Rules Two Through Five – setting the climate in your classroom

                The key to a well managed classroom and high student achievement is planning and consistency. You have to plan for troubles that will arise in the classroom that will keep students from learning. You have to remember that what you do in September will determine how you survive March madness. One way of doing this is to go over your classroom rules thoroughly at the very beginning of school. Through the years I noticed that students who were with me from day one usually were better behaved, on the whole, than students who came in later in the year. That opening week of school is crucial. Use it well.

                My rule two was ‘On Task.’ I asked to students to tell me what ‘on task’ would look like. Usually I got answers about doing your work, not talking, or being prepared. I explained that this rule started the moment the student entered the room and was in force until they walked out of the room. It didn’t matter if the bell had rung or not. Once they were in my room they were in my territory and my rules applied. Later in the year I would sometimes have trouble with students acting up before class, running around, horse playing (yes, even seniors!) or otherwise creating a disturbance. When I called them on it, I usually got this response: ‘The bell hasn’t rung yet.’ I was always ready to invoke rule two, reminded them as soon as they entered the room my rules applied. I seldom had troubles with this type of behavior after that first reminder. This, as I mentioned already, included not leaving the room until dismissed and being seated and quiet until dismissal.

                I taught one class with a special education co-op teacher. This was a very large class and had many problems in it. This same teacher also had these students in another co-op class that she co-taught in. She was absent for several weeks due to a family emergency. She had the same substitute teacher for the duration of her absence.  After the first day he asked me if it would be okay if he just stood back and watched me interact with the students. He commented again and again how he couldn’t believe the students stayed seated and quiet at the end of the period. That is the power of a rule well explained, practiced and then consistently enforced.

                Rule Three was ‘Respect yourself, others and things.’ As always when I introduced this rule I started by asking students what they thought it meant. As we discussed it, I asked what disrespect looked like and what respect looked like. I then asked why they thought ‘Respect yourself’ was the first thing. That always led to a variety of answers. After we talked about it for a bit, I would tell them that this included not cheating. That always got their attention. How did cheating break the rule about respecting yourself? I then explained that if you cheated you were doing two things: 1. You were denying yourself the chance to learn. 2. You were saying ‘I’m not smart enough to do this on my own.’ Both of these were disrespecting yourself. The other two parts were easier for them, since students have been hearing this since kindergarten.

                Rule Four was ‘Only One Person Talks.’ This rule is pretty much self-explanatory. The only thing I had to explain was that it included students asking questions or answering questions, as well as during presentations. Also I let the students know at this point that I had to follow my own rules. If they started talking then I couldn’t, so I would just quit wherever I was in the sentence and wait until I could be the only one talking. This was the most invoked rule in the classroom. If the class was having a ‘down time’ and needed to come back on task, I’d simply say, ‘Rule Four is now in force.’ If they started talking during class presentations I’d reminded them of Rule Four. I almost always referred to it by number and they all knew what Rule Four was.

                Rule Five was the one that even adults asked me what it meant. Rule Five: ‘No UFOs or IFOs.’ When I got to this rule I’d ask the students ‘What is a UFO?’ Invariably someone would offer that is was an unidentified flying object. I’d go on ‘Then what is an IFO?’ This would prove a little trickier but eventually I’d hear ‘Identified Flying Object.’ The last question for the class was ‘What does it mean?’ Again it didn’t take long before someone said ‘Don’t throw things.’ I explained that this referred to everything, no pencils tossed across the room, no erasers, no notebooks. Sometimes when I’d offer to lend a pencil to a student, the student would say ‘Just toss it to me.’ ‘Oh no, I can’t break my own rules’ I’d tell him as I handed him the pencil.

                These were my rules, some were easy to enforce, some harder, but they all worked for me and for my class. Find your own rules, never more than five, keep them two or three words long. If you can’t say it in two words at least keep it as brief. People remember quick slogans far longer than long dissertations. Most of all, abide by your own rules, set an example and be the model of good behavior. This will help you avoid trouble in your classroom.