End of the Day Routine: Peaches & Pits

Dismissal at the end of the day can be quite stressful. You’re busy making sure your students are all packed up to go home. The office is calling down to your room to tell you of transportation changes. The noise level in your room is a tad bit louder than you’d prefer. Keep reading to learn a great end of the day routine to promote classroom community!

Dismissal can be hectic. I’ve been there! And honestly, I really don’t like ending our school day on a hectic note!

During my 2nd year of teaching, I had a little girl in my classroom who’s idea changed the way we ended each day. She shared with me something that her family does together each night, and she thought we could try it in our classroom. Well, it was a total hit, so I wanted to share it with you, too!

Peaches & Pits

It’s called Peaches and Pits! It can be a quick 2-3 minutes set aside at the end of the day, and it’s incredibly easy to implement! Once students are all packed up and ready to go home, they meet at our carpet/meeting area – backpacks, coats, and everything! They’re ready to walk out the door when the time comes!

Students take turns sharing one peach and one pit from our school day. *They share both at the same time. A peach is something that happened at school that made you smile, big or small! It could be something as amazing as getting a perfect score on your math test! Or, it could be something as small as getting to have your favorite school lunch.

Then, students share a pit from the day. A pit is something that happened that made you feel sad or disappointed. Basically, a pit is something that wasn’t so great about your day. Pits don’t have to be huge problems! They can be simple things like not getting a chance to swing at recess because all of them were full.

End of the Day Routine Expectations

When setting the stage for peaches and pits, I always tell my students this isn’t a time to share your disagreements, arguments, or frustrations with specific friends. The whole class doesn’t need to hear that Tommy wouldn’t share the crayons in art class. Those are issues we can take care of privately.

Sometimes students have had a rough day – we’ve all been there, right? I always encourage my students to find at least one peach in their day, but sometimes they need a little help. This is where friends come to the rescue!

If Olivia is having a hard time thinking of a peach for the day, Leah might share that she had a lot of fun playing the math game with Olivia earlier that afternoon. Little comments like this can put a smile on someone’s face who might have had a really hard time finding a peach for the day!

If we’re running short on time at the end of the day, peaches and pits can sometimes be cut a little short. On those days, students turn to a buddy and take turns sharing one peach and one pit for the day. This gives everyone a chance to be heard, even if it’s not by the whole class!

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