Guideline 2: Establish Rules and Procedures

This is the third in a series of posts titled,”What Can I Do About Bullies?”

Guideline 2: Establish Rules and Procedures

I am currently experiencing the new school orientation process as a teacher, so I will use it as my example since it’s so fresh on my mind. Think back to the first time you were introduced to your place of employment’s policies and procedures. If your school was anything like mine is, you were no doubt bombarded with page after page of appropriate conduct, dress, discipline procedures, county or district policies, standards you were required to teach, etc.  

Schools have a specific way of doing things, and when you join the team, you are expected to follow the procedures set in place. Sometimes, the expectations may seem extreme or over the top, but they were set in place in order to insure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. When grades are due, you know exactly what to do. If a student injures him/herself in your class, you know there is a prodecure to follow. When confronted by the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, you know what your school expects of you, and you hopefully act accordingly.

Schools (or other businesses, for that matter) don’t run smoothly and aren’t successful because naturally well-behaved people work there. Businesses run smoothly because everyone knows what is expected of them, and they are given the means to perform appropriately. I will argue this is how well-managed classrooms run as well.

You’ll remember Guideline 1 for dealing with bullies required teachers to behave in the same way they expected their students to behave. My second guideline is to establish a safe and respectful learning environment from the very first day of school. How do we do that? Through the policies and procedures we set on the very first day of school.

I’ve always been told the first week of school is the most critical week of the entire year. This one week will determine how your students behave in your classroom and whether they accept you as the leader or lead the class themselves. When a teacher leads the class, the class is disciplined, well-mannered, and democratic. When students lead the class, the class is disrespectful, chaotic, and it takes on an “every man for himself” attitude.

I only have 6 class rules, but I have a packet of procedures I expect my students to follow. Most procedures are common sense, but it is still very important that I publish them and present them to every student. I intend to be very vocal in my expectation that all students treat each other with respect while they are in my classroom. Respectful behavior is the underlying desired result of all the policies and procedures I set in place. Without a doubt, students will know how I expect them to act, so they will not have the excuse that they ”didn’t know.” Rules are posted in the classroom, so students are always reminded of them. Rules are also continuously enforced, which I will discuss tomorrow.

Below are a few of the topics my procedures cover. Each was created in order to establish a positive and safe learning envoirnment.

1. What to do before class starts.

2. What you should do if your pencil breaks in the middle of class.

3. What you should do if your were absent.

4. How to celebrate student success and forgive student failures.

5. How to contribute to class discussion or group work.

So to wrap this up: Young or old, we all need to know what is expected of us in order for us to be successful and feel safe. No matter what students might tell you, they need and even crave the structure that rules and procedures provide. When the teacher is in charge of the classroom, s/he determines the appropriate way children are to behave, and s/he will use rules and procedures to obtain the desired behavior from students.