This Is the Way: Using Stations to Teach Classroom Procedures

Do you remember singing, This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth…? I remember playing this singing game as a child, and I've used it with my students, also. Many different actions can be inserted, depending on what you wish to practice. How about, This is the way we pick up trash…in the afternoon?

Singing and acting out motions for this song can be a fun way to practice some procedures in the classroom. It is good to begin thinking of those classroom procedures and management plans for the upcoming school year. Having these plans developed in advance will help with classroom and school management.

One strategy we have used in our school in past years is “Stations.” This is a fun and helpful method for teaching elementary classes about guidelines, routines, manners, and school culture.

I will share what we developed; these methods could, of course, be personalized to your school.

We had six or seven stations, each dealing with one of the common areas of the school. There was a station at the library, one at the front office, one for hallways and stairways (sometimes we did these separately), one for the bathrooms (girls and boys were split up), a gym station, and a station for buses/dismissal. There could be a “Recess” station, as well. The stations were manned by different teachers who explained their area and gave guidelines and procedures for that part of school.

We did the Stations with kindergarten through sixth grade on one of the first days of school. Each teacher involved had a station to give their information and each class rotated to different stations. The teachers stayed at their stations and when they were finished presenting they would direct the students to move on to the next station. There was an extra person to go along with the kindergarten class, and a “floater” who moved around and helped as needed.

We tried to phrase the information in a positive manner: “This is the way we walk in the hallway…” At some stations, the students would practice a bit, or the teacher directing the station might have a student demonstrate.

We did our first station session with our own class, then when finished, directed them to move to the station listed after ours.

Here are some of our logistics: the schedule, and a listing of our stations, their locations, and the teacher assigned to the station.

 We allotted nine minutes per station, using this schedule.

Station Schedule

• 10:00-10:09
• 10:09-10:18
• 10:18-10:27
• 10:27-10:36
• 10:36-10:45
• 10:45-10:54
• 10:54-11:03

Stations and Assignments

• Buses (outside front entrance): Miss D
• Entryway (inside front doors): Mrs. H
• Upstairs bathrooms (bathrooms): boys – Mr. S; girls – Miss B
• Library: Miss A
• Gym: Mrs. S
• Hallways and Stairways (in the lower lobby area): Miss W
• Accompany Kindergarten: Miss W (The kindergarten teacher did not lead a station but stayed with her class.)
• Mr. B: Floater – help wherever needed, make sure people are getting to their places; keep an eye on a busy class; crowd control; help if secondary students are going through the halls at the same time.

We developed points for each area and had notes for ourselves in the presentation. Some people had visuals—pictures or objects to use, such as a basketball in the gym, or a photo showing a certain procedure. Following are the lists we used for the stations.

Station Checklists

Girls Restrooms

1. Walk to the restroom. (In case of emergency, you may want to speed up a little!)
2. Open door gently with your hands
3. Respect the privacy of others. (Climbing on tank, looking over dividers, and under doors is not showing respect for others.)
4. Keep your feet on the floor (The restroom is not a jungle gym!)
5. Remember to flush. (Flush only body wastes and toilet paper.)
6. Keep stall doors unlocked when leaving.
7. Wash hands with soap and water, dry them.
8. Put paper towels in the trash can.
9. Keep windows closed.
10. Leave air freshener alone.
11. Keep socializing to a minimum. (It’s fine to give a friendly greeting: “Hi!” “How are you?” “Have a good day.”)
12. Use inside voices.
13. Do what you need to do, and then quietly go back to your classroom.

