I have a simple rule: NO WHACKO. It's a bright blue multi-colored sign displayed up front up top. Right above the ABC letters. I also just made a chart with the class on Thursday about Cooperation, and what it means to work together as a team. I have rules for seats and carpet, and some are the same. The students came up with the rules, and it's currently displayed on my white board. I will have to move it soon, though. I'm finding it tricky because wall space is quickly vanishing!
My Classroom Rules are: Follow directions quickly. Raise your hand before speaking. Wait for permission to leave your seat. Make smart choices. Keep your dear teacher happy. These are rules advocated by Whole Brain Teaching, and I have adopted them for my classroom. I have a vinyl banner that I created (thanks, VistaPrint!) on which the rules and corresponding comics are shown. Our school-wide rules are: Follow directions the first time. Raise your hand before speaking. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself. Stay in your seat while the teacher is teaching. Be the best you can be at all times. These are on laminated posters in every classroom in our school. Pretty much everything else falls under procedures.
My rules are: Be kind Be safe Be responsible At the beginning of the year we heavily talk about what these rules look like so the students have a clear understanding.
1. Be kind 2. Follow directions the first time 3. Try your best I wrote them on chart paper and hung them on a cupboard door.
I forgot to say how I display them: My TA made a large crayon box since my classroom theme is crayon crayola. I have it displayed on a wall.
We are a PBIS school, and our "expectations" are: 1. Be Safe 2. Be Respectful 3. Be Responsible I have a chart paper that I write them on, and students sign the bottom, agreeing to follow the expectations. We also have our classroom and school-wide matrices displayed in the front of the room. They explain the expected behaviors in different settings. For example, how to show safe, respectful, and responsible behavior in the bathroom.
Thank you all for sharing your rules. Our classroom rules are the following: 1) Work Hard/Try 2) Be kind 3) Listen First (two ears one mouth) I display these in the front of the classroom and individually on each desk. It is a pain to do this for each desk, but definitely worth it. The kids can never complain they can't see them on the wall, and it is a quick and efficient way to ask/show them the rules.
We are also a PBIS school, so we have our "Tiger Four Expectations:" Be Polite Be Responsible Be Respectful Be Resourceful
All of these rules are good ideas. I think the two keys are basically: 1. State what the kids SHOULD do as opposed to what they should NOT do. 2. Keep it short and simple.
I'm not K, but I have my students come up with the wording of the rules after a week of school. Once they are written on poster board and decorated, we read them every day for the first month, then as needed after that.
