All Things CLASS

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

A teacher I'm supporting is struggling with long transitions. It's a mix of many problems: the children don't want to stop what they are doing, they get distracted, and the children who do transition quickly then are stuck with nothing to do for too long and then behavior problems can start. Because it feels like a number of problems, I'm not sure where to start to help her.  How do you help teachers with smoother transitions?

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I would see what she would like her transitions to look like, where she thinks the problems are. 
She could start by practicing call-and-response during circle time or meal times, and have the children practice freezing and focusing their attention on the teacher.
(Ex. "Hands on Top, Everybody Stop",  "Hocus Pocus, Everybody Focus", "Macaroni and Cheese, Everybody Freeze")
This way, when she begins a transition, they know what to do/expect when they hear the cue words/phrase.

I find that it helps to give a 5 and 2 minute warning before transition time.  This allows children to start wrapping up and know that a transition is coming.  She can also use a visual timer during the transition so they have a time frame to stick to.  Also, make sure she has everyone's attention before beginning a transition.  Someone before mentioned call and response so everyone stops and looks. This works well.


------------------------------
Annie Richardson
Port Allen LA
------------------------------

A large sand timer is a great visual cue for the start of clean-up.  It is one student's job to turn over the 5 minute sand timer and announce "5 more minutes left to play and work!  Five more minutes!"  Then another student's job is to ring the bell when the sand timer has run out.

You can also refer those slow-to-end students to see that the timer is almost gone, and that everyone will clean up when the sand is gone and the bell has been rung.

------------------------------
Mars Caulton
Education Coordinator
Chicago IL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-18-2021 10:37
From: Annie Richardson
Subject: transitions

I find that it helps to give a 5 and 2 minute warning before transition time.  This allows children to start wrapping up and know that a transition is coming.  She can also use a visual timer during the transition so they have a time frame to stick to.  Also, make sure she has everyone's attention before beginning a transition.  Someone before mentioned call and response so everyone stops and looks. This works well.


------------------------------
Annie Richardson
Port Allen LA
------------------------------

I agree! Giving the children a heads up before allows them time and understanding that the activity is over. I recommend using a visual tool like a timer to show them how much time is left.

------------------------------
Mary Randall
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-18-2021 10:37
From: Annie Richardson
Subject: transitions

I find that it helps to give a 5 and 2 minute warning before transition time.  This allows children to start wrapping up and know that a transition is coming.  She can also use a visual timer during the transition so they have a time frame to stick to.  Also, make sure she has everyone's attention before beginning a transition.  Someone before mentioned call and response so everyone stops and looks. This works well.


------------------------------
Annie Richardson
Port Allen LA
------------------------------

Sometimes it helped me to go and whisper in the ear of the children who took longer to transition that they would need to wrap up their play in a few minutes and start cleaning up or getting ready for the next part of the day.   Then I would go back in 2 or 3 minutes and help them start the transition.  When those children were about half-way through,  I would announce to the other children that transition time was coming and they should start getting ready.  This gave those who needed longer the time they needed and prevented the wait for those that transitioned more quickly.

------------------------------
Frances Street
Lenoir NC
------------------------------

I use music! Dora sings our clean-up song and Rug Time with Ms. Susie indicates to come to the rug for group time.

Sent from my iPad


Original Message:
Sent: 2/18/2021 11:39:00 AM
From: Frances Street
Subject: RE: transitions

Sometimes it helped me to go and whisper in the ear of the children who took longer to transition that they would need to wrap up their play in a few minutes and start cleaning up or getting ready for the next part of the day.   Then I would go back in 2 or 3 minutes and help them start the transition.  When those children were about half-way through,  I would announce to the other children that transition time was coming and they should start getting ready.  This gave those who needed longer the time they needed and prevented the wait for those that transitioned more quickly.

------------------------------
Frances Street
Lenoir NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 2/18/2021 11:39:00 AM
From: Frances Street
Subject: RE: transitions

Sometimes it helped me to go and whisper in the ear of the children who took longer to transition that they would need to wrap up their play in a few minutes and start cleaning up or getting ready for the next part of the day.   Then I would go back in 2 or 3 minutes and help them start the transition.  When those children were about half-way through,  I would announce to the other children that transition time was coming and they should start getting ready.  This gave those who needed longer the time they needed and prevented the wait for those that transitioned more quickly.

------------------------------
Frances Street
Lenoir NC
------------------------------

All ideas are pretty effective but yes  whispering works better for me as well for the ones who always take longer than others. It develops trust and respect among the provider and the child.

