Classroom Management Inventing Your Own "Do now" Activities

Wondering what to do at the start of your school day? You need to use the incredible power of DO NOW. These are activities that teachers use in the morning when their students first enter the classroom.

Do you know that DO NOW are important classroom management tools that help you establish yourself as a proactive teacher? These activities help you prepare your students for the day’s work. One of the easiest methods of preparing your DO NOW is to find a workbook that is a grade level or two below the grade you are teaching.

Using this book, find twenty or more pages of activities that your students can do on their own. These activities are time fillers or review material that will not be graded. You can use this material for a quick review or quick recall of something that was taught months ago. These activities must be material that has already been taught the previous year or during this school year. You should take five or ten minutes to review the material. So students know they are being held accountable by DOING NOW.

When I use DO NOW, I use them to review the material I taught the day before. I also use them as a review for our state standardized test that students are required to take each year. Once you have decided on the material to use, copy it onto transparencies. Why use transparency:

• they are cheap to use
• can be used year after year
• you can write on them
• students can use them because they are low tech
• can be printed in color or black and white
• the teacher’s assistant can make copies for you
• you save on copy paper and trees

You must have DO NOW for all subjects you teach. It’s an easy way to jump from one topic to another. They are also a good strategy to use when your top achievers have finished their work and are waiting for the rest of the class to finish. Remember that when children have nothing to do, they and other students get into behavior problems. Always be prepared and think ahead. Set up your classroom as one where students come to work, not loiter and waste time. Remember that students are always checking you to see if you are a proactive teacher. Don’t be one of those teachers whose class is for slacking off. Set the tone of your class as one where students learn and achieve. Be prepared and proactive in managing your classroom.

Happy education fair teaching.