Transition Times

Okay, teachers, the school year is almost here. Have you planned  how to ease the transitions from one activity to another? Even high school students need to know when one segment of the class is ending and the next segment is beginning to bring their attention back to the subject. Here are some helpful tips I found online and condensed them for you:

1. Blink the lights once. Don't flick them on and off frequently, though, as you could trigger an epileptic seizure in some children.
2. Play music or sing a song. Barney had the right idea all along with his clean up tune that everybody now uses for that critical end of day activity!
3. Ring a bell. Use any kind of sound to indicate the end of one activity and the beginning of the next.
4. Offer a time warning. If children know that they will be changing activities in five minutes, they'll be more agreeable to that change when it happens.
5. Post a schedule. While you may not be able to stick to the schedule every day, rest assured that there will be at least one clock-watcher in the group who will let you know when time's up!
6. Reinforce positive behavior. If a child knows that compliance will be rewarded, he'll be more likely to accept the changing activity.

For more ideas, go to http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/kits/wwbtk4.pdf where you'll find case studies and suggestions for implementing transition strategies.

Happy Teaching!

PS - These ideas work just as well at home with your family when you need to transition from play time to clean up time to dinner time to bed time.