Do's and Don'ts of Classroom Rules

In today's society it is too much to expect a student to come to class ready to learn and most especially, come to class knowing how to properly behave. For today's teachers, it is now expected that they not only write the lessons plans of what needs to be taught, but to also develop a behavior plan with goals, rules and consequences to attempt to manage a classroom as well. We need to make sure that our rules and consequences are fair, but yet still strict enough to make an impact on the lesson that we are trying to instill when a rule is broken. They have be representative of the behaviors that are wanted, instead of trying to simply list things that a student can and cannot do.

The trick to developing the right rules and procedures will be first step determining the type of classroom setting, or atmosphere, a teacher wants to portray. Is the classroom going to be mostly teacher-led, independent student group, or a fairly even combination of both? The rules and procedures are not the same for each of these types of classrooms, nor would they be the same for every teacher's classroom. Rules and procedures have to be individualized for each teacher and their classroom, the only commonality in them is when the class rules are in total agreement with the school rules. We cannot expect our students to obey the rules when in the class rules we go against the rules that are set for the entire school. Some of the factors that have to be considered when creating rules are: the teacher's beliefs in how the class should behave, the atmosphere wanted within the classroom, the school rules, the ages of the students in the room, the abilities of the students, the reality/rationality of the rules, the areas of the class where they are to be used, student ownership in the rules, the ease of understanding and the fairness of the rules to the consequences.

Now we know some of the things that need to be considered, but do we really understand the reasons that these factors have to be considered? Developing a personal rational for why we use these rules makes it easier for us to be able to give the students a reason that they can understand when they ask the inevitable question of "Why?" Now that we have established that, we need to understand the rational behind each of "Why" factors.

We have to first determine our feelings on how we want, or rather, believe the class should behave. Each teacher has a conceptual view as to how they believe the ideal classroom would behave; unfortunately, it is not always the reality. Yet we, as teachers can take those ideals and expand upon them to fit the realities of the class that we are introduced to that first week of school. Once we have gotten our heads out of the clouds and faced our reality, we can take those ideas and build on those to develop the feelings that we want the students to pick up on when they come into the classroom. Do we want them to feel as though they are wanted, valued, respected and appreciated or do we want them to realize that they are there to do as they are told with no deviation from the rules and procedure that the teacher has established or else? This can be important if you are planning to have the students help with establishing the rules and procedures within the room.

When the rules are created, regardless of who creates them, the primary concern has to be the rules of the school. The school rules govern the rules of the classroom, regardless of what the class rules are. If the class rules disrespect or disregard the rules of the school, the students cannot be expected to respect the school rules, much less the rules of the classroom. They are being shown that it is okay to disrespect the rules of a higher authority and as we all know, actions speak louder than words. When the teacher shows disrespect to their superior (the school, the principal), how can the teacher expect their students to respect them.

If you are a kindergarten teacher, your rules need to be based on their age level and their abilities, just as if you are a fifth grade teacher, your rules would have to be based upon the ages and the abilities of your students; the same holds true for the special education teacher and their students. A kindergarten teacher cannot expect the same from their students as a fifth grade teacher expects fro their students. A kindergarten student cannot be expected not to go the restroom when they get the urge, but a fifth grader can be expected not to ask to go to the restroom every fifteen minutes, just as a special needs student may not be able to articulate the need as clearly or quickly as a regular education student. Expectations are different for different ages, grades and abilities; therefore the class rules and procedures need to be reflective of these differences.

Other factors that need to be considered in the creation of these rules and procedures are where these rules and procedures are to be applied: class work, homework, group activities, class discussions, computer stations, classroom library, resource classes, cafeteria, hallways, restrooms or play areas; the list can go on and on. Regardless of the rule, it needs to be made applicable to where it is to be respected. One cannot expect rules governing the play area to govern the cafeteria in the same manner. Talking quietly in group activities and talking to your neighbor in the cafeteria are two different things; talking to your neighbor in group is a whisper as to not disturb the rest of the class group activities in the room, but in the cafeteria the volume can be a bit louder because there is more noise and a larger area - also there is no learning to be taking place in the cafeteria.

