Teach Routines Like Content: A Five-Day Plan for a Calmer Classroom

Classroom management trouble often does not start with a defiant student. It starts in the gaps: the two minutes after the warm-up, the moment materials come out, the shuffle when devices open. When students do not know exactly what to do in those moments, they fill the gap themselves.

Tip 8 in the book frames classroom management as creating calm, consistent norms and routines that lower stress for students and for you. The key word is consistent. A routine that changes every day is not a routine. It is a fresh set of directions students have to decode.

What the research says, briefly

This idea has a long research history. Classroom observation studies by Emmer, Evertson, and colleagues, published in the early 1980s, followed elementary and junior high teachers from the first weeks of school. The teachers whose classes ran more smoothly later in the year had made teaching rules and procedures a main goal of those first weeks, were more explicit about what they expected, and were more successful at getting students to learn the routines. The studies were observational, so they show a pattern rather than proof of cause (Emmer et al., 1980; Evertson & Emmer, 1982).

The takeaway for a new teacher is practical. Routines are content. You teach them, check them, and reteach them.

Step 1: Pick one unpredictable transition

Do not try to fix everything. Pick the one repeated moment that costs the most attention or learning time. Common choices are moving from the opening task into instruction, passing out and collecting materials, or starting on devices.

Step 2: Write one exact cue

Decide what students will see, hear, and do. Write the cue word for word so you say it the same way every time. Then describe what success looks and sounds like, so you can name it when you see it.

Step 3: Teach it, then rehearse it

Explain the routine, model it, and have students practice it before you need it under pressure. Rehearsal is the step that is easiest to skip when time is short, and it is the step that helps the routine stick. Practice when the stakes are low, not in the middle of a lesson that is already running late.

Step 4: Name success specifically

When students do it well, say exactly what they did. "Every warm-up is closed and every pencil is at the top of the page. That took 20 seconds." Specific praise tells students what to repeat. General praise tells them you are pleased, but not why.

Step 5: Keep it the same for five school days

Use the same cue for five school days before changing anything. Then review. What is becoming predictable? What one adjustment will you make? Change one part and keep the routine recognizable.

A classroom example

The free Classroom Routines Starter Pack on the site includes a completed example, and it shows how small this can be.

The routine is moving from the opening task into instruction. The cue is: "When the timer ends, close the warm-up and place your pencil at the top of the page." The rehearsal is practicing that transition once at the start of class for five days. After the five days, the adjustment is to keep the cue and move the timer where every student can see it.

That is the whole plan. One routine, one cue, five days of practice, one adjustment. No new rules, no new consequences.

Do not forget digital routines

Tip 49 makes a related point: digital classroom norms and routines are classroom management. Logging in, finding the assignment, and closing a device are transitions too. Teach them with the same clarity you use for lining up or turning in papers.

A question to take to your mentor

Which routine would give the class the greatest sense of calm if it became predictable? Ask your mentor to watch that one transition and tell you where it breaks down.

Sources

• Emmer, E. T., Evertson, C. M., & Anderson, L. M. (1980). Effective classroom management at the beginning of the school year. The Elementary School Journal, 80(5), 219-231. https://doi.org/10.1086/461192
• Evertson, C. M., & Emmer, E. T. (1982). Effective management at the beginning of the school year in junior high classes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 485-498. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.74.4.485

Site references

• Tip 8: Classroom Management: Four Ways to Manage Your Classroom Better
• Tip 49: Digital Classroom Norms and Routines Are Classroom Management
• Free resource: Classroom Routines Starter Pack, including its completed example
• Book: Crush It from the Start: 50 Tips for New Teachers by Dr. Matthew Rhoads, Dr. Samantha Fecich, Dr. Casey Jakubowski, and Dr. Kevin Leichtman (SchoolRubric Inc., 2022)