4 Ways to Nip the Dismissal Chaos in the Bud!
A lot of teachers struggle with their elementary dismissal procedures, but I’m here to help you out and give you an easy way to implement a fresh idea with less stress and no mess! And the best part is??? It’s all up to the students and not you to clean your classroom! If you put the responsibilities back on them, they will do a better job for you!
Today I’m going to help you implement 4 easy steps:
1.) Classroom Jobs
2.) Use a Timer and Sing a Song
3.) Pack ‘n Stack Rules
4.) Reward the cleanest and quietest table
1.) Classroom Jobs
I don’t know about you, but I DO NOT have 20 different class jobs. I know some teachers love to have a different job for each child, but I’ve found that having less jobs is easier to maintain and manage. But that’s just me. I only have 5 jobs for each table group and they stay the same jobs all year. My class jobs are: table captain, floor sweeper, pencil exchanger, work folder organizer, and chair stacker. My table groups have colored tractor stickers on their desks, and they are yellow, red, green, purple, and blue.
I have a poster in my classroom that shows which tractor has what job. I use colored tractors because I have a Farmhouse Theme. So, whatever theme you have, you can be creative and have different pictures on your students’ desks for their jobs for the week! If you have a Rainbow Theme, then each table can be a different color. If you have an Ocean Theme, then each job can be a different sea animal. Cool right?
My class jobs are strictly for my clean up, which I call “Pack ‘n Stack.” Each week, I rotate the jobs so each color has a different job. That way, every student gets to be the captain, floor sweeper, pencil exchanger, work folder organizer, and chair stacker. This is a very efficient, yet easy way to keep your dismissal procedures up and running even when you are not there and have a sub! Works like a charm!
Here’s what the tractors look like on the desks:
2.) Use a Timer and Sing a Song
Using a timer and a song can eliminate your students playing around and getting distracted. Here is a clean-up song that I recommend to train your students to do Pack’n Stack efficiently. These videos have several different timers, so you can use whatever best fits the amount of time you have. I like to start with the 5-minute timer and work down from there. Usually, 5 minutes is enough time to train my students to do their selected jobs on the chart. Later on in the year, you can add other clean-up songs, or do what we do: Sing the “50 Nifty States” song while we clean up!
3.) Pack’n Stack Rules
The rules of Pack’n Stack are simple. I review these rules every day for the first week of school.
1.) Don’t start until your teacher tells you and says, “Happy Cleaning!”
2.) Always do your job first.
3.) If you are done with your job, then see if anyone else needs help with their job.
4.) When your table is finished cleaning, put your backpack on and stand next to your desk with your bubble and thumb up.
5.) Sing the song while you are working so you’re not talking or playing around.
6.) Stand quietly so your teacher can walk around to see who has the cleanest area.
Here’s a video of my students doing their Pack’n Stack routine at the end of the school year. We have transitioned from the Clean Up Song to 50 Nifty States.
4.) Reward the Cleanest and Quietest Table
The one thing that motivates your students to clean is knowing that you will reward the cleanest and quietest table after the song and timer are up. Being consistent each day will help keep your classroom running smoothly and efficiently. If you use bonus bucks like I do, then reward the table that cleaned the best each day with a bonus buck or two. If you use tickets, then reward them with tickets. Whatever your behavior management system is, just be consistent so your students know what to expect each day. I try and reward a different table each day so it’s fair to all the students.
I hope you got some great ideas on how to implement your own elementary dismissal procedures, like Pack’n Stack, in your classroom! If you’re interested in reading about my Day in First Grade, click HERE.
Until next time, let’s take your classroom to the next level!
