Creating and Enforcing
Classroom Rules
A Discipline Plan
Basic Structure for a Discipline Plan
1. Rules: State what the expected
behaviors are.
2. Consequences:
 Penalties - State what the student chooses to
accept if a rule is broken.
 Rewards - State what the student receives for
appropriate behavior.
1. Rules
 Rules state what you expect of student behavior.
 They should be communicated verbally and in
writing to the students and their parents.
 To give students ownership of the rules, it is a
good idea to ask them to participate in
identifying the behaviors you should be able to
expect. (You have the right to add rules if they
left something out!)
 You should limit your list to three to five rules.
Kinds of Rules
 General
 Cover many behaviors, offers flexibility
 Specifics must be explained
 Examples
 Respect yourself and others.
 Take care of your school.
 Be prepared to enter class.
(You have to explain what respecting, taking care, and being polite means.)
 Specific
 Clearly cover one behavior
 Can go beyond that 3-5 limit
 Examples
• Be in class on time.
• Keep your hands to yourself.
• Have all materials ready to use when the bell rings.
Bad Rules
Address academic performance
Using a pencil, doing homework, turning in work
are all procedures and/or academic.
A discipline plan addresses behavior only
Are written in a negative voice
Examples: No cursing. No talking while the
teacher is talking.
State only the expected behaviors in a positive
voice if at all possible. (Be polite.)
2. Consequences
Can be positive (rewards) or negative
(penalties). Mostly we associate the term
“consequences” with something negative.
Should be emphasized as choices. (A
choice to break a rule results in a
consequence – a penalty.)
Penalties
 May be given out after student receives
warning(s) and a reminder of the rules.
(Checkmarks by name on board, strikes, etc.)
 Should be reasonable and logical.
A reasonable consequence follows logically from the
behavior.
Logical consequences teach the students to choose
between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.
(More on this…next slide.)
 Should be given out immediately, privately and
quietly, while not stopping instruction.
Examples of Logical and Illogical
Consequences
Behavior
Logical Consequence
Illogical Consequence
Chewing gum
Disposes of it
Get sent to office
Turns in sloppy paper
Redoes paper
Paper not accepted
Walks in noisily
Walks in again (This is a
procedure to be rehearsed,
not punished.)
Stands in front of class and
explains behavior (More
attention for you!)
Passes paper in incorrectly
Passes paper in correctly 3
times (A procedure.)
Gets silent lunch
Does not bring pen or pencil Borrows one from teacher
but has to sign it out
Student sits without one
Tardy
Gets silent lunch
Stay after class
3. Rewards
 Are posted like your rules and penalties.
 Have a time factor associated with when they are given
(daily, weekly, etc.).
 Are reasonable and logical.
 Are earned, not given (and students know this).
 According to Dr. Wong: “The time has come in education
when the wholesale bribery system of giving out endless
supplies of stickers, candies, and other tangibles has got
to come to a halt. Let’s stop the ‘what’s in it for me?’
welfare and bribery system…Self-discipline…is what
[it’s] all about. You can’t teach self-discipline if the
students are always looking for more ‘goodies.’”
 Dr. Loomis doesn’t think students should be given
tangible rewards for behaving like human beings. (You
don’t get a piece of candy because you didn’t talk back
to the teacher today.)
Example Logical Rewards
Thirty minutes of free time on Friday to
work on homework from any class. (No
pizza or ice cream parties.)
A note from the teacher on special paper
to the student.
A note or a phone call home.
A smile and a “thank you.”
In summary:
 Write only 3 to 5 classroom rules.
 Make them positively stated, if at all possible.
 Make your consequences (penalties) reasonable
and logical.
 Make your rewards intangible.*
*MANY teachers of young students reward students with
tangibles and parties after they (the students) either
accumulate points or tokens or if they have not lost all
the points or tokens they started out with. That’s
fine…for now. I’d encourage you to move away from this
“token economy” system as you become more skilled
and comfortable with classroom management.