Classroom Rules, Procedures, and Discipline

Rules
#1. Respect each other. Try and find a little bit of yourself in every one of your
classmates.
#2. Learn from each other. I once had a teacher tell me, Look around the room, these
will be your classmates for the next four years and your friends for even longer. They will
teach you far more over the course of your life than I will during this next school year. If
you understand the material being taught, take it upon yourself to help your classmates.
#3. Be open-minded. Every book you read should help you understand at least one person
in your life better.
#4. Some of the subjects we cover in English class are complex and personal. Please
approach every class discussion with maturity.
Consequences
For minor offenses the first consequence will always be a warning and a reminder about
the class rules. For repeated minor offenses, a detention and a sit-down with the teacher will be
necessary. The best way to approach the sit-down is to have an honest conversation about
expectations and motivations. Its crucial not to treat the kid like a villain, and to sincerely try to
understand what parts of school they dont like and what causes them to act out. Obviously, you
cant cater their every whim, but understanding their grievances does go a long way. For more
major, disruptive offenses, detention and a call home would be in order. If the students
parents/guardians are not supportive or helpful, it would be necessary to coordinate with a
guidance counselor and implement some sort of behavior watch program. For serious, violent, or
dangerous offenses, an immediate call to school security would be the only course of action.

Beginning of Period Procedures

At the beginning of the school year I will call names out loud to check for attendance. I
will do this mostly so I can start learning the names of my students. However, as the year
progresses, I will simply take attendance while students are doing their bell work, which will
usually be some form of free writing.
Absence procedures will vary depending on the length of the absence. For students who
were only absent for a class or two, makeup packets and group communication (which will be
assisted by clump seating arrangements) should suffice. For students who are absent for a greater
period of time, it is necessary to communicate with parents and send larger, more detailed
packets via email or to make material available for pick up.
I dont believe in sweep for tardy students, so I will not send a kid back out of the
classroom if they arrive late. At the beginning of the year I will make it clear to students that if
they are tardy, they should just enter the classroom without creating a distraction, and get to
work. If it gets to be a recurring problem, I will sit down with students and try to figure out why
they dont believe they need to be to class on time. If the problem persists, a phone call home
will follow. If the phone call doesnt produce results I will begin speaking to counselors. Another
technique I plan on using to prevent tardiness was outlined by Calderalla, Christensen, Young,
and Densley, in their 2011 study Decreasing Tardiness in Elementary School Students Using
Teacher Written Praise Notes. In this study, the researchers found that providing frequently
tardy students with praise notes when they were on time significantly decrease[d] tardiness for
the participating students (110). Older students may find written praise notes to be a little
patronizing, but simple compliments when a chronically tardy student is on time can go a long
way.

Expected Student Behavior

I think the number one thing teachers should stress and model is empathy. Ive seen
classrooms where teachers truly care about their students, and its infectious. One thing I pride
myself on is being able to find a bit of myself in every student I work with. If I can get my
students to buy into this mindset, Ill be able to help them achieve great things. Another thing
Ive found helpful is to teach more advanced students to become peer teachers. It must be made
clear to these student-teachers they are not to be condescending or patronizing. It can be tough,
but, when it works, it makes a huge difference in the classroom and creates a wonderful
environment.
Out of Room Policies
A sign out sheet and hall pass are both necessities. And, except for certain emergencies, I
will only allow one student outside of the class at a time. I understand the idea behind giving
students a limited number of bathroom passes, but I dont like that procedure because it
cultivates the idea school is somewhere youre trapped. At first, I will try and give students the
opportunity to use the bathroom when they need to, if they begin to abuse my leniency then I
will switch to a stricter system.

