Developing Effective Norms and Procedures in the Classroom

I don’t have any recollection of that many rules being given to me when I was in school.  In fact, there was only one rule to remember and follow: “Behave or else!”  Consequently, I learned to sit quietly and to never say anything, even if there was a very relevant question.  On top of that, it was very difficult to find answers given my limited environment when I was growing up.  Children are resilient, and I developed my own coping strategies.  I looked for trusted and friendly adults, who I could feel safe enough to have a conversation and ask questions.  Could I imagine if my teacher had been that trusted and friendly adult, who could make me feel safe enough to ask questions? Luckily, my environment was not the opposite: a place in complete chaos due to the lack of any rules.  That would have been devastating.

Research has shown that students learn best in a safe and organized environment.  But to create this environment, an effective teacher needs to develop, establish and maintain a set of norms and procedures in the classroom.  Investing the time and energy at the beginning of the school year will positively impact the classroom management for the rest of the school year.  Maintaining norms and procedures throughout the school year is equally important.  Re-evaluating or creating new norms and procedures is part of maintaining them.   Classroom dynamics change throughout the year.  Consequently, norms and procedures need to be adjusted or reinforced depending on the situations.  Existing or new norms and procedures provide the foundation for an organized learning environment.

As a teacher, I imagine myself creating two lists prior to the beginning of the school year.  One list will address behaviors I would like my students to demonstrate during the course of the school year, such as respect to others and appropriate use of classroom resources.  My other list will address tasks that students need to do during the school day, such as entering the classroom, submitting homework, asking questions, going to recess, leaving the room, working in groups and ending the day.  For each of these I can create procedures.   These two lists will give me a foundation to develop my norms and procedures in my classroom.  Ideally, I will include my students in brainstorming and defining the classroom norms and procedures.  This will give me an opportunity to explore students’ ideas, pre-conceptions and previous experiences.  Correspondingly, this will give the opportunity to my students to explore the importance of norms and procedures, as well as to internalize the importance to follow them. 

One norm that will not be negotiable for me will be respecting others at all times.  This, for me will be the basic principle underlying all of our work in the classroom, and will give the opportunity for students to learn to make right choices while interacting with others, including teachers, classmates and peers in the playground.   I have enjoyed learning about blending rules and procedures with academic content.  It seems to be that this blending becomes a powerful tool in the learning process.  The following video is a great example of how powerful this tool can be. 

SOURCES:

Wagner, K.J. Routines and Procedures for Managing your Classroom.  (2005) Retrieve from http://www.educationoasis.com/instruction/cm/routines.htm 

Evertson, C., Poole, I. & the Iris Center.  Case Study Unit: Norms and Expectations. (Retrieve on 2014, December 5). Retrieve from http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/case_studies/ICS-003.pdf 

McLeod, J. Fisher, J & Hoover, G.  The Key Elements of Classroom Management: Managing time and space, student behavior and instructional strategies. Chapter 6, 7 & 8.  (2003). ISBN 0-87120-787-7

Caring School Communities & Jefferson County Public Schools. What are Standards and Norms (2009) Retrieve from https://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-louisville-sel-what-are-standards-norms.pdf

TeachingChannel. Ms. Noonan: Morning Meeting. (2011, May 25) Retrieve from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH3vTEKiSTs