Tips for an Effective Morning Routine (+ a free download)

Let’s talk about your morning routine. I *hope* that you’ve gotten your students into a seamless morning routine that starts your day off with calm and ease. We can hope, right? If that’s not happening, that’s okay too. I promise you it is never too late to create a routine that works for your students and you. It just takes a bit of work. And I learned the hard way about what your morning should NOT look and feel like, which is why I was inspired to create the morning work. (mostly out of a desperate need!)

I wanted to share some tips to help you with creating that calm atmosphere in the first few minutes of the day from the moment your students walk into your classroom. I don’t know about you, but I crave that at the beginning of the day. That calm energy that helps you get things DONE! Your students need that too. So let’s talk about some simple ways to do that.

📌 It starts with you.❤️

I have a very specific morning routine for myself that is not that fancy, but is very important for me each and every day. And if I don’t get that – it’s not good for anyone around me. (Just ask my husband.😬) I like to wake up early (preferably before anyone else so I get my “me” time ☕️) and make my coffee. While the coffee is brewing, I take all my vitamins, make my special cleanse drink, and unload the dishwasher. Then, I sip on it leisurely while I check emails, make my to-do list, and just mentally prepare for the rest of the day. There’s no rushing. I might already be working, but I’m enjoying my coffee. I just need the quiet and my coffee. Really, that’s it! After that, I’m ready to meet the needs of others because I’ve taken care of myself. I hope that you have a routine that works for you in the morning. It can be simple or with a lot of other steps. It is what works for you to create that inner calm that gives you outer strength.

📌 Set the mood with music. 🎵

I personally crave the quiet in the morning, but that is when I’m by myself. When you are greeting 18+ students in the morning all at once, it’s a different ball game. You can begin to create a calm atmosphere by having classical or soft music playing in the background as students come in.

📌Greet students at the door. 🚪

This is so simple, but so powerful. As students come inside the classroom, greet each of them individually at the door. Of course, you’ll have students trickle in, but you can still teach them to greet you when they arrive. It just builds that positive relationship and lets students know you care about them. Plus, it feels good. 🤗 Even on the most hectic of days. And whether they show it or not, it could mean the world to some of your students. ❤️

📌 Teach explicitly and reteach as needed! 👩‍🏫

You have expectations about how they should come in, what they should do when they come in. Teach your students exactly what to do, how to help each other remember, and review when needed.

📌 Be flexible.

🤸‍♂️ While I personally might like every student to come in quietly and get started working right away, some students might have been waiting all night and morning to share some exciting news or talk about their favorite show from the night before. Talk and chatter is excellent for social skills and helps your students build community among themselves. Maybe morning work is also partner work so students can chat and work at the same time.

📌 Have a good warm up for the day!📝 ☀️

Having something specific for your students to work on when they come in makes your expectations a breeze. And if it’s engaging – even better! I used to assign math workbook pages or have students read independently when they first came in, but it just wasn’t working. Rarely did students actually come in and read independently. And I always seemed to be scrambling for a practice page that I didn’t want to use for something else. It was just too much work for not enough value. Those first few minutes in the morning, you have housekeeping and other things you need to do. It is also such a critical and valuable time that can be used to accomplish so much! The ELA + Math Morning Work was my solution to this problem. They both have a daily theme to keep it engaging and continuously covering critical content. (say that 3 times fast!)

I hope you found at least one of these tips useful! I’d love to hear your morning routine. Is it similar or completely different from my #1? Leave a comment below.

If you’d like to give the morning work a try for free, click the button below to download.

You might also like the morning work bundles