20 School Day Routines From the 1960s That No Longer Exist

School days in the 1960s had a rhythm that was steady and consistent, defining every aspect of the learning process. There were tangible tools, time tables, and the active involvement of the students to ensure everything was running smoothly in the classroom. There were pencil sharpeners attached to the wall for sharpening pencils, worksheets being passed around, and erasers for the chalkboards being washed. Messages were passed from one classroom to the next and the offices. The teachers would meet the students at the door for homework checks, write the lunch menu on the board, and keep the attendance rolls on the wall in the classroom.

1. Morning Homeroom Attendance Cards

In the early 1960s, classrooms in America began the day with an unobtrusive, disciplined process: attendance cards. As students entered the room, a tidy pile of small, cardstock-sized cards awaited near the teacher’s desk. Each student picked up their own card from the wooden tray, which was organized alphabetically. On top of each card, the student’s name, grade, and homeroom number usually appeared. Some cards had tiny charts for attendance to be filled in each day with pencils or fountain pens. It was an uncomplicated system, yet one that helped establish the day’s rhythm. Each student would put their attendance card into a box or basket at the front of the room, then take their seat.

2. Standing for the Morning Flag Salute

Mornings in American schools began with a flag salute in the 1960s. Immediately following the ringing of the morning bell, students stood up from their wooden chairs, facing the flag hanging on the wall near the chalkboard, and stood in silent expectation. The pledge ceremony stood at the ready, and the teachers waited in silence for all to settle down. Many schools used a loudspeaker connected to the principal’s office, and when the signal sounded, all classes came to a halt simultaneously. Right hands went to hearts, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison, line by line, as all stood with their heads held high.

3. Classroom Milk Breaks Delivered in Glass Bottles

Another practice that found its way into the regular routine of many elementary schools in the 1960s was the mid-morning milk break, in which schools and local dairy farms collaborated to provide small servings of milk to the students in their classes. Every day, milk trucks would arrive at the back of the school, with crates of glass bottles filled with cold milk and packed in ice. The tops of the bottles had foil caps and farm labels. Before the first recess, kids who assisted with the program would carry wooden crates filled with milk bottles into the classroom, and the teachers would distribute the milk as the kids sat at their desks and drank their milk patiently.

4. Student Hall Monitors Controlling the Corridors

In the 1960s, schools used hall monitors to ensure that the school corridors remained in order. The school administration or teachers selected these students based on their responsible behavior. Older students in the school were selected to perform this function. Every morning, these students received a special badge, armband, or pass to identify themselves as hall monitors. Their work began at the crossroads of the school corridors before the first bell rang, during the breaks in class, and even at lunchtime. Their instructions to their schoolmates were simple yet clear: walk, not run; quiet, please; and to class on time. This job gave the students a feeling of pride, not only because it meant that the teachers trusted them.

5. Chalkboard Cleaning at the End of Every Class

The classrooms of the 1960s used large chalkboards that covered the entire front of the classrooms. These chalkboards were used by teachers to write lessons, problems, and grammar exercises using sticks of white or colored chalk. By the time the class was over, these chalkboards would be covered with chalk, filled with equations, diagrams, and lessons. One small tradition that some students might expect was the daily cleaning of the chalkboards before the next class. Some teachers would give this responsibility to certain students, sometimes rotating it every week or so. The student would step forward, grab the wooden erasers covered in felt, and begin sweeping the chalkboards.

6. Collecting Lunch Money in Small Envelopes

One of the most common routines that was probably followed in schools way back in the 1960s was collecting lunch money right inside the classroom. Since electronic systems for paying the lunch bill had not yet been invented, students would carry their lunch money from home and deposit it into their designated paper envelopes. Some of the paper envelopes had spaces for the parent to write the student’s name, grade level, and the number of meals they wanted to buy for the week. At the beginning of the morning, the teacher would always ask the students to put the envelopes into a small box or basket near the front desk.

