Blog 7

What are the school rules/classroom rules and how are they enforced?

In the classroom I am observing they have two main classroom rules that almost all of their rules fall under. They are “Always be kind,” and “I can do hard things.” They are expected to be respectful and kind to everyone, and to stay on task and always do their best. I actually think they are brilliant, because the two phrases stick with the students as lifelong motto's, not just elementary school rules.

To enforce these rules, the teacher has clip charts. They have 5 different colors. The all start the day on green. They can move up to blue, then to orange, or down to yellow, then to red. The colors coordinate with different rewards/punishments. At the end of the day the color they end on is recorded in their homework folder they take home every day for their parents to see. If they end on Orange they get a small treat, after three blue smiley faces they get a treat, and after every 5 green smiley faces they get a treat. If they get clipped down to yellow there is a phone call home, and if they go to red they go to the principal’s office. She very rarely clips children down to yellow or red. The way she runs this system seems to be very effective. The students are not clipped up every time so while it is positive reinforcement, the students are not conditioned to expect a reward. They learn to do good for the sake of doing good.