a think-pair-share, but the point is for EACH lesson to have a clear ending reflection.

Starting class

There are many ways to modify how we start class, but the formula is usually pretty straight forward; establish a routine in which students can infer a set of actions that is required of them.

What I tended to rely on when I first taught was posting a Do Now question and having students gather their supplies and respond to the question, typically while I played a song that might have a connection to the day's lesson. What I lacked was a clear set of routines that clearly communicated to my students that as soon as they came in, they should expect to have their binder ready and be reflecting on the day's question or prompt.

My plan for the first weeks of school will be to have a simple/soft task prepared for every class, have it written on the board, have those routines in paper or as a digital copy, and have a clear station to gather and turn in materials established beforehand. I can begin to learn more about my students on day one by giving them short surveys to answer about themselves. My plan is to chunk the questions of the survey into 2-3 parts, so students can practice filling out the questions, sharing their responses, and turning them in. This will help the class build the routine of coming in, answering prompts, participating in discussion, and turning in work.
A nonexample of this process would be to ask a question but not have a clear direction to have them "write down" or "discuss with their neighbor".
Below are some examples of student I Can statements that can be used to unpack the class routine.

I can identify what the Do Now question is asking me to do.

I can ask others for help if I do not understand the directions.

I can describe 1-3 essential class routines.

Opportunities to participate

In "Teach Like A Champion 2.0", Doug Lemov discusses this idea of "at bats" as giving students "lots of practice mastering knowledge and skill." This goes hand and hand with a culture of error and collaboration because it encourages students to feel like they can share, be wrong, offer and receive feedback, and work towards group goals.
Giving many chance to practice can be facilitated in a lot of ways, but here are a few ideas I have for implementing this routine:

Whip Arounds. Students should be told beforehand that they should be "prepared to share" as a way to include and hopefully motivate them to participate in each activity. Whip around a re particularly helpful because they allow everyone to share their thinking without the pressure to get the answer "right". Participating is the goal.
Cold Calls. Building off Whip Arounds and the idea of "No Opting Outs", I should have a few ways to ensure that a random selection of students share at any particular time. Ther are a few ways to Cold Call but my favorite is to put student's names on sticks and put them into a jar and draw from it a various parts during the lesson.
Check For Understanding, then Check For Understanding, and Check For Understanding again. Attached is a list of 53 different types of CFUs we can use to give students as many "at bats" as possible.

Ending class / Debriefs

Ending class can be just as important and impactful as starting it. One routine that should happen in every class is a clear closure that allows students to reflect, process, and debrief with themselves, others, and the whole class.
I like to call this section a "Debrief" because it is an intentional decompressing of a lesson to have students think about what they learned, what they are still learning, and how they can work towards the overarching learning targets.
Instead of just having some type of Exit Ticket for each lesson, there are tons of ways I can create the routine of debriefing without it having to be the same every time.
At the end of most lessons can also be a time for students to fill out self-assessments to track their understanding of the learning targets. Further, norm checks can also be weaved into the end of class routines by asking the class something like:

"Show me a Fist To Five on how well you think we performed our class norm of creating a culture of error and collaboration, 5 being we did awesome, 0 being we did horrible" "If you answered 5, give an example or reason why...if you answered 0, or 1, give an example why"

That is where the "40 Ways to Leave a Lesson" comes in. Making sure my students know there will be a closure for each lesson also helps them have clear expectations about when class is official "over". Ideally each closure can ensure my students are participating all the way until the bell rings.

How will I know the routines are working?

Berit Gordon always provides a lot of great questions to ask when we want to know if an idea is working or not. I can reflect on the following questions if I want to identify whether my beginning of class routine is or is not working.

Do the students know what to expect at the beginning of class?
Am I prepared to stand outside the door and greet each student?
Do students have something to do as soon as they enter my room?
Are students smiling and looking eager as they come in?
What is the typical mood at the beginning of each class?
Can student begin class without me having to tell them explicitly?

How will I assess, adapt, and modify routines based on student-needs?

When it becomes normal to discuss the daily routines of class with the students, the theory and hope is that it will also become normal to assess and improve the routine. One quantitative way I can assess how well a routine works is by timing how long it takes my students to complete a simple process. I can choose to time them surreptitiously or not, and then use the time they got as a data point that can be "improved" if we identify was to speed up the process. This gives the students a chance to voice their perspective on the routine and potentially identify a process that is quicker or makes more sense for the space of the room. We can then practice the routine or procedure using the improvement that the students came up with.

