Classroom Rules and Procedures

Classroom Rules
Rules are the set of expectations / standards that specify the desired and prohibited behaviors / actions. There are two different rules students are expected to follow: School rules and classroom rules. School rules are formal rules expressed in a code of conduct and usually written on school handbook. They also have serious consequences such as "Bringing knives, weapons or other dangerous objects to school will result ten day suspension and referral to police." On the other hand, classroom rules are the set of expectations / standards in classroom set by teacher with student input/agreement. Classroom rules are provided during the first day/week and written on classroom rules poster and usually have less serious consequences.

10 Most Important Things to Consider When Establishing Classroom Rules

1. Do not wait until the first day of school to establish your classroom rules with your students: Some literature suggest that teachers set the classroom rules with students during the first day of school. Many teachers take this advice in a wrong way and wait for students to start developing classroom rules. Considering that new teachers must focus on establishing their authority in the classroom, they often find it most effective to develop the rules and consequences themselves in order to communicate to their students' firm guidelines for behavior from the beginning. Otherwise, students may perceive that the new teacher in front of them wants to be their friend or does not know how to take leadership of the classroom. It would be a precarious start to the year to say, "so, guys, what should the rules be?" and get "no homework!" as an answer.

Students especially low grades usually better respond to established structure and boundaries for behavior from the moment they enter a classroom. Having clearly specified rules helps students know what they are to do. Waiting to involve them leaves many opportunities for students to engage in unacceptable behaviors as they wait for rule development. Also establishing rules with student input may make things difficult especially when considering diverse students or students that are shy or lack of capacity and social awareness. These students usually are not comfortable to participate cooperatively in rule creation especially during the first days, thus limiting their contributions and possibly building a non-democratic rule development process. Therefore, the advice is that teachers should create the rules without student input before students arrive in classroom. However, development of these rules should be incorporated from previous experiences with student specific knowledge garnered from teachers from earlier grades. Finally, during the first days, the rules must be discussed with students and seek for agreement.

2. Classroom rules should represent a teacher's areas for improvement in classroom management: The purpose of establishing classroom rules is to reduce and eliminate problem behaviors that occur on a daily basis. Therefore, the list should only include those most common problem behaviors. In other words, when reading a classroom rule poster, one should be able to basically say "these are the most common behavior problems this teacher is trying to eliminate".

3. Classroom rules should not be too general: This is a very common mistake teachers make when they setup their rules. For example: The rules "Be Responsible" , "Behave Appropriately ", "Be Ready to Learn", "Be Polite" and "Be Kind to Others" are too general. "Be Responsible" can mean 20 different things such as "come to class on time", "do not cheat", "bring your materials to the class" and students will be confused what breaks this rule and they might be breaking the rule without even realizing it. Effectively enforcing a rule like this is almost impossible for experienced teachers who have a strong handle on classroom discipline, let alone a new teacher who just started teaching. Therefore, each rule should present a statement addressing to a specific behavior rather a general statement covering many things at a time. Another example of mostly used classroom rule is "Do your best". Again, although it sounds nice and positive, it does not focus on a specific expectation because "doing your best" can mean "study before class", "do your homework", "score high on exams" etc.

4. Classroom rules must be short, clear, and simple: The idea of establishing good classroom rules is that your students must clearly understand your rules in order to follow them. Vocabulary should be consistent with students' grade and/or ability level. Teachers should avoid rules that are vague even you intent to discuss the rule extensively with students later. Your students should easily be able to remember and repeat them to you when needed. Therefore, make sure that each rule is short, clear and simple. For example the rule "Every student will demonstrate habits of a responsible learner including but not limited to: no gum, food, or drink in class, bring your homework, book, notebook, and pen to class, be on time, no profanity, no leaving the room without permission." This rule is not short, not clear and not simple to follow. In fact, there are more than five actual classroom rules that can be extracted from this rule.

5. Keep the number of classroom rules to minimum: Each classroom rule appears more important when there are fewer of them. Fewer rules are also easier for students to remember and for teachers to enforce. In addition, having just a few rules avoids the sense that you are trying to control a student's every movement. Remember, too many rules overwhelm young children. The suggested number for the classroom rules usually is 3 to 5. Remember, you can always update the list anytime.

