Classroom Rules and Procedures
School Rules
In our classroom, we, first and foremost, follow our three school-wide rules: Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Respectful. These three "rules" guide us in all of our daily interactions and choices. We will work hard to clarify what these rules mean, and how we can follow them well in our classroom.
Classroom Rules
In our classroom, we use many "Whole Brain Teaching" strategies. Included in these strategies are six rules we use to help us follow our three school rules. We repeat these rules as a class many times a day, and we have motions to go along with each rule. I will do my best to describe the motions here, but feel free to ask your child as well. Within a week of practicing, they should have learned these very well! Here are our rules:
Rule #1: Listen when the teacher is talking. (We cup our hand behind our ear for the first motion, then making our hand "talk")
Rule #2: Follow directions quickly. (We take one hand and snake it out in front of us quickly)
Rule #3: Raise your hand to speak or leave your seat. (Raise one hand, then make the "talk" motion with our hand, then make our
fingers walk)
Rule #4: Respect yourself, respect others, respect your school (Touch hands to chest, take both hands out in front of self and make circle,
use both hands and press the air down toward the ground)
Rule #5: Make SMART choices. (tap one finger to brain)
Rule #6: Keep your dear teacher happy (smile big and frame out each side with thumb and forefinger)
Wondering why these are our rules? Here's the quick(ish) rundown!
Rule #1: In order to learn, we need to listen. In order to let others learn, we need to listen. In order to know what we need to do in our
classroom, we need to listen. Listening, and learning to listen, is at the core of much our kindergarten work. When we say the
"teacher", we mean whichever adult is teaching/in charge of our classroom at the time, not only Mrs. Adkins!
Rule #2: If we want to accomplish anything in our classroom, we need to be able to do it without having to repeat directions multiple times.
This is certainly a learned skill, and we will practice it throughout the year. I do not expect students to have this perfected, but I do
expect students to really try to follow this rule. This also means no arguing when a direction is given. If a student has a disagreement
or a concern with a direction, they are welcome to express that politely, but arguing and talking back (or simply ignoring) is not an
acceptable choice.
Rule #3: Raising hands to speak or leave seat simply helps us manage our classroom. There will be times of the day when we turn this rule
"off", meaning students are free to speak or leave their seat as they would like. However, during learning times, it is important that
students be actively engaged in learning, not up wandering the classroom. Additionally, when students ask before they leave their
seat, I know where they are! In order to keep students safe at school, part of my job is to know where they are at all times. If a
student goes to the bathroom without my knowledge, and our fire alarm goes off, it is much more difficult for me to be sure that child
has exited the building safely.
Rule #4: Respecting self, others, and school, means using kind words, and treating others the way we want to be treated. We act as friends to
other students, and we treat ourselves nicely. We don't say or do unkind things to others, and we don't say or do unkind things to
ourselves. It also means taking care of trash, treating school items nicely, putting things away in the right place, and so on. This also
applies to all adults in our buildings. I expect the adults in our classroom to treat students with respect, and I expect students in our
building to treat all adults (principal, lunch helpers, recess helpers, other teachers, substitutes, etc).
Rule #5: This rule is truly here to help students build responsibility for their own actions. I give them guidelines of what to do, and what I
expect at school, but they are the ones who choose to follow them or not. This rule gives them the power to say "This is a smart
choice" or "This is a foolish choice". For example, throwing rocks on the playground is a foolish choice, because it could hurt another
student, and the child throwing rocks will, most likely, get in trouble. A smart choice would be to pick the rocks up and look at them,
and then set them back down carefully. Another "smart choice" would be to put all belongings into lockers after recess. A foolish
choice would be to leave them on the floor, because then those items end up in lost and found, or simply disappear.
Rule #6: To be honest, this rule is here to cover all of those unexpected situations that happen in kindergarten. We can't predict everything,
and this rule really covers that. I explain this rule to the students in this way: "If the teacher is happy, the students are happy. If the
teacher is happy, it means we can have more FUN learning in our classroom. Do you know what makes me the happiest as a
teacher? I am the happiest when my students are learning! When we are able to do our learning jobs, and we follow our other five
classroom rules, I am a super happy teacher!".
Rule #1: Listen when the teacher is talking. (We cup our hand behind our ear for the first motion, then making our hand "talk")
Rule #2: Follow directions quickly. (We take one hand and snake it out in front of us quickly)
Rule #3: Raise your hand to speak or leave your seat. (Raise one hand, then make the "talk" motion with our hand, then make our
fingers walk)
Rule #4: Respect yourself, respect others, respect your school (Touch hands to chest, take both hands out in front of self and make circle,
use both hands and press the air down toward the ground)
Rule #5: Make SMART choices. (tap one finger to brain)
Rule #6: Keep your dear teacher happy (smile big and frame out each side with thumb and forefinger)
Wondering why these are our rules? Here's the quick(ish) rundown!
Rule #1: In order to learn, we need to listen. In order to let others learn, we need to listen. In order to know what we need to do in our
classroom, we need to listen. Listening, and learning to listen, is at the core of much our kindergarten work. When we say the
"teacher", we mean whichever adult is teaching/in charge of our classroom at the time, not only Mrs. Adkins!
Rule #2: If we want to accomplish anything in our classroom, we need to be able to do it without having to repeat directions multiple times.
This is certainly a learned skill, and we will practice it throughout the year. I do not expect students to have this perfected, but I do
expect students to really try to follow this rule. This also means no arguing when a direction is given. If a student has a disagreement
or a concern with a direction, they are welcome to express that politely, but arguing and talking back (or simply ignoring) is not an
acceptable choice.
