Today was a chug the Pepto kind of day. No really. On my planning time I drove to Wal-Mart and bought the large size and chugged. I felt better afterwards.
Now onto something much more fun….a classroom video. And for the first time ever…WE’RE IN HIGH DEFINITION!!!!!!!!!!! Yep. I invested in a new Canon Rebel T3i so I could do better videos…get ready to see Mr. Greg and the ‘staches in high def! (You’ve been warned!)
I get asked a lot about my classroom management and really, a lot of the success I have comes from procedures and routines. And tons of practice!!! BUT I have to admit that I think a huge part of the success is our morning arrival procedures. Why is this key? Because it sets the tone for the day and it’s designed so everyone can be successful and start off on a great note. It’s also designed to be teacher free! The ‘staches know what to do and our trained to do it. It’s exactly the same everyday so I don’t have to take any time to explain anything!
So what’s this awesome, glitter-ific routine: It’s simple really.
1. Greet the teacher with a hug, handshake or high five. I take their folder, check their homework, put in new homework and put the folder away.
2. Move your picture. We use our Promothean to take attendance. We slide our picture from home to school to show that we’re at school.
3. Journals-each student has a morning journal. They write their name, the date and a picture. As the year progresses we add in words and sentences. In order to have a journal a student must earn it be being able to write their name. If they haven’t earned their journal, their morning work is tracing the name and writing their name.
4. Put journal away and read!
You can read a more detailed post on my morning work HERE!
And yes, we rock out in the morning. No classical music for us. I read that classical music in the morning puts kids to sleep so we kick it up with some fun dance music!!!
Check out the video to see how our morning looks! You can view it here or on my YouTube Channel!
Join Our Newsletter
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
7 comments
Amazing! I wish I could greet students at the door! your students are so quiet! My mornings start off hectic with everything I have to do. I take attendance and lunch count, ask students what they want for lunch (they get a choice) and get that color lunch card for them. Students come in at random times, and a few are always tardy. Then I put attendance/lunch count into the computer. I have several students who come in wound up and already interrupting, calling my name, wanting to tell me stories. I always get notes and papers for the office, too. Since my class is a bunch of talkers, I have to give plenty of reminders to stay quiet. This morning I had to deal with a hitter.
My principal came in during morning routine and commented on how quiet my kiddos are too. Now I admitted that 1/2 were at breakfast, but they all really do have morning routine down. I am hesitant to add music, because they are doing so well… Maybe a little bit further into the school year 🙂 Love how good your kids are in the morning!
I love how calm the start to your day is. I have a few questions. Where are the backpacks? Do they hang them in the hall? I also want to know if your students usually trickle in like that. Our busses unload at 8:55 and they all come in at once. 24 first graders unpacking at once is quite crazy. Thank you for sharing another video. I can't wait for the next.
BeverlyAnn
msfeuerstack.blogspot.com
They do trickle in. Breakfast starts at 7:30. They have to be in class between 7:45 and 8:00 so they come up in a trickle. Some days it's more of a rush! We have hooks in the hallway for backpacks!! We used to have to keep the backpacks in our classroom but we finally got hooks!!!
What great music!! I must say i am very jealous of your class size. How did you manage
This would be great but we have no time for morning work and its very hectic due to serVing breakfast in the classroom. :/
How many students do you have? Do you have tables or desks?