Time: Protocols For How We Work

Time management requires a sharp focus first on yourself then on your work (see my earlier blogs for helpful hints). With your personal world in order~ it is time to look at classroom routines or protocols. I prefer to call my classroom "rules" protocols for how we work in a learning community.
My high school classroom protocols are clear and I spend the first day of school helping students understand why protocols work. First~ using their electronic devices~ I invite students to search for standard protocols of interest to them. Second~ I offer examples such as (1) preparing for surgery~ (2) addressing the Supreme Court of the USA~ (3) starting a car in cold weather in Alaska~ (4) cleaning hands before cooking pork in a restaurant~ (5) dressing an altar for communion~ (6) securing a crime area for investigation or another protocol of interest to groups of students. Third~ I ask them to begin searching and remind them that they will report the protocols under exploration to the class. Forth~ as the students search the internet~ I ask them to consider the following five questions: (a) why do protocols exist for the area you are searching; (b) how does standardization facilitate the work; (c) what could potentially happen when protocols are breached; (d) who do you think established the protocols; and~ (e) who do you suppose ensures that protocols are followed? Last~as the lesson concludes~ I ask students to offer protocol ideas for our class to ensure that the following happens; (1) we begin on time~ (2) we respect the limited time we have~ (3) we properly respect our space and property~ (4) we conduct ourselves as aspiring college students~ and (5) we provide safety to learn~ laugh~ and respect differences.
The process establishes entrance for me to teach new protocols such as how to conduct a Socratic Seminar~ how to use peer evaluation~ how to incorporate peer editing~ and other assessment devices. It also facilitates students teaching each other the use of new Apps~ the ways to go about organizing a team task~ et cetera. The power of protocols should not be underestimated in transforming a classroom and is essential in any flipped classroom.
Each year I am amazed at how this simple protocol for establishing expectations keeps us on task. The protocols are formerly printed~ placed in a prominent area of the classroom and agreed to by the students. Consequences for not adhering to the protocol are simple~ everyone has authority to remind the person that a protocol was missed for a good class and we keep each other in check!