Cleaning up the Classroom
At the end of a work period, we clean up the classroom to get ready for lunch, playtime, dismissal or after school childcare.
The Announcement
In lower elementary, I would ring the bell (see the article on THE BELL) to get everyone’s attention and then only once everyone’s eyes were on me give an announcement. Most days the announcement is the same. “Please clean up your work and bring your work diary and a pencil to group.” But the message might not always be the same so it is important that the children are looking and listening every time.
Clean up time is going to be busier and louder than a work period but it should not dissolve into chaos. It is important to set the children up for success by giving clear expectations about clean up time.
My Procedure
- Clean up your own work
- Do your job (if your class has jobs)
- Help out the community so we can get cleaned up quickly
- Sit in group.
I emphasize “you can be helping or sitting. Those are your two options.”
Expect and insist on this. (I wish I could remember the amazing Montessorian that shared that phrase with me)
Be Present
I clean up my own teacher things before I ring the bell so I can be fully present during clean up time. These times of transition can be the hardest times of the day. This bears repeating.
I clean up my own things before I ring the bell.
Bell
Ring the bell again during clean up time if you need to and remind children of expectations.
Sing
Sing a song during clean up (no, not the Barney song!). This can help keep talking down.
Drum it
Have children clean up to the rhythm of the drum.
Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta A walking rhythm. A hard TAM! Means freeze. You can use the frozen time to refocus. “Where are you walking? Do you see something that needs to be put away? Where are you moving next in the classroom?”
ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti is a tippy toe run. TAM! Freeze. If children cannot freeze (control their body) have them sit by you for a while.
YA-ta Ta-ta YA-ta Ta-ta is a skipping rhythm. TAM! freeze . “Look the the shelf closest to you, does something needs straightening?’ “Look by your feet? Do you see any trash you can pick up?”
BOOM — -BOOM — -BOOM is a jumping or stomping rhythm. TAM! Freeze. “Now as you move to the drum make your way to the rug”
Dismissing by table
Go to a table and check work diaries. Then let those children know they may very quietly start cleaning up (because others are still working) and sit on the rug with their work diaries. They might also need something to do while they are waiting. Maybe this is the time they can decorate or doodle on their page. Children can draw a picture of a high point of the day. Older children can write a reflection prompt that is waiting for them on the whiteboard in group.
Make the Gathering Place an Interesting Place To Be
Sticks
Have a basket of sticks available on the rug. Tap rhythms with a set of sticks and have the children copy on their sticks. As children clean up and sit quietly on the rug, hand them a pair of sticks. If I don’t have enough for everyone I’ll have them pass their sticks every few turns.
Clapping charts
Have the clapping charts with you at the rug. Show a chart, Clap the rhythm and have the children clap it back to you. You can also count the charts (1 and 2 and 3, 4) and have the children count the rhythm back to you.
Other music games
In our music albums we have music games. Many of these music games can be done as children are cleaning up and gathering at your gathering place. Copycat with percussion instruments, blind copycat, and mystery sound game are some good examples.
Teach a new song
Sing quietly to the group at the rug a new song. Sing one line and have them sing it back to you.
Language lessons
Use picture cards, verbal cues or miming to review your foreign language lessons. Teacher: “meow” Children “Gato!” Involve the students.
Ticket Game
Ask children to look around for something that needs attention in the room. They raise their hand, tell you what they see that needs doing, take care of it, and that is their ‘ticket’ to line up.
I Spy
Play the I spy game if you see things that need attention. Sometimes I use this as a way to dismiss to line up. This is like the ‘ticket game’.
Too much fun at the rug
If your children are gathered but the room is not ready, just look around, and stop the activity.
When you don’t clean up.
If your room is not used for childcare or after school clubs you might be able to leave out floor work until the next work period. Just be sure you know who’s work it is. Younger children will forget from one day to the next that they have left out a work. I always have children check in with me before leaving out work.
Class leader
In lower elementary I often had a class leader for the day. This student would get to ring the bell for clean up. They enjoyed doing this. They might do other jobs as well like dismiss, lead the line and check jobs. (see the article How to Lose Control of your Classroom about class leaders)
Pad your clean up time
Cleaning up is going to take longer in the beginning of the year, or with a younger group. Give your class enough time to clean up properly and still get to where you need to be on time. We spend so much of our lives rushed that I try as much as possible to avoid rushing the children.
Extra time?
If the children clean up more quickly than you expected you now have time to play a quick music game, sing a song, listen to a piece of music with your eyes closed, read a poem out loud, play a guessing game, tell a story, do a circle of compliments, play ‘would you rather?’, read a picture book or something else fun. As a new teacher, I wrote some of these ideas down on 3X5 index cards that sat on the counter. If I was stumped as to what to do I could pull a card for an idea.
Waiting is Hard
If there are children who have a hard time waiting at the rug until everyone else is there, make sure they know some things they can do. I always ask children to look over their work diary page and look for spelling errors or see if they missed writing something down. They can do a quick reflection, like a high point and low point. I often let my students decorate or doodle on their page (as long as it’s appropriate for school). I also have fidgets available in the classroom for those who need to keep their hands busy. You will need to teach these options and then prompt these options for much longer than you think you need too :) It is important to make it clear it is not playtime or time to roll around or be crazy with your friends.
The Struggle is Real.
You might need to invite certain friends to help you in the classroom. Give them special jobs to keep them busy and have them be a service to their community. Notice and appreciate when they follow expectations, do their job well or control their body when it can be so hard to do.
Another technique that has been helpful for friends who have a particularly hard time during clean up is to do a social story to make visual expectations and plans for during clean up. Although social stories were developed to support children with autism they can be a great way to prepare, plan and visualize positive behavior for difficult times of the day.
I also might check in with a student before I ring the bell to give them a bit of a warning and talk through what they will do during clean up. Having those directions freshly verbalized can help the child be successful. In extreme cases, I might have that friend clean up early and then stick with me during clean up time.
Do you have cleaning up ideas? Was this helpful? Let me know!