Another way I can continually assess the class routines is by using the Marzano Teacher Evaluation Model to think through designing and modifying routines, as well as the Procedure Checklist below to think through each class procedure and identify if there is any way a procedure can be included or excluded, shorted, extended, or modified. The point is to highlight what routines and procedures are working, why they are working, and maximizing the class time with student centered instruction and planning.

Procedures Checklist

Additional Routines and Procedures

Soft Starts

Soft starts are a great way to enrich or compliment a typical beginning of class routine by adding an additional transition from entering the class and beginning a lesson. Here are 9 examples of of soft starts that are offered in Berit Gordon's "Joyful Teacher"

Greet Students At The Door

This routine is simple but speaks volumes. It entails two parts:

I can be prepared before (almost) every class to greet my students at the door.
I make an effort to greet EACH student.

Being able to set up a soft start to class can help teachers practice this routine. It is a great time to establish rapport and it communicates to students that I am waiting for each of them.

Unpacking Learning Objectives and Rubrics

Good teaching practice requires some level of alignment to what is called standards-based education. This is something that we should be considering in each of our lessons and is foundational in how we create learning objectives.
I am a big fan of having the current learning targets or objectives (I prefer learning targets or LTs) written on the board.
Student should begin to expect to see the LTs every day, and we will often discuss them explicitly. I call this process unpacking learning targets, and it is a typical in most of my lessons.
During unpacking, students should be given time to ask clarifying questions and offer suggestions or modifications to the LTs.
Another layer to this would be creating LT Self Evaluation hand outs where students can rate their understanding of LTs over a period of time. This is also a great piece of student created evidence that lets me track student learning and allows them to reflect on their own learning.
Lastly, my students should never feel blindsided by any assignment and its success criteria. One way to ensure that students don't feel caught off guard or unsure about what is considered acceptable is by explicitly unpacking rubrics as a class. This gives students the chance to offer feedback, think of ways they may need to be accommodated, and gives them clear expectations.
I could also record every time I unpack a rubric to provide to any student who may have missed that class.

Self-Assessments and Artifacts of Learning

Self-assessments are a routine I have always loved as a teacher and a student. The basic process is to ask students to rate their understanding of a learning target or even just a word.
This connects perfectly with unpacking learning targets and rubrics because it is establishing a routine of students checking in their understandings and thinking about what they still may be struggling with in relation to what the teacher is asking them to do .
This can be hard for students to do, and the strategy here is to continually offer chances to self-assess so students become more and more comfortable with assessing how well they know or don't know something.
One thing I saw implemented by a teacher in an observation video was this idea of a weekly "Learning Artifact Log" that students had to turn in each week. Having this weekly learning log goes perfectly with having student self-assess their learning because it gives them a tangible classroom product where they can essentially prove their learning to me.
Here is a running list of ways to incorporate self-assessments as a daily routine

Norms and Behavior Self-Assessments
Learning Target Self-Assessments
Check For Understanding questions that ask students to explain how they know something

Mental Health Check-Ins

Asking students about their mental health can be a difficult and sometimes daunting task as a teacher. However, as empathetic educators, we have to normalize and set the tone of the practice in our classrooms.
Students need to be able to express if they have had a horrible night, or week, or year. The routine of frequently checking in on my student's mental health is a practice I wish was more commonly practiced. It is a holistic social emotional learning practice that allows teachers to generate and track humanizing data about students.
Further, it gives students a chance to see their general mood over a period of time and reflect on the various triggers and stressors that may be contributing to feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, frustration, and even suicidal ideation and self harm.
I found this great resource on for making these check ins called Typeform. I will have to start a membership but I think it will be a valuable tool to have for collecting data of all sorts.
Below is a working example of a Mental Health Check In I can give to students. The process can be optional, but also incorporated into a response to student behavior plan.

Student copy of Mental Health Check In

Norm Checks

Norms are social contracts that everyone in class gets to create, practice, and amend.
Norms can be referenced at any time, but they are particularly effective if they are discussed at the beginning of a lesson.
As I reflected on this routine, I realized that I should aim to work the language of classroom norms and behaviors into every lesson to some degree. For instance, one lesson can have an emphasis on a culture of error and collaboration, while another can be focused on practicing silent reading and/or group work.

