What are the first ten minutes like in your class?
Is it calm?
Is it organized?
Are students engaged, socializing, and under control?
Are your students happy?
Are YOU happy?
These are questions I like to ask myself to identify if I feel my morning routine is starting our day off in the right direction. And if I don't like the answers to the above questions, I know it means that I may need to tweak my morning routine. Below I have given an example of what has worked for me in the past and I hope that it can help share some ideas for those that still may be working on getting their routine down. Don't be afraid to change things if they're not working!
So, what has worked for me in terms of "setting the stage for a GREAT day?" A clear, organized, easy routine, where students know what is expected and what to do. It consists of a...
Greeting
We can't control what happens before our students arrive in our classrooms and the state of mind they may be in when they do, but we can control how they are greeted when the step foot into our rooms at the start of each day. I firmly believe that a morning greeting can impact the entire feel for your day and I encourage you all to take the time to say good morning to each and every one of your students. One way to do this is to stand at the door and make contact with each student as they enter. Eye contact, a smile, and a warm greeting give you the opportunity to assess how a student might be feeling and help to strengthen individual relationships while building classroom community. Make it fun by switching up your greeting style each day or let your kiddos CHOOSE. You can grab this FREEBIE by clicking on the picture below.
Morning To -Do's
Now that students have entered the classroom they need to know what to do. If you're at the door greeting students, the students who have already entered need clear directions of what needs to be done and they need to be able to follow these directions independently. An anchor chart which clearly depicts what to do seems to do the trick! Below I have added a few examples of my favorite direction charts from Pinterest. At the beginning of the year teach students the steps of your morning routine and practice, practice, practice how they are to do this each day.
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| Click to see Original Pin |
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| Click to see Original Pin |
The last step of a morning routine generally includes some type of student activity and for me, I like morning tubs. Morning tubs provide an opportunity for students to socialize, play, be creative, and independent. I like easy to assemble morning tubs that allow students the opportunity to explore, be creative, get chatty, and help them to feel calm. In the kindergarten classroom I like them to be not so structured and instead leave them pretty open ended. Basically morning tubs are hands on manipulatives which rotate through student tables each week. If you want things a little more structured you can always add picture direction cards with prompts which indicate what exactly you want students try with the manipulatives.
So that about sums it up! What does your morning look like? Let me know in the comments below.
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