Mary Krevonick
April 16, 2015
Rules and Procedures
1st Grade
Part II: Rules and Procedures Assignment
On the first day of school, before any content involving math, science, social
studies, or language arts is ever introduced, my students will spend time generating class
rules, as well as learning various classroom procedures for things like sharpening pencils
or going to the restroom. In my future classrooms, I will create my own procedures, but I
would like to come up with classroom rules collaboratively, with all of my students
voicing his or her thoughts and opinions. To create classroom rules, I will have students
gather together on the “meeting carpet.” When everyone is settled on the carpet, I will
begin a classroom discussion about what excellent, “school name” behavior can look like.
After the students provide a few responses, I will hang a piece of paper on the board and
write down all of the ideas that are reasonable and align with school and instructional
rules, such as “follow directions, keep your hands to yourself, show respect to everyone,”
etc. I will explain to the students that the rules we are creating are a contract, or an
agreement to follow and respect each item, or “rule” on the list. While writing down the
rules, it is important to explain just why each rule is important and provide several,
relatable examples to help students understand why each rule is in place and how each
rule might look. When the list is completed, I will have each student in the classroom
sign the “contract,” agreeing that he or she accepts the terms and will follow them at all
times.
If a student breaks a minor rule in my classroom, such as talking out of turn
randomly, I will first try to use a nonverbal intervention, such as “the teacher look.” If my
nonverbal intervention doesn’t work, I will try incorporating the students name into my
lesson, keeping them on his or her toes. If a more serious behavior is occurring in my
classroom, I plan to give a verbal warning first, letting the student know that if the
behavior occurs again I will have to contact the principal, a parent, or some other sort of
administration depending on the severity of the action. If the action is less severe, I will
try to hold a private conference somewhere in the classroom with the specific child to
attempt to determine if there is an underlying problem occurring in the student’s life.
Finally, chronic misbehavior in my classroom will be dealt with based on each child’s
specific needs; however, I would like to try contingency contracting with my students.
The idea of a contingency contract provides students with feelings of autonomy and selfcontrol, leading to a decrease in misbehavior if signed by both parties. Contingency
contracts are promises between teachers and students that provide rewards for positive
behavior.
The rules in my future first grade classroom will be communicated to parents
through a take-home paper, as well as online on my homework/information blog.
Administrators will be aware of my classroom rules through a hand out at the beginning
of the year, as well as a large, clear rule chart posted inside and outside of my classroom,
with student signatures located on both.
Rules and procedures are necessary components in any classroom to ensure
smooth running days and little to no issues. Collaborative norms, or rules will be created
as a group in my classroom and procedures will be made up by myself and taught the first
few weeks of school. Both rules and procedures reduce misbehavior and maximize
learning time by keeping students focused, motivated, and safe.
Procedures:
Class-Running Routines:


Going to the restroom:
o Student will use hand signals (sign language signal for “bathroom”)
o Teacher will respond with hand signal to reduce wasted classroom time
(“okay” symbol for go to the bathroom, tap on wrist for “please wait”)
Leaving the room at the end of the day:
o The teacher will call on one table at a time to get their backpacks off of the
hangers
o When one table is packing up, the teacher will call the next table and so
on.
o Once the student is packed, he or she should sit on the classroom carpet
quietly and wait for the teacher to begin reading (The teacher will read for
about 10 minutes when everyone is quiet and seated and will read until the
dismissal bell rings.)
o When students hear the dismissal bell, they should line up at the door and
wait for the teacher to say “Lets head out to the busses.”
Lesson-Running Routines:


Collecting homework:
o Homework will be collected once a week on Wednesday (because it will
be provided the following Wednesday, only once a week)
o At each group (4 students), one designated person (this will change every
week based on their individual desk numbers) will take all of the group’s
homework to the bin sitting on the teacher’s desk labeled “homework.”
Returning homework:
o Homework will be returned via a “Wednesday folder,” or a folder that has
all student work inside that goes home every Wednesday. The Wednesday
folder requires a parent signature and the folder should be sent back to
school every Thursday.
*Parents should be informed of homework procedures at the beginning of the year, by a
paper and virtual copy.
Interaction Routines:

Talk among students during center time:
o During center time, students should use their “soft voices.” The students
are permitted to interact with each other, just quietly so other groups who
may be reading are not disturbed.
o At the beginning of the year, students should practice their soft voices
during actual center time, with the teacher redirecting them if necessary.

Talk between the teacher and students during whole-class lessons
o The students should never blurt out unless specifically told to do so by the
teacher.
o To make sure each student is sharing equally, the teacher should use
Popsicle sticks with each student’s name on them. As a name is called, the
stick should be taken out until the cup is completely empty. When the cup
is empty, all of the sticks can be placed back in and the cycle continues.
*All of the procedures listed were borrowed from classrooms I have previously worked
in.
Weinstein, C. S., Romano, M. E., & Mignano, A. J. (2015). Elementary
classroom management: Lessons from research and practice (6th Ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.