7. Sharpening Pencils at the Classroom Wall Sharpener

There was a small, familiar process in classrooms of the 1960s: the pencil sharpener hanging on the wall. Every classroom had one, usually positioned either next to the teacher’s desk or near the chalkboard. The device had a handle to crank it and a small metal tray to catch the shavings. At the beginning of the day, or before a writing assignment, kids would stand in a line at the pencil sharpener. Teachers sometimes tried to keep the line short, since the grinding noise could quickly overpower a class. This process was so automatic in classrooms that a student would automatically check their pencil before receiving a writing assignment from the teacher.

8. Passing Paper Notes to the Main Office

In the pre-computer, pre-email school days, there was a simple tradition that kept the school day moving along: the passing of notes from classroom to classroom to the front office. Teachers might pass along an attendance check, a brief announcement, or a request via a folded piece of paper or a small printed form. If someone in the school needed to pass a message to the office, a responsible student volunteered to do the job. With a small pass card in hand, the student left the classroom and went out into the halls to deliver the message. It was a small privilege, a way to leave the classroom for a few minutes, but it kept the school softly humming with activity.

9. Weekly Desk Inspections for Cleanliness

In the 1960s, it was the norm for a teacher to make the inspection of the desks a regular feature of the weekly routine. The majority of the students’ desks had a wooden lid that could be lifted up to provide storage space underneath the desk. The kids would put their books, writing pads, pencils, and homework inside the storage space throughout the week. Eventually, the storage space underneath the desks accumulated a lot of mess, including crumpled papers, broken pencils, and discarded items. Thus, the teacher made it a point to set aside time each week to inspect the condition of each desk.

10. Students Serving as Classroom Eraser Monitors

Eraser duty was one of the most popular student chores in the 1960s, at least in several schools. Teachers would select one or two students each week to serve as the eraser monitors. Their main role was to collect the felt-covered chalkboard erasers at the end of the day. They then had to carry the erasers outside to shake off the accumulated chalk dust. The monitors would carry the erasers to an area designated near the school building, usually near the trash can or the playground. At this point, the students would rub the erasers together or hit them against the wall or the wooden post. As they did this, huge puffs of chalk dust would float through the air.

11. Teachers Checking Homework Notebooks at the Door

One of the most common scenes in the 1960s classroom was the teacher greeting the students at the door and looking over the homework assignments immediately. Instead of waiting until later in the decade, teachers flipped through homework notebooks immediately as students arrived at the classroom door. The students arrived at the door with their composition notebooks or folded sheets of paper that they had completed the night before. Each time a student arrived at the door, they showed their homework to the teacher for a brief look. The teacher then glanced at the homework to see that it was indeed complete, often putting a small stamp or check mark on the homework.

12. Students Rotating the Classroom Globe During Geography Lessons

Geography in the 1960s was a common topic in the geography classroom, and it was accompanied by a large globe on a wooden stand placed near the teacher’s desk. One common practice was for the students to come to the front of the room and spin the globe, and the teacher would ask them questions about the countries and continents. It was a common practice in the classroom, particularly in the study of social studies, and a student would stand next to the globe as it spun around. Once the globe came to a stop, the teacher would point to the country, ocean, or region facing the students and ask them to identify it.

13. Raising Hands to Receive Permission to Visit the Restroom

In many schools of the 1960s, going out of the classroom for basic needs was a ritual that children had to adhere to. The children did not just walk out of the classroom; they had to hold up their hands and wait with quiet anticipation for the teacher to give the go-ahead sign. Once the teacher gave the go-ahead sign, the children were issued a physical hall pass. The physical pass came in many shapes and forms, ranging from wooden blocks to cards strung from a chain or a string. The pass was a physical object that represented the child’s approval to move about in the hallway during class time. This ritual ensured that the children were kept in check within the crowded classroom.

