Classroom Procedures and Expectations: How they Differ and How to Teach Them [episode 75]

Emily
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re diving into the differences between procedures and expectations, and sharing a teacher approved tip for setting expectations for partner work.

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 are you reading this summer? Emily, what is on your reading list this summer.

Emily
I’m currently reading Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin.

Heidi
I just finished that one, I really liked it.

Speaker 1
We love her. And I’m currently reading Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn. I like to the show a lot, I actually think I am enjoying the book even more so if you’re a reader and you’d like to the show might be worth reading. Next up for fun I’ve got Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams on my list.

Heidi
I’ve seen them a lot of lists. Looks cute. You have to tell me what you think.

Emily
What are you reading Heidi?

Heidi
I’m currently reading Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center. And I’m really liking it, so cute. And since everyone is talking about it, I just started literally five minutes into listening to the Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

Emily
Okay, you’ll have to let me know what you think.

Heidi
I’m not usually a dragon book lover, but we’ll give it a shot.

Emily
Maybe you’ll be converted. So a whole new side of my personality. We have some awesome responses from our community. Teresa said she’s reading Because of Mr. Terupt. I think that’s how you say it, How to Talk Like a Dolphin and Front Desk because she’s making choices for her one book one school program in the fall, which she’s told us about before in the community. She did it last year it was a big hit. So I’m excited to hear what books she picks for this year.

Emily
Stephanie said I’m reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. For light reading. I’m reading Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell fascinating read.

Heidi
That’s been on my TBR list for a long time, so maybe I need to dust it off.

Emily
Sarah said I have read all three Finley Donovan books by Elle Cosimano funny mystery series, a comedy of errors, so to speak, because she’s always winding up at some kind of trouble. I’ve had those on my list do. She says Lessons in Chemistry was also very good.

Heidi
I also loved for the show to come out.

Emily
Yes. And then she says my absolute fave so far has been Remarkably Bright Creatures, an easy, heartwarming and sweet book. I haven’t read that one. But I’ve heard good things. Candice said, I’ve finished Harbor Me currently reading Cultivating Genius and the Writing Revolution. And Jennifer’s reading the Writing Revolution as well.

Heidi
I just finished that one. It’s really it’s a good one.

Emily
Maybe we needed to have a book club. Karen said just finished the Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley. It’s the sequel to Firekeepers Daughter.

Heidi
Well, I’ve definitely got some new books on my list now. Yeah, we do. And we would love to hear what you are reading over in our teacher approve Facebook Group.

Emily
Today we are diving into the nitty gritty about procedures and expectations. While we love talking about this stuff, we recognize that this might not be high on most teachers lists of favorite things.

Heidi
No, probably procedures and expectations are not the most exciting part of teaching. Probably zero kids are going home and saying that their favorite part of the day was how their teacher laid out the dismissal routine so clearly and efficiently.

Emily
But we can dream of that day, right? So if procedures and expectations aren’t the fun times, why do we keep coming back to them here on the podcast?

Heidi
Well, that’s because good procedures and expectations make the fun times possible. You can’t have a class dance party with 25 eight year olds without some clear boundaries, it will just escalate to pure chaos.

Emily
And even lower key fun like group learning activities need lots of prep work to run smoothly. You can’t play a math game and have everyone learn something unless you’ve built clear expectations into the process.

Heidi
So in a lot of ways, it’s procedures and expectations that enable me to be the kind of teachers that I want to be. Plus there is the benefit of preventing behavior problems. Clearly taught procedures eliminate a lot of headaches.

Emily
Both metaphorical and literal headaches. If you have to spend all your time and energy managing challenging behavior, you’re going to end up with more than one headache. So I think we can all agree that procedures and expectations are vital to everyone’s well being at school.

Heidi
So let’s take a minute to discuss what procedures and expectations actually are. Sometimes procedures and expectations are used synonymously. And that makes sense because they are similar, but they do serve different purposes in the classroom.

Emily
Yeah, we like to think of it this way: procedures are what specifically needs to happen and expectations are how we want things to happen. So a procedure is the clear steps we follow every time we complete a certain task, and it is usually part of a routine. But expectations come into play around things that are less routine. They’re more like our standards of behavior.

Heidi
So let’s use an example to illustrate the difference between the two. So assume we use glue sticks every day when we glue a vocabulary card into our notebooks. Because it’s a daily occurrence, we probably have procedures around that routine.

