
Click below to hear a plan for hallway behavior management:
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Overview of episode 89:
Hallway procedures may seem low-stakes, but what if your students’ hallway behavior actually predicted how much teaching and learning happened in the classroom? It’s true. Students who walk quietly in a line show that they can follow classroom expectations, which translates into behavior management in the classroom. That’s why we want to talk about classroom management strategies for the hallways.
Why Hallways Procedures Matters
As we mentioned, hallway behavior is like the crystal ball for how well your students will behave when inside your classroom. We’ve all thought it before… When you see a rowdy class in the hallway, you think, “Oof, there might be trouble in that classroom!”
That’s because how students approach basic procedures like hallway transitions tells you how they will approach more important procedures, like independent reading or fire drills.
I know some teachers might think, “I hold my students to high expectations where it counts!” But that’s the wrong mentality to have when it comes to classroom management strategies. Students don’t know the difference between when it does or does not count, so they get the general message that they don’t need to meet expectations.
Not to mention, when students get riled up during hallway transitions, it makes it hard to settle back into your classroom routine and continue with learning. It’s a big drain on your time and energy.
How to Approach Hallway Procedures
So, how do you go about teaching hallway expectations? Here are four classroom management strategies that will help your hallway procedures stick and ensure calm, cool transitions.
#1 Planning What Needs to Happen
Before students can follow your directions, you have to have a clear understanding of what they should be doing. Are students allowed to talk in the hallways? Where should they line up? Will there be an assigned line leader? How do students line up?
All of these details should be thought about before introducing the hallway procedure to students. We’ve discovered that, like many classroom procedures, there’s a lot more to think through than you realize.
We created a quick cheat sheet to help you brainstorm your hallway expectations: the Free Hallway Procedures Guide. It includes a checklist of questions to think through as you plan your classroom management strategy.
#2 Preventing Problems
How can I prevent problems?! We know it sounds crazy, but that’s part of our job as teachers: to anticipate issues. Preventing problems in the hallways could mean having an assigned place in line. It could mean walking backward as you move through the hallway, so you can have your eyes on students. Or maybe it means not leaving the classroom until every student is meeting the expectation in line.
#3 Dealing with Problems
Of course, we’d be naive if we said you could prevent every problem. Unfortunately, students will still act out or cause disruptions in the hallways at times. You want to have a behavior management plan for how to handle those issues.
For example, you might have a hand signal you use to address a student that is talking or correct a student who is out of line. You might even have a turnaround signal for when the class needs a do-over! You may choose to move someone in line if they are acting out or follow up with a consequence for extreme disruptions.
#4 Teaching and Practicing Hallway Procedures
Luckily, you can begin practicing your hallway procedures from the first day of school. (Just make sure you’ve laid out this classroom management strategy before using it with students.) When you head to lunch or take a bathroom break, practice the proper hallway behavior.
When it comes to walking in the hallway, you first need to teach your procedure for lining up. With our students, we started by talking about how to line up. Then, we had a few students model how to line up correctly and incorrectly. Lastly, you put it to the test and make corrections. You can even do fake “hallway transitions” by having students walk around the room.
It might feel annoying to practice these routines over and over, but it’s important to stick with them. Fred Jones explains it this way, “Through simple practice to mastery, you’re signaling to the students by your investment of time and energy, that this piece of behavior is important. And you’re teaching the students that you are the living embodiment of two timeless characterizations of a teacher, ‘I say what I mean, and I mean what I say’. And we are going to keep doing this until we get it right. It is only through training such as this that students learn to take you seriously. They learn that when you say something they need to listen.”
Hallway behavior is one of the more neglected classroom management strategies. But when students are able to follow even the simplest expectations, it sets your entire classroom up for success!
Classroom Procedures Guide
Want help teaching classroom procedures, including hallway transitions? Grab the Classroom Procedures and Routines Bundle! It includes a checklist to help you brainstorm each procedure, plus teaching slides and planning guides, so it’s easy to cover expectations (whether it’s the beginning of the year or a mid-year reset).
Resources:
- FREE Hallway Procedures Guide
- Classroom Procedures and Routines Teaching Slides Bundle
- Oh Happy Dani Changemaker Affirmation Freebie
- Portable Phone Charger
- Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow
- Shop our teacher-approved resources
- Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll love these too:
- Episode 75, Classroom Procedures and Expectations: How they Differ and How to Teach Them
- Episode 18, Procedures for Success!
Read the transcript for episode 89, Hallway Behavior Management: 4 Essential Plans for Improving Hallway Classroom Management:
Emily
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re talking all about hallway procedures, and sharing a teacher approved tip for beginning with the end in mind.
