Rules, Rituals, and Routines in the Classroom

Each school has its own rituals and routine. Furthermore, each teacher has his/her own routines in the classroom. These protocols are absolutely necessary to make sure that a class runs smoothly and thus time on task can be maximized. For example, Chapter 4 of our texts talks about something as simple as the distribution of books in a classroom. It would be way to hectic to have a class of 30 students get up and go to the front of the classroom to get a book at the same time, thus the teacher may call one row at a time, or have one person from each row go up and get enough books for his/her entire row. Simple little adjustments like this make a huge difference in the class atmosphere. A very similar modification could be applied to a physical education setting concerning the distribution of equipment. Another essential protocol in classroom is that each student should know that they are expected to come to class and prepared to participate in what is planned for the day. Students should know that they should use the restroom before the class starts and will only be allowed to leave in the case of an emergency. I think that a major reason that rules and routines are so important in class is that without these, it would be difficult to accomplish anything. If students know exactly what is expected, more time can be spent working on fitness or skills for the day in physical education class. The amount of time that students spend in physical education class per week is already too little time, and thus it is crucial to make the most out of the little time we do have so the students receive the most benefits.