School Rules and Essential Agreements

This week, we focused on practicing routines and setting expectations for behavior throughout the school. We did two different activities to get the students thinking about rules.

Conveyor Belt – The students wrote or drew ideas for rules to follow in the hallway, lunchroom, gym, and library. A piece of chart paper with the name of the setting was in the middle of every table, and, every few minutes, the students rotated to a new table to think about a new setting. At the end of the activity, we discussed all of the different rules they came up with for each location.

Bottoms-Up – Each table had a large piece of chart paper divided into sections. First, students brainstormed and wrote or drew ideas for our class rules in their individual section. Next, the students discussed their ideas and chose the one they thought was the most important. Finally, they wrote or drew (or I scribed) this idea in the middle section of the paper. We used these ideas to create our Essential Agreement!

Essential Agreement  –  Together, we combined, condensed, and reworded the students’ ideas to create our Essential Agreement.  All the students “signed” the Essential Agreement to show that they agree to abide by our rules. 

Now, the behavior clip chart will be really effective because students have clear expectations for their behavior and understand that, if these expectations are not met, they will receive a consequence. The kids started earning links on their compliment chain for principled behavior, too!

Pick up a FREE copy of this behavior chart here. 

How do you establish your class rules at the beginning of the school year?