Classroom Set-up During Covid-19

This morning I woke up, turned on the pre-loaded coffee maker, splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth, put on my exercise clothes, arranged the furniture so that I would have enough space to do each the terrible (not really) exercising, and tucked into the digital work out. This was not always the situation, learn more about doses. When COVID-19 struck, I think it’s safe to say that many of our previously learned daily routines went outside the window. If you are like me (and many people), this probably caused you to feel somewhat anxious… until you were able to create and settle into new routines. People are pattern seekers, and routines can contribute to situations that feel chaotic. They could relieve anxiety and, once learned, give our wisdom space and time to think thoughts that are more complicated than, say, “How do I render this Zoom assembly without anyone noticing?”Routines in the ClassroomI’d argue that teachers understand that the ability of routines better than every other group of professionals.

In reality, the first few weeks of school are typically devoted to helping students learn expectations, procedures, and routines that will assist the classroom run as a self-study machine. Whereas class expectations or”rules” are those global, overarching guidelines for students that speak to school culture and security, patterns address the particular activities across the day that reinforce or support the expectations.For instance, one of those classroom expectations within an early childhood classroom may be, “We’re safe with our bodies.” This is the global classroom principle that is known over and over again. So, the patterns that would support that expectation across the day may include things like lining up at a safe distance without touching each other or transitioning from Circle time to Centers within an orderly way.Arguably, a lot of the day for students is spent completing routines.

Why is this important? Well, in addition to helping children stay safe, once students understand the routines, their brains can concentrate on exactly what we REALLY need them to understand, whether it’s literacy, mathematics, or how to become a good friend. Students who require a lot of repetition to learn new abilities, like those with intellectualdisabilities or developmental delays, gain greatly from classrooms that have predictable, consistent routines in place.When students have learned the routines that help them navigate the school day, skill acquisition, participation, and self-regulation flourish. And, routines help teachers! Once routines are learned, teachers get to focus on instruction!There are some great beginning of the year classroom routines featured on Pinterest, like this example:This fall, a lot of us will be moving back to brick and mortar instruction and our students will soon be joining us. This is going to be an adjustment, to say the least, and placing solid routines in place will help everyone feel less stressed and more secure. Some routines from our pre-COVID world will stay the same, however a few new, “COVID” routines will be made to make sure that all students are following current security guidelines to the best of their skills.

Some examples may include things like lining up at a safe social distance, cleaning up following work or centers time by placing used substances in a”dirty” bin, or even students sanitizing their hands before checking individualized schedules and transitioning to a new place.When considering producing new”COVID” routines, Begin by asking these questions:Which are the pre-COVID routines that will stay the same?Are there existing routines that will need to be adjusted for security?Are there new routines which I want to include?Who’ll be implementing the routines? How does the routines be taught? Are there any students in my class that will require modifications to a routine because of their disabilities? (by way of instance, a pupil with Autism is functioning on tolerating the feeling of getting wet hands and becomes really anxious when asked to scrub his hands.)Are there alternatives for those students that could get them closer to the security guidelines?