Classroom Rules (2009-2010)
I use six big ideas: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship, the Six Pillars of Character, as the basis for our rules. With each new class, I show students I respect them and have them help formulate guidelines for our rules on these basic shared values.
Parents, I encourage you to discuss these character values with your children and how they apply to school, home, and life in general. Your support in this regard is invaluable to us having a successful year.
Be Trustworthy:
- Always keep a confidence
- Don’t lie
- Keep your promises
- Tell the truth
- Be honest
Be Respectful:
- Listen to the person who has the floor
- Respect everybody and everything around you
- Don’t yell at people
- Don’t spread rumors
- Do not talk out of turn
Be Responsible:
- Do not litter
- Do not lose what your teacher gave you
- You should always finish your responsibilities first
- Clean up after yourself
- Show that you’re reliable to do the job
Be Fair:
- Don’t judge people by how they look or act
- Play fairly
- Don’t single people out
- Never team up in any sport
- Everyone has equal rights
- Don’t exclude someone from an activity
- Treat people equally
- Treat people the way you want to be treated
Be Caring:
- When you feed the homeless
- Look out for others
- When someone’s crying, try to cheer them up
- Recycle
- Give your friend a helping hand
- When your friends are alone, talk to them
Be a Good Citizen:
- Pick up trash
- Participate in school gardening projects
- You shouldn’t hurt other people's feelings because you have the same citizenship as them
- Make good choices
- Always follow the rules
- Planting trees
- You have a right to speak for yourself
- Help your neighborhood or community
- Join activities from churches and other places to help the community
- Don’t vandalize things
Discipline Plan
- Step 1 - I put a check next to your name on my discipline clipboard. This is a warning/reminder about your behavior.
- Step 2 - I put another check by your name. You will be last to leave for the next recess. You will walk five laps around the yard before your recess begins. I may choose to have a brief discussion with you about your behavior.
- Step 3 - I put a third check mark by your name. You will be last to leave for the next recess. You will walk ten laps around the yard before your recess begins. I will have a discussion with you about your choice of behavior. I will send a Behavior Note home to your parents.
- As the teacher, I decide when a rule has been broken. It is my judgment whether a student has been disrespectful or irresponsible, for example. I appreciate it when parents support me in disciplining their children.
- I reserve the right to take away privileges if students break rules on a regular basis. For example, if a student makes it to step 2 three times in a week, or gets more than one Behavior Note sent home in a week, I may take away other privileges. Those privileges may include: borrowing books from the school and/or classroom libraries, time in the computer lab, and participation on field trips.
- If a student continues to break rules, especially if they are disrespectful or disruptive to others, I reserve the right to give them a time-out in the classroom, send them to another teacher's classroom, or send them to the office.
- Students are welcome to write me a note or discuss a discipline situation with me during recess, but I will not allow discussions regarding discipline to interrupt instructional time. I am human and I do sometimes make mistakes when disciplining students. When approached in a respectful manner by students and/or parents, I am happy to discuss the situation and make it right.
- Parents are expected to read the Behavior Note, sign it, and have their child return it to me. Parents, if you have questions or concerns regarding the Behavior Note, you should e-mail me at your convenience or call me at the school between 2 and 3 pm.
- As the teacher, I reserve the right to modify or add rules. It is my job to teach and the student's job to learn. If I need to modify existing rules or add new ones so that I can teach and/or students can learn, I will. Students may also suggests changes to our classroom rules, which we can discuss in a class meeting.
Hallway Rules
- Always walk quietly.
- Without your class = partner + pass.
- Look at, do not touch, students’ work.
- No detours.
Yard Rules
- Watch out for others.
- Keep your body parts and hurtful words to yourself.
- Stay in the yard at all times (except to use the bathroom).
- Stay away from the bungalow, yard gates, ramps, elevator, and stairs.
- Do not kick or sock balls.
- No dodgeball games.
- Run only in the track area, or the basketball court if you’re playing basketball.
- Freeze when the bell rings. Walk to your line when the yard teachers ring the handbells.
Bathroom Rules
- Always carry a hall pass with you.
- Go to the bathroom with a partner and stay together at all times.
- No playing.
- Flush the toilet after use.
- Wash your hands with soap and water.
- Use paper towels for drying hands only.
- Walk at all times.
Cafeteria Rules
- Stay seated until dismissed.
- Clean up after yourself.
- Keep food in the cafeteria.
- Talk quietly.
- Walk. Don’t run.
- Don’t waste food.
- Recycle and compost.
Play Structure Rules
Assigned classes only. Open between 9:20 a.m. and 1:50 p.m.
- Be aware of others.
- No running.
- No balls.
Monkey Bars: Swinging only, going in one direction.
Slides:
Take turns.
- Sliding down only, feet first.
- Slide on your bottom only.
- Keep bottom of slide clear.
Classroom Rules (2008-2009)
Here are the rules we formulated at the beginning of the year using the Six Pillars of Character. You may also look at the Character page for some quotes I have already posted on these ideas. You may also want to look at Positive Adjectives (below).
Trustworthiness
- Be honest
- Keep confidences
Respect
- Treat people the way you want to be treated
- Respect yourself, other people, and things
- Use good manners; be polite
- Listen when someone else is talking
Responsibility
- Be responsible for yourself
Fairness
- Be fair to yourself and others
- Play fair and work fair
- Take turns
Caring
- Be helpful
- Care for everything
- Be thoughtful
- Forgive others
- Be kind
Citizenship
- Cooperate
- Follow all the rules
- Be a good neighbor
- Be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, and caring
Positive Adjectives (2008-2009)
Before I told students what the six pillars were, I asked them to write about three positive adjectives that they use to describe themselves or that others have used of them; about the same number of positive adjectives to describe classmates; and their teachers. We then had three lists of positive adjectives. Then we looked for words that were repeated on more than one list. My goal was for students to see that despite our many differences, we have many traits that we value in ourselves and others that we share in common.
The words that showed up on all three lists were: nice, kind, smart, helpful, funny, responsible, and friendly. The words that showed up on two lists were: happy, caring, playful, unique, and fun. Those are good words that show what we collectively value.
Honest showed up on one list and fits nicely with the pillar of Trustworthiness. Respectful, patient, and polite fit with Respect, just as responsible obviously goes with Responsibility. And several words that students shared, nice, kind, helpful, friendly, caring, thoughtful, and kind-hearted fall under the pillar of Caring.
