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How you begin the day sets the tone for the rest of your day. When I first started teaching I had students coming in, talking, doing whatever they wanted and it was chaotic! When they start off really social it is hard to get them to transition into learning mode.
I have found success in establishing a strong morning routine that is predictable and peaceful way to start your day.
Three things to keep in mind when creating a morning routine or procedure- keep it as consistent as possible (same thing everyday), make sure it works for your group of kids, explicitly teach and reinforce the procedure until it runs like clockwork.
It is good to have a visual reminder somewhere in your room that reminds students of what they should be doing when the enter your room. This could be displayed at your door with a whiteboard or chalkboard easel, it could be displayed on your whiteboard or smartboard.
Wherever you choose to display it, keep it consist in the same place every day so students know where they can look to find what they need to do.
The first 2 steps in your morning routine might be really basic actions, but should still be included in your procedure.
For example, it might be unpack and wash your hands. Or, greet your teacher and grab your supply bin. Whatever you need students to do before starting the morning activity should be included into your morning procedure.
Make sure that it is not a long list of actions and the more consistent you can be (everyday is the same thing) the more successful the procedure will be.
After students do the basic actions upon entering the classroom, have an activity that they can be engaged in for 5-20 minutes depending on your schools morning bell schedule and how students arrive in the morning.
I like to use MORNING JOURNALS as a peaceful way to start my day. It also helps students get in creative writing which is often overlooked in the curriculum. Writing is a very flexible activity that can be short or extended and works well if your students arrive at different times during “drop off time.”
You can display a writing prompt each morning that they respond to. It’s quiet, practices skills that don’t need teacher assistance, and doesn’t become incomplete work because they just stop writing when the bell rings. To get my morning journal writing prompts or try them out for free, click here.
Create consistency by having the same type of activity everyday like morning journals or bell work, or you can create predictability by doing the same type of activity on a certain day.
For example you might have them copy the weekly Spelling List on Mondays, Mentor Sentence on Tuesdays, Writing Prompt on Wednesday, Silent Read on Thursdays, and Soft Start Games on Fridays. As long as you keep it consistent and predictable, your procedure will create peaceful mornings to start your day.
For more tips and ideas, follow me on Instagram @faithfullyelementary.
