One of the biggest headaches in our high school classrooms can be getting started. The students wander in over a 5 minute interval and some even meander in as if that bell doesn’t mean they were already supposed to be in the room. So I learned long ago that solid bell ringer classroom routines were a must.
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If you are on my email list (grab this free bell ringer sampler set to join if you are not!), you know that I am a big fan of Kendra Adachi of The Lazy Genius Podcast. (Grab her book: The Lazy Genius Way ←affiliate link.) One of her guiding Lazy Genius principles is “decide once” and this is an amazing choice for your classroom routines.
Why You Should “Decide Once” on Classroom Routines
If you “decide once” on you classroom routines related to bell ringers, they both you and your students know what to expect. EVERY. DAY. It really is genius.
Setting classroom routines / expectation that students will begin a task as soon as they walk in, sets everyone up for success. Students are focused. It gives you a chance to check in with students as needed, take attendance, etc.
Develop Classroom Routines around the Kind of Bell Ringer Activity
Deciding to incorporate bell ringer activities into your classroom routines is just one part of the decide once principle. I have also simplified the process by choosing to use an “of the week” bell ringer activity.
Each week we use the same set of tasks for our bell ringer routine. Students in my AP Literature Class complete either a Poem of the Week or a Prose Passage of the Week. We alternate between the two. You can read more about using Poem of the Week in this post.
In my AP Language Class students alternate between Rhetorical Analysis of the Week and an argument/vocab/writing set of the week. You can see what these look like in my free Bell Ringer Sampler.
Use Bell Ringer Activities to Establish Routines
These bell ringer routines allow us the opportunity to do low stress test prep and low stress discussion on a daily basis. And I don’t have to think about what we should be doing to start class each day.
If you are looking to change up or start your classroom routines around bell ringers, grab this free Bell Ringer Sampler.
Additional Resources
The Great Bell Ringer Activity List for High School English
Teaching Poetry Analysis through Poem of the Week
