August 2, 2019All, Blog, Classroom Management and Cultureclassroom management, Classroom Rules, Rules
One of the big pushes in the past decade has been the idea of classroom ownership and having students create their own classroom rules. While I love the idea in theory, I’ve often been put in the position of having to teach a brand-new group of students for a very limited number of sessions. In order to maximize our time-on-task, I decided to create three classroom rules that will work for any grade level or situation. The print outs are available free here.
Before You Get Started With Classroom Rules
As with any set ofclassroom expectations, these three rules must be taught and practiced. Theyounger the students are, the more time you will need to spend introducingthese rules. You will need to be very explicit. Not every first graderunderstands the word “respect,” so you’ll need to give a lot of examples (andnon-examples), and use visuals whenever possible.
Rule # 1 – Respect People
Respecting people is the#1 rule in my classroom. When students and teachers respect one another, theclassroom becomes a second home. You want every member of the classroom to feelsafe and appreciated. Respecting people includes (but is not limited to): theuse of kind and inclusive words, active listening skills (maintaining eyecontact, facing the speaker, not talking when others are talking, reducingdistractions, etc.), keeping your hands, feet, and objects to yourself, notmaking fun of other people, what is bullying and what should be done about it, etc.
We also discuss peripheralmembers of our classroom community, such as classroom volunteers, substituteteachers, administrators, our school secretary, the maintenance team, our tech department,etc. I want students to know that the same rules apply, whether I am in theclassroom or not.
To teach students torespect one another, I have students act out different scenarios. For example,what should our classroom look and sound like when a new student enters ourclass for the first time. What words should we say to that new student? Whatactions should we do to make them feel safe and welcome? Here are a few otherscenarios you may want to practice with your students.
- How to respectfully line up and walk in a line
- What to do when someone gets hurt
- What to do if a student has a physical disability andneeds assistance
- How we act when someone is having a bad day or goingthrough a hard time
- What to do with scenarios involving diversity (forexample, having questions about a student’s nationality or religious practices)
- How to be helpful and respectful to a guest (substitute) teacher
- What to do at recess if people want to play and there isn’tenough room for them (for example, when six people want to play Four Square)
- How to handle situations when you see another studentdoing something wrong (bullying a classmate, not sharing, etc.)
There are dozens of situations you can use – think of what applies to the kids you teach. If you see a certain problem arising in the classroom, use the scenario to reinforce the idea of respect.
It’s very important that you find quick and easy ways to get to know your students. We use this learning inventories to learn more about our students at the beginning of the school year.
Rule # 2 – Respect Property
I like having this rule because itcovers so much – personal property, school supplies, wastefulness, and cleaningup after oneself. For school supplies, I like to get really specific – forexample, how to use and not use glue sticks, how to store markers, what to dowhen you are done using a particular item, what to do when the stapler jams, theright way to use flexible seating options, what is allowed and not allowed inthe recycle bin, and what to do if you are using something and it breaks orruns out.
This is the most concrete rule toteach, so younger students usually pick up on this one quickly. You can havestudents demonstrate this rule as different scenarios come up. The first timeyou play a math game with dice, for example, you will need to show students howyou want them to roll the dice. Otherwise, you will have loud dice slamming allover the place, dice flying off desks, etc. Be sure to give every student thechance to practice using materials appropriately.
Rule # 3 – Respect Learning
Students come to school to learn, and the learning process must be respected. Respecting learning involves many aspects. Students need to first understand that all people learn differently and express their learning differently. Explain to students that some people learn best by seeing, some learn best by hearing, and some learn best by doing (hands-on). Some people take longer in certain subjects, require more practice, or have disabilities that make learning more challenging. This is a great chance to talk about growth mindset, and to emphasize growth mindset in your classroom. Here’s a post we wrote about using growth mindset with your students.
Students also need to know how to support thelearning process with their classmates. For example, telling your classmate theanswer may SEEM like helping, but it actually takes away their chance to learn.Teach students how to ask guiding questions to help their classmates in thelearning process.
Respecting learning involves making sure theclassroom stays quiet when it needs to be quiet (such as during an assessmentor a presentation), and hearing all voices when students are working incollaborative groups. It involves students being actively involved in their ownlearning. This means keeping the classroom free of distractions (outside toys,cell phones), expecting all students to participate (even though participationmay look different for each student), and expecting students to ask for helpwhen they need it.
Asking the questions, “Are we respectinglearning right now?” or “Are we respecting ____’s right to learn?” will helpyour students focus on this rule.
Conclusion
These three rules will cover pretty much any classroom issue or situation that comes up throughout the year. The key is making each rule clear and explicit, practicing each rule as it is introduced and as often as necessary, and positively praising students when they follow the rules.