Heidi
So for example, step one, cut out the word cards that to get a glue stick from the bin. Step three, put glue around the edges of the work card, and so on. We’re going to follow those set steps every time so that we aren’t wasting time or materials.

Emily
And that’s a great procedure. But vocabulary journals aren’t the only time we’ll be using glue sticks this year. And the procedures we use at journal time probably won’t help a ton when it’s time to make our principal a birthday card. So that’s a bit of a problem. But obviously, we also don’t want to have to teach new procedures every time students need to get out the glue sticks.

Heidi
Yeah, that’s just not feasible. And since we can’t teach our students every step that they will need to follow, for every possible activity that might use glue sticks, we need to set an expectation for how our students will treat glue sticks all year, no matter the activity.

Emily
To plan for teaching these expectations early on in the school year, I’m going to lead a discussion about glue sticks, or markers, or basketballs or any other material that might be used in a variety of different situations, and therefore require some expectations. What do we use this item for? I would ask them, when do we use it? How do we treat it every time we use it?

Heidi
And that’s when we’ll discuss things like making sure to twist the glue stick back down before putting the lid on because there’s nothing worse than the glues, oh, I have issues clearly. Yeah, I’m glue sticks or you know, we want them to press that marker cap until it clicks.

Emily
Or remembering to bring the basketballs back in after recess.

Heidi
Yes, all of those standards that apply every time we use the material. Now, are we splitting hairs here by making a distinction between procedures and expectations?

Emily
Yes, definitely. It’s what we do best. It’s why you love us, I hope.

Heidi
But even though the difference between procedures and expectations seems subtle, they each address different needs and should be taught in different ways. So perhaps another way to think of the difference between procedures and expectations, as that procedures are more top down. The expectations can be more collaborative.

Emily
Right. So let’s think about lunchtime. If you’ve got exactly eight and a half minutes to get all 25 students to the cafeteria and through the lunch line, you need clear steps to follow that have accounted for all the moving parts required to get a class to lunch.

Heidi
Yeah, it’s probably not going to be effective to turn to your first graders and ask, So what do you guys think we should do with our lunch boxes when we’re done eating?

Emily
I don’t envision that ending well. Sometimes the kids just need clear steps to follow.

Heidi
And sure expectations can have clear steps, but they do open themselves up for a more collaborative process. So for example, what are the rules that we can all agree on when it comes to using scissors in our class?

Emily
The kids might come up with expectations that won’t work for you. But that can be part of the discussion and the learning process.

Heidi
So for example, let’s say maybe someone suggests that if a student scribbles on their whiteboard, they are never allowed to use a whiteboard again.

Emily
That sounds like a rule I’ve suggested.

Heidi
Sure, right, we don’t want people scribbling on whiteboards. But we’re gonna use whiteboards often to do important work. So how do we protect the whiteboards and still allow for learning? You can give students that direction and then continue the discussion.

Emily
And who knows the kids might have suggestions you hadn’t even thought of.

Heidi
Yeah, sometimes students will come up with really clever ideas. And another benefit of including your students in the process of setting expectations is that they are then more invested in meeting those expectations. They want their ideas to be successful.

Emily
So as a teacher, how do you know if you need a procedure or an expectation? Heidi, what do you think?

Heidi
Well, like we mentioned, procedures and expectations are similar. So there’s really no hard or fast rule of that. Procedures are what needs to happen. And expectations are how things should happen. So something like cleaning up the room at the end of the day is going to be more of a procedure. Even though you might include an expectation like quickly and quietly stack your chairs, the focus is more on the steps that kids should follow every time.

Emily
Something like pencils, though, might need both procedures and expectations. You need clear steps for where to get a pencil, what to do with a broken pencil, when to sharpen a pencil, all that stuff should have procedures. But you also need expectations about how to treat pencils, we only write on paper, we don’t sharpen tiny pencil gnomes, we don’t chew on the eraser.

Heidi
Even more fun pencil stuff, because, boy, do kids surprise you with what mischief they can make with a pencil, kind of like a guy over there.

Emily
And obviously, this isn’t mandatory, but we do like to teach procedures and expectations differently. So that’s why the differentiation between the two matters.

Heidi
And when we say teach, we actually do mean teach. A lot of times, I’ll see like, teachers post their back to school plans. And they will explain what they want kids to do and think that they have taught it.

