Learning and Behavior Expectations   Expectations of Students Expectations of Parents What you can Expect of Me *follow school rules *respect other students and adults *complete assignments daily and on time *accept criticism *remain open to learning in new ways *be a problem solver, not problem maker *have supplies at school every day *work hard and remain on task throughout the day *not waste time *ask questions *sign planners daily *return paperwork in a timely manner *attend parent-teacher conferences *let me know of any concerns (sooner rather than later) *send your child to school every day unless they are sick *not to pick your child up early on a regular basis *get your child to school on time! *be your child's cheerleader! *be honest about your child's progress or lack of *communicate about concerns and behavior *respond in a timely manner to phone calls, notes, and emails *be patient with your child *push your child to be the best they can be *help them develop responsibility and independence needed to succeed *assign an appropriate amount of homework that applies to and extends what we do in class *send home work with helpful comments *send home weekly newsletters updating you about what we do in class *provide helpful resources you can use at home In our classroom I use 5 classroom rules from Whole Brain Teaching. From WBT-"At the root of Whole Brain Teaching is a large amount of highly structured, educational tomfoolery. Students learn the most when they are having fun. Whole Brain Teaching classrooms are full of task-focused laughter. Humor and games are used to increase the number of times students repeat core information and practice basic skills. Our classes are highly disciplined and tightly organized because students have more fun following our rules, than ignoring them." Students are expected to follow 5 rules: 1. Follow directions quickly 2. Raise your hand for permission to speak 3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat 4. Make smart choices 5. Keep your dear teacher happy  Individual Management: You will not see tickets, prize boxes, etc. in our room. Instead you will see classmates praising one another for a job well done. Students are not rewarded to meeting expectations-only for exceeding them! Practice Cards: Of course we all have off-days when we are not in such a good mood. In these cases we use practice cards. The Scoreboard (see below) addresses behavior issues in class as a whole.  Practice Cards target individual student behavior.  When a student breaks one of the five classroom rules, a white card with that rule number is placed in his/her card pocket.  Students rehearse for two minutes the gesture for the rule they’ve broken at recess.  At the end of the day, a note goes home asking parents to help students with additional rule practice.  With some exception, the white card stays in the card pocket until the note comes back from home. White cards are used when students break a classroom rule. Purple cards are used to reward students for following a rule. Green cards are used to help students practice a rule in class.     Whole Class Management: Scoreboard: We use a teacher vs. student scoreboard on our board. When students are meeting and exceeding what's expected they earn points. When they are not; I earn points! The points students have earned equal the amount of free time given on Friday afternoons.