I started my teaching career in the special education world. During this time, I co-taught in various classrooms, and learned many lessons from veteran teachers. It was such an amazing experience since I was able to see first hand what didn’t work in the classroom and what did. The best piece of advice that I walked away with from my years of co- teaching is that with structure comes freedom.

I vividly remember one classroom I was apart of that did not have any routines set in place. The students would come in crazy, visit with their friends, and go in and out to use the restroom, and go to their locker whenever they wanted...all before class officially started! The teacher would yell over their individual conversations to get them settled, and would then start with whatever plans she had for the day. A lot of days, the lesson did not even start until 15-20 minutes into class. And then students would get up while she was teaching, walk around, blurt out, and be unintentionally disruptive. Don’t get me wrong, this teacher was great and I loved her as a person. She was knowledgeable and was really able to break concepts down into manageable pieces, but due to the lack of structure, students missed out on being a rockstar in the classroom. She did not have the freedom to teach like she wanted because she viewed her students as not being able to handle it. In reality, if she just had a few routines and procedures in place, she would have really been able to make more of an impact.

Through the years, I’ve learned structure helps you avoid burnout since you are not constantly battling your students, and it allows room for your creative juices to flow. I truly believe teachers like you want to make a difference, and effective and consistent routines and procedures will help you to fully embrace your passion for why you started teaching.

Here are the routines I teach in my middle school classroom the first week of school-

1. How to Enter the Classroom

This is the first thing that will set the tone for your day and your student’s behavior. Middle schoolers tend to want to run around and touch each other when they come into the classroom, and without an expectation, something will eventually get broken or someone will get hurt. I’ve seen it happen! 

It is essential you practice this routine. Have students go in the hallway with all of their stuff, and practice coming into the room correctly. Really play it up! Do it several times and praise, praise, praise those who do it correctly. 

The Routine: 

*Students come into the classroom.

*Students go straight to their assigned seat.

*Students read the board to see what materials they need and start getting organized for the day.

Tips: 

• Greet your students at the door by name. Tell them you are excited to see them. High five or fist bump.

• If the materials needed that day are out of the ordinary, hold a sign up that has the materials listed so students can get it from their locker before they come in. 

• Don’t be discouraged if they all don’t do it correctly the 2nd or 3rd day. Really praise the ones that did! Say, “Thank you Kyle for going straight to your seat! That’s amazing!” Praise whole tables/groups/rows that get it right.  It sounds silly, but it really works! If you find a lot of students aren’t doing it correctly, practice it again. 

2. Getting Organized

This is the second routine that will really make or break your day, and it goes hand in hand with the routine of coming into the class. Practice this routine with the coming into the classroom routine. 

Routine:

*List everything your students will need for the day on a Daily Agenda Slide.

*Display the slide on your board and start a 3-minute timer.

*Students come in, go straight to their seat, and read the Daily Agenda Slide..

*Students get out everything they need for the period. Even down to turning the book to the correct page. 

Tips: 

• This is a routine I practice, practice, practice, and practice some more. Sometimes I take a whole class period to do it.

• Some students will come in, sit in their seat, and just stare into space. If you see this, find someone around them that is doing the routine correctly and say, “Thank you Salem for getting your notebook out and set up!” This will usually spur them into action. If it doesn’t, tap their notebook and point at the screen and say, “Remember what we practiced…”

•  Have your group leader encourage and help their table friends. Praise and celebrate groups who have it 100% complete by the end of the timer. 

3. Focusing Attention

Yelling over your students or standing at the front of the room until they get quiet is exhausting, and it wastes valuable time.  Having a systematic procedure for focusing and quieting your class will help you get so much more accomplished (and save your sanity!).

With this strategy, the expectation is the students will have their eyes on you and be quiet by the time you get to one. Giving them the countdown works wonders!

Routine: 

*Ring a wireless doorbell or use a bell/tamborine/etc., to get their attention.

 *Hold up your right hand and say in a calm voice, “Focus up here in 5. Focus up here in 4. Focus up here in 3…” Keep this up until you get to 1. The countdown gives students time to wrap up what they are doing before focusing back on you.

