Summary
Classroom education in many ways depends on the teacher’s positive attitude and discipline. Shephard and Linn (2014) acknowledge that rules and routines “allow the classroom to run smoothly and create an environment for students that maximizes their learning opportunities” (p. 111). Therefore, teachers should develop motivational environments utilizing rules and routines as an educational basis. This paper aims to design routines for classroom activities and discuss their advantages.
Passing out Materials
Rules and routines are a part of the proactive approach to the learning process. According to Shephard and Linn (2014), routines are usually developed for the beginning and end of the day and are supported consistently. Activities like passing out learning materials motivate students for focused individual learning. Therefore, teachers should ask the students to behave quietly and pass materials personally to each student. The students then should be advised that they receive individual assignments. They should maintain peace and order when receiving materials and return the handouts at the end of the lesson.
Handling in Homework
Establishing rules and routines in the first days and weeks is critical for academic success. Ending the day practices include handling homework, which is sometimes perceived as an unpleasant activity. Therefore, the teachers may use the “Grandma’s rule” or the PAT rule of “preferred activity time” (Shephard & Linn, 2014, p. 111). This means that homework should be handled at the beginning of the lesson. Interestingly, when working in class, the teacher can organize the students through their locations for better “academic achievement and classroom participation” (Shephard & Linn, 2014, p. 98). Rows are seen as implying independent work, while clusters and semi-circles are meant for class discussion. In both types of students’ locations, teachers should make eye contact and have easy access to every learner.
Lining Up for the Cafeteria
Rules regarding transition, like lining up for the cafeteria should be established during the first days of the school year. The teacher may ask students for their input in developing the routine to empower them. After the rules were spoken out they could be written down and pinned on the blackboards so that the students practice them consistently. Lining up for the cafeteria activity could be planned as follows: the students could be arranged in pairs and transit to the cafeteria at a decent speed and speaking in easy voices. They should be advised to give way to their classmates, be polite with the cafeteria workers when making food choices, and be attentive when carrying their trails. After the students perform this remarkably hard routine they should be rewarded for it.
Moving to Learning Centers
This activity in many ways resembles the cafeteria group behavior. The one distinct feature is the communication with learning center practitioners and librarians. The students should be advised to keep quiet since other learners may be studying in the learning center. This activity should be performed after the students learned to behave in the cafeteria since in this case, they should remain much quieter.
Getting Ready to Go Home
Ending the day activities are critical for student discipline and academic success. Before leaving, the teacher should thank the students for their input during the day. The teacher should check if everyone received and wrote down their homework and advice students to move in pairs to leave the school. Students can discuss how they will behave in the street and suggest sensible dangers they can meet like moving cars, buses, and other objects.
Thus the daily routines were developed and the classroom rules were discussed. If the students practice the daily routines during the first several weeks of the school year they develop positive and orderly behavior. The first weeks are critical, and teachers should pay utmost attention to how the students behave when getting learning materials, writing down their homework, and during the transition to the cafeteria, learning centers, and getting ready to go home.
Reference
Shepherd, T.L., & Linn, D. (2014). Behavior and classroom management in the multicultural classroom: Proactive, active, and reactive strategies. Sage.