See ya!

I sure appreciate on-timeness in life, so I definitely appreciate it in my classroom. It's a pertinent lifelong skill and one even first graders can practice and learn while the price tag is still small. It just might be too late to learn it when they're barely hanging on to that job at McDonald's because they can't get to work on time. And I'm all about telling my kids about that job some day at McDonald's. If they're not on time, they'll be out of a job and someone else will get to make the fries.

So when the bell rings, I really do expect the kids to find our classroom as quickly as they can. Dilly-dallying is illegal. The past two years I've discovered a little trick that seems to help with many of them. I've taught them to say, "See ya!" (Just imagine the inflection in our voices too.) As soon as the bell rings, they say it to friends, swings, monkey bars, slides, etc. 

After recess when I'm trying to make a point about being on time, especially to those who weren't, I'll ask the first kiddo who was in line, "How'd you get here so quickly? What's your secret? Please do share so everyone can be on time from now on." Their response? "I said, 'See ya.'" Yep, I figured so. 

(No, that's not my whole class. In my dreams though.)