How to Tighten Up Your Classroom Transitions to Save Your Sanity
Hey, Teacher! Let’s chat about all things classroom transitions. You either love them or hate them, and you know they take some up-front work at the beginning of the year to get them running in tip-top-shape. So, as you gear up to head back to school, I want to give you some actionable tips to tighten up your classroom transitions so you can save yourself from a major headache come October.
Why are transitions important in the classroom?
According to an article from Edutopia, teachers with smooth transitions save about 15 minutes per day. This would result in an EXTRA 45 HOURS of instructional time each year! Say, what? I don’t know about you, but I not only NEED those precious hours…I simply can’t afford to lose out on them. So, you bet your bottom dollar that classroom transitions play a vital role in effective classrooms. Efficient transitions are going to keep your classroom on-pace, exciting, and prevent you from pulling your hair out!
Classroom transition procedures
The first step to getting your transitions right is to write them all down and decide on your expectations. A transition is considered anytime a students moves from one task to another. My best advice is to pretend that you are one of your students. Walk through your entire day as if you were in their shoes. Start at the very beginning. What does students do when they walk into the room in the morning? Do they sit at their desk? Where do they go from there? Write down each transition you will need to teach and build your classroom transitions procedures from there, i.e. – Will students have a certain amount of time to transition?
The next step is to teach these transitions explicitly on the first day of school. Demonstrate examples and non-examples of what you expect your students to look like, sound like, and act like when they complete the transitions. (*Pro Tip: NEVER let your students practice the non-example or negative behavior. This should only be done by you or another adult.)
Katy’s FAVE: Have your tried signaling classroom transitions with a wireless doorbell? Life changing! Here is my Amazon link for the exact doorbell that I use.
How to improve transitions in the classroom
After you have taught your procedures and expectations for transitions, it’s time to practice, practice, PRACTICE!! I promise you, there is never enough practicing! Practice in isolation during the first week of school, and continue to practice every time you complete the transition. This means, if it isn’t done to your expectations (sloppy, slow, loud, etc.), the students should try it again until they get it right! Even if that means practicing multiple times. I promise that if you take some time at the beginning of the year, you will earn that time back tenfold later. Be consistent, and never settle for anything less that what you have determined and taught as the desired expectation.
If you are using a whole classroom management system (check out my blog post HERE for more details on the system I use), you can reward your class with points for successful transitions.
Classroom Transition activities
Okay, we have finally made it to my favorite part! Now that your students understand the how to transition and what is expected, let’s spice things up!
- Transition to a chant or song. This is more suited for K-1 students, but a chant or song can be fun and helpful for students to see and hear more clearly what their classmates are collectively doing.
- Transition to music. Tired of counting down from 10? Play music for 30 seconds instead.
- Transition to actions. Tiptoe, hop, slither, etc. (ONLY if students can perform the action quietly.)
- Play a transition GAME! My students are OBSESSED with Transition Tic-Tac-Toe. Every time they transition efficiently, they get to place an X or O on the board. If they have to practice or retry a transition, I get to place an X or O on the board. (Pro-Tip: Have this be a classroom job so you don’t have to halt instruction to manage the board.) I give super simple free or low cost rewards for this. You would be AMAZED at how hard students will work for a Skittle. You can grab this Classroom Management Activity HERE, and the best part is that the resource comes with monthly/holiday themed game boards so your students will never get bored.
I hope you enjoyed these tips for transition bliss!
Until next time,
P.S. – If you are looking for more classroom management strategies to master your day from start to finish, download my FREE guide by clicking the image below.