Emily
But that’s just really not enough to get kids to understand what should be happening and keep it up all year long. You actually have to teach your procedures and expectations if you want them to stick.

Heidi
So with procedures, we use a process we call tell try tally. And we have recently upgraded that to tell try tally, talk.

Emily
Ohh look at us getting so fancy with an upgrade.

Heidi
The first step in teaching procedures is tell. The teacher explains the steps of what should be happening and this is where a lot of teachers stop. But we have to add the rest of the steps to help kids really understand what they should be doing.

Emily
So after the teacher has explained, the next step for teaching procedures is try. A volunteer or two comes up and models what to do and what not to do. And then the whole class gets a chance to try.

Heidi
After everyone has tried to follow the steps, it’s time to tally or evaluate how things went. If there were any issues, it’s important to try a second time so kids really get a clear sense of how you want this procedure to run.

Emily
Then it’s time for our new step in teaching procedures talk. This is where the teacher can check for understanding. Raise your hand if you can tell me the first thing you do when you come in the classroom in the morning. Raise your hand if you can tell me how to make your lunch choice.

Heidi
And also include, raise your hand if you can tell me why it’s important for us to follow these steps. For some kids, knowing that there actually is a reason for all of these rules, makes them more willing to comply. Bless their hearts.

Emily
If this sounds like something you’d like to implement in your classroom, you might want to go back and listen to episode 18 of our podcast where we did a deep dive into procedures and how to teach them. We also have a resource coming out very soon that will walk you through these four steps for teaching any procedure to your class.

Heidi
I’m so excited for this. It’s all on Google Slides. And you can add your own steps and pictures of your classroom so students can see exactly what you were referring to. And then once you’ve written out the steps for your students to follow, the slides will just simply walk you through the lessons step by step.

Heidi
We are so excited for you to get to use this resource to simplify teaching procedures. It’s so good. If you want to know when it’s ready, make sure to join us in the teacher approved Facebook group, we will be sure to announce it there.

Emily
Okay, but let’s get back to expectations. Teaching expectations requires a bit of a different approach. For expectations, we like to use a method called Guided Discovery. We most often use it to introduce school supplies like crayons or glue, but you could use it to introduce the class library, math centers, or even how to manage a Chromebook.

Heidi
Guided Discovery can help you anytime you need to get your class excited about something, anytime you need to generate expectations around something or anytime you want to stretch your kids imaginations about when and how to use something.

Emily
It’s a really fun way to teach expectations. Guided Discovery started with Responsive Classroom. But over the years we’ve tweaked their steps to better fit our needs.

Heidi
The first step in Guided Discovery is introducing. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. The goal is to find something that will get kids interested in whatever you’ll be talking about. You could just hold up a pencil or you could share a little riddle and how students guess the supply you’re going to talk about. Obviously, the riddle was more engaging. But you really can’t keep this simple and still have it be effective.

Emily
The second step in Guided Discovery is establishing use. This just means you ask the kids how you use the object in question, you can start with raise your hand, if you can tell me one way we use calculators and go from there. We find it helpful to list the students ideas on a chart to refer back to later.

Heidi
Next up, we generate standards by asking how do we use this responsibly? This is when you really get clear on those classroom expectations. And again, you might want to add the students ideas to the chart.

Emily
Then our Guided Discovery gets hands on, when students get a chance to put these expectations to use and practice with the material. This is the fun part.

Emily
After they’ve had a chance to explore, it’s time to discuss what went well and what they can improve on. And the last step in Guided Discovery is to make a plan for what students will do going forward.

Heidi
If you are introducing something like pencils, or the classroom library, where you need to establish expectations alongside a procedure, Guided Discovery lends itself well to adapting to an expectation procedure hybrid.

Emily
Yeah, you really just need to make sure to teach the steps students should follow as part of your Guided Discovery discussion. And make sure to check out episode 21 of our podcasts if you want more information about how to implement Guided Discovery.

Heidi
One of the nice things about Guided Discovery is that you really don’t need anything fancy to make it work. There were plenty of years when I did this with my class, and I just use whatever was handy. But if you do want something a little more focused, we have a fun school tools Guided Discovery pack. It contains resources for introducing 20 common school tools.

Emily
But don’t feel like you have to do all 20.

