Kindergarten classroom management? Yeah sure. Seriously though, it can be accomplished with ease when you follow these steps. Align your thinking to that of a four year old, remember that September will be a blur. Come October you will be one happy teacher. First off, please remember many of your students have little to no exposure to playing along with this many peers (or any peers at all in some cases). Think about how overwhelmed you feel beginning a new school year. Then multiply that by three (I’m being generous here). Place yourself into the eyes of your students. What will make you feel safe? Happy? Comfortable and functioning at optimal levels? This is exactly where you should start.
Classroom Management equals solid Routines
Know what you want your day to look like and anticipate some tweaks. I like to start our day in two small groups. One group goes to the Library with our ECE and an EA the other small group stays back with me for a soft start to our day. A soft start is when your students enter your room and have little to no expectations. My soft start includes wash your hands and have a snack or go and have free play in the room.
I will continue this until the end of October to have the students work on: cooperative play, social skills, tidying up the room and independent choice. At the end of the free play time students practice tidying the room and join me on the carpet for a circle time. Often in September what this looks like (depending on the energy) might be felt stories at the carpet or movement songs in a circle inside or once we get outside.
The group that goes to the Library are the older students. There they will practice, listening skills, cooperative play and begin academic activities sooner than their younger peers. The groups are usually divided by Junior and Senior Kindergarten but there are of course exceptions some younger students are more ready for this than their Senior Kindergarten friends so we use our best judgement.
When do you Know your Routines are Working?
Come the end of October you should see your youngest students flowing nicely with this morning routine. Social skills will be well practiced and a slightly higher demand on the academics can take place without major behavioural outbursts. Your students will be listening to you, trust you and your classroom management skills will be shining. To explain the rest of the SK morning schedule the students return from the Library go outside for a period of time then return to the classroom for their snack and free play until lunch.
As the month of October is now ending. I will be switching my older students to be in the classroom with me first. While sending the Junior Kinders off to the Library to start working on their academic and carpet skills in a different environment. This helps to make them adaptable, handle instructions from a variety of adults and prepare them for Senior Kindergarten where they will begin the year in this “big kid” routine. It also allows me to begin my UFLI phonics program and prepare my Senior Kindergartens for Grade One. This transition has a good flow because the kids spend roughly the same amount of time doing a familiar routine but just in a different order and with different teachers.
Lunch Time Transitions
I choose to keep my Kindergartens inside during lunch. I do this because there are a lot of problems in unstructured play with so many students on the yard. Also because we do not have a fenced in space at this time and I feel it is best for their safety. We set a timer for twenty minutes of eating and then they are allowed more free play time in the room. We turn off half of the lights, lower the rest and put on quiet music. This helps to calm the energy in the room and signals to the kids that it is quiet eating time. Music is such a good way to signal to children that a transition is happening in the least intrusive way. We also always put on a clean up song before transitioning to tidying the room.
The extra time to be social, learn to play with their peers and forming new friendships is important in their overall growth, socially. So this gives them that time. It is also an optimal time for the teachers in the room to model to the students. Modelling may look like: how to tidy up, how to share a toy, how to give space or how to take space. In Ontario, our classrooms are play based. Which means as educators we are intentionally setting up experiences or invitations to play that encourage inquiry based learning opportunities. To hear more ideas on how to get started on these types of activities click here.
How to use your Classroom Management skills to Plan on your Planning Time…
In order to be able to take your planning time your routines need to be as organized for the time you want to be away as for when you are with your students. To accomplish this I worked with my release teacher and my ECE. We set up a plan that would allow that success for my students and also for me.
We decided that half of the students would go to the gym during that time. Half would remain in the classroom with organized table top activity time. Half way through the block the children would switch. This enabled all of my students time in the gym with lower numbers. Which means less noise, less chaos, and less behaviours. It also gave the other half of the students the skill of sitting at a table. Sitting for longer periods of time and focusing on their activity is a skill on it’s own. Win, win for all.
End of day Transitions
We end our day after returning from the gym by having an end of day snack. I should mention we spend time during each of our eating traditions practicing good hand hygiene. Teaching them to wash their hands lowers the illness in our room and practices good life skill habits. Once our snack is complete students are to go to the carpet where they can look at a book. When there is enough students on the carpet I usually do a Read Aloud story or song.
Once everyone is finished we go pack up our school bags, change our footwear and go outside for learning time until the bell rings for the bus. One of the best purchases I made this year was our walking ropes. We use them to walk everywhere. The students grab a handle of the rope and it helps to train them to stay together, not run off, follow the teacher and be safe. We use these for the bus in the morning, to transition to outdoor play, sometimes for short neighbourhood walks and to return to the bus at the end of our day. I highly recommend them. You can find yours here.
Final Words to the Wise
Be consistent, it won’t always look pretty. They will take time to learn your routines but they will be doing it as you build your relationships with them. After the first few weeks they will come to rely on your routines and consistency and it will aid them in self-regulation. The questions and fear won’t be there because they will know what to expect and take comfort in that. Best of luck. To like and follow my Facebook page click here.
With Love, C.
To take a peak at my TPT store for some low prep, fun activities click here.
