Classroom Mgmt Series: Why Routines Aren’t Just for Elementary School (And How They Reclaim Your Class) Part 1

You need a plan/routine for vital parts of your classroom. Not everything. Your class will move organically in certain situations. The tricker parts are the transitions. 

This school year I didn’t start off strong, TBH. I had some things under control like my cute classroom rug, color coded table numbers and table bags of supplies. What I didn’t figure out until after winter break was that my kids needed consistency and routine. Heck, so did I! 

I would find myself frustrated that they didn’t follow my exit directions on the board, they didn’t come into class and immediately start their warm-up, that they didn’t know when it was appropriate to ask to go to the bathroom. 

But, it wasn’t on them to read my mind. I needed to give them deliberate specific instructions on what to do, how to do it and when to do it. 

I truly didn’t hit my stride until after spring break when I really felt in control of my classroom environment. 

And now as I look toward the next school year I feel like I need to write this all down so I don’t forget. So I am happy to have you come along for the ride for this series about the non-negotiable classroom routines in my classroom that just might help yours run smoother. 

As always, I preface this as these are things that work for me, while I will be giving you specific instructions and ideas I want you to find what works for you. Because every classroom is different, every group of students is different and every teacher is different. 

I started doing research on why routines matter, because truthfully I thought it was more of an elementary school thing. Things that 10 year olds and below need to just figure out how to behave in a classroom. While this is true, routines are also vital for middle and high school students even adult learners. 

Think about yourself, what happens when your routine is interrupted. Like you stayed up too late watching the World Cup games, or your significant other is out of town for the week or you are on a field trip with students. Everything (can) go haywire. You can experience increased stress and anxiety, you may get frustrated more easily, your body will fatigue faster and you may even become neurologically overloaded.

Kids have similar reactions to changes in routine. And in your classroom things change often, we know that. But, there are some repetitive things that happen daily that could use consistency.

When students can come into class knowing what to expect it has some pretty significant effects on the learning environment. 

Reduce Cognitive Load (if they know what to expect they don’t spent brain energy wondering what is going to happen therefor they can focus on the learning) 

Reduce Anxiety (we have an anxious generation, whatever we can do to lower anxiety is helpful, if we have consistency in our classrooms we can provide that and lower that anxiety)

Maximize instruction Time (instead of spending precious class time on instructions changing daily, you have decreased the amount of time you need to tell students what to do. They know automatically. So they can spend more time learning. 

If you are like me and want these kind of results for your students, you are going to love this blog series. In the next part of our series, I have mapped out SIX vital transition times in the classroom that need routine. I will provide the reasons why and examples of how you can build your routine.

If this sounds like something that you want more than just a blog post on, consider checking out our newly updated  Green & Growing Facilitation Menu. Our team travels across the US (anyone abroad need facilitation?) to provide instruction on these strategies. We would love to some to your school system or teachers conference to provide workshops on these techniques.