As a District Teacher Consultant, I often co-teach with classroom teachers and sometimes I am a guest teacher. In these roles, I need to review the classroom expectations to create a safe space for students. I teach a lot of social and emotional skills lessons. When discussing personal emotions and situational challenges, children need to feel safe before they will participate.
In a co-teaching situation, I just need to refer to the classroom teacher, who then reviews expectations previously established. Sometimes as a guest teacher, I need to spend a bit more time working with the class to create a safe space before we can go further. In my experience, the most effective set of “classroom expectations” is generated by the students and teacher collaboratively. These norms are more successful than “class rules” because the students have ownership. Below are some helpful resources for creating norms with your students:
The Science Behind Classroom Norming
Fostering Belonging With Classroom Norms
Creating Class Norms: Management in the Active Classroom
How can I create, uphold, and share responsibility for classroom norms?
The ABCs of Online School Etiquette