Heidi
We start our episodes with a morning message just like we used to do at morning meeting in our classrooms. This week’s morning message is what is a prompt you give to your students before walking in the hall?
Emily
And we got some really awesome responses from our community. Cindy said for the lower grades she likes my hands are by my side. I’m standing straight and tall. I’m looking forward got a bubble. I’m ready for the hall.
Heidi
And Maggie said I’d like to sing a little song along with the tune to I’m a little teapot.
Emily
Are you gonna sing? Yeah, of course I got you don’t have to sing it. We know that tune if you just wanna.
Heidi
I’m a big second grader, big and tall. Here is my quiet sign for the hall. When I’m in the hallway. You won’t hear me shout. I’m responsible without a doubt. Well done. Yeah, I wouldn’t use that one. No offense, Maggie.
Emily
If maybe if you’re a more fun teacher. Yep. Okay, help me out with this one. Heidi. Cynthia said, eyes facing forward, hands by your side voices off. I like that kind of call and response. Kate said, I’m in second. No talking, just walking. Keep our hands to ourselves. Kim said we say my hands are hanging by my side. I’m standing straight and tall. I’m standing very quietly, my eyes are looking straight ahead. I’m ready for the hall.
Heidi
April said, Show me a shine line. And then shine stands for S is for stand straight, H just hands at your sides. I is in your place and is no noise and E is eyes forward.
Emily
Doug said fourth grade teacher here I say set. They say hit. I’ve used this for 20 years. First time I used was for my varsity football players to get them to be quiet and listen. It worked well.
Heidi
And I bet if it works for football players that will work for fourth graders to. Emily said My favorite was call and response. So I would call out a sixth grade line is and my class would respond back straight and silent.
Emily
Love it. Nancy said I’ve used Ready Set, you bet with second through fourth graders.
Heidi
I like that short and sweet. Tylena said we will enter the hallway when our voices and our line our hallway ready.
Emily
And Karen said hands at your sides Eyes front mouth closed when we start walking. Don’t start talking.
Heidi
Love a rhyme when it comes to the hallway.
Emily
We’d love to have you join the conversation over in our teacher approved Facebook group.
Heidi
So if you were to list your five most important classroom procedures, would hallway procedures make the cut?
Emily
Well my attention signal would probably be number one. And strong procedures for starting and ending the day are critical for my sanity as a teacher. Hallway procedures are important. But I don’t know if they would crack the top five on my list.
Heidi
Yeah, I agree. It makes sense that if student learning is the point of school, then we should put our efforts into the procedures and expectations that make teaching and learning possible. But have you ever considered that a classes hallway behavior is a crystal ball for predicting how much teaching and learning actually happens in a classroom?
Heidi
Whoa, I read about this recently, and I kind of haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. The idea is that students who are walking quietly in line are showing that they respect their teacher and that they can follow directions.
Emily
Well, that does make sense. I know when I see a class acting rowdy in the hallway, my first thought isn’t, I bet that class really maximizes their learning time.
Heidi
That’s because how students approach basic procedures like walking in line tells you exactly how they approach more important procedures. Like you know, actually reading during reading time.
Emily
I think some teachers might hear that and think well, my class may not be great in the hallway, but I hold them to high standards where it counts. But that is not how high standards work.
Heidi
Right. You can’t expect your students to follow your directions when it’s really important and making air quotes, you can’t see that. But really important. If you don’t expect them to follow your directions when it’s kind of important.
Emily
Telling your class to be quiet in the hallway, but not holding them accountable for meeting that expectation is in effect, telling them that they don’t have to be quiet in the hallway and what you say doesn’t matter.
Heidi
And if what you say about the hallway doesn’t matter, at least in your students minds. Why do they need to respect your standards when they’re in the classroom?
Emily
This has a real impact on how well they pay attention during lessons, how well they participate in group work, how responsible they are with school materials, and how while they focus on their assignments. And doing those things poorly has a negative impact on how much students learn.
Heidi
Plus, keep in mind all of the wasted learning time that happens if your students returned to your class riled up instead of ready to learn, you know how that goes, you have to spend so much time refocusing your class before you can continue with your day. And that is a huge drain on your time and your energy.
Emily
If you consider the lost learning wasted time and drained energy that poor behavior costs, it’s clear to see that having high standards all of the time is actually easier than only having high standards when you think it matters.
Heidi
And just to be clear, we’re talking about having high standards, not high pressure.
Emily
Yeah, having high standards for your students hallway behavior means you can get to lunch without disturbing other classes, or touching things on the wall or losing anyone on the way. It’s not Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, blowing his whistle and having a military precision line marched their way to the cafeteria.
