A Discussion of Rules

Last night it happened again, another school nightmare. The kids were running around screaming, not listening, not thinking they had to follow directions. And there I stood, in the middle of it all, yelling louder and louder, hoping to capture their minds and hearts on that all important first day of school. Except I didn’t. And I wouldn’t that way either. It appears that in my nightmares I betray my own teaching philosophy; not to yell, not to punish, not to stand up there and blabber on and on. In my nightmares I am everything I used to be.

In this nightmare I kept kicking myself that I hadn’t gone over the rules. If I had only gone over the rules then they students would behave. Except they wouldn’t because kids are not stupid. They know once they get to 5th grade what the rules of school are. They know not to yell, run around, dismiss the teacher. They know what is expected of them because those same rules apply in society as well. Those same rules apply in all of their classrooms and are so fabulously taught by our kindergarten teachers, (I don’t know how they do it). And yet we cling to our rules. We cling to our decision about classroom management making sure that it is one of the first things we discuss with the kids. Not what to expect out of the year. Or what they should be excited about. Not the amazing discoveries and failures that are bound to take place. No, the rules, my rules, my classroom.

So this year, the rules will be discussed but it will be by the kids. I am not sure when it will happen, probably within the first couple of days as we share our expectations. The kids will tell me how they want to learn, what type of learning environment they thrive in. If it is one that is a little bit noisy then I am ok with that. If it is one that requires lots of movement, I am ok with that. If it is one that requires breaks and variety, I am also ok with that. They will mold our classroom because mostly it is theirs, not mine to decide over. And I am ok with that. What are you ok with?

3 thoughts on “A Discussion of Rules”

Hey Mrs. Ripp, I would advise that you eliminate the word, "rules" entirely. Get rid of consequences, too. Discuss the reason they are there, in the first place, to acquire a thirst for learning, to explore amazing new things together. Emphasize mutual respect.If the activities are as engaging as I'm guessing they will be, based on your opening letter and reading your blog, students will be too engaged to be disruptive.

I'm always transparent about the fact that we have no "consequences" or punishments. Then kids come up with norms for specific category. We view them less as rules and more as guiding principles. Then again, it's eighth grade, so it's a little different.

Hi John and Mark, thank you so much for both of your comments. Your thoughts made me think as always but mostly about the wording of my own post, which is good. I actually very rarely use the word rules with my students except for the beginning of the year because that is the language they are used to. So we start with a known entity and then move toward the classroom environment we would like. I don't have punishment or rewards in my classroom as evidenced by the posts I write about it. I always tell the kids that and they respond very positively to it, although some are very surprised.