Classroom Rulesfrom The Diary of a First Grade TeacherClassroom rules must be explained to ALL students ... And especially to the little ones. Because some of the rules are new ones for the first graders, certain kids will speak up. They’ll ask WHY. Why is a certain school rule important? Why should that rule be followed? Why this? Why that? And that's good that they want to know and to understand. That's why we teachers want our students to help us make the rules.
Classroom Rules Telling first graders that the teacher must preserve the classroom learning environment is useless. It’s so much better whenever we can show them why - with examples. If there is a question, we teachers want them to ask it. If they are interested enough to ask questions, we believe they will most likely listen when we answer. In fact, if there’s one academic skill that I favor above all others, it’s the importance of listening. While most first graders understand and cooperate with the classroom rules, I’ve found there’s one school rule - in particular – that can be a problem for certain kids … The rule is … Raise your hand to speak and wait to be called on. My students know that I’ll answer them whenever they raise their hand … And – if they forget – I’ll help them remember by ignoring their outburst. This way, they learn this rule fast. Of course, an emergency situation would not apply here. But – no matter what the rule is – there’s often at least one who forgets the rule OR who tests you. And yes, sometimes it’s hard to tell which one it is … Importance of ListeningToday, after working several examples on the whiteboard, I finished the math lesson. “Are there any questions?”I had told them the page number of the assignment, orally. And it was written on the whiteboard also … as always. As I walked up and down a couple of aisles, it appeared as if every student was preparing to work. “Does everyone understand what to do?” No hands were up. “Good! Everyone is working on math, right now.” A few minutes later, I was seated at my desk whenever Martin blared to no one in particular … “What page did she say for us to do?” From the corner of my eye, I saw his fingers flipping frantically through his Science book. Without looking up, he repeated the question. “Huh? What page?” One by one, he broke the focus of each student ... Everyone stopped working. Loegan said, "Ahmmmmm," and warned him in a sing-song voice: “She can’t hear you.”
Classroom Rules When the class laughed, I shook my head. A hush hung in the air... Did Martin look up? No, he turned more pages. “What’s wrong?” The class watched cautiously. And I never made a sound. “I SAID, WHAT PAGE DO WE POST TO DO?” Some of his classmates couldn’t keep from smiling and shaking their heads. Others covered their mouths with their little hands and snickered. I could see they felt proud and happy that they KNEW what the rule was ... They KNEW the page number. There were GLAD they had been listening. And I felt better because I saw they were beginning to understand why some rules are important. Now, we were getting somewhere! Suddenly Martin’s eyes fell on Loegan’s desk. He saw that Loegan’s MATH WORKBOOK was opened. Reaching inside his desk, he grabbed his workbook and turned to the page that Loegan was on. Then, in the friendliest of voices, he cleared his throat and proclaimed: “Never mind, Teacher. I fount it!” Did he finally look up, then? No. Never once did he look at me. Never once did he look at the whiteboard where all assignments, including page numbers, are ALWAYS written. Never once did he look at the face of any of his classmates. Never once did he raise his hand. Which makes me wonder if he had forgotten the rule, or was he testing me? So … I never did correct him - in front of the class, that is - because … Martin, with his loud and lively example, taught his classmates - far more vividly than I ever could have - WHY the “raise your hand to speak” rule is so important.
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