Setting a Plan In Place for a Smooth Morning Routine!

Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas Setting a Plan In Place for a Smooth Morning Routine!
It is never too late to set a plan in place for a smooth morning routine!
Once Spring Fever hits and no one wants to wake up for school, things slowly unravel and no one wants to return back to class....and that's just the teachers!! Just kidding, but with vacations, warm weather, sunny nights and standardize testing, this is always a hectic time for teachers with children. No matter their age, the stress level amps up even higher. 

I have two children, my daughter is now a "real adult" having graduated from FSU and working in the Real World. My son lives one town over and attends college there, so I've had many, many, many years of  
getting-ready-for-school-stress.
I mean joy, getting ready for school joy!
{Insert insane, evil laugh!}
Being a Navy family, some years they came to school with me, some years they went to their neighborhood school if I didn't get a position at their school due to a recent move. This is my very favorite tip that I would like to share with you. Every night when their homework was done, we put the backpacks at the door. Not on some hook or a bench at the door, nothing cute and adorable like you see on Pinterest, but right smack dab in front of the door. That way as we leave in the morning, you actually have to trip over the bag to get out...no way your children can forget it! It can be your front door or like our family, the door to the garage. 
As they got older, I placed two white 3M Command Clips on the door, one for the daughter, one for the son as shown in the picture. Since they had their own vehicles to drive to school and had part time jobs, sports, ROTC, etc. etc. etc. as high school students and were no longer driving to school with me, this became the place that important forms, SAT reminder notices, lunch money, ANYTHING, ANYTHING AT ALL is clipped to the door. My husband and I check it one last time before bed and the kids know to check it on the way out to school at the crack of dawn! Very rarely in our family do we get a call from the children that they left something at home, which then helps keep the work day running smoother for the adults.

One last tip how you can use this with your students...
I take a picture of our door every year, no matter what house we've lived in, no matter if we used the garage door or the front door, and I take that picture to school. I teach my students that this is what we do at "Mrs. Smith's house" and encourage them to try this system too. Sometimes, when I've been at low income schools, many of these students have to get ready by themselves, this system helps them gain a little bit of independence. 



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