When I was a student teacher, I was in awe as I watched my mentor teach 

procedures
and routines in the classroom.  
During the first week of school, I remember thinking how odd it was that we weren’t
teaching much curriculum- it seemed like all we were doing was teaching
procedures and routines in the classroom.
I quickly realized why we spent so much time practicing these over and over. 
She could have left the classroom and her first graders would continue like she was
still there.  
Every child knew what to do AND how to do it, AT ALL TIMES.  
They knew how to turn in an assignment.  They knew how to ask to go to the
restroom without interrupting a lesson.  
At the end of the day, all 20 first graders knew how to reorganize their desk, how to
pack their backpack, where to place their backpack when they were finished, and what
to do while they waited.
As I observed other classrooms that year and still today, it reminds me of
the importance of routines and procedures in the classroom.
I realized that the key to my success as a first year teacher was creating and enforcing
my procedures and routines in the classroom.
WHAT ARE PROCEDURES AND ROUTINES
FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT?
Classroom procedures and routines for elementary students are the way you teach
your students to do things in your classroom. 
They tell students HOW to do everything.
 HOW to enter the classroom
 HOW to ask a question
 HOW to turn in completed work
 HOW to walk down the hallway
 HOW to pack up at the end of the day
 and everything in between
THE DIFFERENCE IN RULE, PROCEDURE AND
ROUTINE
 
A rule tells your students what they can and cannot do.
A procedure and a routine both tell your students HOW to do things in the classroom.
“Routines allow students to quickly accomplish day-to-day tasks that are required of
both the teacher and students. Routines also help to create smoother transitions
between activities and therefore allow fewer opportunities for disruptions to
occur.” (Burden, 2003; Docking, 2002)