Tips

Use Procedures

No matter what grade level you teach, students tend to work better and be better behaved when they know what to expect. Implementing a set of procedures for various activities in the classroom will help your students understand what is expected of them during your class.

What types of activities should I have procedures for?

To start you should have procedures in place telling students what to do when they enter the classroom and before they are allowed to leave the classroom. Remember to be specific and list ALL of your expectations.

Morning Procedures	Other Procedures
Sharpen your pencil Turn in homework to appropriate tray Copy down all homework assignments Complete warm-up activity on the board When finished, wait quietly in your seat until the teacher begins class and gives instructions	Learning centers Reading corner Reading time Writing workshop Labs (experiments, etc.) Transitions between activities Instruction time versus working time (I.e.--in groups, on projects, individually, etc.) Group work (collaborative teams) Research Computer

Remember: If you have younger students, make your procedures simply to read and follow. For pre-school, Kindergarten, and 1st grade teachers, use a series of pictures with words to help your students understand your procedures.

You don't need to make a poster for ALL of your procedures such as going to the restroom, changing classes, going to lunch, walking in the hallway, etc.

However, you do need to train your students on ALL of these types of procedures so that they understand what to do and what you expect from them.

Take a lot of time during the first several weeks to practice these various procedures with your students so that they will remember what to do. If they don't get it right the first time, practice the procedure again and again until they do. The more time you spend on this at the beginning of the year, the less you'll have to worry about it later on.

Is it worth the time it takes to practice?

Yes! Yes! Yes! If students know exactly what they are supposed to do and what is expected of them, the less likely they are to cause disruptions throughout the year. This means that you'll probably have MORE time to teach than if you didn't practice these important skills/ procedures.