Chapter Three- Part Four- Clear Expectations About Behavior

I just finished watching a great video series on behavior this week. You can see it here: http://www.paec.org/teacher2teacher/max_instructional_time.html

It goes great with this book, because the presenters discuss positively stated rules and the difference between rules and expectations.
The authors of this book say that children will feel safe when they know how they are expected to behave, when they understand the reasoning behind classroom rules, and when rules are consistently enforced. You can develop these expectations from day one by:

• involving students in creating classroom rules;
• taking care of the classroom; and
• introducing the proper use and care of materials.

Now, you may have already bought the cute poster at the teacher store that has the perfect classroom rules that is ready to hang and matches your theme :) But... kids are more likely to follow rules that they generate. Establishing rules for your classroom community is a great social studies lesson and teaches children to make their own good decisions. Help students state rules positively and be specific! Don't make your list too long and be sure to revisit your list often. It is much better to be proactive rather than reactive in the behavior department!

Making students responsible for the care of the classroom is important to keep things organized and give students some ownership over the room. Many suggest having a classroom job for every student in your class and rotate the jobs periodically. Once again, just google "classroom jobs" and you can see so many great ideas for jobs you probably never even thought of.

Last, it is important to introduce materials as needed. Begin with only the materials you will need at the beginning of the year. Then, introduce procedures for new materials as you need them.

So, take a minute to think about your own classroom...

• Are materials stored close to where they are used?
• Are supplies and materials well-labeled and easily accessible?
• Are there spaces for active learning stocked with interesting materials?
• Do you provide furniture and spaces for independent and collaborative work?
• Do you have your daily schedule and classroom rules posted?
• Would a visitor see evidence of clear expectations for behavior in your classroom?

I am sure that some of you have some great things going on in your own classrooms! do you have a picture of your job chart or rule poster. Do you have a picture of a neat meeting area or science center? Share them with us! You can post a link to your picture in the comment section below this post or email your pictures to me at wj1128@yahoo.com !! I will edit this post to add pictures as I receive them!