Grab the TWO Freebies and my Procedure Assessment.
Classroom Management Strategy #1 – Charades
This is one of my favorites. Not only are you getting the chance to see if students understand what you expect, but you learn about personalities. Who is shy, who loves the stage, and who loves to be right first. This is a great start to your school day or wrap up activity at the end of the day. I take each of the procedures we have learned and put them in a box, bag, or cup (basically whatever material I have handy at the time). I will have students come up, grab a procedure, and act it out. You know students will start calling out answers and this is a great opportunity to remind them of your expectations for answering questions when you are in a whole group. You can access the charade cards in the subscribe box above.
Classroom Management Strategies #2 – Teacher Model
Modeling what you expect is a great way to teach your procedures. But, an even better way to it to model the wrong way. Students love to catch you doing something wrong. This gives you the chance to have a little fun with your students, and it let’s them put your expectations into words. When they catch you ask, “Oh, I did that wrong? Well, what should I have done instead?”
Classroom Management Strategies #3 – Procedure Assessment
Around the 3rd or 4th day of school you have tons of forms, paperwork, and parent notes to sort. This assessment allows you a few minutes of time to sort those papers. When the students are finished, I teach my expectations for students grading their own work. I have all students put their pencils under their chairs and give everyone a colored pencil from my cup. I will give every student the same color (for example, this assessment will be graded in purple). We will review it as an entire class. I have students write the correct answer if they missed it. When students are finished, I have them write any questions they have or a note to themselves about their results. (For example, “Can you help me organize my notebook the correct way?” “Great job! You are meeting Mrs. Zannini’s expectations.” “Don’t forget to copy your homework every morning.”)
You can access my Procedure Test here.
4. Procedure Trivia Game
This is another chance to teach a procedure (playing games) with reviewing procedures. There are tons of Promethean and Smartboard trivia templates. The trivia game allows you to see your expectations for playing games. Since this can be an exciting time, I tell them that groups that distract from the group guessing will lose a point. I want the students to have fun, but it is important that everyone is focused and gaining the correct information to all questions and not just the ones presented to their groups.
Want more ideas for Back to School and Classroom Management? Check out these Classroom Management Must Haves!
I hope these strategies will help you in planning how to assess your students. You can get more ideas and FREEBIES for back to school with The Ultimate Guide to Starting the School Year: 29 Things Teachers Need to Know Before the First Day. I am always on the look out for new exciting ways to get through those first two weeks! What ways have you found to assess if students understand your expectations?
Do you know others who would enjoy these fun activities? Please share this with them. They will thank you and so will I.
Happy Teaching,
Jessica
Want More Ideas for Starting the School Year?
I do not understand why a written assessment is included in “fun” ways to teach classroom procedures. Our kids have enough tests. Please don’t add more…it’s not fun, it will make them dislike you right from the beginning.
JoAnna I totally get that there is too much testing. I always wanted my students to learn that testing is showing what you know. In my experience with using this my students loved being able to show what they had learned the first few weeks. I never had any negativity in the 15 years I used this from my students with this just pride in learning that school is about growing and learning. There are times when we have to take test and are tested in life. I found that this assessment let my students realize that testing is not about whose out to get you or trip you up. They enjoyed being given something they knew they could excel in. I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you so much for bringing up this important topic.
Jessica
I agree with you Jessica! It’s only a ‘test’ if you present it in that manner. I rephrase for a positive mindset such as ‘show what you know’ opposed to ‘test’ which for some carries a negative connotation. I like your ideas and will give them a go here in my NZ classroom.
Thanks so much for the comment. I totally agree! I hope you enjoy the ideas.
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
The link for the Classroom Charades is missing, would it be possible to get them uploaded? I love that idea!
Hey Abby,
Thanks for pointing that out! You can get it in the subscribe box at the top of this post.
Jessica
I have tested on classroom procedures for the last 10 years or so. It is a test! I want to make sure you GOT it. It is a fairly easy test and I make sure students can be successful on it. Procedures save me countless hours during the year so I know this first lesson is critical whether students like it or not. Yes, sometimes they find the procedures boring because they feel they already know, but they don’t know MY way and appreciate learning how I want things done. KUdos for this lesson.
Plus it teaches them your procedures for taking and turning in a a test.
Sometimes teaching procedures/routines can be monotonous, especially for older students. Thanks for sharing your fun ideas, Jessica! Role playing and modelling help a lot but I hadn’t thought about turning it into charades. Kahoot or Quizlet would also be good platforms for team challenges.