A healthy rules and consequences system is essential in creating a culture of respect and academic achievement in the classroom. Before embarking on tackling your big learning goals for the year, your students need a chance to internalize rules and consequences, have a chance to see them illustrated or demonstrated, and understand why they’re necessary. Clearly articulated and practiced expectations will help you address behavior issues quickly and consistently so you can spend more time working with students to achieve academic goals. But where do you start? Read our guide to creating a rules and consequences system that sticks.
Outline Key Points
When introducing class rules and consequences to your students, first outline the key points that every student should know and understand by the end of the lesson, such as:
1. Classroom rules are important because they establish an environment of respect and academic achievement in our classroom.
2. When we follow rules, we are making good choices about our academic success and our lives. When we do not follow rules, we are making bad choices, and there will be consequences to help you continue on your progress toward your academic goals.
3. Your class rules are (sample rules detailed below): be prepared, show respect, be prompt, participate, and be responsible.
4. Your class consequences are (sample rules detailed below): a written warning, a teacher-conference warning, a seat move, a behavior/goal reflection with a call home to parent.
Sample rules and what they mean:
Communicate the What
Start your lesson by telling students exactly what you plan to do during the practice: that you will spend the next 20 minutes talking about and justifying classroom expectations and consequences, so they understand why you are enforcing them and don’t think that you are just being mean or unfair.
Communicate the Why
Explain that establishing a culture of respect and academic achievement in the classroom is the only way to reach their goals.
Communicate the How
Spend a few minutes doing a “looks like, sounds like” for your first rule, and then go through and explain each one of the rules and consequences. To ensure the information is accessible to all students, present the rules and consequences verbally as well as visually on poster displays. Consequences also may be acted out to engage all learners. Make time for questions to ensure everyone understands what is expected of them, and randomly call on students throughout to gauge their understanding (for example, “what might ‘be prepared’ mean?” or “what do you need each morning in order to be prepared?”). Finally, at the end of lesson, consider assigning a written project to assess students’ overall understanding.
How else do you establish and communicate a rules and consequences system in your classroom? Tell us in the comments.
