If I needed to have my class exit our music room and move to an different area of the school, we would still line up the same way. Getting out the door, though, was going to be much more different than what I saw most teachers do.
I taught in over a dozen school with student enrollments from 250 to 2,500 and teaching staffs in excess of 40 or 50 adults. I never saw another teacher do “from here to there” it quite this way – but every principal I had commented on how my classes always traveled the hallways better than any others - especially during fire drills.
After the kids were lined up with hallway expectations, I would enter the hallway, pick a landmark somewhere about 25 feet away from my room, and tell the leader of the line to go to that landmark, stop, and wait for further instruction. The landmark would be something like a hallway wall clock or a fire extinguisher unit on the wall. I would tell my leader to walk to that spot, stop, and wait for further directions.
I would not stand at the front of the line nor would I stand at the back of the line. Instead, with the kids (blue dots) walking on the right side of the hall, I (red dot) would stand on the left side of the hallway, close to the wall with my gaze not facing forward but rather turned and looking at the line.
I taught in over a dozen school with student enrollments from 250 to 2,500 and teaching staffs in excess of 40 or 50 adults. I never saw another teacher do “from here to there” it quite this way – but every principal I had commented on how my classes always traveled the hallways better than any others - especially during fire drills.
After the kids were lined up with hallway expectations, I would enter the hallway, pick a landmark somewhere about 25 feet away from my room, and tell the leader of the line to go to that landmark, stop, and wait for further instruction. The landmark would be something like a hallway wall clock or a fire extinguisher unit on the wall. I would tell my leader to walk to that spot, stop, and wait for further directions.
I would not stand at the front of the line nor would I stand at the back of the line. Instead, with the kids (blue dots) walking on the right side of the hall, I (red dot) would stand on the left side of the hallway, close to the wall with my gaze not facing forward but rather turned and looking at the line.
All of us were able to maintain some level of eye contact. Also, I walked with my hands behind my back and didn’t talk. Modeling is key.
Once the line leader stopped at the landmark, I would wait for the entire line to come to a halt. Just as the last two or three students were stopping, I would pick out the next landmark I wanted the leader to approach. That pattern would repeat over and over until we reached our destination.
As classes became more adept at hallway expectations, the distance between landmarks grew.
The problem with most lines in schools is that they become disjointed and disconnected. These kiddie caravans start to resemble rush hour on I-95 when cars speed up and suddenly have to jam on their brakes. Better to stay at a good steady pace in the hallway and maximize movement.
Occasionally, a leader will be nervous and miss their spot to stop. I would just gently remind them and they would readily halt. There was no big deal like, “I need a new leader! You're not doing your job!” Everybody should be given the chance to be a leader in an elementary school and if they make a small mistake, it's not grounds for the third degree.
I would often tell my classes after they had done a good stint in the hallway how good they look compared to other classes. It wasn't quite ridiculing the other class but it was definitely point-by-point praise on why they did a better job.
Reasons I Would Stop In the Hallway
If I saw or heard talking, we stopped and waited.
As they were standing there, I would tell them what they were doing: they were waiting because somebody couldn't keep their mouth shut.
Of course, I was saying this is other people were walking by, other teachers, other classes, and , heaven forbid, the principal. As my father said more than once, “All things are possible with just the tiniest bit of shame”.
I would stop the line if I saw people touching the wall hallway wall. I would go into a short ninety-second script I had prepared:
“Do you see how clean these walls are?
They don't stay clean all by themselves.
Our principal has a chief custodian who's responsible for cleaning them but he's very busy so he hires a very old lady to come when you’re home and in bed. She comes in to scrub the walls on her hands and knees with a bucket of hot soapy water and a brush and a towel. (At this point I am on my knees in the hallway, wearing a suit, acting out this script.) She does this work not because she loves that people dirty the walls – she does it because she needs money to feed her family. The only reason she has to scrub walls is because people - children AND adults - touch these walls and leave their greasy, grimy fingerprints on them. Yes, you heard me right, ADULTS DO THIS TOO, and I bet you've seen them. I consider it a vile disgusting habit to touch the walls.
If the walls stayed clean, the chief would be able to give the little old lady a more appropriate job to do in our beautiful school. But there are people who have developed the bad habit of touching the walls as they walk. These people are often the same people with bad habits with their fingers. They have their fingers in their mouth, up their nose, and who knows where else. We do not touch the walls!”
I would then pause for five seconds, let the silence sink in, and start the line again.
There was one time that the kids loved lining up. They considered it most IMPOTANT lineup in their minds. That will be in “Getting From Here To There – Part Three”.
Once the line leader stopped at the landmark, I would wait for the entire line to come to a halt. Just as the last two or three students were stopping, I would pick out the next landmark I wanted the leader to approach. That pattern would repeat over and over until we reached our destination.
As classes became more adept at hallway expectations, the distance between landmarks grew.
The problem with most lines in schools is that they become disjointed and disconnected. These kiddie caravans start to resemble rush hour on I-95 when cars speed up and suddenly have to jam on their brakes. Better to stay at a good steady pace in the hallway and maximize movement.
Occasionally, a leader will be nervous and miss their spot to stop. I would just gently remind them and they would readily halt. There was no big deal like, “I need a new leader! You're not doing your job!” Everybody should be given the chance to be a leader in an elementary school and if they make a small mistake, it's not grounds for the third degree.
I would often tell my classes after they had done a good stint in the hallway how good they look compared to other classes. It wasn't quite ridiculing the other class but it was definitely point-by-point praise on why they did a better job.
Reasons I Would Stop In the Hallway
If I saw or heard talking, we stopped and waited.
As they were standing there, I would tell them what they were doing: they were waiting because somebody couldn't keep their mouth shut.
Of course, I was saying this is other people were walking by, other teachers, other classes, and , heaven forbid, the principal. As my father said more than once, “All things are possible with just the tiniest bit of shame”.
I would stop the line if I saw people touching the wall hallway wall. I would go into a short ninety-second script I had prepared:
“Do you see how clean these walls are?
They don't stay clean all by themselves.
Our principal has a chief custodian who's responsible for cleaning them but he's very busy so he hires a very old lady to come when you’re home and in bed. She comes in to scrub the walls on her hands and knees with a bucket of hot soapy water and a brush and a towel. (At this point I am on my knees in the hallway, wearing a suit, acting out this script.) She does this work not because she loves that people dirty the walls – she does it because she needs money to feed her family. The only reason she has to scrub walls is because people - children AND adults - touch these walls and leave their greasy, grimy fingerprints on them. Yes, you heard me right, ADULTS DO THIS TOO, and I bet you've seen them. I consider it a vile disgusting habit to touch the walls.
If the walls stayed clean, the chief would be able to give the little old lady a more appropriate job to do in our beautiful school. But there are people who have developed the bad habit of touching the walls as they walk. These people are often the same people with bad habits with their fingers. They have their fingers in their mouth, up their nose, and who knows where else. We do not touch the walls!”
I would then pause for five seconds, let the silence sink in, and start the line again.
There was one time that the kids loved lining up. They considered it most IMPOTANT lineup in their minds. That will be in “Getting From Here To There – Part Three”.
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