Referencing Talk Moves

I typically think of "Talk Moves" as visual resources that can be hung on the wall at the beginning of the semester and used throughout the year.
There are roughly six categories of Talk Moves:

Restate
Agree/Disagree
Clarify
Add On
Make Connection
Visualize and Imagine

Talk Moves can be introduced in a discussion lesson or activity where students practice taking a position on something that interests them. A Think-Pair-Share discussion prompt can be "What is your favorite genre of music" and students will have to pick 1 to 3 musical genres and describe why these genre's are their favorites. Student can then practice by having the talk moves printed out as a checklist and going down the list stating their position, restating their partners, clarifying what genres sound like, making connections etc..
Here are some helpful graphics to think through the some "Talk Moves" that can become routines in the classroom.

30 More Procedures to Implement

The secret to warding off at least some behavior problems is establishing positive classroom procedures for daily tasks and activities. Your students will appreciate your consistency, and once they have internalized classroom procedures, the day will run that much more smoothly.

Of course, choosing the right rules and procedures for your classroom is an individual decision. But be sure to define what you expect of students from the very beginning. Remember to take time to teach procedures during the first days and weeks of school.

Here is a list of general procedures to teach. You can adapt them to your grade level and school setting.

1. 1. Entering the room: Enter quietly and politely; remove your hat if you're wearing one; don't interrupt other students; follow the appropriate procedures for each time of day (e.g., morning, after lunch, after a special class).
  2. Lining up: Stand up quietly; push in your chair; take all necessary items; line up without touching others or talking; face the front of the line; watch where you are going.
  3. Leaving the room: Tell me where you are going; take the correct hall pass; do not run or play in the hallways or restrooms.
  4. Beginning the day: Enter the room politely; put away your backpack, lunch, and coat; turn in your homework; sit at your desk and read alone or do before-school work silently.
  5. Ending the day: Clean off your desk; leave out your work notebook; pick up any trash within three feet of your desk; stack your chair; collect your mail; wait quietly to be dismissed.
  6. Taking out/putting away/caring for supplies: Share group supplies; recap markers and glue; check the number written on the supplies to make sure they belong in your group basket; if something belongs to another group, return it to them quietly.
  7. Participating in group lessons: Do not bring anything with you unless I ask you to; politely find a place to sit where you can do your best learning; sit flat, not on your knees; listen carefully for new information; raise your hand to speak; do not speak when someone else is speaking.
  8. Obtaining help with assignments: Quietly ask the students at your table for help with directions if you need it; if you are working alone, raise your hand to get help from me; if you are working with a group, ask them for help in understanding how you do the assignment.
  9. Handing in finished work/homework: Make sure your name is on your paper; place your paper upside down in the "finished work" or "homework" basket.
  10. What to do with unfinished work: If I ask for work to be turned in, let me know if it isn't finished; if I ask you to keep an unfinished project, put it in your class work notebook.
  11. When and how to use the school restroom: If I am not teaching the whole group, stand by the classroom door with your hand raised; if I say "no," wait for a better class time to go; if I nod, leave the room quietly; do not play in the restroom; return to class before two minutes have passed (promptly).
  12. When and how to use the drinking fountain or sink: When I am not teaching the whole group, you may get a drink; take only a three-second drink; you may bring a water bottle to keep on your desk; if you need to wash your hands, use only a little soap; wipe up any water you spill.
  13. When and how to use the pencil sharpener: At the beginning of each assignment, the person I've chosen to be the "Pencil Sharpener" will invite you to have him or her sharpen your pencil; if your pencil breaks during an assignment, use a community pencil; only the "Pencil Sharpener" can run the sharpener and empty it.
  14. Being a classroom helper; learning a classroom job: If you get a job on Monday, see the person who did the job last week during silent reading time, ask him or her for the job description card, and have him or her help you on the first day. For the rest of the week, it is your responsibility to remember to do your job.
  15. Getting into work groups: Take all the materials you will need; greet each other; complete the task doing your personal best; make sure each person signs the project; thank the others in your group.
  16. Using the classroom library: When I am not teaching the whole group, you may check out a book. To do so, select a book (you only have three minutes at the class library) and sign out the book on the sign-out sheet. Take good care of the book; when you are finished, return the book to the basket and check it off the list.
  17. Handling seatwork pages: As soon as you get a paper, print your first name and last initial at the top on the right-hand side and today's date at the top on the left-hand side.