Tips: 

• Find something that makes a noise, like a bell, before you start the “Focus up here in 5. Focus up here in 4...” This is the one I use.

• Practice, practice, practice. Have your students casually talk and then get them to focus. Make it fun!

• Praise, praise, praise students who you notice focused quickly.

• Stay consistent. Do this method every time you need their attention.

4. Managing Classroom chatter

You know when you go to a staff meeting with your teacher besties and you can’t help but giggle, make comments, and write notes on the corner of your paper?

Yeah...our students are not any different.

However, we can’t let it slide or else we are left with a class that feels like they can hold side conversations whenever they want.

A consistent procedure will nip the inappropriate conversations in the bud. This procedure might sound basic, but it works. Even with my 8th grade, too cool for school students. I actually had a popular and super social 8th grader tell me at the end of the year that she likes my class the best because her classmates aren’t talking about random things during class. She said in other classes it is easy for her to get off task and join in on the side conversations because the teacher allows it to happen. I think her comment proves that students really crave structure in the classroom and it’s our responsibility to teach them how we expect them to behave in our classroom.

Procedure

* Expectations should be established as to what types of conversations students can have and when. For example, working in a small group has different expectations than direct instruction.

*If a student talks at an inappropriate time, their initials go on the board. That’s a warning.

*If it happens again, it’s a check and they are moved to the focus area. 

*On the third time, they are given a Pause & Reflect Sheet and earn a consequence (parent contact).

Tips: 

• Remind your students of expectations before starting an activity. Say something along the lines of, “This is a small group activity. I expect you to talk only to your group. As a reminder, if you are talking to another group, you will receive a warning.”

• The visual of a initials on the board helps. If you are worried about sending a negative vibe, consider putting a small post it note on their desk. 

• BE CONSISTENT on this. If you are having to give your teacher look, it needs to be a warning. 

• Set the expectation that if you deem a conversation or side chatter as inappropriate then that’s your decision. Avoid engaging in drama and power struggles. Students will try to say, “What? What did I do? I wasn’t talking. It wasn’t me!” Do not get into a back and forth with them. Remind them that it’s just a warning and that you can discuss after class if needed, but you’re going to move on in that moment.

• A focus area is an area I have near my filing cabinets. It is just a desk and a chair students sit in when they struggle to control their conversations. They can still participate, but it has to be independent.

• A pause and reflect sheet has students to explain the expectations of the class, what they are doing that is not meeting the expectations, why they are choosing to not meet the high expectations of the class, and what they can do differently next time. Sometimes students feel teachers do not have the full picture of what’s happening, so I have an section where they can explain anything they think I should know about what happened.

5. Dismissing Class

I have no idea why students packing up early or getting up to gather at the door really gets under my skin, but it does!

I think most students pack up early because they feel there will not be enough time at the end of class to get it all together.

Assure your students there will be one minute to pack up, so there is no need to do it ahead of time.

During pack up time, it is important your students stay at their area and not gather at the door. I set the expectation that they cannot get out of their seats until I say, “Have a great day!” 

Routine:

*End class one minute early every day. 

*Give students a signal when it’s time for them to get up and leave. My signal is simply saying, “Have a great day, y’all!”

Tips: 

• Just like coming into class, you have to practice how to dismiss. Practice packing. Practice sitting and waiting for your signal. Practice, practice, practice. Praise, praise, praise.

• Give yourself about 15-20 minutes to practice this the first day. Model what it looks like, and model what it should not look like. Go over the top, race to the door, jump around, ask repeatedly, “Is it time yet? Is it time yet? I can’t wait to leave!”

• If a student gets up early, make them sit down before you dismiss the class. Be consistent! 

• Have your students come up with something fun to say back to you. You can say, “Have a great day!” and they say, “It’s time to dip!”

Resources to Help You

ELA UNLIMITED

A hub where you can download this resource plus tons of other creative and engaging activities for your middle school classroom!

First Week of Agenda Slides FREE DOWNLOAD!

Just fill out the form for the direct link to the Google Folder!

COMPLETE Guide ON TPT

Get organized with this comprehensive resource!