Are you looking for strategies to teach students how to adapt to a new routine? If so, keep reading.
1. Get the student to work near a peer to follow the change in an established routine (schedule).
2. Give the student a schedule of revised daily activities that identifies the learning activities for the day and the times when they will happen.
3. Affix to the student’s desk revisions in the schedule for the day’s activities. The student may also carry it with them throughout the day.
4. Display the revised routine (schedule) throughout the classroom (e.g., on the student’s desk, smartboard, bulletin board, etc.).
5. Attempt to limit the number of times that changes must happen in the student’s routine (schedule).
6. Talk about any appropriate changes in the student’s routine (schedule) well in advance of the occurrence of the changes.
7. Teach the student to tell time to enable their capacity and ability to accept change in an established routine (schedule).
8. Get the student to rely on a predetermined signal (e.g., lights turned off and on, hand signal, etc.) to enable the capacity and ability to accept change in an established routine (schedule).
9. Get the student to use a timer to remind them of changes in an established routine (schedule).
10. Minimize distracting stimuli that might cause the student to be unable to accept change in an established routine (schedule) (e.g., movement, noise, peers, etc.).
11. Embody acceptance of change in an established routine (schedule).
12. Get the student to rely on environmental signals to remind the student when to change learning activities in their revised routine (schedule) (e.g., other students changing learning activities, bells, lights, buses arriving, etc.).
13. Select a peer to remind the student of changes in routine (schedule).
14. Inform the student when it is time to change learning activities.
15. Select a peer to escort the student to other places in the school building when a change in an established routine (schedule) has occurred.
16. Let the student have an appropriate amount of time to accept changes in an established routine (schedule).
17. Explain changes in a routine (schedule) to the student personally.
18. Consider using a classroom management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
19. Consider using Alexa to help you with classroom management. Click here to read an article that we wrote on the subject.
20. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.
