Re-establishing Your Routines and Holding Onto Community

Alexis Blum, OFLA Professional Development Chair 
Spanish Teacher, Wapakoneta High School

The second semester is in full swing now in February. I find this time of year to be a bit challenging regarding classroom routines and management. Part of that is my desire to be more relaxed. I know my students, and they know me. They know what to expect from me, and we have developed a culture of trust. Sprinkle in some school delays and a possible snow day or two, and suddenly, it seems we feel a bit off course in the class. 

To combat this feeling of irregularity, I identify parts of my lesson plan that are non-negotiable, no matter the day. Reviewing my lesson plans not only helps me keep on track but also communicates my level of expectations to the students. My students know that every day we meet at the door, then we have a discussion question, and then we do a warm up activity. These activities are my non-negotiables. By following this order every single day, my students know what to expect from me, even on the days (or weeks) where the day seems out of sorts. 

I am also working in time every week to continue to build community. February seems like a late point in the year to build community, right? I disagree. Classroom community is built in the fall, but it is cared for all year long. Just this week my students had to guess statements about each other to see how well we know each other. These questions, focused on our target phrases of “s/he has to” and “s/he can(not) make something”, gave us a way to learn about our classmates while also learning vocabulary. I quickly wrote down some ideas of things we may or may not know about someone. Here was my brief list:

Student has to make their bed every day. 
Student has to help their grandparents sometimes. 
Student can do a cartwheel. 
Student can make a birthday cake. 
Student can dance the macarena. 
Student can do the Whip and Nae Nae. (This was hilarious to do!)

I had a random name generator pick a student’s name, and we had to guess one of the statements about that particular person. Of course, this tended to more questions about the rest of the class. It was a great way to spend 5-8 minutes getting to know each other. We laughed and saw a lot of cool “moves.” 

How are you tending to your class well-being this semester?