Classroom Management Tips To Save You Time and Sanity This School Year Part 2: FFA Style
So apparently y’all loved our first classroom management blog we decided to come back with a part 2.
These strategies are more catered to an agriculture classroom because we have brought in ideas from FFA into the classroom. Turns out, things that we do normally in our chapters can actually be implemented into our classrooms seamlessly.
We love the idea of adding routines into a classroom because chaos does not have to be the default setting for a classroom. You don’t have to lean into that narrative that kids are crazy, classrooms are chaotic, and flying by the seat of your pants is required.
While we admit that some days will be crazier than others, that doesn’t mean you can’t have routines that ease the stress for you and the students to set up the class for what it is meant for, LEARNING.
3 MORE Classroom Management Tips To Save You Time and Sanity This School Year
1. Roll Call
Giving credit where credit is due, the amazing Breanna Berry and Abbey Brown from Georgia were the first to share this idea to the G&G community at a previous Germinate Conference. And many of us STILL to this day use this strategy to take attendance in our classes.
Can I get a little roll call, please.
What better way to remember to take attendance everyday then have the students help you out?! Here are four simple steps to make this happen…
Post the class roster on the board
I have this as my second slide (after my start-up daily) and just flip to it after we review the start up. (Yes, attendance doesn’t have to be the absolute first thing you do). Here is an example:
1st Period Veterinary Science
Laura
Cassidy
Jason
Hannah
Jacklyn
Students day “Good morning _________” to the person after their name
The first student on the list will say Good morning or HI or whatever greeting they would like (that is appropriate) to the person next on the list.
Laura: Morning Cassidiy
Cassidy: Hi Jason
Jason: Hey Hannah
Hannah: Hi Jacklyn
Here is a little instagram reel tutorial I made a while back, and I’ll admit it is kinda corny.
3-You check attendance as they say hello to their classmates
As the students are going through the roll call, you have your attendance website up and click as you go. Pretty soon the students will catch onto who is before and after them and they will say “Oh Sarah’s out today” instead of waiting in silence for the next person.
4-The last student says hello to YOU
You might be thinking “what does the last person do?” Great question, we have a solution for that! The last person on the list would wrap it up by saying hello to you! It would sound like this.
Jacklyn: Hi Mrs. Nerswick!
And you are done in about a minute! Not only did you get attendance done but you also gave an opportunity for every student to say something out loud in class at a low risk situation AND they are greeted warmly by a classmate. It’s a win-win-win in my eyes.
2. Opening Ceremonies
You are agriculture teachers and FFA advisors right? Why not use some FFA traditions in your classroom?! Yup that's right, time for some OPENING CEREMONIES.
“In class?? Everyday?!”
You better believe it.
It’s pretty simple (and you can combine it with roll call). Here’s how:
Print out 6 copies of opening ceremonies
Highlight the parts for each of the officer roles (Ex. President, VP, Sentinel etc.)
Put the copies in a document protector (like these) or laminate
Place command hooks throughout the room where you would like the officers to stand during OC
Hook the OC scripts on the hooks
Assign class officers
As soon as the bell rings the president starts the class with a TAP, TAP, TAP and the officers complete opening ceremonies
When the president says “The secretary will call the roll of members.” your class can do roll call as outlined in the first section.
Now, does this magically happen and is beautiful the first day? Heck no. Maybe not even in the first week. It takes time and energy to get this routine in place. But, it you commit to it, it will work in your favor!
3. Class Officers
Anyone remember having classroom jobs in elementary school? And what was it about being a line leader that made you feel like the coolest kid in school?
Adding class officers to your classroom can bring back that feeling of responsibility to your students and lighten your load a bit.
In our classes we have done the election two different ways:
Popular Vote: Take those nominations position by position and then do a blind vote.
Assigned Positions: Teacher randomly chooses the officers and makes sure each student has a chance to be an officer.
You can choose what works for your class. You can also tie FFA points, leadership standards or extra credit to the roles – whatever aligns with your grading!
The next section will talk you through how to use officers to complete opening ceremonies to start off class. But, there are also plenty of other reasons to have class officers.
Assign them REAL relevant jobs
You can absolutely provide those class officers with special jobs. For example, when my class would leave the classroom to go to the greenhouse the sentinel would have to be the last to leave the classroom and make sure it was locked. I also had the secretary help with attendance.
Provides leadership opportunities for students (who might not ever have one)
There are only so many leadership positions in FFA or in all the clubs in a school. This provides students a simple way to be a leader in the classroom. And yes I have had students put it on their resumes.
Eliminate the “Can I do that?” question
We would be pretty rich if we got a dollar each time a student asked if they could do something for you. Take something to the front office, get paper from the copy room, grab mail from the mail room and the list goes on. When you have class officers they are in charge of those errands.
And remember: leaning into routines doesn’t just help you as the teacher. Research has shown that having routines particularly in high school classrooms can provide structure, predictability, and a sense of security, which can reduce anxiety and improve focus. And that is EXACTLY what I am looking for to help my classroom run smoothly.
If you are looking for more sanity saving classroom tips check out the CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION strategy Hall of Fame Sessions. HoF sessions are a curated selection of crowd-favorite single Germinate sessions available for purchase. These sessions can totally quench your thirst for some new strategies to try out in your classroom this school year.