14. Students Taking Turns Watering Classroom Plants

In the 1960s, it was not uncommon to see greenery in the classroom. Teachers had a few small potted plants that they kept on the window ledge or near the chalkboard to add some life to the room. Taking care of the plants became an integral part of the school routine. Every week or so, one or two students in the classroom were chosen to serve as plant caretakers. This usually happened in the morning or before the end of the school day. This was not just for decoration purposes. The teachers thought that assigning students small tasks helped instill discipline. The students had to go to the water fountain or the drinking water to fill their small watering cans with water and then go back to the plant.

15. Reading the Daily Lunch Menu from the Chalkboard

One small ritual from the school days of the 1960s is the reading of the cafeteria menu each morning. Before the start of the class, the teacher or the students would write the day’s menu on the chalkboard. The common items included meatloaf, mashed potatoes, vegetable soup, or peanut butter sandwiches. The teacher would briefly read the day’s menu once the class settled in, giving the students an idea of the choices they would have at lunchtime. This ritual also helped the students decide whether to have their meals at school or bring them from home. The reading of the cafeteria menu became a regular feature in the morning routine at school.

16. Students Distributing Printed Worksheets by Hand

In many schools of the 1960s, handouts were a regular activity, and it was the student’s job, not the machines or the screens, to distribute them. The teacher would choose a few responsible kids to distribute worksheets, quizzes, and reading assignments to the entire class. The handouts were copied on mimeograph machines, recognizable by their distinctive purple ink and strong smell of chemicals. After obtaining the stack of papers from the teacher, the student helper went from desk to desk, putting a paper on each student’s desk. The process went quietly and efficiently as all the students prepared for the upcoming lesson. It was a small, important job, and it lived in the background of the classroom.

17. Teachers Taking Students Outside for Air Drills

In the 1960s, during the Cold War, safety procedures were sometimes incorporated into the country’s overall emergency preparedness programs. One of the practices during this time was air drills, where the teacher would lead the children in lines outside the school building. Previous years had shelter drills conducted within the school, but evacuation drills were also conducted, moving the children away from the building when needed. When the bell rang, the teacher would tell the children to stand up, get in line, and go outside quietly. The group would then proceed through the hallways and then outside to predetermined areas on the grounds, usually a field or playground area.

18. Students Cleaning Classroom Floors Before Dismissal

Another thing that some teachers started in some classrooms in the 1960s was having the kids help out to clean the classroom before the bell rang. The janitor would take care of all the big work, but some teachers would incorporate it into the dismissal process. The kids would gather the crumpled papers, straighten chairs, and sweep the floor to get rid of pencil shavings and small objects. Some classrooms would even use small brooms and dustpans that teachers kept in a corner of the room. This would take only a few minutes, but it would make the classroom look nice and ready for the next day. The teacher would use this time to reinforce a sense of responsibility, especially in a shared space.

19. Teachers Posting Perfect Attendance Charts on the Classroom Wall

The perfect attendance charts were a common feature in many classrooms during the 1960s. The teacher would put up a huge paper chart on the wall, listing the names of all the students in the class. Each day, the teacher would mark the names of the students who were present with small marks, stars, or even colored stickers. The children soon got into the habit of looking at the chart each morning, hoping their name was marked with a perfect record of attendance. This was a way of reminding the children that attending school was important. The perfect attendance charts were usually kept at a place where everyone could see them, often at the chalkboard or the door.

20. Students Waiting for the Final Bell Before Leaving Desks

At the end of the day in the 1960s, everything was moving in a very predictable pattern. The kids were seated in their seats, waiting for the final bell to signal the end of the day. Even though the kids had their bags packed and the chairs were in place, there was no way they would get out of their seats any sooner. The teachers would continue with the lesson plan or the homework in those precious minutes leading up to the end of the day. The kids would sit quietly, patiently, and wait for the end of the day, watching the hands on the clock slowly crawl towards the end of the day. Once the final bell rang, the kids knew that it was time to end the day. It was time to get up, grab their bags, and head towards the door.

• Tags:
• Nostalgia
• 1960s
• school routines
• forgotten routines
• school life