Quietly I said, “Carpet choices please.”, and the student complied with a smile. Avoiding the opposite of this type of cheery compliance is why classroom rules are important.
“Seriously?”, you may be thinking, “What’s the big deal?”.
The lovely boy to whom I spoke chose this moment, for the first time in months, to lie down during carpet time. This kiddo came to me as a student with behavioural challenges. I knew that my VP, who was sitting on a chair right beside this student was watching this interaction intently.
No sweat! Our classroom rules, and all the systems that support them, had been in place for so long, the moment passed.
The ease for all of us in that moment is why classroom rules are important.
1) Classroom rules establish expectations
This may be a matter of semantics to some of you, but I like the word “expectations” far more than the word “rules”.
Expectations seem to me to be more like what we can look forward to from each other each day.
Rules seem like a command from on high enforced with a ruler. However, for the sake of common language I will refer to classroom rules.
Regardless of which one you prefer, classroom expectations and rules, create the behavioural boundaries for the classroom.
As a teacher you are creating an environment that the student has not experienced before. Parents and other teachers all have different sets of boundaries.
As teachers, we bring together children from different families with different values and priorities. We need to provide them with common expectations.
For example I had a student show me a video of her parents and laughing at her for being hungry.
She was a dear girl, and she thought it was very funny. I wanted her to know that this was not going to be acceptable behaviour in our class.
Often we are also bringing students together that have been taught by teachers with their own priorities and classroom rules that may be different from our own.
Your expectations obviously make sense . . . to you. 😘
Getting everyone on the same page is important. Noone can reach a goal that has not been identified.
And you can’t be consistent in your classroom management if you have not got solid boundaries established.
2) Why are rules important for students?
Student safety and well-being are built on the foundation of classroom rules
Students will not risk making mistakes if they do not feel safe. So much of the learning that sticks in our lives is derived from our mistakes.
As soon as appropriate classroom rules are established students can be more confident that their physical and emotional safety is protected. By creating this safe place you have created an environment for students to take chances, make mistakes, and learn from their mistakes.
Emergencies are a great example of when you want students to follow classroom expectations and rules immediately.
Hopefully you have practiced emergency routines, and still it is in those critical times that you do not want students questioning whether or not to comply with your instructions.
3) Classroom rules help us to build respect for each other and a sense of responsibility
Through classroom rules, students learn to respect and care for themselves, each other and the learning environment. This is especially true when they participate in creating the expectations.
Life skills like accountability and responsibility are essential for success not only in school, but later in life.
Without classroom rules and expectations, there is nothing to hold students accountable to. They don’t know what to take responsibility for.
Creating functioning, contributing, respectful, community minded citizens is a powerful reason why classroom rules are important.
4) Classroom rules provide the right environment for focused productivity
When are you most focused and productive? Is it when you are secure in your environment, or when you feel on guard?
If you have to look up every few moments to make certain you are safe then it is hard to string two thoughts together.
When students are focused and productive they are less likely to be disruptive to other students.
This is a positive “vicious circle”. Well established classroom rules minimize disruptions, nurtures engagement and feeds productivity which makes the best use of classroom time.
Engagement supports an ownership of classroom expectations as students know what they need to do to continue on with the task on hand. They stay on task because they know what they are expected to do.
Win-win-win.
5) School rules are important because . . .
. . .they are foundational for a positive classroom culture.
If you have learned to back up your classroom rules with appropriate classroom behaviour consequences you are communicating a “ you can do it” message to your students.
Assuming you are not asking students to do things that are beyond their ability, reinforcing expectations is a powerful strategy for communicating to students that you believe they are capable.
This can be very simple.
I remember one time, very early in the year, that I had one bright, mischievous, kind, funny student decide to challenge me. He was chatting with a friend, and he liked it.
So, I gave him a choice. Do the engaging activity that I have provided you in a focused, productive and not disruptive way, or learn the same content from this boring, black and white worksheet.
He got it. His friend got it. The other students got it.
Simple, effective, positive.
Why are classroom rules important in the classroom?
Classroom rules are the threads that weave together the fabric of classroom management, student engagement and learning.
This fabric is durably created from safety, respect, responsibility, focus and productivity. With this fabric tightly woven together you will be able to build classroom community which will only build strength and resilience into your classroom rules and your classroom management.
The following evidence based practices are the pillars of my classroom management:
- Classroom expectations
- Community building
- Differentiation
- Social-emotional learning
- Classroom organization
For more on any of these, please download my free classroom management checklist, but I digress. 😉
The activities necessary for community-building and differentiation in instruction require solid classroom rules.
And, hopefully, you can see that teaching students the value of committing to a community’s classroom rules is a part of their social-emotional learning.
Finally, if taking responsibility for the classroom is a part of your expectations through chores and cleaning up after activities, then classroom organization also hinges on setting and reinforcing classroom expectations and rules.
The impact on everything essential to classroom management is why classroom rules are important.
Eleven Important Examples of Classroom Expectations and Rules
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How to build transformed classroom communities in 3 easy steps
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