6. Don't confuse rules with procedures. Each student is expected to follow a certain procedure during daily classroom activities. They are expected to learn that you have certain procedures (specific directions), from how to enter/exit the classroom, use pencil sharpener, use restroom to line up for lunch. Therefore, teachers should avoid the need to reduce all of these to procedures to classroom rules. So "Place your books away in the right place" is really not a classroom rule but a procedure.

7. Classroom rules should be updated throughout academic year: A teacher should update the classroom rules when needed. For example: once students stop a problem behavior listed on classroom rules, there is no need to keep it there. Teacher should remove the rule from the list, maybe adding a new one based on newly observed misbehavior. Students should be informed regarding each update made on the classroom rules.

8. Classroom rules should have effective consequences: Consequences for breaking each rule should be determined when establishing classroom rules. Each consequence should be respectful of the student, relevant to the mistake, and reasonable for the teacher to implement and the student to carry out. Sometimes, different consequences apply to each rule while one consequence can apply to multiple. They should be explained in advance and agreed to by the students. Also, consequences should be gradual moving from less severe to more severe as misbehavior is repeated. Teachers need consider the fact that some rules will be broken multiple times by the same students therefore the consequence should get more serious as misbehavior is repeated by the same student. For example,
when you choose not to follow each of my classroom rules, the followings will happen:
1st time: A warning: Warnings may be verbal, non-verbal, or written
2nd time: Set aside from class: Move student to another seat OR Revoke privileges: Loss of recess time, classroom jobs, and computer privileges
3rd time: Write to home: Student fills out a form reflecting on his misbehavior and parent is required to read over and sign the reflection form. OR Send student to another room: Student is sent to a nearby class where student works independently on an assignment to have a chance to calm down and regroup.
4th time: Phone call home OR Conference with parents
5th time: Lunch detention (check school policy) OR After-school detention (check school policy)
6th time: Conference with counselors, and/or administration
When classroom rules are broken, it is important that teachers should avoid using threats, intimidation, including yelling humiliation, sarcasm or grades as consequences.

9. Teach your rules and consequences; do not just show the poster: Once you have generated a short list of clear, simple rules and gradual, logical, meaningful consequences that fit the criteria, you will need to explicitly teach your students. Teachers should avoid the assumption that rules and consequences are discussed once, put on poster board, and left alone. They should make the rules part of their teaching rather than just decorations. In fact, you must teach your rules and consequences like any other curriculum content. This does not mean simply reading them from a handout, but rather providing rationales, soliciting input, having students identify examples and non-examples throughout the academic year. Some teachers believe that spending a lot of time on teaching classroom rules is a time taken from instruction. However, when they asked to calculate on how far behind they could fall if they took too much time completing simple tasks, they get the idea. For example: if it takes the class three and a half minutes to find their reading journals and a pencil instead of one minute (or less), by the end of the year, they will have lost a day and a half looking for pencils. This is why teachers reserve large amount of time for establishing and teaching classroom rules. An example of schedule for teaching classroom rules as follows.
First Day: Provide rules and consequences, discuss with students (teach them), seek input.
First week, start each day by randomly selecting students to read a posted rule and explain what will happen if the rule is followed, or not followed
Beginning of each month: Remind rules and consequences
When rules are updated: Provide rules and consequences, discuss with students (teach them), seek input.

10. Consequences must be reinforced and recorded. Now that you have the rules and consequences written and taught to your students, it is time to think about how to enforce it. Teachers should understand that teaching classroom rules effectively will not guarantee that students will follow them all the time. There will be times that rules will be broken. In addition to establishing and teaching the rules, teachers should also plan on enforcing them. One golden rule is rules and consequences must be reinforced for all students at all times. No exception, period.

Reinforcing the classroom rules especially in the beginning of academic year is very crucial. Students only consider that you mean business if you show them you are serious about your teaching and classroom management. Especially in the beginning of academic year, teachers should be able to stop what they are doing and deal with reinforcing the classroom rules when misbehavior occurs because once a teacher starts making exceptions for some excuses such as "not wanting to interrupt teaching", "not wanting to deal with it at the time", "having a bad day" or "this is the first time student breaking the rule", a double standard exists and rules become worthless.

