The Secret to a Productive Classroom

During the school year, my family has a daily routine. We wake up, exercise, shower, eat breakfast, pack lunches, and go to work/ school. After school our schedule varies depending on practices and games and meetings, but it is fairly predictable. It works great August – May, one might say its like a well-oiled machine, but then summer comes. Dun-Dun-Dunn.

Okay, so the music effect might be a little dramatic, but I had to do something to highlight the drastic difference between our routine during the school year and during the summer. Why? Because at the beginning of summer, the routine turns upside down and for some reason my family has a hard time doing anything “routine.” Baseball, golf, summer camp, work, various lessons, time with friends, sleeping in, staying up late, meals, chores . . . you can enter your own list in these spaces . . . there is so much to do and rarely does it fall in an organized manner on the calendar. So, each year at the beginning of summer, we fill out a calendar and try to bring it all together and create some type of routine. I communicate expectations to my children and we try to bring some type of normal back to each day. And, through time, organization and a little bit of trial and error, we eventually get there.

As someone who likes spur of the moment decisions and considers herself flexible, I never thought I would describe myself as someone who appreciates routine, but as time goes on, I realize one doesn’t negate the other and routines save time and enhance productivity. They just do.

This is why we start each school year communicating expectations and building routines. We know time is of the essence and progress is necessary for student growth, so we strive to create a safe, calm environment where students can thrive. We teach desired behaviors and then gradually release students to practice and become successful with these behaviors.

If you have a system in place to teach routines, you know that it can take time, but once they adopt the routines you set up, you actually save time each and every day, and for each minute you save in transitions and other tasks, you have that minute to teach and confer with students.

If you don’t have a system set up, we have something new for you!  Our new online course, Daily Routines. In this course Gail will share the techniques and system we use to teach routines so that we can have the most productive learning environment possible. Teach them to build the right routine or they will form the wrong one. More information about this course will be coming next week. Watch your inbox!