Heidi
Although honestly, some days I really wanted that whistle.
Emily
I can hear the whistle in my head right now. So if hallway behavior is our crystal ball, how do we ensure that it’s predicting classroom success and not classroom failure?
Heidi
Well, you need four plans, we level it. So we’ve got four here for you. A plan for what needs to happen, a plan for preventing problems, a plan for dealing with the problems that still arise, and a plan for teaching and practicing what should happen.
Emily
So let’s start with our first plan what needs to happen. Before students can follow your directions, you have to have a clear understanding of what they should be doing.
Heidi
You need to know what the expected hallway behaviors are. If students can’t talk in the halls, can teachers talk in the halls? In the classroom, where will students line up? Will you have one line or two lines? Will you use line leaders? Is the line leader assigned? If so how? Do students line up and then assign order? If so what order?
Emily
And that’s before you even take a step into the hallway. As we’ve discovered with most procedures, there’s a lot more to consider than you ever really realized. And that is for sure true with hallway procedures.
Heidi
So here is what I did with my second graders. And I’m not sharing this because I think it’s the perfect example of hallway procedures. But I think that sometimes hearing another person’s reasoning can be helpful in figuring out what works for you.
Heidi
So my expectation, my plan for what I wanted to happen was that the students would walk quickly and quietly, without stopping or touching things or other kids. Since they were supposed to be quiet, I really tried not to talk in the halls either. But that just wasn’t always possible. If another teacher needed to ask a question, or I passed a parent or something, I just felt like a huge jerk if I was just nodding and pointing instead of responding, right, I did my best. It was fine. We survived.
Heidi
When we went to assemblies, I would just have my class on one line for simplicity’s sake. But for our day to day lining up needs. I kept my class in two lines. Yeah, I did two lines too, and I think I was the only teacher at my school. Two lines. How about you, Emily?
Emily
I’m actually I’m not sure. And I if I did two lines, and it was unusual. I’m sure it’s because I got it from you, so.
Heidi
Well, there was a method to my madness. Two lines kept more of the kids close to me. And proximity to the teacher is the best way to deter bad behavior. I had two line leaders as part of my class jobs. The class jobs rotated one position each week. So kids would have some jobs like line leader for two weeks in a row. It was fine. They did great.
Heidi
I would call the tables or individual kids to line up with they were being quiet. And the kids were just supposed to get in the next button line. There were some hiccups with that system. But it mostly worked okay. I didn’t have a boyfriend or girls line. It was just getting the next spot.
Heidi
Yeah, I only assigned a certain line order on the years where I had classes that couldn’t handle just getting in line themselves. When I needed a certain order, I would assign the spot strategically to minimize behavior problems. Instead of you know having the kids line up alphabetically or by their number or some other system.
Emily
Yeah, if you want to bother with an order, only do it if it’s going to be worth the effort.
Heidi
I will say I did run into a hiccup my first year of teaching, I started by having a girls line and a boys line. And when we would get to the cafeteria for lunch, the best behave lined up to go in first. Well, after a few months, my principal pulled me aside and said that that’s kind of illegal. Oops. You can’t dictate when kids eat based on gender, because it looks like discrimination. So you know, there’s that keep in mind, if you do have a two lines.
Emily
Oopsie. There really is so much you have to consider for walking in the hallway, and every other procedure. If you want some guiding questions to help you think through what needs to happen in your classroom, we have a new product that is full of guiding questions to ask yourself as you plan out your procedures strategically.
Emily
We’ve tried to make this as thorough as possible, it starts by helping you identify the procedures you need from a list of all 380 suggestions. And then there are 520, literally guiding questions to help you really think through the steps of your procedures. Are you ready to stop listening to us right now?
Heidi
That is a lot of decisions to make. But here’s the thing, you are already making those decisions, whether or not you are actually sitting down to think through what’s best, or you’re just making a default choice.
Heidi
So for example, the choice of having your students line up in one line or two lines, that was a choice you made. And maybe you didn’t think about it. And you just told the kids that line up on one line. Because you made a decision without actually considering the decision, you are left managing the consequences.
Heidi
And maybe one line is the best choice for your class. However, maybe two lines would eliminate a lot of headaches for you. But you will never know if you don’t consider all of your options.
Emily
It does take work to think things through but it’s way better to make an intentional decision that benefits are class instead of a default decision that you spend a year having to manage. So if you want some support and planning your most effective procedures, we will link to that procedures guiding questions product in the show notes.