Classroom Procedures

The secret to reducing or eliminating some behavior problems is establishing classroom procedures for daily tasks and activities. Your students will appreciate your consistency, and once they have internalized classroom procedures, the day will run that much more smoothly. Classroom procedures basically refer to directions for specific activities.

There are two different types of procedures students are expected to follow: School procedures that are provided during school orientation such as procedures for library check-out, procedures for using computer labs, procedures for school entry, exit, and playground activities, cafeteria etc. On the other hand, classroom procedures are specific directions for in-class activities such as procedures for entering into the classroom and getting ready for class, using restroom, using pencil sharpener, drinking fountain and sink, etc.

Imagine asking a class full of 21 third graders to "pass in their worksheet assignment" every morning. Sounds simple enough, yet inevitably a small group of students might playfully wave their worksheets by a neighbor's ear. Some might take the opportunity to jump up and walk over to your desk, while others would want to hand you the worksheet directly because that is what their teacher did last year. Chaos. However, developing and practicing a specific procedure for passing in worksheets (left across the rows and up the first aisle, for example) will create an orderly response to that request, avoid conflicts between students, and shorten the overall time it takes for this managerial task.

Along with classroom rules, procedures help ensure excellent behavior by teaching students specific behaviors for specific circumstances. But keep in mind that rules and procedures are different. In short, rules are expectations for behaviors, and procedures are methods for doing something (like lining up, sharpening pencils, etc.). Usually, classroom procedures become routines after a while. The more times the students do the procedures the more they internalize it so after a while students just automatically follow them without much thinking about them.

Step by Step to Efficient Classroom Procedures

Step 1. Establish Your Classroom Procedures: When establishing classroom procedures, teachers should develop procedures that allow students to know what / how they should be doing particular activities in which a specific process is necessary. Teachers should start listing classroom procedures before the first day of school based on their previous experiences (own classroom or internship). These procedures are also written in classroom management plan, hence serving multiple purposes. If a procedure is in place but teacher found out that it is not working as planned, teacher can modify or replace the procedure with a new one. Therefore, updates to procedures might be needed.

Step 2: Describe Classroom Procedures Clearly: Once established, teachers should be able to teach (not just show) each procedure during first week of school by defining the procedure in concrete terms, demonstrate the procedure in class, even demonstrating a complex procedure step by step when needed.

Step 3: Rehearse Classroom Procedures Until They Become Routines: Teachers should have students practice the procedure, step by step, under their supervision until it becomes routine. The students should be able to perform the procedure automatically without teacher supervision.

Step 4: Reinforce a Correct Procedure and Re-teach an Incorrect One: As the days go on, teachers should be able to determine whether students have learned a specific procedure or whether they need further explanation, demonstration, or practice. Re-teaching the procedure might be necessary when needed.

Examples of Classroom Procedures
Procedures for Entering the Classroom: I expect students to follow these procedures when you enter the classroom:
1. You are not to stand or wait around in the hallway
2. Enter the classroom quietly without running or pushing
3. Take your assigned seat
4. Copy the Bell-work assignment from the board in your notebook
5. Work quietly and by yourself
6. Wait for further instructions from the teacher
Procedure for the End of Class and Class Dismissal: Right before the bell rings everyone should:
1. be in assigned seat,
2. be quiet,
3. gather all their materials and
4. wait for the teacher to dismiss the class.

Procedure When We Have a Visitor
1. When we have someone come into our classroom who is not part of our class (teacher, administrator, student, parent) you are expected to follow the same classroom rules and procedures.
2. You are expected to be polite to the visitor.
3. Do not talk to the visitor unless he/she is talking to you directly.
4. Continue working on your assignment as usual.
5. If the visitor needs to speak to me privately, I expect you to remain in your seat without talking until I finish speaking with the visitor.

Summary
A rule identifies general expectations or standards; a single rule can encompass a wide range of expected behaviors. A procedure communicates expectations for specific behaviors. Effective teachers use both rules and procedures. For example, you might establish the rule "Respect other students and their property" and also create separate procedures for returning books to the appropriate place in the classroom and participating respectfully in class discussions.
The number and kind of rules and procedures vary from class to class and from grade to grade, but every good teacher has them. How students treat one another, when and how students may leave the room, and when it is appropriate to speak out in class are common topics for rules and procedures in every grade.