Do you start every school year teaching your classroom rules? Do you already have them printed, posted and ready for the students to see? Instead of having your rules already to go, why not let your students create the rules!
You might be thinking, WOAH! ARE YOU CRAZY?! But trust me, if you keep the focus on "What rules should we have in order to learn?" then your students will share some great ideas! This wasn't a first day of school activity either! I didn't do this until days 3 and 4 of school! You could even do this the second week of school if you want! So now you're thinking, how does this work? Let's check it out!
I worked on our classroom rules through a slow and gradual process that follows the Responsive Classroom guide for developing classroom rules. So I didn't think of this great idea or create it, but I had to share it because not every school is becoming, or is, a responsive classroom school. The process I used was a 5 day process with each day building on itself the next day.
Day 1:
Ask your students, "Why do we come to school?" This may seem silly, but truthfully, get an idea for how your students are thinking. Write their answers on chart paper or type them into a document that they can see. Then ask them "What do you think our schoolwork will be like this year?". I didn't write these responses down, instead we discussed them and delved more into what we do in first grade.
Day 2:
Reread your chart paper or typed document from the day before. Then ask your students "Of all these things, what do you most hope you will get to do this year?". Let your students think it over and tell them to keep it related to school. Most of my students shared a "hope" of something they wanted to learn. Write each student's hope on chart paper or type it up and write their name after it. This shows ownership of each hope for the students. Every student must have a hope by the end.
Day 3:
Reread the list of hopes. Then say "It's important that we all get to do the things we really want to do this year. If we want to get all our school work done and get to our own hopes and dreams, what rules do we need? What will make our classroom a safe and friendly place where everyone can learn?" Have your students truly think about this. Urge them to think about what environment they need in order to learn and be successful. Then record everyone's idea on the chart paper or type it up. These are the rules that they feel important so include them all!
Day 4:
Create a new chart paper or document and create 3 sections; place, self, each other. Turn any negative rule into a positive rule. For example "Do not hit." becomes "Keep our hands and feet to ourselves.". Once all rules have become positive, then read a rule and ask the students which category that rule belongs to. Rewrite that rule into the category that it fits best. Once you have all of the rules sorted, condense the rules so that you only have one or two rules for each category.
Day 5:
As a class publish your rules! If possible, let your students do the writing and artwork! Make sure your rules have correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. I did this as their writing activity for the day. Since I teach first grade I have the rules typed on the board and each student got to write one word for the rules. As a team we ensured that the words were spelled correctly, we included spaces, and remembered our periods at the end. When the rules were written I allowed each student to draw one small picture that fit a rule. Each rule was written and illustrated by all 19 of my first graders! After the rules were published I asked each student to rethink their hopes and dreams. Some students changed their hope or dream and some kept them the same. Once each student had their hope or dream they wrote it down on a white Pac Man (classroom theme is Pac Man), decorated their Pac Man, and displayed it in the hallway.
Now your students have created their own classroom rules in which they have to follow and abide by! They have complete ownership over the rules and can't say they are "stupid" or "dumb" because they all agreed on them when creating them! This sense of ownership allows the students to feel pride in knowing that they had a part in creating a safe and friendly learning environment. I was shocked how well my first graders did with this and will always have my students create the rules from now on!
Interested in more information? Have questions about this? Click the "Get in Touch" button and send me an email! I'd love to help you give your students ownership over the classroom rules!
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