With Classroom Champions, every fall, a new athlete mentor joins your classroom community. But the difference between a program that shows up in a once-a-month video to one that becomes part of your students' identity comes down to something simple… routine.In a recent Education Week column, four veteran educators weighed in on why classroom routines matter so much right now. Their consensus? Routines should do more than manage behavior. Well-established routines help students' brains feel safe enough to take on hard learning, and they hand students real ownership of the classroom community rather than just compliance with it.That's exactly the spirit Classroom Champions was built on. Below, you’ll find our most-loved classroom ideas for this school year that allow students to help build routines, not just follow them.
Build a Visual "Mentor Corner"
Whether it's a bulletin board, a classroom door, or a laminated schedule strip on your whiteboard, giving your athlete mentor a consistent visual home in the room reinforces the routine without extra planning each day. Update it as new challenges roll in so it evolves with the year instead of becoming static decor.
Use Calm, Predictable Transitions
If your Classroom Champions activities involve rotating between stations — a challenge task, a reading corner, a reflection journal — pair the transition with a consistent, calm signal (a chime, a song, a visual timer) rather than an abrupt one. This is especially important for students who find sudden transitions stressful, and it keeps the mentor-linked activities feeling like a natural part of the day's rhythm rather than a disruption to it.Rewatch and Re-Discuss Mentor Videos
Don't retire a video after one viewing. Bring it back mid-week paired with a new discussion question, a quick write, or a connection to that week's reading. Students absorb new details each time, and repetition combined with a slightly new angle turns a video into a routine rather than an event.Keep an SEL Read-Aloud Slot
Anchor one weekly reading block to a book from the Classroom Champions social-emotional learning lists. Predictability here does double duty — it's an easy prep win for you, and it gives students a reliable weekly touchpoint for the values your mentor represents.
Humanize your Mentor
Favorite snacks, pets, hobbies — the small human details are what students remember and repeat. Use them as writing prompts, math word problems, or "get to know you" trivia. Pull these into daily or weekly moments whenever it fits.Do a Background-Knowledge Deep Dive
Spend part of a month having students research your mentor's sport or the Olympic/Paralympic Games more broadly. Spreading this across a few weekly reading blocks turns a single research project into a recurring routine students look forward to.
The Takeaway
You don't need ten new things to try this year. It only takes two or three routines that your students help shape and that show up predictably enough to become part of how your classroom works. That's what turns a monthly mentor video into a year-long relationship.Ready to bring an Athlete Mentor into your daily routine? Log in to your Classroom Champions account or start a free trial.
