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Every classroom has them hanging somewhere. Usually they're entitled "our class rules", as if the children had any say in the set of rules their teacher imposed on them. Still their names adorn the piece of paper taped to the blackboard, for they all understand there will be punishment if they don't abide by these rules.
I have them too, those rules. Ten generic sentences about good behaviour are read, explained, and questioned at the start of every school year. The children put them in their folders. I tape them to the wall. And then no-one bothers to look at them again. The only moment the kids even read these rules, is when they're copying them as punishment for their bad behaviour. I wonder if they ever understand which rule they didn't follow.
Thinking up rules is a tricky juggling act between being too generic and making a list that's too long. I have never been happy with the ten phrases I put up there – partly because the kids had no say in it whatsoever, and partly because I couldn't get my pupils to understand the meaning behind the rules. When I asked for respect and order, I meant for them to broaden the range of the rule, to understand this is more than sitting still and pretending to listen.
Today I sat down to rewrite my rules with the motto: new rules or no rules at all. Checking my previous ones, I concluded it's important to leave general rules of behaviour implicit. Kids should know how to behave in school. What they don't know, is what you expect from them in the environment of your classroom. What do I want them to do specifically in my classroom? So instead of asking for general respect and order, I decided to remind them of good behaviour they should have in a class environment: silence when someone else speaks, asking permission to speak, putting pencils and crayons back where they belong... I don't want them to be real rules, but more guidelines that keep classes fun for everyone involved. The school rules and regulations should be enough to cover all the other possibilities.
I have them too, those rules. Ten generic sentences about good behaviour are read, explained, and questioned at the start of every school year. The children put them in their folders. I tape them to the wall. And then no-one bothers to look at them again. The only moment the kids even read these rules, is when they're copying them as punishment for their bad behaviour. I wonder if they ever understand which rule they didn't follow.
Thinking up rules is a tricky juggling act between being too generic and making a list that's too long. I have never been happy with the ten phrases I put up there – partly because the kids had no say in it whatsoever, and partly because I couldn't get my pupils to understand the meaning behind the rules. When I asked for respect and order, I meant for them to broaden the range of the rule, to understand this is more than sitting still and pretending to listen.
Today I sat down to rewrite my rules with the motto: new rules or no rules at all. Checking my previous ones, I concluded it's important to leave general rules of behaviour implicit. Kids should know how to behave in school. What they don't know, is what you expect from them in the environment of your classroom. What do I want them to do specifically in my classroom? So instead of asking for general respect and order, I decided to remind them of good behaviour they should have in a class environment: silence when someone else speaks, asking permission to speak, putting pencils and crayons back where they belong... I don't want them to be real rules, but more guidelines that keep classes fun for everyone involved. The school rules and regulations should be enough to cover all the other possibilities.
