Taming the Morning Madness

Being organized and under control in the morning is so important for any job, but in a primary classroom it is SO vital!  Students come to us in all states of emotions, having had varying amounts of sleep, food, and time to wake up!  I know for me, by the time I'm welcoming my little sweethearts into my classroom, I've been up for 2.5 hours and have been parenting preschoolers already.  There is no time to "fly by the seat of my pants." Predictability and routine are definitely in order when it comes to starting our grade one day! This is a pretty long post, but I have included a freebie at the bottom of the post!  Enjoy :)

I would like to share some of what I do to start the day out right!

The afternoon before....

Before I leave my classroom at the end of a day, I make sure that my desk is clean.  In the past my desk was a collecting place for random papers and work.  Now I try to tidy it every day.  Piles do emerge in other spots, but I'm getting better at dealing with them!  

I make sure my dayplans are ready and in the binder on my desk, and the day's work is in the day drawer behind my desk. 

Also,  pencils are sharpened!  I do not allow my students to sharpen their own pencils, as it causes too many disruptions.  So, I leave sharp pencils on each table, and have extras on my desk.  Since I have switched to this method, pencil frustration has virtually disappeared.  I think so far this year I have only heard the phrase "I don't have a pencil" around 3 times!

Before leaving, I also make sure that my students' tables are set up with their morning work at their spots.  This way, if something goes wrong and I can't get to work as early as I'd like, everything is ready to go.  Also, if I happen to be away, a substitute would find everything set up and ready to go! 

In the morning.....

Greeting

My students line up outside and I greet them at the door right after the warning bell rings.  As they walk down the hallway, I join them, by starting walking next to the person who is at the front of the line. Then I adjust my pace so that I eventually end up at the end of the line (walking forward, but slower than the line-up).  This gives me the ability to chat briefly with each child, and at the very least, greet each child by name.  I have realized that I have 3 students who NEED this chat time before the day begins.  If I don't give them my undivided attention to hear their little stories before going into the classroom and starting our day, they just can't settle in and get going.  

Hallway organization

As is typical for many primary classrooms, my students each hang up their backpacks and jackets and change outdoor and indoor shoes.  At the beginning of the year I had all of my students using the hooks, but I quickly realized that some of the students were much too crowded to handle the hooks.

 So, I purchased three rubbermaid bins.  Three students who need more space for their things, and have a harder time keeping their belongings on the hooks, were assigned these bins.  They can just toss their shoes and backpack into it, and place their jacket on top.  It has saved me countless headaches, and it helps keep our hallway neater!  

Home Communication

The first thing my students do when they come into the classroom is place their library books and home communication books (BEE books) into the bins by the door.  In the books is a zippered pencil pouch, where notes from home and permission forms and money, etc. can be stored.  While the students are settling into their spots, I go through the BEE books and take out any forms I need.  I also place the BEE books in numerical order.  I put numbers on the upper right corner of the BEE books, so I can quickly organize them.  I have a correlating class list, so I can quickly tell who has not handed their BEE book in yet!  I can't believe it, but it took me 7 years of doing BEE books before I finally started numbering them!   It's glorious now.  I'm sure you can agree that saying to the class, "Anyone who hasn't handed _____ in, please do it now" is an almost meaningless effort!  This way, I can actually figure out which student to remind.  I do aspire one day to come up with a system that won't even require reminders, but we're working on it :)

Morning Work

After my students have handed in their books, they sit down at their table spot and begin working on their morning work.  This is a vital component to our morning, as it is predictable, age-appropriate, and sets the tone that we are settling into work time.  In fall we do morning work 3 days per week (and table toys the other days), but by October we do it on a daily basis.  Our morning work has printing practice, phonics, and math, and more.  The morning work builds independence and confidence, because the skills build slowly from day to day, and have scaffolding such as dotted words and examples when new skills are introduced.  While students are working on their morning work, I am going through their BEE books, taking attendance, and doing other clerical duties.  I also chat with students who need a little more one-on-one attention.

Book Shopping

Once the students have completed their page, they hand it into the In Box and go book shopping.  This means that they take their book box and decide if they want to put any books away and "shop" for new ones.  They are expected to have around 5 leveled "good fit" books, and 5 choice books.  My library is organized with one shelf of leveled readers from A-H, and three other areas of themed books. I have pictured around half of my library here.  These photos are old, from a different arrangement of my room! 

Buddy Reading

Once students are finished book shopping, they may either buddy read or read to self.  Most of the time students will choose buddy reading.  I have trained the students using the Daily Five model of explicit instruction on the behavior expectations during buddy reading.  Usually the students do not need any reminders to stay on task.  They love buddy reading and they really do benefit from having time right at the beginning of the day to dive into books!

Morning Meeting

Usually about 25 minutes after school has begun all students have settled in, have completed morning work, book shopping, and have had a chance to read.  At this time I call all students to put away their book boxes and come to the carpet.  I formally welcome the class, and we begin our first literacy block.  

The Joys!

I love having a predictable schedule in the morning.  The students aren't shoving permission slips at me first thing, they aren't immediately asking for help or wondering what to do.  They build independence knowing that they KNOW what to do next and how to do it.  The morning work and buddy reading times aren't required to be silent working times, so they know that in the morning they will get to chat and be with their friends, just in a calm manner.  I highly recommend coming up with a morning routine that works for you and for your style.  Test out  a few ways and see what feels right for you, and then make it a routine.  You'll be glad you did!  

If you would like a freebie download of my Sharp/Dull Pencils Labels, you can find them here.  

If you are interested in checking out my morning work, you can see it here: 

For work to keep your little ones occupied in meaningful activities during the first week of school, you might want to try out my First Week of School Activities:  

Or, if you want a money saving bundle that includes the First Week of School pack, you can check this out: 

Wishing you peaceful mornings!