Creating
Our Classroom Rules

During the first days of school, teacher Mary Gambrel involves her students in creating their classroom rules. The rule-making process begins when Gambrel poses four questions to her students:

• How do you want me to treat you?
• How do you want to treat one another?
• How do you think I want to be treated?
• How should we treat one another when there's a conflict?

Students' share their thoughts about those questions in small groups, and then with the entire class. Responses are posted on a large sheet of chart paper. As an idea is repeated, a checkmark or star is placed beside it.

"With each suggestion, I usually ask student to tell me what the rule 'looks like,'" Gambrel says. "If they say 'be nice,' they have to tell what that really means. It's a great way to see what they're thinking."

The rule-making activity takes place over parts of several days. Each day, the rules are refined. Gambrel then types up the rules so students can discuss them and decide if there are items that need to be added or deleted, combined, or rephrased. Students also take home their lists, review them, and think about more ways in which the rules might be fine-tuned. The final rules then are written on a piece of posterboard.

After they're finished, all students sign the Rules poster, as a commitment to follow the class rules. Then Gambrel takes it to the local copy center, has it reduced to notebook size, and makes enough copies for everyone. Students keep their copies in their notebooks. The original poster is displayed in the classroom.

Source: Mary Gambrel

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