Start the School Year With the “Right” Expectations

Are you worried about classroom management?  Are you having an internal debate about how to establish classroom rules on the first day?  Will you create the rules and have them posted before the students arrive?  Or will you create the rules with the students?  With so much to think about regarding establishing classroom rules and procedures, it can be overwhelming.

We propose an approach that may appeal to you….establishing Rights and Responsibilities.

Establishing Rights and Responsibilities with your class can replace or supplement classroom rules. It involves a classroom discussion, group brainstorming, and a large piece of paper on the wall.  Depending on the age of your students and the time frame you can allot to this activity, the discussion can be as short as 10 minutes or it could be spread out over multiple class periods.

The activity for establishing your classroom’s Rights and Responsibilities could loosely adhere to the steps below or could follow them exactly. The beauty of this approach is that it could be easily modified and still get the same outcome.

Steps:

1. Large paper is taped on wall. Although it will later become two columns, start with the word “Rights” written in the top left corner.

2. Ask the students, “What basic rights do you think you should have in this classroom?” As students state their rights, list them numerically down the left column of the sheet. It may look something like this:

3. Once you have a list of rights, explain to the students that in order for everyone’s rights to be met, we all have a responsibility to make sure we do our part in assuring those rights are upheld. It is our responsibility to display words and actions that support the rights of all.  It is our responsibility to make sure our individual words and actions don’t ever take away someone’s rights.

4. Draw a vertical line down the middle of your paper to create second column. Write the word “Responsibilities” at the top of the second column. Tell the students you will all brainstorm a responsibility for each corresponding right. For example, if the first right is “to feel safe,” have the students decide what the corresponding responsibility would be.  You may get answers such as, “In order for everyone to feel safe, it is my responsibility to make sure my words and actions are not threatening to anyone” or “For others to feel safe, I can’t hurt anyone.” You can generalize their answers into one common responsibility for each right.

5. Write the corresponding responsibilities directly across from the rights on your large chart as the students discuss and identify each responsibility. Your original list becomes something like this:      The final result is a set of classroom expectations (responsibilities), decided upon by the students, each with a corresponding purpose (rights).  Since students do better when they understand the purpose, this activity allows them the opportunity to see the thinking behind classroom rules. It is definitely a more holistic approach to establishing classroom expectations.  Plus, if you are already planning on having the students establish the rules as a class, this provides a nice structure for the discussion.

Whether you use this as a supplement to your classroom rules, or as the “rules” themselves, we wish you all the best as you establish your classroom expectations.