As the new school year begins, we are reminded of the importance of establishing some kind of order in our particular chaos.
Here are a few tips for preparing your classroom rules:
- Make the list short and clarify. In my experience, it’s better to have few general rules (5 max.) than a long list of small ones. Obviously, you’ll need to go over each rule and what it means, especially at the beginning of the school year. I can assure you most of your students have very different notions of what “respecting others” means, and even the simple ones like “sitting nicely” often need clarification.
- Put them where they can see them. When you’re working with young kids, it’s very important to have your classroom rules physically present in the room. You can print them out or list them together by hand, and make a show of sticking them on the wall.
- Add a picture and a hand gesture. Every rule needs to come with an associated image, as your students probably can’t read yet, and this will help them understand and remember the list. I also like to add a hand gesture to each rule, so sometimes, in the middle of the class, I can just sign silently, and they will remember the rule.
- Don’t shy from complete sentences and big words. As much as I like the example in the first picture, I prefer my rules to form sentences (like the ones above), as it enriches their language with structure. Also, kids really like learning big words like “directions” or “participate” so feel free to use them in your list. You’ll have to explain their meaning anyway.
1. Listen when the teacher is talking
2. Raise your hand to participate
3. Speak in English
4. Help and respect others
I hope you find it useful. Please comment and tell me what classroom rules YOU have.