Heidi
So all of that get you the plan for your hallway procedure, because you can’t tell students what to do if you don’t know what they should be doing. Our next plan is a plan to prevent problems.
Emily
Preventing problems is our favorite classroom management tool. Preventing problems in the hallway might mean having an assigned order for lining up. It might mean the teacher walks at the back of the line or walks backwards at the front of the line if they’re very skilled, so they can keep an eye on what’s happening.
Heidi
Both of those are really good suggestions if you need them. But I think one thing that every teacher needs is a behavior reminder right before you step into the hall. I just said something like all know you’re ready to go when I see everyone facing forward, mouth’s quiet and arms folded or at your sides. And then they just waited till I saw that.
Heidi
And you know, the kids that aren’t complying are getting nudges from their friends because they’re tired of waiting. Yeah. But if you want to jazzier more fun prompt, though, go back to the start of this episode for lots of fun ideas.
Emily
Unfortunately, though, all the cute rhymes in the world won’t prevent every hallway disruption. For that reason, you need a plan for how to handle problems.
Heidi
This gets extra tricky, because if the standard is no talking in the halls, how do you correct student behavior without talking? You’re going to need some signals. You’ll want to signal for go and a signal for stop. Of course, a signal like a finger to the lips or zipping your mouth is also useful to signal that they should be quiet.
Heidi
But a signal that you might not have considered is turn around and go back. And if you really want an effective solution to your hallway problems, it is this turnaround signal.
Emily
And that brings us to our fourth plan a plan for how to teach and practice your hallway procedures.
Heidi
So on the first morning of school, after we have played with pattern blocks and learn the bathroom procedure, and I’ve introduced myself, I teach our hallway procedure. I like to do it then because it’s a break from all the sitting and listening and you know, we try and break up the talking. Plus doing it at this time gives us time to practice before we actually have to go anywhere so we’re not in a hurry.
Emily
And you’ve really got two procedures here. The first is lining up and the second is walking in the hallway. You can teach those procedures using the tell try tally talk method just like you would any other procedure.
Heidi
The tricky part is just making sure to explain everything before you’re out in the hallway. So I start with the talk step and explain how we line up. The next step is to try I have a few students model how to line up and they have a few students show us what not to do.
Heidi
And if you want some Google slides to help you teach any procedure including lining up, check out our procedures and routines teaching slides that use our tell try tally talk method. And we will be sure to link that in our show notes.
Heidi
Once they’ve got the hang of our lining up procedure, it’s back to tell try tally talk for walking in the hallway. I talk about why it’s important that we’re not disruptive in the halls, then I give my behavior expectations. I tell them, they can smile and wave when they see a friend or a former teacher, I remind them that we don’t stop for a drink just because you pass by a fountain. Oh, the fun details.
Emily
But the second step of try gets a little tricky, because it’s hard for a student to model for the class how to walk in the hallway, when you’re in the classroom. This is where the hand signals become important.
Heidi
Right. So I explain each signal and they kind of practice standing next to their desk as much as you really can. The turning around and going back signal takes some work. I let the kids know, whenever someone isn’t following directions, it means we all have to turn around and try again. Then we practice lining up, I give my last minute behavior prompt. And then it’s out into the hallway.
Heidi
I might have a destination in mind like will end in the library to hear story. Or maybe I want to show them around the school. So we’ll swing by the office and cafeteria. But either way, my real goal is for students to practice until we get it right. We start to walk but as soon as I hear a little voice saying that’s my brother’s class, I hold up my hands for the stop signal. It doesn’t matter to me, he said, it doesn’t matter to me that no other classes were really impacted by the noise. We are turning around and going back.
Emily
And this is straight out of the Tools for Teaching book by Fred Jones. He would say that you need to take your class all the way back to your classroom. But that was a big walk for the little ones. And also a lot of time.
Heidi
Yeah, if I taught older kids that might have done it that way. But I had a bunch of seven year olds. So I modified as planned. I kind of like my signal for turnaround was I moved my index fingers in circles, like I was like a flight attendant to signal that the kid should turn around. And the end of the line now became the front of the line. And then I would just quietly say go, I know I’m talking in the halls, what can you do?
Heidi
I would stay where I was until the kids had walked what I consider to be an annoying distance. And then I’d quietly say stop. The kids would stop, turn around, and then I gesture for them to walk toward me. Once they got to me, I’d give them the long teacher look. Like I know you can do this. So I better not hear any more talking. But I really tried to stay upbeat and calm. This is our first day of school after all.
Heidi
I wanted them to know that I expect mistakes will happen. And when they do, it’s not a big deal. We just fixed them. And then we continued on our walk until I heard another voice or someone touched a hallway display. And guess what we did, we turn around and try it again and again until we get it right.
