Implementing Classroom Routines for a Strong Second Semester

Hey, teachers. This is Emily with the Stellar Teacher team, and welcome back to episode number 285 of The Stellar Teacher Podcast.

If you celebrate Christmas, we hope you had a fantastic holiday. And to all of our teacher listeners, I hope you’ve had a super restful and relaxing break. If you’re listening today, that means you’re getting ready to jump back into the classroom and hit the ground running as you start the second semester.

The start of the second semester can be an exciting time, but it can also feel daunting when we realize we’re already halfway through the year with these students. That can feel overwhelming.

So today, we’re talking all about implementing classroom routines. This topic feels especially exciting right now because the Stellar Teacher team is right in the middle of our Routine Reset promotion. Head over to stellarteacher.com/reset for more information.

Today, we’re specifically talking about the steps for implementing classroom routines. If you’ve been part of the Stellar Teacher world for any amount of time, you know how much we love a good classroom routine.

I especially loved routines when I taught third grade, because when we have routines in place, our days just run more smoothly. My literacy block, especially, was built on routines. When I think back to those days now, that was my favorite time of the day because it was so predictable, easy, and calm.

When we have routines in place, we’re creating white space. That white space is so important for our students. It frees up their working memory and allows them to focus on learning instead of trying to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing each day.

You can have a classroom routine for almost anything—whether it’s vocabulary, morphology, or even a simple classroom procedure. Routines can be put in place for so many parts of the day.

So how do we teach these routines? Here are the five steps we need to follow in order to clearly communicate routines to our students.

First, get clear on the routine and its purpose.

Second, explicitly teach the routine.

Third, model the routine.

Fourth, practice and give feedback.

And fifth, reinforce expectations and reset when needed.

Let’s dig into each of these steps a little further.

The first thing we need to do before teaching a routine is to get clear on the routine and its purpose ourselves, before our students ever even hear about it. We need to have a clear picture in our minds of what the routine will look like.

What do we want students to be doing? What do we want the teacher to be doing? When does the routine start? When does the routine end? Who is involved? These are all questions we need to answer so we can clearly communicate expectations to our students.

Another thing we want to be really clear about is the why behind the routine. We know that when we’re teaching upper elementary students, they often ask why we’re doing something. Why are we even doing this?

So we want to be clear about the purpose of the routine. That way, when students ask why, we have an answer—and that clarity increases student buy-in.

We might say something like, “This routine is going to help us transition quickly so we have more time to learn.”

That’s the pre-teach or preparation part of teaching routines.

Now it’s actually time to teach the routine to our students. Step two is to teach the routine explicitly. Just like all the other content we have to teach, routines need to be taught explicitly as well, not just mentioned in passing.

When I first started out in the classroom, my routines kind of came about organically. But I had a big shift in my teaching when I realized that I could be intentional about explicitly teaching these routines.

When we are explicitly teaching routines, we want to name the routine for our students, explain the purpose, and break it down into simple, concrete steps. Sometimes this can feel a little bit painful for our students—and for us—to teach, but when we are explicit and clear, that is going to help us in the long run.

So maybe that sounds like, “Okay, first, I’m going to take out my pencil and my writing page for the day. Next, I’m going to check the title and make sure I have the correct activity.” You’re really, really going to go through the nitty-gritty of every single thing you want your students to do so they can complete the routine.

Again, this can feel very tedious for us. But when we remove the guesswork and any space for students to go wrong, the better the routine will function after we’ve explicitly taught it.

Now it’s time for us to model what the routine looks like. Again, you are explaining and showing exactly how you want your students to do it. We’re going to model the right way, and then we’re also going to model the wrong way.

Another thing that I love to do during this portion is to narrate exactly what I’m doing. Even narrating your thoughts during this part is really beneficial to the modeling stage.

That brings us to step four, which is practice and give feedback. If you notice, as we’re going through the steps here, we’re intentionally scaffolding support as we implement the routine.

So practicing and giving feedback is our next step. As the teacher, during this time, you’re going to walk around the room, move down the aisles, watch your students, and give feedback. Again, we’re bringing in that narration, so you can say things you see that you like.

You might say something like, “Oh, I see Kori checking to make sure she has the right page out,” or, “I see Millie using the dictionary to check whether her word is real or nonsense.” Giving constructive feedback during this time is important too.

Just like step three, modeling, this part will also feel slow, and you might start feeling like you’re ready to sit down and get busy doing something else. But this practice-and-feedback step is super crucial to the process. Time spent practicing routines right now is an investment that will pay off in your classroom’s future.

That brings us to our last step, which is reinforce and reset as needed. Will classroom routines break down at some point? Yes. And when we see them breaking down, we want to take a step back and go through the steps again.

We want to be sure we clearly communicate expectations, explicitly teach, model, and give feedback. We might have to go back to earlier steps to make sure the routine is running smoothly.

I’ll also say this: if you get to a point where your routine is consistently breaking down and it’s not serving you or your students anymore, it might be time to reevaluate that routine. That’s something to think about.

But when routines break down, it does not mean that you failed. Students forget things. Schedules change. Those are times when reinforcement is needed.

Reinforcement can look like a quick reminder before starting the routine, one or two extra practice rounds, or clearly reteaching expectations. You could also use a fishbowl activity, where a small group of students completes the activity while the rest of the class observes. Then the students on the outside give feedback to the students on the inside. That’s a really powerful way to reinforce and reset routines.

Consistency and practice are what matter most. Soon, your students will reach that flow state in your classroom, and you’ll be beaming with pride as your students are doing exactly what they need to be doing. What a dream.

Let’s recap. To implement a routine successfully, we are going to get clear on the routine and its purpose. We’re going to teach it explicitly. We’re going to model what it looks like. We’re going to have our students practice and give them feedback. And finally, we’re going to reinforce and reset as needed.

As you head back into the classroom this week, I want you to remember this: just like Rome, strong routines are not built in a day. They’re built through clarity, consistency, and practice. When you slow down to implement these routines, eventually you’ll have the opportunity to speed up your students’ learning.

You’re setting yourself up for calmer days. And by the way, when you have routines implemented, you’re saving your energy for the parts of teaching that you really, really, really love.

Thanks for spending part of your day listening to The Stellar Teacher Podcast. We’ll talk to you next week.