------------------------------
Balwant Kaur
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-18-2021 11:39
From: Frances Street
Subject: transitions

Sometimes it helped me to go and whisper in the ear of the children who took longer to transition that they would need to wrap up their play in a few minutes and start cleaning up or getting ready for the next part of the day.   Then I would go back in 2 or 3 minutes and help them start the transition.  When those children were about half-way through,  I would announce to the other children that transition time was coming and they should start getting ready.  This gave those who needed longer the time they needed and prevented the wait for those that transitioned more quickly.

------------------------------
Frances Street
Lenoir NC
------------------------------

This post was removed

These are all great ideas! I love the idea of asking her what she'd like her transitions to look like. We often talk about making our expectations clear to the students, but first they have to be clear to the teacher. Maybe brainstorm and talk through what a smooth transition would look like, and then start planning how to get there. 
This Edutopia post for a while back has some helpful ideas.
And our blog post on incorporating Instructional Support into transitions may help make that time more purposeful.

------------------------------
Liz Savage
Community Manager
Teachstone
------------------------------

Hi, first I want to agree with the person who suggested the idea about the quiet whisper and some individual help. When I was teaching in those pre-transition moments classroom staff would visit areas that were complex to clean or give a little extra support to some students by being physically near them to assist. Another thing I realized was that no one wants to transition to something they don't want to do so I would include verbiage during the five minute warning like -  " In five minutes we are going to cleanup, have a quick circle and then snack." By reminding everyone that there was something they want coming in our schedule it became more motivating. The other thing that I like to remind teachers is that they should  view cleanup and transitions as not just as perfunctory nuisance but as educational and building life skills. A ton of skills can be built during cleanup and transitions including sorting., classifying, teamwork and problem solving so it is ok to let it go a little longer. Lastly is the schedule and staffing. Should and can those be tweaked to make transitions less stressful. I sympathize with your teacher. This has always been one of the rougher parts of the day.

------------------------------
Marianne Helou
Birdsboro PA
------------------------------

So many great suggestions! Giving children responsibility also engages them and reduces behavior that challenges adults. Incorporate Regard for Student Perspectives by inviting a child to circulate with a 2 or 5 minute warning sign (made by the children). Provide support as children learn to do this job well, making sure they give the warning in a positive manner. Another approach to this is to have the warning sign include the upcoming schedule. As Marianne suggested, make sure there is something children look forward to. Use picture schedule cards for clean-up, wash hands, snack, for example. Finally, when the transition actually begins, one of the children can give the signal (e.g., ring a triangle), then guide the others to strike a pose (e.g., mountain, or "freeze and squeeze"/self-hug) to help children stop what they are doing and begin clean-up. Lots of reinforcement and encouragement for focused attention and teamwork during clean-up also go a long way!

------------------------------
Ann Dillenbeck
VT STARS Assessor
Mary Johnson Children's Center
Middlebury, VT
------------------------------

Along with the other suggestions of the signals/warnings for transition and schedules posted, I would also have the students that had transitioned quickly become helpers.  They could have the jobs of inspectors.  They could be assigned to a center to either assist or direct the other students on where items belonged to make sure things were put away where they belonged.  Certain music being played during clean up can also help.  It can be used as a signal to begin the transition and it can also be utilized like a game of beat the clock if necessary.

------------------------------
Michelle Taggart
Middletown NY
------------------------------

I think if we start looking at classroom schedules differently we will see a decrease in behaviors and children who "struggle" with transitions.  We need to have more flexibility and stop moving children like a herd of animals.  I would start by looking at her daily schedule.  Is it too choppy?  Are there ways to schedule the day where there are less transitions?  Do they get enough time to do what the children enjoy doing?  Is circle time longer than free choice or outside time?  DO we have to wait for everyone to be done eating before we let them clean up and move on?  Just because it's ben done that way before doesn't mean we have to continue, especially if it's not working :)

------------------------------
Clarissa Walls-Parker
Wilmington OH
------------------------------

As a technical assistant/coach, my first thought is explore with the teacher whether or not the children who don't want to stop what they are doing (to transition to the next thing) could just keep playing and opt out of whatever the next activity is.  If the next activity is offered, and is engaging, these children may change their mind and choose to participate.  If the next activity is mandatory (lunchtime, outdoor time, etc.), I would explore with the teacher how much time in the day free play is offered.  The children need a substantial amount of time to choose their play, and their playmates, in order to do the work they deem important!

------------------------------
Andrea Dekker
Tucson AZ
------------------------------

This thread had such wonderful ideas that I tried to gather many of them into a downloadable resource. Thanks for all these great ideas that we can share with others!

------------------------------
Liz Savage
Community Manager
Teachstone
------------------------------

Kaplan has a light up timer with red, yellow, & green lights that we use in a few of our classrooms.

------------------------------
Ebony Nebel
Toledo IL
------------------------------