Podcast Recap: Opening & Closing Routines
Welcome to the Modern Classrooms Project Podcast. Each week we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning to better serve their students. In this episode, Toni Rose is joined by elementary educator Jess Bille to discuss the daily opening and closing routines they have employed to set students up for successful learning sessions.
Opening and closing routines in the classroom can be the difference between a well-oiled, self-pacing machine and utter chaos. Having touchstone activities, habits, and routines that you can regularly come back to allows students to know what to expect while also providing a time for both students and teachers to reflect on the progress of the class period. We sat down with Toni Rose Deanon, former middle school educator and current Modern Classrooms staff member, and Jess Bille, elementary educator and Modern Classrooms Expert Mentor to learn more about how they organize opening and closing lessons in their classrooms.
Opening routines: Making Space for Mental Health
Many classrooms incorporate “Do Now” activities to get students in their academic brains and ready for learning, but this doesn’t always have to be so academically-oriented. In the elementary space, many educators employ morning meetings or carpet time. This is a perfect opportunity to focus on social emotional learning and awareness.
“Just like many adults, many of my students don't like math,” Jess says. “So it's really nice to start off that math block with a feeling of calmness.”
For older students, you can incorporate this SEL check-in in more private or personalized ways. Toni Rose used a Google form with a series of questions to check in with her students emotionally and academically and to get them thinking about their goals for the class.
“I asked them how they were feeling, and it was a drop down menu, and it was like a weather thing - like sunny, rainy, stormy. And then my students gave me some feedback on what kind of words they wanted to add in,” Toni Rose says. “And then I asked them, are you on pace, behind pace or ahead of pace? And then, what is your goal for today?”
This type of check-in allows students to think through not only what emotions they are bringing with them into the class, but to assess, understand and reflect on where they are academically.
Tracking Progress with Opening and Closing Routines
While older students are often capable of self-assessing and tracking their progress, Jess found that her third-graders needed a bit more support. While students gather their materials for math, she posts the public progress tracker. This gives her time to discuss which lesson is on track and to help students know who is on track, who is working on revision, and who might be ahead of schedule.
“This time gives students ideas on who to ask for help or who they can partner up with for the day,” Jess says. She also encourages students to set goals at the outset of the lesson, so they know what they are shooting for during the day’s lesson.
Sometimes this focus on progress isn’t only for students. Jess can look at progress from the day before - if a large percentage of students struggled with a concept from the previous on-track lesson, she can use this time to bring everyone together and dispel misconceptions through teaching a mini-lesson to the whole class or a subset who would benefit.
“Whenever I notice a lot of students are stuck on the same thing, I try to make sure I address it as a mini lesson before the next block,” she says. This is usually five minutes or less, allowing students to get back to self-pacing and learning with some redirection.
The end of class can also be a time to revisit student progress. Jess brings students together again at the end of the block to update the public progress tracker together. “I might ask, okay, who made it to lesson five today? And then the students can raise their hand and we might give them a round of applause,” she says. While it provides a moment to celebrate students who made progress, it also allows for a short conversation around why students may not have made progress and to get students thinking about their roadblocks.
Closing with Celebrations
In addition to recognizing progress, Jess also shouts out students for their effort. “I might say, ‘Wow, I noticed Bobby back there. He did such a great job this whole time. I noticed he went to two students to ask for help. He came back to his computer, he got right back to work. He re-watched the video, and then he moved on to his activity and was able to pass on his mastery check. Way to go, Bobby!’”
However, Jess doesn’t just limit shout-outs to what she sees her students doing - she allows them to shout each other out, as well. Sometimes this might take the form of verbal shout outs, but it doesn’t always have to.
“I have them write a little note to whoever they want to shout out to on their post it, and then they'll deliver it to their desk, which is also kind of fun because it's like little fan mail, which is really nice,” she says.
Changing Up Routines
While routines can be a great way to support students and help them know what to expect next, they don’t have to stay the same in every single class. You can shift routines based on where you are in your unit, or even based on the day of the week.
Toni Rose shared how a colleague would have a different routine on Fridays, where they would check in with students and then have them craft an email to their caregivers to help keep them in the loop. This also eliminated some work from the educator’s plate, in that families were kept informed of student progress and students retained ownership of their progress.
Jess also mixes things up on Fridays, using “soft-start Fridays” - a time when students can use class time to play board games with their peers, sit and chat, study for a test, or connect more with her as a teacher.
Keep in mind these opening and closing routines should work for you and your classroom community. Keep them short - just a couple minutes - to reserve the bulk of instructional time for student learning, and to maximize student attention and engagement. But most of all, make them your own. Find out what your students need or want out of these whole-class moments and provide ways for them to connect, engage, and reflect.
For more tips on launching your own Modern Classroom, or for introducing this instructional model to your students, read this blog article!
Our Guest
Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in special education both from Salem State University. In addition to holding licenses in elementary and special education, Jessica is also certified as a math specialist. Jessica has always been passionate about teaching and is continuously learning and looking for ways to improve her craft. She especially loves the relationships she gets to build with her students. When she is not teaching, Jessica likes to spend time with family and friends, take her dog Benji for walks on the beach, and catch up on TV shows.
Our Host
Toni Rose (she/her) strives to be the teacher that she never had growing up. She knew that she always wanted to be a teacher when she was little, and because of her love for reading and writing and struggles of learning English as a Filipinx immigrant, she became an English teacher. Toni Rose focuses on anti-racist, anti-bias work and wants to create a safe space for everyone around her. She especially loves being a thought partner for teachers. Toni Rose has taught in Atlanta, Baltimore City, DC, and currently resides in Washington state.
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