I want you to think about and write answers for the following questions following this video.
Look up your state’s social studies standards and determine what standards cover rules, governance and civics. What are students expected to know about rules and the democratic process? And how will your classroom reflect, embody and reflect this?
One great way is to use a Rights and Responsibilities theme. All members of the class have rights [some guaranteed by law].
Focus on rules, rights, and responsibilities from Day 1 and provide opportunities for students to practice throughout the first couple of weeks.
Investing in this during the first few weeks of school will set the foundation for a successful year.
Look up strategies for how to incorporate a Rights and Responsibilities theme or a Civics theme that aligns with your state’s standards. (how would you make this your own?)
Co-creating Rules–co-creating rules ties in with the democratic process of our society and best practices in education. Find read-alouds that serve as mentor texts. Have discussions why that rule is important, using a what if scenario.
Explore mentor texts that you could use to teach.
Possible mentor texts: The Golden Rule, What if Everybody did that? The Worst Day of my Life Ever! / Do Unto Otters: A Book about manners, and Have you filled a Bucket Today? Create your own list of books.
Be consistent in enforcing your class rules. don’t be wishy washy. The problem a lot of times when kids break rules, it’s not that they don’t know them, it’s that they don’t know when it applies.
Again, Enforce Rules Consistently–Model, Model, Model.
What rules would you like to establish in your classroom? Why?
How will you teach & model the rules?
How will you make sure that you are enforcing the rule?
How will you engage students in co-creating rules with you?
As teachers, we want to establish procedures that will promote learning and independence. Watch and reflect on the following videos. I will provide the links to you.
Harry Wong: Discipline and Procedures / Making Connections with Greetings at the Door /Sign Language in the Classroom Part 1 / & Using Scissors Safely (Interactive Modeling)
What are some of the procedure’s teachers are using? What’s the difference between discipline and procedure / How do you think the procedures mentioned in the videos maximize student engagement and learning?
Research and compare ways to teach common procedures. Some possible places to begin your search are: edutopia.org and responsiveclassroom.org.
I am going to give you some search term suggestions: Classroom Procedures / Classroom Routines / and Teaching Transitions. Think about what procedures you’d like to try.
Here are some procedures you’ll want to teach the first few weeks of school.
Bathroom/water breaks / Getting materials / partner/group work /Seating assignments / Collecting work / Asking questions /Transitions / Storing student personal belongings and Start/end of class
For each of these procedures write down how you would like students to carry them out. How will you model each of these? What will student practice look like?