Scenario: Aligning Classroom Rules with School-wide Values

1

Year 1 teacher Tamara is preparing for the school year by writing classroom rules that align with the four school values: Be safe; Be respectful; Be responsible; Be respectful.

2

Tamara starts with the ‘Be safe’ value and writes positive, simply-stated rules that reflect her expectations of students in the classroom. Tamara writes the following rules for her students: 

• Use walking feet. 
• Keep hands and feet to yourself.  
• Sit tall and square in your desk seat.  
• Sit crisscross applesauce on the floor.

3

Since her students are young and still learning to read, Tamara includes a colourful visual next to each rule. She hangs the Classroom Rules poster at the students’ eye-level at the front of the classroom for easy reading and reference.

4

From the start to the end of the school year, Tamara explicitly teaches these rules and ties them to the ‘Be safe’ value when positively reinforcing, pre-correcting, or reteaching. If another ‘safe’ value rule needs to be added or revised, Tamara ensures that the Classroom Rules poster is properly updated and referenced.