Investing in Student Success

Sue Moore teaches kindergarten in Hobart, Indiana. She was present at one of Stacey Allreds classes and was introduced to The First Days of School and saw the video series, How to Be an Effective Teacher. She said she had an immediate Aha, because she recognized the positive impact that specific procedures and routines could have in her kindergarten classroom.

She reflected on areas in her classroom that needed consistent procedures the most. She thought. She implemented.

She began by writing and implementing carpet time, center time, and table procedures. Later, she added restroom and coatroom procedures.

These procedures were so successful that she incorporated procedures into her Writers Workshop curriculum.

Then she had a magnificent Aha. She made visual charts to remind her students of all the procedures. These were created because she wanted all of the procedures to be seen and understood by all of her students: non-readers, as well as students with special needs.

She taught the procedures using the three-step method explained on page 177 of The First Days of School. She happily remarked that the procedures became automatic routines in several weeks.

Sue said that the time invested in practicing and rehearsing the procedures was well worth it! For instance, when one of her students ran from the classroom to the coatroom, another student corrected him by pointing to our coatroom procedure sign and reminding him that our first procedural step is to Walk. She says, My young students have become much more independent and are very clear of my expectations. Consequently, I have more opportunity during the school day for individualized instruction.

My kindergarten classroom is on the road to becoming a well-oiled learning machine!