End of the Day Routine & Song: Sing Your Way Home

I found an end of the day routine to be so helpful for getting students to share the responsibility of classroom cleanup before they went home. Of course, they always wanted to be dismissed as soon as possible but it wasn't long before they learned that dismissal depended on whether they had put away their chairs and shoes, cleaned up around their desks, and written in their homework books or agendas. At the beginning of the year I had to allow more time to accomplish all this but the routine became more efficient over time, as long as I was consistent. The song signalled that most students were ready and standing beside their desks, ready to be dismissed with a touch. At first I moved around and touched students gently on the shoulder when I saw that their things were put away and their floor was clean but it wasn't long before a student could do that and I could stand at the door and say good-bye as they left (also supervise the hallway!) I don't have the music for the End of the Day song that I used with both primary and intermediate students but I found a version on YouTube in case you want to remember the melody: Sing Your Way Home video

. This singer's voice seems uncomfortably high to me and I am not sure about the pink guitar! But it may be enough to jog your memory if you want to use this song or to remind you to look for your own musical accompaniment for getting ready to go home.