Heidi
If the other kids are annoyed having to keep practicing, acting up in line becomes very uncool. And well we’re cutting down on the goofing off we are also increasing impulse control. When kids learn that they can’t blurt out random comments in the middle of the hallway, they’re developing the skills to keep from blurting out in the middle of a lesson, which of course we all want. But perhaps most importantly, this teaches the kids that they need to respect the boundaries.
Emily
Fred Jones explains it this way. Through simple practice to mastery, you’re signaling to the students by your investment of time and energy, that this piece of behavior is important. And you’re teaching the students that you are the living embodiment of two timeless characterizations of a teacher, I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. And we are going to keep doing this until we get it right. It is only through training such as this that students learn to take you seriously. They learn that when you say something they need to listen.
Heidi
I love Fred Jones, he’s got the best quotes. He knows what’s up. Hallway procedures have a bigger impact on classroom success than you might expect.
Heidi
So it’s important to take your time making a plan for exactly what needs to happen, making a plan for preventing problems with behavior prompt, making a plan for dealing with the problems that still arise with your hallway signals and making a plan for teaching and practicing excellent hallway behavior.
Emily
That is a lot to consider. That’s probably why no one thinks hallway procedures are the most fun part of teaching. But we can add a little bit of fun to those dry procedures. Make sure to listen to our episode coming out on Thursday, where we share several ways to sprinkle in some surprise and delight to your boring hallway walking.
Heidi
And we would love to hear your thoughts and how you teach your hallway procedures. Please come join the conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.
Emily
Now let’s talk about this week’s teacher approved tip. Each week we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can apply in your classroom today. This week’s teacher approved tip is to think about packing up your classroom as you’re setting up your classroom.
Heidi
So as you’re setting up your classroom for the school year, pay attention to the things that you find yourself using right away. Start a running list of all of those things. So maybe it’s your glue gun, your bulletin board letters, your labels, whatever you’re using, add it to the list.
Heidi
And then when it is time to pack up your room at the end of the year, you can gather all of those items into your need first box for setting up your room again.
Emily
This is such a good idea because I always think I’ll remember what I need, but I never actually do. So this list will be a lifesaver as you prep for next year. You just need to remember where you put your list. You might want to email yourself, that’s the way I find things. Or you could include it in a reminder on your phone that you scheduled to send at the end of the school year.
Heidi
A Google Doc can come in handy too, because they’re easy to search. Think how far ahead of the game you’ll be if you are already thinking of how to simplify next year’s back to school. Talk about a gift for your future future self.
Heidi
To wrap up the show we are sharing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
Emily
I’m giving extra credit to a portable phone charging bank. So I had one that was like 10 years old that I bought for a Disney trip. It really is 10 years old. And it was so slow, it didn’t hold that much charge and it was really heavy. At the time I think it was probably top of the line. But now it’s really not great.
Emily
My daughter recently went on a several day camping trip with her grandparents and she wanted to be able to use her phone to listen to music on the way there and back. So I picked up a new portable charger for her. And the one I got held several charges. It was lightweight, and it is TSA safe and 13 year old approved. I got it got a major thumbs up. I’m sure we’ll be using it lots going forward. And I’ll link to the one that we got in the show notes.
Heidi
But it’s really handy. I think I have a super old heavy one too.
Emily
It’s time to upgrade. What are you giving extra credit to Heidi?
Heidi
So my extra credit goes to Oh, Happy Dani. She made a really cute, powerful affirmation station that she is offering as a freebie. It’s got lots of signs that say things like I am helpful, I am creative, I am loved, I am friendly. And the idea is that you print them off and then you can affix the ones that you want to use around the edge of a mirror so that your students can repeat these positive statements about themselves to themselves.
Heidi
And I thought that was such a powerful addition to a classroom and it was so generous of her to offer it for free. And plus, if you know Oh, Happy Dani, everything she makes is so cute. So if you want one for your classroom, you can get it on her website and I will make sure that we put the link in the show notes.
Emily
I saw that and I thought it was such a cute idea to add to your classroom.
Heidi
That’s it for today’s episode. Make sure to plan your hallway procedures. And don’t forget our teacher approved tip to plan ahead now for next year’s back to school.
More About Teacher Approved:
Do you ever feel like there’s just not enough time in the day to be the kind of teacher you really want to be? The Teacher Approved podcast is here to help you learn how to elevate what matters and simplify the rest. Join co-hosts Emily and Heidi of Second Story Window each week as they share research-based and teacher-approved strategies you can count on to make your teaching more efficient and effective than ever before.