Heidi
You can just choose the tools that are most important to you. The pack also has editable lesson plans, suggested introduction activities, practice pages, charts and color and black and white, a binder cover, anchor chart pieces, and 30 pages of teacher tips and suggestions.

Emily
It’s a really comprehensive resource. And we get great feedback from other teachers who’ve used it and love it. And we’ll never do another back to school without is what we often hear. And if you want to try it out yourself, we have a free Guided Discovery of pencils that will link in the show notes. And of course, we will link the full bundle for you as well.

Heidi
So when it’s time to start planning your first week of school, make sure to include time to clearly introduce the procedures you want your students to follow, using the tell try tally and talk method. And also to establish the expectations you want them to meet using Guided Discovery.

Emily
We’d love to hear your thoughts on teaching procedures and expectations. 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 set your expectations for group work. Heidi, can you tell us about this?

Heidi
I would love to because I love group work. So hopefully you are regularly implementing some kind of cooperative learning opportunities in your class. Kids just learn so much more when they can work together. And I think teachers are pretty good at explaining what kids should do with their partner. But I think we sometimes forget to explain how they should do it.

Emily
Yeah, we often assume that kids understand how to work with each other. But that is very much not true.

Heidi
It’s not. So as you are starting off the year with your expectations for using scissors and headphones, probably don’t use those two together though, don’t forget to establish expectations for any kind of partner or group work that you will be doing during the year.

Heidi
I recommend introducing each format separately so if I have kids turn and talk or use elbow buddies for discussion, I would want to introduce that at a different time than when I taught phonics game partnerships. And I teach how to solve problems as a math group at a different time than think pair share. Each format requires different skills, so in the long run, you’ll get better results if you introduce them one at a time.

Emily
But you can introduce each of them using the six step Guided Discovery format. So to recap, that’s step one, start by introducing the activity. Step two, establish when you’ll use it and why. Step three as a class generate some standards around the expected behaviors. Step four group students and give them a task to complete. Step five, gather everyone for a discussion of how the activity went. And then step six, make a plan for going forward.

Heidi
As you are generating your behavior standards for group learning, it will be really helpful if you record these either in slides or on a paper. And then before each group learning activity throughout the year, you can pull out those standards and review the expectations.

Heidi
And then after the activity, maybe take a few seconds to discuss how well the students met the expectations and what they can do to be a better partner or group member next time. This really will help alleviate so many hassles throughout the year.

Emily
And keep in mind that the best time to teach how to work with a partner is before you need them to work with a partner. So before you’re trying to implement group work as part of a lesson, we recommend teaching it as its own lesson using a task that isn’t essential to their learning.

Emily
You want the focus to be on the expectations rather than the content for that first go around. Then just quickly review those expectations when you’re ready to put them into action for real partner work.

Heidi
To wrap up the show we are sharing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit this week?

Emily
I think this is the most middle aged mom extra credit of my life. All right, let’s hear it. But I’m giving extra credit to Dawn Powerwash. You probably already know what I’m talking about. But in case you don’t, it’s spray dish soap from Dawn that goes on like foam. And then instead of soaking something overnight and soapy water like you do, you could just use the spray. And if you leave it on for just a few minutes, then you can usually wipe the mess right off.

Emily
I had some messy cheesy pasta dishes in my sink the other night. So I sprayed them down with Dawn Powerwash and it got the mess off really easily. And I kind of feel like I’m in a commercial right now. It’s soft on your hands. really dating myself if you know what that reference. And I’m kidding, by the way, don’t spray Dawn on your hands.

Heidi
We don’t need a lawsuit.

Emily
Palmolive apparently you’re good but don’t spray the Dawn on. What are you giving us credit to Heidi?

Heidi
Well, it’s just continuing the theme of late middle ages. I am giving extra credit to office chair cushion.

Heidi
Oh yeah, we really are lame today.

Heidi
I have been having a bunch of shoulder pain lately when I’m at the computer all day. And so I finally got a back support cushion and an arm rest cushion and now the problems all better. But it really is it’s so nice to sit in my work chair and not be in agony.

Emily
You just have to embrace our old ladiness.

Heidi
I guess that’s the plan now.

Heidi
Well, that’s it for today’s episode. Make a plan for teaching both procedures and expectations. And don’t forget our teacher approved tip to set your expectations for partner work in advance.