Like so many of you, the first days of school are spent establishing the classroom culture and rules.
I want my year with the students to run smoothly, and setting up a system of guidelines for the kids to follow ensures that.
And like some of you, I go into my year knowing the rules I want ahead of time. I know that there are people who like to brainstorm with the class to see what rules they think should be instituted. Now, while I think that is a fabulous thing to do, it does not fit my control freak teaching style, so I don’t actually do that.
What I do do is go through the brainstorming process with my students on the first day of school and guide them to my predetermined rules.
I do have some brainstorming and discussing involved with the use of my rules though.
Come over to my blog, Teaching in Room 6, to read all about how I incorporate discussion, Thinking Maps, Think-Pair-Share and many other strategies into the creation of the rules and class culture.
This year, I also did another activity that I haven’t done in quite some time, but feel is valuable. I had the students create a “My Classroom Rules” Book.
You can read all about what I did with this and why I feel it is beneficial… then pick up a copy to use in your room!
– Originally posted on Teaching Blog Addict
