"Procedures are for the student's benefit.
It will help them do their work with less confusion
and thus help them succeed." - Harry & Rosemary Wong
(Wong & Wong, 2009, p.171)
If any procedures are not followed or a student does not do the procedure correctly the teacher will politely and patiently ask the class if a student remembers how to do the procedure.
- If they do, they will remind the class. The class will then run through the procedure once or twice. (Wong & Wong, 2009, p.190)
- If they do not, the teacher will run through the procedure again, rehearsing once or twice.
- If there is a consistent problem beyond repeated practice, then I will change the procedure so it will be effective for our class.
Procedures
Start of the Day:
- Students will enter the room politely and quietly.
- Students will take their student folders from the student mailboxes beside the door. Student folders are explained below.
- The students will stop by the white board on the way to their seats and place their name clothes pin onto their choice for lunch for the day.
- The students will then go directly to their assigned seat and begin their Brain Coffee bell work. Click HERE to access the Brain Coffee document.
- Once Brain Coffee bell work is completed, students are to copy the schedule for the day into their planners or on a separate sheet of paper.
- If students should finish both the Brain Coffee and writing the schedule, then they may do silent reading until the teacher is ready to begin instruction.
Student folders:
- Student folders are placed in mailboxes every morning.
- Inside the folders will be:
2. Brain Coffee papers
3. Homework for Today papers and
4. I'm A Smartie papers
- These act as a way of keeping attendance every morning. If a student folder remains in the bin once class begins, that student is absent.
- Students keep their folders all day and they are returned to their mailboxes at the end of the day.
Student Jobs:
- Each student will be given a classroom job to instill responsibility into our classroom.
- The jobs are:
- 1.Messenger
This student takes messages to other teachers or the office for me when needed.
2.White Board
This student, upon my request, erases or writes on the white board.
3.Lights
This student turns off lights when leaving the room for recess, lunch, or specials and is the last in line.
4.Trash Can
This student notifies me when the trash bins are full.
5.Paper Collector
This student collects papers upon my request.
6.Reading Nook
This student keeps the Reading Nook organized and clean.
7.Desk Area Monitor
This student checks for trash on the ground or loose papers and pencils around the student desk area.
8.Morning Announcements
This student reads the morning announcements.
Lunch Picks:
- Students will place the clothes pin with their name on it onto the option for lunch they will be having for lunch. They have three choices:
- Cold/Packed Lunch
- Hot/School Lunch
- Lunch with Teacher (VIP reward occasions only)
Homework:
- Homework from the day before is placed in their mailboxes upon entering the classroom.
- If graded during the day, the work is placed back in their mailboxes for retrieval as part of the end-of-the-day procedure.
- If graded at a later time, the work is placed back in their mailboxes and the students retrieve them the following morning.
Line-Up Procedure:
- A student who sits near to the door is named the Door Leader.
- The door leader's name is placed above the door on the laminated page titled "Door Leader of the week".
- The door leader changes every week.
- The door leader, upon the teachers request, starts the line. Then will call colored work groups by the cleanliness of their groups desks and floor areas as well as the readiness shown by the group members.
- The teacher may assist the line leader if there is not enough time.
Bathroom/Leaving the Classroom:
- The students will have clothes pins with their names on them clipped onto a board that is labeled "Where Am I?"
- All clothes pins will be located on the "classroom" board at the start of the day.
- If a student wishes to leave the classroom, they must raise their hand with their thumbs up.
- When the teacher sees them they must tell her where they are wanting to go.
- Upon the teachers approval they must move their clothespin to the corresponding board which includes:
- BATHROOM
- DRINK
- ANOTHER CLASSROOM
- OFFICE
- LIBRARY
- NURSE
Turning In Seat-Work:
- Students must highlight their name on their papers before turning in any work. Highlighters will be placed directly next to the subject area work bins in a metal can.
- Finished worksheets and/or writing assignments throughout the day will be placed in paper bins according to subject area. For example, the students will complete their math practice pertaining to the math lesson and place the completed sheet in the Math work bin.
