Rules

Action Plan and Reflection

Rules are necessary to provide a “safe and effective learning environment” for students

(Wong & Wong, 2005). Providing these guidelines allows students to know what their teachers

expect of them, and gives them structure in order to “create a productive learning environment”

(Kelly, 2019). Keeping rules to a minimum and being sure to follow through with consequences

is essential in making these rules work well in the classroom (Alber, 2017; Miller, 2012).

Working with ELL students, I want to be mindful of different cultures and how they react

differently to rules and consequences. Researching how some of my students’ cultures deal with

rules could be helpful when starting to structure my classroom. The retroactive rule strategy

(Pinto, 2013) might be effective with students who come from different backgrounds, because it

allows me to figure out as the year goes what works for different students. Posting rules and

stating them clearly to students at the beginning of the year, and often thereafter, seems like it

would help students remember and stick to them throughout the year.

What really stood out to me in the readings was the importance of students understanding

the reason for specific rules, and the fact that they are more likely to follow rules when they see

how the rules will help them as individuals, and the classroom as a whole. I also like the idea of

having student input in the rule-making process, as this method seems like a great way to figure

out which rules they expect and respond well to, in addition to giving them a sense of agency in

their academic career. One of the most important things I always try to remember is keeping

calm during confrontations (Miller, 2012), because I struggle with this, but I understand how

important it is and I know I need to continue to work on this in order to keep the students’

respect.