Classroom Management and Routines Tip: The “Secret Password”
At the beginning of the year, when setting up classroom management routines and procedures is the most important, I feel like a broken record repeating myself – I am sure that you can relate! I am constantly giving and repeating SO many instructions, multi-step directions, and teaching so many routines. I have a great classroom management hack for your primary students that you can introduce during back to school time, or at any time during the school year!
When kindergarten students (and primary students in general) are given multi-step directions, they are so quick to listen only to the first direction, pre-maturely start, and tune out the rest of your directions, resulting in chaos and confusion! I frequently find myself saying “wait and listen to the rest of my directions before you move or do anything!” And then have to start the directions all over again. Does this situation sound familiar to you? Last year, I implemented a daily strategy to help out with this problem- it’s called our “daily secret password”. I use this as a classroom management tool and it has been a game changer for my class the past two years!
The “secret password” method is a valuable classroom management tool for attentive and careful listening for instructions with your students. When I’m providing multi-step instructions for an activity or transition, I begin by stating, “When I say the secret password… you will… _________” (give instructions or expectations). Students are required to patiently wait for me to say the “secret password” only after I’ve given all of the intended directions before they can proceed to get up, move, and execute the instructed actions. This approach fosters a more organized and attentive response from your students.
Last year when I first started using this method, I provided instructions and then simply say the word “go” to signal action. However, I decided to adapt the word to be more fun, creative, and meaningful by aligning the “secret password” with our daily themes, academic subjects, and seasonal topics. This added an element of engagement and meaning to our daily routines.
This year, I took it a step further by creating a secret password poster that hangs on my front bulletin board with sets of secret passwords that have accompanying visuals so that students can easily reference them throughout the day. The visual aspect not only enhances engagement but also aids in reinforcing academic topics and vocabulary, which is especially beneficial for my sizable ESOL student population.
My secret passwords change on a daily basis, although they can also be changed every few days or weekly depending on the needs of the class. The secret passwords encompass a wide spectrum, ranging from seasonal themes and vocabulary to various academic content and topics.
At the beginning of the year (in kindergarten), I begin with simple topics such as shapes and colors. As we progress and cover more academic topics such as alphabet letters, numbers, and other subjects, I gradually incorporate newly acquired vocabulary or topics into the passwords, as well as review and reinforce previous knowledge. This method keeps the strategy fresh and aligned with our evolving educational objectives.
If you’re interested in the themed secret password posters and accompanying visual/word secret passwords that I use in my own classroom and create, I currently have themed topics available (with many additional seasonal themes and primary-focused academic topics to be added soon in the growing bundle!) The current themes and planned future themed sets have been combined into a yearlong growing bundle that can be found here. (You will get any future sets added for free when the growing bundle is updated in the future!) You also have the option to purchase the themed sets separately if you prefer a specific theme/topic to try.
The sets that are currently included in the growing bundle are:
- Full yearlong growing bundle (including all sets below!)
- general/basic theme: alphabet letters (upper, lower, combo letters), numbers to 20, days of the week, months of the year, colors and shapes
- back to school theme: school words, school supplies and tools words and school schedule words.
- fall theme: fall/autumn words
- future themes to come: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, spring, summer, animals, numbers to 100, + even more to come!
If you’re interested in trying out a sample of my secret passwords resource before making a purchase, you can access the freebie by clicking here! This freebie includes one poster and a selection of 36 “secret passwords” from the general/basic password theme set. It’s a great way to try out this strategy in your classroom before committing to the full resource.
Ideas for when to use the secret password:
- transitioning to the rug
- transitioning to table spots
- lining up
- turn and talk with a partner
- turn and talk with a group
- transitioning centers
- starting an activity
- finding a partner
- as an attention callback: T: “What’s the secret password?: S:”(say password)”
My students become so excited to learn what our new password is on a daily basis! Additionally, I love the quick opportunity to expose my students to themed vocabulary and reinforce the academic skills that we are learning throughout the day- all while seamlessly integrated into our classroom routines. I hope that secret passwords as a classroom management tool is useful for you!
PS. If you are interested in more classroom management tips- check out my post here about desk pets and how I use them as my classroom economy/behavior management system!
Materials I use with this resource:
*This article contains affiliate links but don’t worry, I only promote resources/products that I use and love! Additionally, you can find links to all the items mentioned in this post at the bottom for your convenience.*
Organizing my passwords: I organize my passwords in a index card file organizer like the one below! (The index card organizer I use is found on Amazon here!)
Sticking my passwords to the poster: I hang my poster with adhesive magnets since my front board is magnetic chalkboard (covered with bulletin board paper!) I laminated my secret password poster and passwords with my personal laminator- to easily change the passwords out daily, there are many options! You can either use blue painters tape, velcro (cut the squares into halves or fourths to get more use!) or my personal favorite- tack it glue!
Tack it glue is absolutely amazing and I use it for so many things in my classroom. Tack it glue is just like liquid velcro- you just need to let it dry for about 2 days. This is what I personally use. The trick is not to use too little or too much- I’ve done both! for the secret passwords, I found that 5 small dots across the top were perfect for holding and changing the passwords! See below for a video on how it works!
All materials used:
- Index card organizer
- Tack it glue
- Adhesive magnets
- Painters tape
- Velcro squares
- Laminating sheets
- Personal laminator
Products mentioned:
