Creating and Enforcing Classroom Rules

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Creating and Enforcing Classroom Rules

• A Discipline Plan

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Basic Structure for a Discipline Plan

• Rules State what the expected behaviors are.
• Consequences
• Penalties - State what the student chooses to
  accept if a rule is broken.
• Rewards - State what the student receives for
  appropriate behavior.

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1. Rules

• Rules state what you expect of student behavior.
• They should be communicated verbally and in
  writing to the students and their parents.
• To give students ownership of the rules, it is a
  good idea to ask them to participate in
  identifying the behaviors you should be able to
  expect. (You have the right to add rules if they
  left something out!)
• You should limit your list to three to five rules.

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Kinds of Rules

• General
• Cover many behaviors, offers flexibility
• Specifics must be explained
• Examples
• Respect yourself and others.
• Take care of your school.
• Be prepared to enter class.
• (You have to explain what respecting, taking
  care, and being polite means.)
• Specific
• Clearly cover one behavior
• Can go beyond that 3-5 limit
• Examples
• Be in class on time.
• Keep your hands to yourself.
• Have all materials ready to use when the bell
  rings.

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Bad Rules

• Address academic performance
• Using a pencil, doing homework, turning in work
  are all procedures and/or academic.
• A discipline plan addresses behavior only
• Are written in a negative voice
• Examples No cursing. No talking while the
  teacher is talking.
• State only the expected behaviors in a positive
  voice if at all possible. (Be polite.)

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2. Consequences

• Can be positive (rewards) or negative
  (penalties). Mostly we associate the term
  consequences with something negative.
• Should be emphasized as choices. (A choice to
  break a rule results in a consequence a
  penalty.)

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Penalties

• May be given out after student receives
  warning(s) and a reminder of the rules.
  (Checkmarks by name on board, strikes, etc.)
• Should be reasonable and logical.
• A reasonable consequence follows logically from
  the behavior.
• Logical consequences teach the students to choose
  between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.
• (More on thisnext slide.)
• Should be given out immediately, privately and
  quietly, while not stopping instruction.

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Examples of Logical and Illogical Consequences
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3. Rewards

• Are posted like your rules and penalties.
• Have a time factor associated with when they are
  given (daily, weekly, etc.).
• Are reasonable and logical.
• Are earned, not given (and students know this).
• According to Dr. Wong The time has come in
  education when the wholesale bribery system of
  giving out endless supplies of stickers, candies,
  and other tangibles has got to come to a halt.
  Lets stop the whats in it for me? welfare and
  bribery systemSelf-disciplineis what its all
  about. You cant teach self-discipline if the
  students are always looking for more goodies.
• Dr. Loomis doesnt think students should be given
  tangible rewards for behaving like human beings.
  (You dont get a piece of candy because you
  didnt talk back to the teacher today.)

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Example Logical Rewards

• Thirty minutes of free time on Friday to work on
  homework from any class. (No pizza or ice cream
  parties.)
• A note from the teacher on special paper to the
  student.
• A note or a phone call home.
• A smile and a thank you.

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In summary

• Write only 3 to 5 classroom rules.
• Make them positively stated, if at all possible.
• Make your consequences (penalties) reasonable and
  logical.
• Make your rewards intangible.
• MANY teachers of young students reward students
  with tangibles and parties after they (the
  students) either accumulate points or tokens or
  if they have not lost all the points or tokens
  they started out with. Thats finefor now. Id
  encourage you to move away from this token
  economy system as you become more skilled and
  comfortable with classroom management.