Transform Student Behavior in 5 Minutes Per Day With This Micro Routine
Inside: the simple 5-minute afternoon routine that changed my classroom community
Why Have an Afternoon Routine?
The end of the school day can be stressful. Everyone is tired (including you), but for some reason, the kids seem to get this insane second wind right about 2:45 pm. The phone is ringing off the hook with dismissal changes, the secretary is dropping off last-minute notes that need to go home today, and you’re trying to get kids packed up on time without leaving too much downtime for everyone to get themselves into trouble.
Implementing a structured afternoon routine was a complete game-changer in my classroom. Today I’m going to share the one tiny piece of our afternoon routine that made the biggest difference in our classroom community. The best part is that you can start this today with absolutely no prep.
The Power of Reflection
It’s funny to look back on educational trends and realize which ones were popular when I was in school. For me, it was whole language instruction (I had to teach myself phonics when I became a teacher) and reflection. O.M.G, we had to fill out a reflection page on almost every piece of work we did. Does anyone else remember this?? I found my first grade portfolio in my parents’ basement and I swear half of it was filled with reflection pages. Do I think this type of circle-the-smiley-face-on-the-worksheet reflection really helped me learn? No. But, I do think that reflection is an essential life skill that we should be teaching our students.
“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”
Reflection is so much more than circling a smiley face or a frowny face on a piece of paper or coloring a square on a behavior calendar. I think you’re going to love this reflection routine and the change you see in your classroom community as a result.
Glow & Grow - A Daily Whole-Class Reflection Routine
Teachers are the masters of reflection. We’re able to quickly evaluate how a lesson is going and course-correct if needed. We can analyze a student’s behavior and pinpoint the trigger. We constantly reflect on our own practice and come up with ways to improve the way we teach our students. What if we could teach this skill of reflection to our kids?
That’s exactly what this Glow & Grow routine will do. In less than 5 minutes per day, students will be able to identify areas of strength and weaknesses and come up with a plan of action for the next day.
What’s a Glow?
During the first part of this routine, we identify our “glow” for the day. A glow is something that went well for us as a class during the day. Here are some examples of things that my students have identified as “glows”:
“We walked quietly in the halls while the third graders were taking their test”
“We were focused during center time”
“We played well together during recess”
After taking a few ideas for our “glows,” I ask students to brainstorm reasons why they think our class was successful with these things today. This is a key part of this routine - identifying the why. What was it that made us successful? How can we recreate that same success tomorrow?
What’s a Grow?
Next, we move on to discuss our “grow” for the day. A “grow” is an area that we could improve upon to be more efficient, learn more, or be happier as a class. I make it a point to set the expectation that we don’t call out students by name or focus on the behavior of one student. We focus on the way our classroom team is functioning as a whole. Here are a couple of examples of things that could be “grows” for your class:
“It took us a long time to line up after recess”
“Our floor was really messy after snack time”
Once we identify an area for growth, we brainstorm a plan of action and goal for the next day. For the examples above, it could look like this:
When we hear the whistle at recess, we’ll “freeze” and turn toward Mrs. Gardner. When she waves her hand, we’ll hustle to the line!
When we get our snacks out, we’ll each grab a paper towel to catch our crumbs. When we’re finished, we’ll fold it up and carry it carefully to the trash so our floor stays clean.
I Think You’re Going to Love It
After only a couple days of practice with naming our strengths and weaknesses as a team, I noticed my students were more able to recognize the areas where we could improve as a team, and even more importantly, naming a plan of action.
You’re going to see an instant difference in your classroom community and the ability of students to be introspective about how their behavior impacts the class as a whole (both positively and negatively).
Free No-Prep, No-Print Digital Slide
Grab your free no-prep, no-print slide to project on your whiteboard to help guide your discussions.
Whiteboard Pieces
If you’d rather have a more permanent spot for your Glows & Grows, print and laminate these whiteboard pieces. This way, you can record your Glows & Grows with a dry-erase marker and easily reference them throughout the day.
Like I mentioned above, this Glow & Grow reflection routine is just one small piece of our overall daily afternoon meeting. Why do I love afternoon meetings? Let me name the reasons…
Why I Love Afternoon Meetings
What does dismissal feel like in your classroom? If your classroom is anything like mine was, dismissal is a tornado of over-tired, hyped-up kids waving around backpacks and papers. It looked like 18 tiny people trying to stack chairs (should I have really let 6-year-olds wield a metal object like that? Questionable) and rolling around on the carpet. My brain looked a little bit like this:
It doesn't have to be that way. Enter afternoon meeting.
So what's an afternoon meeting?
It's a chance to pause, reflect on the day, plan for tomorrow, and give everyone a thoughtful goodbye. It will instantly bring calm to an otherwise cRaZy time of the day. Sounds like MORE planning, right? I've got you
Daily Pack-Up Song
This routine alone made such a difference in our afternoons. Each day, I play a song while students pack up and challenge them to get back to their spots before the song is over. It keeps students focused on the task at hand and makes our pack-up time so much more efficient.
Activity
That end-of-the-day energy is no joke. Once we’re all packed up, I like to channel that energy into something productive. Here’s what our schedule looks like:
Mindful Monday - we practice yoga and other mindfulness activities
Tidy-Up Tuesday - we clean a different area of our classroom each Tuesday
Whatcha Know Wednesday - I ask a brain-tickling question that gets students talking
Turn the Page Thursday - a read aloud from Youtube
Feelin’ It Friday - a guided dance each Friday
My afternoon meetings include an activity that’s already planned for you for each day of the school year. The best part of these activities is that the majority of them can be done semi-independently while you pass out last-minute notes, figure out last-minute dismissal changes, and prep for the next day.
Glow & Grow Reflection
You know all about this now! Our daily Glow & Grow reflection comes next. We celebrate our successes make a plan of action for the next day. Each day of afternoon meetings includes a Glow & Grow slide already prepped and ready to go.
Coming Soon…
I use the “coming soon” slides to give students a heads up on anything they need to know or remember for the next day. This is a great time to review assembly expectations or remind students about spirit days. I’ve included blank “coming soon” templates for each week of my afternoon meetings.
Farewell, Friends!
During morning meetings, we greet each other, so it only makes sense that we should say goodbye to our friends as well! Each day, I’ve planned a different way for students to say goodbye to their friends. Some of these are quick, whole-group goodbyes and others allow each student to say goodbye by name.
A Year of No-Prep Afternoon Meetings
Ready to bring afternoon meetings into your classroom but not wild about all of the planning involved? I’ve got you covered. Check out my year of no-print, no-prep afternoon meetings below:
