Welcome to the Modern Classrooms Project Podcast. Each week we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning to better serve their learners. In this episode, Toni Rose is joined by Jess Bille to discuss how well-structured opening and closing routines can support a self-paced learning environment.

Here are three key takeaways from this podcast episode:

• Setting Clear Routines: Jess emphasizes the significance of setting clear routines, especially in an elementary classroom. These routines help young learners navigate self-paced learning effectively. Jess uses a daily check-in during opening routines to gauge student progress, provide support, and encourage goal setting. This practice helps students stay on track and feel more in control of their learning journey.

• Acknowledging Feelings and Building Relationships: Toni Rose and Jess stress the importance of acknowledging students' feelings as they enter the classroom. By creating an environment where students can openly express their emotions, educators can foster a more comfortable and collaborative learning space. This practice also helps in building positive teacher-student relationships.

• Effective Use of Progress Trackers: Jess discusses her use of progress trackers, both individual and public, as tools to keep students on track. She highlights that the public progress tracker can be empowering when students view it as a guide rather than a competitive measure. It facilitates peer collaboration and support, helping students work together to achieve their goals.

The podcast underscores the flexibility of the Modern Classrooms model, emphasizing that there are multiple right ways to implement it, allowing educators to tailor the approach to their students' needs. Jess's experience demonstrates that well-established routines, clear communication, and progress tracking can make self-paced learning successful in an elementary classroom.

Discussion questions for PLC and PD: 

• How can educators adapt and implement well-structured opening and closing routines to facilitate self-paced learning effectively, especially in elementary classrooms?

• What strategies can teachers employ to create a classroom environment where students feel comfortable acknowledging and expressing their feelings, and how can this positively impact the learning experience?

• The podcast highlights the use of progress trackers as essential tools. How can educators strike a balance between using these trackers to guide and motivate students without creating competition or feelings of inadequacy?

More Details from this Podcast Episode

Opening and closing routines in the classroom can be the difference between a well-oiled, self-pacing machine and utter chaos. Having touchstone activities, habits, and routines that you can regularly come back to allows students to know what to expect while also providing a time for both students and teachers to reflect on the progress of the class period. We sat down with Toni Rose Deanon, former middle school educator and current Modern Classrooms staff member, and Jess Bille, elementary educator and Modern Classrooms Expert Mentor to learn more about how they organize opening and closing lessons in their classrooms.

Opening routines: Making Space for Mental Health

Many classrooms incorporate “Do Now” activities to get students in their academic brains and ready for learning, but this doesn’t always have to be so academically-oriented. In the elementary space, many educators employ morning meetings or carpet time. This is a perfect opportunity to focus on social emotional learning and awareness.

“Just like many adults, many of my students don't like math,” Jess says. “So it's really nice to start off that math block with a feeling of calmness.”

For older students, you can incorporate this SEL check-in in more private or personalized ways. Toni Rose used a Google form with a series of questions to check in with her students emotionally and academically and to get them thinking about their goals for the class. 

“I asked them how they were feeling, and it was a drop down menu, and it was like a weather thing - like sunny, rainy, stormy. And then my students gave me some feedback on what kind of words they wanted to add in,” Toni Rose says. “And then I asked them, are you on pace, behind pace or ahead of pace? And then, what is your goal for today?”

This type of check-in allows students to think through not only what emotions they are bringing with them into the class, but to assess, understand and reflect on where they are academically. 

Tracking Progress with Opening and Closing Routines

While older students are often capable of self-assessing and tracking their progress, Jess found that her third-graders needed a bit more support. While students gather their materials for math, she posts the public progress tracker. This gives her time to discuss which lesson is on track and to help students know who is on track, who is working on revision, and who might be ahead of schedule.

“This time gives students ideas on who to ask for help or who they can partner up with for the day,” Jess says. She also encourages students to set goals at the outset of the lesson, so they know what they are shooting for during the day’s lesson.

Sometimes this focus on progress isn’t only for students. Jess can look at progress from the day before - if a large percentage of students struggled with a concept from the previous on-track lesson, she can use this time to bring everyone together and dispel misconceptions through teaching a mini-lesson to the whole class or a subset who would benefit.

“Whenever I notice a lot of students are stuck on the same thing, I try to make sure I address it as a mini lesson before the next block,” she says. This is usually five minutes or less, allowing students to get back to self-pacing and learning with some redirection.

The end of class can also be a time to revisit student progress. Jess brings students together again at the end of the block to update the public progress tracker together. “I might ask, okay, who made it to lesson five today? And then the students can raise their hand and we might give them a round of applause,” she says. While it provides a moment to celebrate students who made progress, it also allows for a short conversation around why students may not have made progress and to get students thinking about their roadblocks.

Closing with Celebrations

In addition to recognizing progress, Jess also shouts out students for their effort. “I might say, ‘Wow, I noticed Bobby back there. He did such a great job this whole time. I noticed he went to two students to ask for help. He came back to his computer, he got right back to work. He re-watched the video, and then he moved on to his activity and was able to pass on his mastery check. Way to go, Bobby!’” 

However, Jess doesn’t just limit shout-outs to what she sees her students doing - she allows them to shout each other out, as well. Sometimes this might take the form of verbal shout outs, but it doesn’t always have to. 

“I have them write a little note to whoever they want to shout out to on their post it, and then they'll deliver it to their desk, which is also kind of fun because it's like little fan mail, which is really nice,” she says.

Changing Up Routines

While routines can be a great way to support students and help them know what to expect next, they don’t have to stay the same in every single class. You can shift routines based on where you are in your unit, or even based on the day of the week.

Toni Rose shared how a colleague would have a different routine on Fridays, where they would check in with students and then have them craft an email to their caregivers to help keep them in the loop. This also eliminated some work from the educator’s plate, in that families were kept informed of student progress and students retained ownership of their progress. 

Jess also mixes things up on Fridays, using “soft-start Fridays” - a time when students can use class time to play board games with their peers, sit and chat, study for a test, or connect more with her as a teacher.

Keep in mind these opening and closing routines should work for you and your classroom community. Keep them short - just a couple minutes - to reserve the bulk of instructional time for student learning, and to maximize student attention and engagement. But most of all, make them your own. Find out what your students need or want out of these whole-class moments and provide ways for them to connect, engage, and reflect.

Our Host

Toni Rose taught MS English for 10 years and will forever identify as a teacher. Toni Rose strives to be the teacher that they never had growing up, so they focuses on anti-bias, anti-racist work and wants to create a brave space for everyone around them. As a queer Filipinx, they understand just how important it is to be represented, be valued, and belong. They especially love being a thought partner for and celebrating teachers.

Our Guest: Jess Bille

If you like what you hear in this episode, share it with a friend or subscribe to get updates when new podcasts are published.