How an Effective Teacher Starts the Day
Developing a Successful Morning Teaching Routine
Oct 8, 2009
There are a few simple, positive behaviors that any teacher can implement in his or her classroom that will improve student performance for the entire day. If a teacher models these behaviors for his or her students, he or she will be more productive as well.
Motivating Students With a Smile
Student contact is most crucial first thing in the morning. Students will often assume that teachers are not kind and helpful people. Teachers should go out of their way to convince students that this is not the case.
Early in the morning it may be difficult for some people to smile. Teachers are no exception to this. Weariness and frustration with a situation or coworker might dampen the spirits. This could be especially demoralizing at the beginning of the day. But the teacher is the professional adult in charge, whose job it is to carry the torch of maturity. Teachers should be the first to put their troubles away before entering the classroom.
Teachers should always greet their students with a smile, say “good morning” and teach students to respond in kind. It is the teacher’s responsibility to say something honest and encouraging to each child to start his or her day. The teacher should always model positive and productive behavior to his or her students.
This may be the first act of kindness some of the students will experience during their day.
Teaching Tips:
- If it's a student's first day in class, the teacher should shake the student's hand and properly introduce himself or herself.
- Teachers should not harp about dress code. They ought to encourage an out of dress code student to comply in a light manner. Then, they can silently take bureaucratic steps, if the student remains noncompliant. This avoids the drama that some children thrive on.
Bell Work
No matter how tired they look when they get to school, kids will usually perk up when their friends come around. They may look like they're ready to collapse, but they can get started with work right away. An effective teacher will not welcome students into his or her room to sit and wait for the day to begin. The teacher will have work ready for the students to begin as soon as they take their seats.
As the students enter the class, the teacher should explain that there is work on the board for them to begin. This kind of assignment is often called bell work, but early students should get started on it even before the first bell. If a student finishes early, the teacher should have that student read a book. Every teacher should have a few books on hand for just such occasions. Keeping students busy will keep them focused on the educational process and not on their personal issues.
Avoiding Classrooms Problems
Many children have real problems at home, while others just thrive on drama. Effective teachers don’t want disruptive and distracting behaviors on display in their classrooms. That kind of behavior not only distracts from the educational process, but is also unsettling for the other students. If students are given time and space to start trouble, the teacher is not only helping to create a problem in the classroom, but is allowing the other students to be affected for the entire day.
These kinds of issues don’t stay in the classroom that fostered them. They are passed off to other teachers throughout the school. As the adult in charge it is the teacher’s job to provide a safe and helpful learning environment. Morning dramas should be avoided whenever possible.
The students should understand that bell work is a regular part of their grade. This will help to ensure student participation.
Teaching Tips:
- The teacher should make the assignment pertinent to the lesson. Avoiding generic worksheets, effective teachers craft all of their work themselves. This gives them total control over the student's curriculum. In this way they can streamline the flow of information. This will keep the student from becoming confused by impertinent subject material.
- Inviting students to give their opinion or personal view will help to involve them more immediately. It is also an effective way of determining who understands the material and who is lost.
Have a Regular Classroom Morning Routine
Mornings should be routine. Kids want routine. In fact, the ones who seem to resist the routine the most will be the first to remind the teacher when they break the routine.
The idea is to leave no spare time for students to become distracted. The class should move from one topic to the next rapidly without down time. The schedule should look something like this:
Collect bell work, pledge, make announcements, review concepts, pass out texts, begin new lesson, etc.
The teacher should keep things going and not give the students a chance to think about other things. Teachers are in competition with a culture of T.V. shows and computer games. For that reason instructors have to move from one thing to the next as seamlessly as possible.
Teaching Tips:
- The teacher should involve every student in some part of the morning routine such as: collecting papers, leading the pledge, reading announcements...
- The teacher should treat the routine like a game. They will have to enforce the rules, but they can keep it lighthearted. Most of the students will want to help referee the game.
Summary of Classroom Management Plan
Effective teachers begin their day right. They smile and encourage each member of the class. They keep the students busy from bell to bell. They avoid pointless confrontations and maintain the routine diligently, making sure to include all of the students as often as possible.
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