Another other thing to consider is that the rules and procedures need to be in a language that the students are able to understand and relate to. Using words that a kindergarten can not understand will make a difference in whether or not they will be able to follow them; here visual aids may be more effective in their understanding. The opposite holds true for fourth graders, you would want to use words versus pictures. This will make the clearer to the students and they can be more accepting, personally, of the rules. The students need to understand the rules, but just as importantly, they need to understand the consequences of breaking those rules. The consequences need to be clear to the students as well. They need to understand that if the rules are broken or disobeyed, the consequences are enforced regardless of the student. In regards to the punishment, it must be fitting of the crime as well. It is not fair to give the student that is caught talking too much a trip to the administration when the student that hits another one is given silent lunch. The punishments need to be fair consequences for what rules are broken and at the same time, they need to made clear so the students are aware of them.

The primary force in making sure that the students have a strong reality of the rules, procedures and the subsequent consequences is to allow them the chance to be a part in establishing them. There are some rules and procedures that the students cannot have a part in, but there are still plenty for them to assist in putting into place within the classroom. There are many ways to allow the students a chance to get involved in making the class rules: class discussions, contests, group activities are among the many. That first day of school, initiate the class discussion of the rules of the school, talk about those rules and then ask about how the students could adapt, or change, the school rules just enough to fit into the classroom life better. Talk about how they could be adjusted, then use those ideas to make the class rules. Take the discussion one step further, as a homework assignment, have the students take these ideas and examples home to make their own set of rules for the classroom. The next day, review the work of the students, choose some of lists or individual rules from the lists. From here, create a list from these individual rules, or hold a class vote on the best list, giving the students the sense of having a choice in the rules for the class. At this point, the list can be posted in the class, or a poster contest can be created to all the students a chance to create an attractive, informative poster to be displayed in the classroom. Allowing the students to aid in creating the rules, determine consequences and even posting them around the room, gives them a sense of pride in being able to monitor their behavior and the behavior of their classmates. It also can allow them the feeling of being in control of how the classroom feels to them and their classmates because they are able to fully understand and agree with the way things are to be handled when things are not as they should be. It allows each student to be the "teacher's helper" too; how many times do you have every student in class raise their hand to take names when the teacher leaves the room and needs a class monitor? Plenty. This lets all the students in the classroom be the monitor, of themselves.

While on the other hand, allowing the students the opportunity to help establish rules for the classroom can prove to be a difficult, or sticky, situation too. The students could become a bit snobbish to their classmates if their rules are chosen - "That's my rule and you cannot break it. If you do, I can punish you since it is my rule." (Unfortunately, I have heard that one before when we did this one year with the students.) Sometimes the students may think that because they created the rule, then it does not apply to them and that can cause a lot of problems as well. They believe that they are immune to the rules that they "create" and therefore, the consequences will not happen to them. The students will then begin to take advantage of the teacher, or at lease attempt to. Not only could the students become snobbish and bossy to their classmates, but to the teacher, other authority figures within the school and other students within the school. Thus, posing a problem that can lead to a severe case of bullying among the student body. There are limitless advantages to having the students help in establishing the class rules, but there are an equal number of disadvantages too.

Now that we have determined the rules and procedures for the classroom, we need to make sure that the students are in complete and total understanding of those rules. Some ways to make sure that the students are aware of the rules and procedures is to have a class forum. Allow the students a chance to ask questions and discuss the rules with the teacher, asking the who, what, where, when, why and how's that we all know are in every child. With a class discussion of the rules and procedures, the teacher needs to be prepared with a logical and easy to comprehend answers for the students. Also, this is the time that the consequences need to be discussed, addressed and explained thoroughly in vocabulary for the student. Another way to test student understanding of the rules and procedures is to have the students practice and role play the rules. Using the rule to line up in a straight, single and silent line as my example; create two groups of students, one group to demonstrate the rule correctly, and the other group to demonstrate the rule incorrectly. Discuss the two different styles of lines with the class: ask which was correct and which was incorrect; ask what were the differences in the lines, ask about what is going to happen to the incorrect line (practice lining up and sitting down until the line is done correctly). The idea of the poster contest can also be used as a test of understanding of the class rules and procedures too. The students need to create a poster that depicts one, or all, of the rules and show the rule and the consequence for not following the rule.

There are many, many rules and procedures that can be implemented in a classroom, the catch is to make sure that the rules fit the students and the consequences fit the rules. There are many ways to come up with the rules, there are may ways to punish the rule breakers and there are many ways to make sure that we get the point across to the students, but first and foremost, we have to understand ourselves and what we as teachers expect from the students in the classroom. Without that kind of understanding, it can prove to be a very difficult year in the classroom.