- No name papers will be hung on the "No Name" board with clothespins and students will be responsible for recognizing their own paper.
End of the Day:
- Students write homework from the board onto their Homework for Today sheets found in their student folder. Click Here for the Homework for Today document.
- Students must take an I'm A Smartie paper from their student folder and write one fact that they learned from the day and place back into their student folder. Click HERE to open the I'm A Smartie document.
- Grab their backpacks coats
- Put any papers or items from their mailbox into their backpack (graded papers, newsletter, etc.)
- Put student folder back into their mailbox
- The student then gets into line and finishes putting their coats and backpacks on
- Students must remain quiet in line, if not the teacher has the student return to their desk.
Absent Day Procedure:
- There will be an Absent Day Bin placed in the back of the classroom next to the seat work bins.
- If a student was gone the day before, they will locate the folder for that day and select all of the work that they missed (including seat work, homework, or any other important documents).
Missing Materials:
- If a student is missing any materials for the day, they must ask a neighbor to borrow and return that material to them the next day.
- The students will sign a I Forgot Agreement with the neighbor that lets them borrow their material. Click HERE to open the I Forgot Agreement document.
- For example: If a student forgot to bring a notebook or paper and needs to borrow a neighbors, they will bring a piece of paper for their neighbor the next day.
Pencil Procedure:
- There will be a selected area in the back of the room next to the seat work bins that will be designated as the pencil area.
- If a student breaks their pencil lead, pencil, or runs out of lead, they will go to the back of the room quietly and politely at any point and exchange their un-sharpened pencil for a newly sharpened pencil.
- There will be two cup labeled "NEW" and "OLD".
- It is the teachers job to sharpen pencils, the students are not allowed to do so unless the "NEW" cup is empty.
Book Hospital:
- There will be a Book Hospital located beside the reading center where damaged books can be returned if something happens while the book is checked out to the student.
- The student must place a slip of paper inside the book explaining why the book was damaged labeled What Happened. Click HERE to open the What Happened document.
- Unless it is extremely damaged or the student does not fill out a What Happened sheet he/she will not be punished for the accident.
Getting into Work Groups:
- Students will be assigned work groups and designated a color (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green).
- The work groups will always be on the board for students to reference.
- The transition activity for getting into work groups can be found here.
- Students will be in the four different corners of the rooms, either the reading corner, the desk area, the kidney table, or the door corner.
- The teacher will dismiss groups by cleanliness of desk areas and readiness of students.
Attention-Getting:
- On the first day of school, the students will be voting on an attention-getting response.
- Once this response is chosen, it will be written on top of the board for reference.
- The teacher will either say "Holy Moly", "All Set?" or "Ba da ba ba ba" (depending on the choice of the students).
- The students will then reply with "Guacamole", "You Bet", or "I'm Lovin It" and immediately place their eyes, listening ears, and quite mouths on the teacher.
- Failure to do so will result in the teacher asking the class to remind the student of the procedure by saying the prompt again and having the students respond once again.
Breathe Box:
- Based off the Nurtured Heart Approach by Howard Glasser, I will be using a RESET method for individual students who choose to break a class rule.
- The student will receive a red STOP sign on their desk if they are disturbing the class.
- If the student continues to disturb the class or break the rule the teacher will place the Breathe Box on the student's desk.
- This box is intended to give students multiple activities to help them calm down or refocus their minds. In the box the students will find these materials:
- Crayons and a small pad of paper
- Play-dough
- Stress ball
- Pictures
- A small journal
- The student is then to go to any area within the classroom they feel comfortable and can not distract students who are choosing to learn.
- The student will take the Breathe Box to that area and do the activities inside until the teacher dismisses them back to the area they are to be in.
- If students begin to misuse the Breathe Box, they will be taken away the privilege of using the Breathe Box and will be given a "My Action Plan" instead.
Finished-Early:
- If a student finishes their work early, they may either ask the teacher for a sponge activity or do silent reading at their desk.