Download My Establishing Classroom Procedures Guide

Failure to plan is planning to fail. Download my Establishing Classroom Procedures Guide.

Last year I did a unit called Listening With Legos using offline listening skills to reinforce students' need to be attentive to details and instruction. This year I have developed a longer introductory unit giving students greater input into the classroom culture.

My initial thought is to spend only two days on the process but realize it could easily turn into a week. And I'm fine with that. I would rather establish a good foundation at the beginning than chase behavior issues all year long.

This summer I rearranged my classroom into groups instead of rows - so at the outset I need to establish new expectations and teach group interaction skills. What better way to experience group dynamics than though games! I also think that students will be more invested in classroom policies and procedures if they contribute to their development.

Please feel free to download and adapt the guide. I wrote it specifically for my own use, so it may appear vague or too detailed in places. Often teachers "just know" what they are looking for in an exercise or lesson. Don't plan to follow my steps blindly as some details may need tweaked after I try it out this fall. It is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, which means you are completely free to use, change, and share this work, as long as you provide appropriate attribution and give others similar access to any derivative works.

If you are unfamiliar with the unit construct, it is based on Kevin Washburn's instructional design system. My school has adopted it as an instructional model. In addition, we are currently working through the ACSI accreditation renewal process, so I try to include elements in my unit plans that are typically found in curriculum mapping.