The 5 Rules

In every classroom, there should be rules but if they are just posted in your room and if you do not use them, then you might as well be running a zoo! Every year, I do a social contract with my class. We talk about how we should behave, treat others and what not to do. I do this the first week of school and I list all of my students' ideas on the board and we go over what is most important for our classroom. Now as you know I teach first grade so you can imagine the answers I get on how they should behave. ;-) I tell the kids I will make our rules chart after writing down all of their answers and will show them the next day. You'll see what I've created for the next school year. These are WBT rules and have been adjusted some. We go over these every morning, after lunch and after recess. They use gestures while saying them because it activates their motor cortex, the brain's most powerful area for creating and retaining memories, (WBT for Challenging Kids). My students love doing the rules because it was fun! After rehearsing the rules every day, my students knew the rules by heart. All I had to say was the rule number and they were belting out the rule and using the gestures. It really helped with classroom management. Feel free to use the rules I've created and teach on!