Back to School Basics: Classroom Management

It's that time of year—back to school! Some schools here in San Diego county are already in session. Others begin next week and still others start after Labor Day. Whenever you start, it helps to have a classroom management routine at the ready. We've pulled together some great ideas for getting off to a flying start this year.

Excel Math was written to give teachers the tools they need to help their students develop a strong foundation of math. For over 35 years, these math lessons have been proven to develop higher-order thinking skills, build proficiency, and produce confidence in students of all ages and abilities. Read more about Excel Math and its systematic spiraling process at excelmath.com.


To get your school year off to a smooth start, here are some tips from the experts.

Harry Wong (educational speaker who has taught middle school and high school science) from Mountain View, California, suggests teachers start school with a First Day of School script. He recalls, "One teacher began his year with fun activities and spent the rest of the school year chasing after his classes. His first day lacked structure, which led to his students structuring his classes for him." Read how one elementary school teacher began her year with a script and got off to a great start at http://teachers.net/wong/NOV11/

Here's an exceptional article from Michael Linsin about preparing for back to school and building rapport with your students by creating a classroom routine. On the first day with students he suggests:

"Send the message that you expect excellence in everything they do by showing your students how you expect them to enter the classroom in the morning. Make it highly detailed, demonstrating every precious step. This first routine, when taught with depth and precision, and then practiced successfully, paves the way for all other routines to be learned quickly and thereafter performed with excellence." 

Read more from Michael Linsin and check out his latest book at http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2013/08/10/the-first-day-of-school/

Another educator who has some proven suggestions for creating a back-to-school routine is Fred Jones. According to Dr. Jones:

"A classroom routine is one of a teacher's primary labor-saving devices." However, it takes lots of practice and preparation. Read more practical advice from Fred Jones at http://www.fredjones.com/rulesandroutines.html

To share your back-to-school routines and helpful hints, click on the word "Comment" below.

For more classroom management and back to school ideas, see our post from last year: Classroom Management from Day 1.

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Helping Students Excel During the Transition to Common Core
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New to Excel Math? Preview elementary math lessons that really work for Kindergarten through Sixth Grade on our website: www.excelmath.com.

Download sample lessons from our new Common Core Teacher Edition at http://excelmath.com/downloads/state_stds.html

If you're from Texas, check out our correlations to the new TEKS at http://excelmath.com/downloads/state_stdsTX.html