  18. Preparing for lunch: Wait quietly at your desk; when your lunch number is called, get your lunch or lunch money and line up in order; take everything with you, as you will not be allowed to come back to the classroom after we leave for lunch; while you're waiting in line, think about the way you need to behave in the lunchroom and on the playground; while you're at lunch and at recess, find one person who is behaving responsibly and be prepared to tell the class what you noticed.
  19. Getting a tissue: You may get a tissue from the closest of the four tissue boxes whenever you need one; you don't even have to ask; throw the used tissue away immediately; make sure it lands in the trash can; get right back to work.
  20. Lunch count/attendance: "Hot lunch" means you are having school lunch; "cold lunch" means you brought a lunch from home; move your attendance tag/magnet/clothespin to the "hot lunch" or "cold lunch" sign/spot; wait patiently for your turn.
  21. Throwing away trash: You may throw away trash whenever you need to if I am not teaching the whole group; do not play basketball with your trash; make sure all trash lands in the can; pick up trash even if it isn't yours.
  22. Turning in lost items: Ask the people around you if they lost the item you found; if not, write your name and the date on a slip of paper and tape the item to it; if it is money or something valuable, put the item and slip on my desk for safekeeping; if not, put it in the Lost and Found box; give yourself a "pat on the back" for being honest.
  23. Locating lost items: Ask the people around you if they found the item you lost; if not, check the Lost and Found box; if it is not there, ask me at a time when I'm not teaching the class; if you find it, thank the person who turned it in; next time, try to take care of your things. Consider going through the Lost and Found box at the end of each month with the whole class. If an item remains unclaimed, give it to the person who turned it in.
  24. Pledge: When you hear/see the signal, stop what you're doing immediately and stand up; place your right hand over your heart; say the Pledge of Allegiance respectfully; during the 30 seconds of silence, quietly think about the things you want to learn today and how you will act in class and on the playground.
  25. Visitors in the classroom: When visitors enter the room, let the designated classroom "host" or "hostess" greet them; when the host or hostess rings the chimes, get ready to listen to and look at the visitor — a smile is great!; when the host or hostess introduces the visitor, say, "Welcome to our class, __________"; remember, most visitors are here to watch you learn, so be ready to explain what you are working on; treat visitors respectfully.
  26. Fire drill: Stop everything; stand up and head for the door quickly, but without running or pushing; do not cover your ears; do not make any side trips; the classroom "fire chief" takes the fire drill packet and leads the line outside; the second person in line holds the classroom door for the rest of the class; the third person in line holds the outside door only for our class, then becomes the last person in line; wait patiently, calmly, and quietly in line outside until we are allowed to go back to what we were doing.
  27. Signals for attention: When I need your attention, I will ring the chimes (or sound the rain stick, open the music box, etc.); as soon as you hear the signal, stop what you are doing, look at me, and listen for directions.
  28. Helping other students: In a cooperative classroom, it is good to help one another; if someone needs help with directions or reading an assignment, help him or her if you are able; if someone needs help with understanding the problem, tell him or her to ask me for help; never put down another student who asks for help.
  29. Organizing desk: Remove all loose papers; decide if they should go home or stay at school; put papers that should stay at school in the front pocket of your work notebook; put pencil or art supplies in your school box; put your folders and work notebook on the left side of your desk tray; everything else goes on the right side; pick up your trash.
  30. What to do during free time: If you finish an assignment, first work on any unfinished assignments that are in the front pocket of your work notebook; when you finish those, you may choose to do your classroom job, read a book, write a story, illustrate a book, make up math problems, work on a research project, peer-tutor someone who needs your help, or create a song about what the class is studying.

This article was adapted from The New Teacher's Complete Sourcebook: Grades K–4 by Bonnie P. Murray (© 2002, published by Scholastic).

From <https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/30-classroom-procedures-head-behavior-problems/>

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Voice Levels

Including students in the creation of routines and procedures

Essential Classroom Routines

Starting class

Opportunities to participate

Debrief

Starting class

Opportunities to participate

Ending class / Debriefs

How will I know the routines are working?

How will I assess, adapt, and modify routines based on student-needs?

Additional Routines and Procedures

Soft Starts

Greet Students At The Door

Unpacking Learning Objectives and Rubrics

Self-Assessments and Artifacts of Learning

Mental Health Check-Ins

Norm Checks

Referencing Talk Moves

30 More Procedures to Implement

Get in touch with me at adam.gutierrez@aps.edu

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