
Many of us are stepping into new roles this year. Whether it is our first year teaching at all, or our first year at a new school, or our first at a new grade level, being intentional at the beginning of the year, before you ever see a student, can save you so much time, and mental sanity throughout the entire year. The best piece of advice I got when starting my teaching career was to think out my procedures and make sure they are clear and intentional. After 7 years of secondary teaching, I have a list of student facing procedures that I revisit, and adjust each year to fit my context. I also revisit this list before the start of the second semester when students come back from winter break. I am sharing in hopes that it will act as a resource for you when you are starting your next school year!
- Entering the classroom
- What noise level do you want them to be at?
- What do they do when they first walk in?
- Should they borrow their supplies before class?
- Where can they find the warmup? Where are you while all of this is happening?
- Exiting the Classroom
- What noise level do you want them to be at?
- What needs to be done before the bell to make sure the room is ready for your next group of students? Ie: trash picked up from the floor, materials turned in etc.
- Are there daily deliveries that students need to return before they leave?
- Bathroom Passes
- In a perfect world, how often would you want to allow students to use the restroom?
- How will you track restroom usage for documentation to identify patterns if need be?
- Will a student helper be useful?
- Borrowing supplies
- Where in the room will the supplies be located?
- How will students be held accountable for returning your supplies?
- What time of the class period will you allow students to borrow the supplies?
- Who will be in charge of making sure supplies are returned (maybe student helper?)
- Late Work Policy
- First, what is your district/campus policy on late work?
- How will you go back and check late work? Will it be turned in in a different location?
- How will students communicate special circumstances to you?
- Turning in assignments
- If you have paper assignments, where in the room will students turn in these assignments?
- What time of the class period will students turn in assignments due? (before the bell ringer? Part of your exiting procedure?
- Phones and technology
- First, what is your school’s policy on cell phones?
- Where will students store their devices durning you class. (I find that it is helpful for students to have options when it comes to their phones. I let students put it in their backpack, face DOWN on the top right hand corner of their desk, or in the lock box charging station)
- What are the consequences for unauthorized use?
- What are the rewards for responsible use?
- Incentive System
- What opportunities are you going to provide for students to gain positive feedback?
- How are you going to track it?
- Who is going to be in charge of tracking it?
- Student Jobs
- What opportunities are you going to have for students to share responsibility over their learning space?
- How are you going to rotate the jobs for everyone to get an opportunity?
- How are you going to hold students accountable for doing their job well?
- Where in the room are you going to track who has what job for that week?
Thank you!
I hope that this is helpful, and I wish you the best for the upcoming school year. Remember mind, body, and then classroom. In that order 🙂

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