Teaching Behavioral Rules and Expectations
Rules and expectations: We have all experienced them through our own education and, as teachers, have all developed them to help our classroom run more smoothly. Without expectations for behavior, both in the school and in the classroom, chaos would reign. Teachers may set rules ahead of time or with their students, depending on the grade level of their students, and they may revisit the rules and expectations regularly as a reminder, or perhaps for revision.
At times, our efforts to teach specific rules and expectations are not always successful, and upon reflection, we sometimes look for alternative ways to teach behavioral expectations. Marzano and his team describe certain teacher behaviors as critical in classroom management; namely, appropriate levels of dominance on the part of the teacher, appropriate levels of cooperation, and awareness of high-needs students.
In this GPLC Instructional Topic, we will explore how teachers can provide strong guidance in student behavior through a variety of means.