7 Tools to Help you Go Slow to Go Fast This School Year
We’ve likely all heard the phrase “go slow to go fast” before in regards to the beginning of the school year. But what does it really mean? Here we’ll dive into 7 tools to help you Go Slow to Go Fast and set your students up for success for the new school year.
Imagine this classroom scene:
It’s your literacy block and students are spread out around the room at reading centers. They are calm and focused, working diligently on the tasks at that center and there is a low hum of activity around the room. Some students are working independently and others are working in groups of two or three doing different activities and yet all of the students seem to know exactly what to do. The teacher is able to work with a small group of 5 students and they are all engaged in reading decodable books.
Does this sound familiar? Or far from your reality? The good thing is, what sets a classroom up for this amount of focus and independence from students is not just your class list. There are tried and true strategies you can use to nurture a community like this and the *magic* is in the slowness of the start. Here are 7 ways you can Go Slow to Go Fast and help your students build a sense of independence and ownership in the classroom.
Morning Meetings to Build Community
Morning Meeting is a commitment that requires a bit of planning, not just a quick hello or calendar time. But hear me out! The benefits of a full Morning Meeting on your classroom community are incredible and last well beyond that 15-20 minutes at the start of the school day. Seeing the joy and pride on students’ faces when they hear classmates ask thoughtful questions about the story they shared makes this commitment seem so small compared to the positive ripples it creates. I once had a student tell me that “Morning Meeting feels like a warm hug.” Priceless!
I’ve been trained in Responsive Classroom, so my Morning Meetings include a Greeting, Sharing, Activity, and Message that allow students to feel seen, heard, and to enjoy a little levity before starting the day. There is so much potential when you invest the time and energy to do it right!
Check out this Morning Meeting Activity resource with both fun movement games and ways to incorporate academic skills into your Morning Meetings.
2. Explicit Modeling
Modeling procedures and routines is a given in the early elementary classroom, but what I tend to forget each year is just how much modeling is necessary. A routine as simple as lining up at the door can involve 5 micro-steps that all need to be modeled in order for students to do it successfully! (1. Stand up. 2. Push in your chair. 3. Wait for your table to be called. 4. Walk to the door. 5. Stand in line facing the door. A bit more complicated than one would expect!) The key to modeling is to make it as interactive as possible, otherwise kids tend to tune out. Involve them in the what (Karina, what did you notice about the way I pushed in my chair?) and the why (Why do you think I faced this way when I got to the door, Rafael?). Then have them try it! But not all at once. I start with one student modeling it, then a small group, then the rest of the class. Positive reinforcement goes a long way during this time! Pour on the praise, and make it specific if possible so students know not only what they did well, but why it’s important. (I saw how carefully you walked to the door, Ezra. That helps keep our classroom safe!)
Here’s a FREE list of classroom routines to model at the beginning of the year. For me, it’s also been helpful to get me thinking of what I actually want the routines to look like. If you have clarity on what your expectations are, it’s much easier to teach students the routines.
3. Assume Nothing!
This goes along with explicit modeling of procedures, but is a helpful reminder nonetheless. When I was a first year teacher, I was teaching kindergarten at a school with a large number of multilingual learners. The first week, I was explaining how to do a greeting during Morning Meeting and said “Turn to your neighbor and wave like this.” A confused and slightly worried student froze at their turn and said, “But my neighbor is not here!” It did not occur to me to explain that the word neighbor could mean the person sitting next to you in a classroom context. I often think about that student at the beginning of the year as a reminder to myself to add in as much information and context as I can to help students understand what I mean.
4. Social Stories
I was first introduced to Social Stories when I had two students with Autism in my classroom and was collaborating frequently with one of our SpEd teachers. I created my own and was using real images of my students in the stories to help individual students with specific skills.. But now I’ve come to realize that Social Stories are a great tool to use with a whole classroom to explicitly teach rules or procedures in kid-friendly language. As a bonus, they’re helpful for multilingual learners and students learning language (which is all primary students, right?). They also often touch on how students may be feeling, or the why behind the rules. These Recess Rules Social Stories and Lunchroom Rules Social Stories have been super helpful at laying out expectations clearly and concisely. They can also be great to review after long breaks!
5. Visuals, visuals, visuals
Social stories and behavior sorts like these are helpful at teaching clear expectations because of the visuals breaking down each part of the rule/routine into smaller actions and examples. I’ve also found that visuals are an essential for me when introducing centers in the classroom. (I typically wait 4-6 weeks to begin centers, for many reasons, but that’s an entire blog post of its own.) A poster with steps drawn out at individual centers can be helpful in reminding students how to complete the activity and helps them know what to do when they’re done. This doesn’t need to be fancy! No need to make and print posters with fonts to match the activity. I often create “how-to” posters for my centers with a small piece of card stock and a marker. Simple, practical, and always so helpful to students.
6. Reflection
I’ve always found it helpful to reflect a few times a day on a specific routine at the beginning of the year. This can be a simple discussion of “What went well?” and “What can we do better next time?” but I’ve also found it helpful to use a Plus/Delta t-chart to script the positives and growth areas, especially if you’d like to revisit later on. This type of reflection works well for specific parts of the day, such as math clean up, lining up for recess, quiet time, etc. versus the whole day. I have students share positives and areas of growth without using specific student names to ensure nobody is being called out publicly in a negative way.
7. Shoutouts
Shoutouts is a tool I like to use throughout the year that recognizes individual students in positive ways. I try to do this once/week and I usually start with my own shoutout, then let students add on. I make sure to include shoutouts for students who may be needing a bit more positive reinforcement to help them see the good in their day and their positive contributions to the classroom. These can be so powerful and build self-esteem in a really beautiful way.
Research shows that in a well-managed classroom where students know what is expected and feel comfortable taking risks, students are more likely to make gains in both academics and social-emotional skills. I hope you found at least a few helpful tools or reminders as you head back to school this fall and that you can be at peace with the slower pace of the beginning of the year, knowing that you’ll see a return on that investment of time with a strong community of independent learners throughout the year.