Rules?!

Scenario:  You walk into your classroom on the very first day of your teaching career, and you decide to begin setting up your classroom.  Move the desks and other teaching "furniture" around, hang some posters, and maybe include some plants and lamps so the room has a comfortable and inviting "home" feel to it.  Now that you have set up the ambiance of the room, how are you going to make sure the students feel as if this room is their home, too?  What do they need...? 


Structure and expectations.  Which means you need to decide on the rules your class should follow, and the way you plan to manage your classroom! 


If you're setting up your classroom so that it feels safe, secure, and inviting, you probably want to build a sense of community.  The students voices should be heard and understood, and we as teachers need to make sure we listen to them.  This is why, while in class the other day, we decided that the students will come up with the rules of the room.  Of course the students will not get to run the classroom, but they will be able to vote and help make decisions about what will be allowed in their environment.  With proper guidance from the teacher, students will be able to come up with really productive rules, as well as productive consequences.  The key word here being "productive."  Students should learn from following the rules, as well as what happens when rules are broken, but they should never be punished by being made to feel embarrassed or belittled. 


I am posting a picture of some of the notes and ideas our class had in creating our "Class rules." Our group chose the 5 rules:  "Be respectful, Be reliable, Follow directions, Give your best effort, and Stop, Think, React."  However, the class as a whole decided on the 5 rules: "Stop, Think, React, Be a peacemaker, Be a good listener, Give your best effort, RESPECT."  You will notice that not a single one of these rules begin with a negative direction like: "No biting." "No hitting." "No yelling."