Do My Bellringers Reinforce Dominant Culture Norms?

We credit ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.

-Stephen Covey

Transitions in and out of class at all grade levels can pose some challenging moments. From directing hallway traffic to eliminating unsupervised classroom corners, teachers must artfully close one lesson and begin the next without incident. However, prioritizing an expectation that there will be an “incident” already approaches routines from a deficit viewpoint.

These transitions also present some of the most difficult minutes of the day for students who must navigate their highly surveilled routines while also negotiating friendships, fitting in, family concerns, athletics, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, and academics. A student could be thinking about dozens of topics at any given time in the school day, and teachers think we can reduce some of the uncertainty surrounding transitions by using bell ringers or other predictable structured warm-up routines.

Note. Bell ringers are warm-up activities that students complete at the beginning of class—when the bell rings—while teachers take attendance, pass out materials, or briefly catch up with individual students. This strategy allows teachers to utilize every minute of class time while taking care of “housekeeping,” and also serves to jump-start student success by guiding thinking toward learning objectives, helping students quiet the many competing topics on their minds.

However…could the practice of bell ringers—also referred to as warm-ups—be supporting the White Supremacy Culture Characteristic that believes progress is bigger & more or that values quantity over quality? The cultural belief that says “more, more, more is better,” prevalent in many Western-based schools, organizations, and companies, aims to always be/do/get more and be/do/get bigger. A cultural characteristic that focuses on always being bigger minimizes relationship-building and individual emotional responses to our school/workplace. In our schools, this shows up in hyper-productivity. For example, time spent with students (and teachers) not fully agendized and scripted, is not valued.

We prioritize the agenda or routine over individual needs and emotions.

Some days students enter the classroom and need to rest or reflect or let out a big sigh. Spending a few moments at the top of a class or meeting to allow for quiet might provide an alternative to bell ringers and offer space for individuals to re-regulate and engage in the bulk of the class. Moreso, space between focused academic time can provide a necessary opportunity for relationship building in our schools, classrooms, and offices.

It is true. Routine procedures and clear expectations can help create a classroom community where all students feel they can be successful. The opportunity to communicate ideas, exhale, check in with a peer, or be still without the pressure of grading or evaluation is also empowering, especially for students learning English, for shy students, and for students who may struggle in school.

Thanks for reading! Here are some things to think about.

1. Consider why I chose the Harvey quote at the top of this blog. What connections do you make?

2. This blog gets at the cultural expectations related to doing vs. being.

   1. What do you personally believe about this?

   2. What does your school or workplace believe?

   3. What do your colleagues, students, and community members believe?

   4. Do your practices and procedures reinforce the belief that progress = more?

Author's Note. I first wrote about bell ringers in March of 2014 under the Teaching Tolerance banner. Ongoing attention to equity and inclusion practice has informed the ways this thinking has changed, reflected here, in the last ten years.