Rule #3: Raising hands to speak or leave seat simply helps us manage our classroom. There will be times of the day when we turn this rule
"off", meaning students are free to speak or leave their seat as they would like. However, during learning times, it is important that
students be actively engaged in learning, not up wandering the classroom. Additionally, when students ask before they leave their
seat, I know where they are! In order to keep students safe at school, part of my job is to know where they are at all times. If a
student goes to the bathroom without my knowledge, and our fire alarm goes off, it is much more difficult for me to be sure that child
has exited the building safely.
Rule #4: Respecting self, others, and school, means using kind words, and treating others the way we want to be treated. We act as friends to
other students, and we treat ourselves nicely. We don't say or do unkind things to others, and we don't say or do unkind things to
ourselves. It also means taking care of trash, treating school items nicely, putting things away in the right place, and so on. This also
applies to all adults in our buildings. I expect the adults in our classroom to treat students with respect, and I expect students in our
building to treat all adults (principal, lunch helpers, recess helpers, other teachers, substitutes, etc).
Rule #5: This rule is truly here to help students build responsibility for their own actions. I give them guidelines of what to do, and what I
expect at school, but they are the ones who choose to follow them or not. This rule gives them the power to say "This is a smart
choice" or "This is a foolish choice". For example, throwing rocks on the playground is a foolish choice, because it could hurt another
student, and the child throwing rocks will, most likely, get in trouble. A smart choice would be to pick the rocks up and look at them,
and then set them back down carefully. Another "smart choice" would be to put all belongings into lockers after recess. A foolish
choice would be to leave them on the floor, because then those items end up in lost and found, or simply disappear.
Rule #6: To be honest, this rule is here to cover all of those unexpected situations that happen in kindergarten. We can't predict everything,
and this rule really covers that. I explain this rule to the students in this way: "If the teacher is happy, the students are happy. If the
teacher is happy, it means we can have more FUN learning in our classroom. Do you know what makes me the happiest as a
teacher? I am the happiest when my students are learning! When we are able to do our learning jobs, and we follow our other five
classroom rules, I am a super happy teacher!".
Other Classroom Procedures
Classroom Jobs
There are two types of "jobs" in our classroom: Daily Jobs and Table Jobs.They are, for the most part, simply classroom jobs that
allow your child to take responsibility for our classroom.
Daily Jobs; As the name implies, these jobs change daily. They range from things like being "first" or "last" (line leader/caboose, first to choose a
play area at center time, etc) to helping with lights or the door, to taking lunch count to the office, to moving our trash can.It also
includes jobs for our calendar, such as weather, temperature, and counting. ]. There will be a stretch of several days (possibly about a
week or so) where your child will have a "day off". This simply depends on the number of jobs I have on our classroom job list. If
there are 23 students, and only 17 jobs, there will be six "days off" before your child has a job again.
Table Jobs: At each table, there will be specific jobs for each member. Each student will do this job for one week, and will rotate to a different job
the next week. These jobs include: Table Washer, Floor Sweeper, Supplies Helper, Super Helper (does the job of anyone who is
absent).
There are two types of "jobs" in our classroom: Daily Jobs and Table Jobs.They are, for the most part, simply classroom jobs that
allow your child to take responsibility for our classroom.
Daily Jobs; As the name implies, these jobs change daily. They range from things like being "first" or "last" (line leader/caboose, first to choose a
play area at center time, etc) to helping with lights or the door, to taking lunch count to the office, to moving our trash can.It also
includes jobs for our calendar, such as weather, temperature, and counting. ]. There will be a stretch of several days (possibly about a
week or so) where your child will have a "day off". This simply depends on the number of jobs I have on our classroom job list. If
there are 23 students, and only 17 jobs, there will be six "days off" before your child has a job again.
Table Jobs: At each table, there will be specific jobs for each member. Each student will do this job for one week, and will rotate to a different job
the next week. These jobs include: Table Washer, Floor Sweeper, Supplies Helper, Super Helper (does the job of anyone who is
absent).
ABC Order
So, the perennial question of who gets to do what and when...it's a VERY big deal in kindergarten, and a very hard process for students to understand. I try to make it as simple as possible. At the beginning of the year, it may be challenging for our students to understand this process, but within a few weeks, they very quickly come to understand my procedure. Much of what we do in our classroom is done in ABC order, by first name. This is how I line students up, this is how I call students to choose centers at playtime, this is how I call students to do "special" activities in our classroom. Does this mean that if someone is named Adam, they will always go first, and Zoe would always be last? Absolutely not. I rotate alphabetically through our class list. This means that on Monday, Aden is first, and on Tuesday, he is last, while Ava is first. Then Brennen the next day, and Christine the day after that. We rotate through the alphabet. This is how we line up for most of our activities (the exceptions are lunch time and end of the day). This allows me to be organized and fair with activities, lineups, and so on. Students very quickly learn our classroom order, and can manage this almost without me! It's awesome!
Dismissal Order
I take getting my students to the right place at the end of our school day very seriously. This is demonstrated by my dismissal order. I line our students up in a set order at the end of each day. I line pick-up students up first, in the same order each time. Then I line up any students who ride Dial-a-Ride, and then bus students, in order by their bus color (we ride by "color" from Luce Road to the Middle School, then get on the "letter" bus at the middle school). I do require students to line up in their set order each day, so I can quickly and easily see that I have all students in the correct place. Please help your child to understand, if he or she is always "last" or does not ever get to be "first", that it is not because I want to be mean, it is to help me get them where they need to go safely!