No Fail Tricks For Getting Hallway Behaviors On Track

All rules and sense of reason seem to leave little ones’ minds as soon as they step foot into the hallway. It can feel like some sort of championship parade is happening! 

Here are some no-fail tricks for getting your students’ hallway behaviors on track this year:

5 Tips for Better Hallway Behaviors

1. Set the Groundwork

Don’t assume that kids know how to walk quietly and with self-control in the hallways. 

Even if this is not their first time in school, even if you know who their teacher was last year, and you KNOW he or she taught them how to walk, blah, blah, blah… SAVE YOURSELF SOME TIME AND SANITY…AND DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING!!! 

Remember, these are children. Self-control, walking, and quiet are not things that come naturally to children. Chaos, noise, running, and mayhem? Those are the NATURAL BEHAVIORS OF CHILDREN! 

With that in mind, explicitly teach what you want your students to know! 

Social skills stories and activities focusing on social skills are a great way to help support the teaching of any and all classroom behaviors and social expectations. 

Social skills stories are great springboards for discussion. Talk together with your students about the behaviors. Students are much more likely to pay attention and really grasp what is going on when you include them in the conversation rather than only talk TO them.

This Hallway Behavior and Voice Level Expectations social skills story and activity resource is perfect to facilitate strong discussions about proper behaviors and expectations in the hallways.

2. Practice

Next, practice! 

Practice EVERY PART of the behaviors you want to see in the hall. Practice in the classroom first. (Walking, facing forward, hands at our sides, not talking, staying in line.) Then practice in the hall. 

An important part of practicing is modeling for the students what you want to see. Show them what you see them doing right and show them what you see them doing wrong! (No names of course!) 

Students love to see you model a behavior knowing in their hearts that they’ve got it right! They also love watching you model those crazy inappropriate behaviors too, like, “Should we walk all the way down the hall rubbing our head on the lockers as we walk…like this?”

3. Make Going into the Hallway a Fun Event

Make hallway trips their very own adventures! Students are more likely to willingly follow directions when they’re having fun. 

Use a chant as a fun way to get ourselves prepared to leave the safety and anonymity of our classroom and enter the “real world”. 

4. Hold the Students Accountable

After all that talk and practice and modeling about proper hallway behaviors, it is important to then make sure you hold your students accountable for those same hallway behaviors. 

Stop periodically as you are walking and turn around and check on them. Walk slow enough that they can keep up with you, and acknowledge their good behavior when you get to your destination so they know you are noticing their hard work! 

Another favorite and effective way to hold students accountable in the hallways is to have the line leader carries the Voice Level Indicator sign in the air for the class to see and to remind them of the appropriate voice level.

Check out this Voice Level Resource Set for more ways to teach this skill to your students. 

5. Celebrate Good Hallway Behavior

Celebrate good hallway behavior with the Secret Walker!

If you’re unfamiliar with the Secret Walker, here’s how it works: 

One of your students’ jobs is to be the Caboose. The Caboose’s responsibility is to always be at the end of the line when the class goes anywhere. The Caboose also gets to choose the Secret Walker and watch them throughout the day. 

THIS IS A COVETED JOB!!! THERE IS NO MORE POWERFUL SITUATION IN A FIRST GRADER’S DAY! (wink wink!)

So, in the morning when the students come in, the Caboose student will choose a name out of the Secret Walker envelope.

The Caboose then lets you know who the Secret Walker is but is not allowed to tell anyone else. If the Caboose reveals who it is before the end of the day is an immediate loss of power for the rest of the week–yikes!

When leaving the classroom, the Caboose must watch the Secret Walker to see if he/she is following the hallway rules. At the end of the day, it is revealed whether or not the Secret Walker did well. If the answer is YES, THE SECRET WALKER DID A GREAT JOB IN THE HALLS TODAY, then and ONLY then does the Caboose reveal the name! (This way you are not ridiculing anyone for bad behavior.) 

The Secret Walker gets a round of applause and a slip/poem to take home.

That is it! Your students will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the Secret Walker routine!

Extra note: when pulling names, leave those names out of the envelope until all the names have been pulled. Then, put them all back in and start again.

Get your own copy of the Secret Walker Kit for FREE! 

Send me a message on IG or leave a comment below with your hallway behaviors success stories! Happy traveling!

Let me know if you have any questions about anything you see here. Don’t forget to pin this post to refer to it later!

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