Main Body
Classroom Procedures
17. Seating Arrangements
Generally speaking, letting students sit where they want to is an invitation to disaster! You need to make a carefully calculated plan for assigning seats and change seats frequently—at least once a quarter. As a matter of fact, don’t hesitate to make changes the same day if what you planned on paper just doesn’t work out in reality.
Having seating chart “templates” for each class will simplify making and changing seating assignments. (Some computer grading programs will make seating charts for you.) Make sure whatever arrangement you use gives you access to students throughout the room. Also, remember the Rule of Five. Place challenging students one to a corner and one in the middle of the room. (See pages 29-39 and 115-116 in Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones for excellent suggestions.)
By far, the most significant seating decision is how to assign seats the first day of school. That depends on your grade level, if your students can read, if you travel from room to room, and how much time you have between classes. Keep those factors in mind as you look through the following possibilities:
Examples
- Place playing cards, animal pictures, or designs on desks or tables. Give students matching cards as they enter.
- Number the seats. Hand a matching number card to students as they enter.
- Put grid letters across the rows and numbers down each row. Give students a card with a specific location, such as 3B, as they enter the room. They sit in the matching seat.
My procedure for assigning seats the first day of school
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18. Before the Bell Rings
Don’t let students gradually ease into actual class work! Have a policy that they must start work as soon as they enter the room. If they’d rather socialize before the bell rings, they must stay out in the hall until you call them in or the warning bell rings. Either way, they get to work right away once they’re in the room.
There are three advantages to using this routine: You gain an amazing amount of instructional time. It gives precious extra time to those students with processing speed difficulties. It gives you moments of sanity to take attendance and get your thoughts organized.
There are several names for these start-up activities: bell starter, bell ringer, warm-up, sponge, priorities, or Do Now. I prefer the last one because it reinforces the notion of getting to work right away. Write the Do Now on the board or overhead, or—if you have established the procedure—just hand the work to students as they come in.
Effective starters enhance the curriculum and/or get students ready to do the class work. Here are some possibilities:
Examples
- Tasks that get students ready for class—for example, having them use an answer key to correct homework
- Brief daily exercises that cover one of those extras you might not have time for—for example, vocabulary
- A review, a quiz, or challenge question on current content
- A reflection on something learned the previous day
- Mini-drills on standardized test items—for example, reading a paragraph and then writing a summary
19. After the Bell Rings
Officially Starting Class
You need a specific routine—something you consistently say or do—that marks the beginning of class.
Examples
- Cindy Gay walks over and closes the door, goes to the front of the room, and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s begin.”
- Walk over, shut the door, move to the front of the room, and give your signal for attention.
- Move to the center of the front of the room and give your signal for attention.
My routine for class to begin
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Getting Their Attention
Students have a responsibility to pay attention during direct instruction. You have a responsibility to explain what that means. You might say, “Paying attention means that you stop what you are doing, stop talking, put everything down, look at me, and wait for instructions.” (Please make allowances for students whose cultures regard direct eye contact as a lack of respect.)
Students who say they must be “busy” to pay attention can use something soft to squeeze as they keep their eyes on you. For students who “drum on the desktop” or make other sounds or movements and still know what’s been said, explain that they may not be distracting themselves, but they are distracting you and possibly other students. There needs to be a compromise!
Once your expectations are clear, establish the signal you will use, keeping in mind your style and the age level of the class. Here are some suggestions:
Examples
- “Your attention, please.”
- “Listen up.”
- Ring a bell
- “Focus.”
- Clapping rhythms
- “5-4-3-2-1”
- “Quiet please, 3-2-1-0.”
- “Cheeks out; thumbs up.”
- Rain stick
- Raise your arm up
* Especially effective with older students
My signal
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Note: Never say, “Shhh!” to get students to be quiet!
Discuss how the students can help each other follow the signal once it is given. For example, it is not acceptable for students to yell out, “Shut up, you guys!” or whistle or punch students near them. Brainstorm what signals would be appropriate. When all the pieces are in place, practice the entire attention sequence.
- Give the signal. (It is imperative that you give the same signal every time!)
- If there are students who are not complying, do not repeat the signal. Audibly count the number of students who are not ready.
Note: Never hesitate to stop instruction and practice the attention procedure as needed throughout the year.
Stating the Objective(s)
State at least one objective you plan to address. It should be written in terms of what students will be able to do. It should be in written and oral form. If you say it, write it—always!
You can have the information written on the board, on a separate white board or large sheet of paper, on an overhead transparency, or on an overhead transparency template that you use every day.
In any case, be sure you go over it orally!
My procedure for noting the objective(s)
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20. Ending Class
Have a routine that provides closure and prepares students to leave class on time and in an orderly manner. I know there are other ways of doing it, but here is a way guaranteed to be successful if you are consistent!
- Watch the clock (or appoint an official student clock watcher or set a timer) and stop instruction five minutes before class ends.
- Give the signal for attention. Wait for students to comply and focus on you. Tell them to “Pack and Stack.” “Pack and Stack” means they gather up all their materials and get set to go—then focus their attention on you.
- Do a check for understanding on the objective(s). Make a mental note: Can you move on the next day as planned, or do you need to finish up/reteach?
- Review the homework assignment, if any.
- Ask, “What questions do you have?”
- Have the students check the floor for “grummies” (bits of trash/paper) and pick them up. Students discard the grummies on their way out of class!
- When all the business is taken care of and when all the students are fully seated and quiet, give the signal for them to leave.
My procedure for ending class
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