Materials and Equipment

Dont use the pencil sharpener when the teacher or someone else is talking. If a student
has a dull pencil, and needs to take notes during a class discussion, I will instruct them to wait

for a break, raise their hand, and ask to use the sharpener, at which point we can pause the
discussion.
For other class equipment--BE 100% MORE CAREFUL WITH MATERIALS THAT
ARE NOT YOURS. Computers, smartboards, projectors, tablets, all of these items must be
treated respectfully and with great care. If it is a loud or distracting piece of equipment, pencil
sharpener rules apply. Only touch the teachers desk if explicitly instructed to do so. This is a
common rule, but teachers often fail to model this. For example, if a students backpack or folder
is in the way, ask the student to move it instead of picking it up yourself. Or, at the very least, ask
for permission to move it.
End of the Period Procedures
It is a teachers responsibility to manage class time in a way that allows students
sufficient time to clean up before the bell rings. If students are continually rushing to clean
up/not finished cleaning up when the bell rings, it is your job as a teacher to change instructional
time frames. I always hated the the bell doesnt excuse you, I do saying. Its another example
of something which reinforces the idea school is a place where students are trapped. To combat
this mindset, I will go over an outline of the schedule with the class at the beginning of the
period. Ill provide students with a suggested timetable, and make sure to note when weve
reached
Attention and Participation
The majority of student attentiveness problems are a result of teachers failing to create
engaging lessons. If there are students who truly can not pay attention in spite of enjoying the
lesson, then it would be time to phone home and try and devise some strategies to keep them on
task. Unexpected questions are another great way to incentivize students to pay attention. Dont

be afraid to call on students who dont normally raise their hand. Obviously, dont pick on shy
students who get anxious talking, but dont let students coast through lessons just because they
know they wont get called on.
Most of the participation points in my class will revolve around group discussions and
bell-work freewriting. One thing an old English teacher of mine did, is, rather than have standard
vocab tests, she split the class in thirds and gave each section a vocab list of 10 words.
Throughout the week, students had to use all 10 words during freewriting, or in class discussions.
This forced students to do the things which got them participation points if they wanted to pass
their vocab test."
Student Communication and Movement
Talking over the teacher, or other students is not allowed, but I will never lose sight of the
fact students tend to enjoy the socialization aspect of school more than the academic aspect of
school. Effective teachers harness social tendencies instead of fight them. I will harness this
social energy by giving students plenty of opportunities to discuss and collaborate.
If a student is seeking help with a particular concept or activity, they should first ask the
classmates at their clump for help, if the group cant collectively answer the students question,
than the student should ask the teacher. Again, the teacher is responsible for promoting,
modeling, and incentivizing peer-to-peer education.
Students freedom to move about the classroom depends on the activity/lesson the class is
engaging in. It is a teachers job to clarify what the expected arrangement is at the beginning of
an activity. I dont want students wandering aimlessly around the class when theyre supposed to
be working with a group, but I think its ridiculous schools ask teenage students to sit in desks

for 40 hours a week. So much of school seems to be fighting students biological habits, its truly
laughable.

Group Work
The composition of the groups will depends on the project. For short-term, in class group
assignments, students will work in the table groups they are assigned to. For longer, more
involved projects which may require out of school meet-ups, students will be given greater
freedom of choice. It is up to the teacher to identify any potential problems between groups.
It is critical to come up with a community expectation of how students should behave
when working in groups with other students. It would be well worthwhile to spend 20 or so
minutes having a class discussion and compiling a list of agreed upon rules. This way, if
someone violates the rules, there is greater accountability.
For smaller, in-class group projects, students will not be allowed to turn in their work
before the end of the allotted time period unless everyone at their table is finished. This is an
important rule to enforce, because without it, the peer-to-peer education expectation will
crumble. If a student asks to turn something in, the teacher should respond by asking them if
everyone at their table is done. To assist with this, I will not give students an overwhelming
amount of assignments to complete in one period. Ive seen teachers who give students 5 or more
assignments during a 75 minute English period. Students get so stressed about getting them all
done, they start to get into an every person for themselves mindset, which negatively affects
the learning community.