Rules are part of the Responsive Classroom, a research-based program of classroom management used schoolwide at Étude.
Rules are important because they help you and everyone else accomplish their Hopes and Dreams at school.
These rules will be discussed in detail with students, and posted clearly in the classroom. Students will engage in discussions and activities to better understand what these rules mean and why they are important.
Click to find out more about what each rule means for us!
"Everyone" means everyone, including yourself!
In the classroom, we respect ourselves by using kind words and positive self-talk when we think and talk about ourselves. We try our best to have a growth mindset. We try our best to reframe negative self-talk in a positive way.
We respect our fellow students by allowing them to learn the way they need to learn. We accept that everyone has different strengths, and different needs. We accept and support others' unique needs.
Respect means using kind words, self-control, and flexible thinking when talking to others.
We respect the teacher when we do our best to listen to the teacher and follow directions the first time. This means using self-control to keep our voices quiet when others are talking, raising hands, and waiting to be called on before talking out.
We respect everyone when we remember that we are here to learn, and we all need to do our part in order to make that happen. We are all responsible for making the classroom a calm, quiet place where everyone can do their best learning.
On COVID-19:
We respect everyone's need to stay healthy and safe. In the time of COVID-19, this comes with some additional expectations.
We keep our masks on as much as we can.
We stay in our designated spot within the classroom, and keep our bodies and materials to ourselves.
We leave extra space between ourselves and others when working and moving around the classroom.
We do our very best to keep our hands clean and not to spread germs around.
These rules keep ourselves and others safe.
Respecting our space means respecting the school building, the classroom, and everything in the classroom.
We use all objects safely, including furniture. We keep our bodies in safe areas of the room.
We use objects the way they are intended to be used. This means pencils should be used as pencils, chairs should be used as chairs, tables should be used as tables, etc, and not for any other purpose, even when we are anxious or upset.
Each student has a book bin in the classroom that contains all the materials they need. We do our best to be responsible for our own materials, and make sure they stay organized. We clean up our things every time we leave the room, and put our bin back in the correct spot.
We treat all the materials and objects in the room with respect. We handle things gently, so they will last a long time and work the way they need to.
We use things within the classroom to meet our needs in an appropriate way. We can use wobble chairs, wobble cushions, pencil grips, and fidgets to help us stay safe and focused. We learn how to advocate for ourselves when we need these things.
Using self-control means keeping our bodies and minds working in a positive way, so that we can do good things at school and at home.
This means accepting that we cannot always control how others act or what things happen in our lives, but we can control our own behavior.
We can't always control our emotions, but we can learn to control how we react to those emotions, and change the choices we make. We try to put some time and space between a big emotion and the reaction to that emotion. Using self-control means using words or other safe ways of communicating when we are feeling a big emotion.
We learn and use strategies for self-control, even when it is hard. We do our best to use strategies to calm ourselves down, keep our bodies safe, use respectful words and actions, and do our best work.
We might have to use more self-control this year in order to be flexible and adapt to the changes at school. We might have to use more self-control in order to keep our bodies in a safe desk or table spot, keep our masks on, and keep a safe distance from other people. We will all learn this together, and self-control will grow with more and more practice.
Self-control looks different for everyone, because it is a skill that develops slowly, over time, and with lots of practice. But everyone is expected to learn and use self-control strategies to the best of their ability.
In order to learn, you have to try!
We do our best work on assignments, and do our best to listen and participate in class, no matter what.
Effort doesn't always come easily, especially when things seem like they will be difficult, or when a subject is not your favorite. But "try your best" is a rule because it is the only way to really make progress and achieve our hopes and dreams.
This might mean taking extra time to get our bodies and minds calm before working, asking for breaks when we need them, using positive self-talk, and/or finding different strategies to accomplish things that are difficult. But we still need to keep trying our best, even when things are hard.