Boys Restrooms

1. Privacy
2. Urinal
   • Puddles
   • Flushing
3. Toilet
   • Lifting lid
   • Flushing properly
4. Hand washing
   • Proper washing
   • Spritzing water on mirrors/floor/etc.
   • Drying hands properly
5. Respect for the room
6. Not messing with supplies
7. Pranks
8. Climbing
9. Not opening windows
10. Leave air freshener alone
11. Socializing in the rest room
12. Opening door non-disruptively (students tend to thump the main door open)

Hallway and Stairwells

1. Walk
2. Stay orderly (in single file line)
3. Pass other classes with politeness – keeping your hands to yourself
4. Stay quiet (use inside voices if talking is necessary)
5. Keep feet on the floor and hands at sides (no jumping up at doorways)
6. Keep feet quiet – no squeaking shoes, and leave enough space between students (don’t step on others’ shoes)
7. Keep walking (move off the stairs for conversations)
8. Be aware of what is happening in front of you
9. Keep to the right
10. Use railings for your hands, not sliding boards
11. Step on each step
12. Refrain from sitting on the steps

Gym Procedures 101

1. Right inside the gym door
   • Location of P.E. classes and some recesses
   • Fun place where you can play games and sports with friends
   • Respect others and equipment for your safety
   • Sneakers must be worn for P.E. class – no bare feet!
   • When entering gym, no running until you cross over the door threshold (silver strip) from the hallway
   • At the beginning of every gym class, run 2 laps around the gym staying on the line and then sit in the center circle so you are out of the way of other runners
2. Move to center circle
   • TTT and No T Rules:
     • Try your best
     • Teamwork
     • Trust God
     • No Touching!
   • When you hear a whistle blown, stop what you are doing and give the teacher your full attention.
3. At Gym Closet
   • Gym closet stores equipment; no students allowed in the gym closet at any time
   • Use of Equipment:
     • Soccer Balls – the only ball that can be kicked
     • Basketballs – only rolled; never thrown or kicked as this can misshape the ball
     • Volleyballs – never kicked; should be used for bumping and setting
     • Softballs – only thrown or hit; never throw against walls or concrete
     • Bats – used for hitting softballs but never anything else
   • Do not climb on gym walls
4. At Stage
   • Do not play on the stage unless your teacher says you may.
   • Do not jump off the stage.
   • Line up – at the end of all P.E. classes I will blow the whistle 3 times (long, short, short) as a signal to line up quickly and quietly at the gym door by the hallway (where you entered).

Entry Way and Office

(Start in entry way; move to office after #6)

1. Be courteous. Hold the door for others or pass the door to others.
2. Walk in quietly.
3. Please use caution. Walk slowly. Watch out for the little ones.
4. Keep your hands to yourself.
5. Say “Good morning” to Mr. S, teachers, classmates, etc. Be polite.
6. If the door is closed, please press the buzzer one time (staccato style).
7. Come to the office window, not the door.
8. Wait politely. If (secretary) is busy, knock lightly on countertop – (several demonstrate knocking lightly.)

Front Steps/Buses

1. Walk when getting on the bus and getting off the bus
2. Be aware of your surroundings. Buses are coming and going. Always look before stepping off the front step.
3. Walk in a line to the bus and remain in line while boarding the bus.
4. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. Watch out for smaller children.
5. Continue to use inside voices, so that Mr. S is able to communicate with the bus drivers.
6. Walk along the building to get to your bus and then cross in front of buses.
7. Keep walking until you get to your bus.
8. Try to make a line getting onto the bus so you don’t block people from getting by.
9. You may not return to the school building after you have exited.

Library

1. Be quiet
2. Put things where you got them.
3. Sign out all items you take with you.
4. Respect the books and handle them carefully.
5. Check out all books you are taking before leaving the library.
6. Return books to bins in the hallway . . . do not put them back on the shelves or in the bins.
7. Only teachers and staff use the computer on the larger desk to check out books.
8. Students may use computer on smaller desk to search for books . . . search by title, author, subject.
9. New books are continually being added. Watch for new books on the "new book" table.
10. Introduce sections of the library.

The stations were an interesting way to communicate school policies and procedures to the students. (This was also helpful to new teachers, who did not lead a station but followed along with their class.) Some comments from teachers following our Station Day were “I was impressed at how smoothly the transitions seemed to go.” “I was impressed with the entire event. The teachers related well to the students, presented in an interesting manner, and were flexible.”

“This is the way we climb the stairs….”

“This is the way we say, “Good morning!”

“This is the way we line up in gym….”

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash