School Rules

In my own life, I have always been a bit of a rule breaker. As far back as I can remember, I was asking, "why?" and "how come?" and trying to test the boundaries set up for me by the adults in my life. Perhaps that is why I like the kind of educational system I am a part of now. It allows kids to question, make decisions and grow to respect legitimate authority without a lot of rules and condemnations. It also doesn't trivialize children and their ability to form opinions and think through problems.

As the school year begins, I teach various procedures and set up my expectations for my class. We go over how to turn in work, how I get their attention, how to come into the room, how to listen and share ideas during meetings, and the list goes on. Every part of the day, from the time they come in, to the time they leave is run by procedures. A classroom would not flow well without them. Teaching procedures gives the kids independence to solve their own problems, take care of their own business and the opportunity to develop self-direction.

My first year at this school, I began the year setting up procedures with the class as always. Several weeks into the school year, we had a smooth running class. They were listening, raising hands, speaking kindly towards one another, just what a teacher would hope for. Then came the rain. The kids asked, "Do we have to wear our coats?" I asked another teacher what the general coat wearing rules were, and she had told me in her class they had to wear a coat outside all the time. So I told the kids, "You need to wear a coat outside." Well, believe it or not, this simple rule set off a huge debate amongst the parents in my class. At parent night I was inundated with questions about it. I was told that in a sibling’s class, they were allowed to CHOOSE whether or not they wore coats. Another parent told me that he didn't want his child to think not wearing a coat would get him sick. I kept the coat rule all year, and heard about it several more times throughout the year from the parents and the children.

So the next year, I did not make a coat rule. I said, “If you are cold, wear a coat.” Well, what do you know, the first rainy day, they were running around in the rain getting soaking wet. A couple of kids stood beneath the gutters and got completely and totally soaked to the bone. I was standing inside watching this happen. I rang the bell to call them in, and the wet kids came to the door. I said, "I'm sorry, I can't have you come into class. If you are that wet, the materials you use will get ruined, and you can't sit on the carpet, because it also will get wet." They look at me surprised. I told them, "Go dry off in the bathroom, then you can join us." They came back to class somewhat dry and sat shivering during morning meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, I asked them if we needed to discuss a coat rule. I told them that the year before, there was a rule that everyone always had to wear a coat outside. Most of the kids didn't like this rule. "I don't get cold," "I hate wearing a coat," "You can't move your arms as well in a coat..." Their reasons went on and on. We needed to come to a decision. I quite frankly did not like my old rule either, so was interested in hearing what the kids would say. The overwhelming idea among the students was to be thoughtful in the choice about wearing a coat. Most students agreed that standing under the gutter is not a good idea. The few holdouts over the gutter debate, spoke their mind about how they were just having fun and wanted to be able to do it again. The others sat shivering, and agreed, it was fun once, but not as fun to be cold in class afterwards. We came to some classroom wide agreements about coats and gutters in this discussion. The kids decided they would be smart about wearing a coat. If they were cold, they would put it on, and if they wanted to play in the rain and get soaked, they would bring a change of clothes, leave recess early so they could change and meet back in the class at the same time as everyone else. Well, no one ever played in the rain again to that degree. (By the way, the room was nice and toasty, so I wasn't worried about them getting sick or anything. After the meeting, we called home and the kids got some clothes brought to school to change into.) The rest of the year, kids would often go outside, play for a few minutes and come back in for their coat. They were wise in the choice about wearing a coat. They learned to be aware of what their body was telling them.

Most rules in my class come about this way. Setting up a lot of do’s and don’ts at the beginning of the year and telling the students what they can and can’t do creates the feeling that the adults around them don’t trust them. Teaching procedures and having the expectation that they can and will follow procedures because it makes the flow of the class run smoothly, establishes clear guidelines for behavior but does not enforce the why’s and how comes of rules. They make sense. You know why they have to be done this way.

As we begin to have morning meeting, we discuss what makes us feel like we are being listened to. These become our meeting guidelines. As we work in small groups, we discuss how groups feel like when they are working well together. The students’ ideas become group work guidelines. Throughout the year, throughout the days, we set up rules in school to help the children communicate, gain independence and remain safe in their environment.