The Flamingo Classroom: Creating a Classroom Promise

So many of us start our school year off with a class set of rules. Rules that are normally broken within the first week for some of our "most special friends." ;) Every now and again (some more than others), we all like to live a little dangerously and break rules. It’s inevitable right? A lot of kids throw caution to the wind when it comes to classroom rules, because they are just that – rules.
What’s that old saying? Rules are meant to be broken. But they don't have to be!

Instead of creating just classroom rules, replace or use them in addition with A Classroom Promise. A promise is a positive way to share and discuss how the students want to learn and grow in their classroom for the upcoming school year. You heard me, how THEY want to learn. Cool right!?

At the beginning of the lesson, the unit offers students a chance to reflect on what exactly a promise means to them. Some kids may have a clear understanding of what a promise means, where some kids may not. It's a great way to establish the base of the lesson right out of the gate. Students can even write a quick story about a time they made a promise to someone. What was the promise? Did they keep it? Did they break it? Share and discuss!

Once the class has a clear understanding of what a promise means, they have an opportunity to take a “Classroom Style Quiz.” This gives kids the chance to think about what kind of classroom they want to learn in. Students can share their results as a class or even with partners or tables - another great way to get your kids to shake away those first week jitters and practice talking with their peers.

Then it's time to brainstorm! Students can brainstorm individually, with partners, as a whole group on a brainstorm web things they want to include in their class promise. Once the class has had time to think, students can share the things that are important to them with the class. The teacher can create an idea list to jot down what the students say. Now the teacher may need to edit and combine some of the students' ideas - some students may have the same thought process, some ideas may not be as crucial to include, etc. Decide on what promises are worthy to keep all year, and what promises are seemingly easy for the students to keep all year. (You don't want something like NO TALKING! to be a classroom promise because it's unrealistic and sometimes the kids will have a chance to talk.)

Make the promise meaningful. :)

Now that the promise is edited down, it's time to make the final copy to be posted in the classroom. I always liked to write mine down on chart paper, so it was big enough and sturdy enough to see throughout the entire year. Students can also copy down the promise on their own paper. This gives the kids a feeling of accountability and makes the promise seem even more serious. I like to have my kids sign the promise afterwards, giving the promise it's final SEAL. I try and make it a BIG deal - because your classroom management is a BIG DEAL. Teachers can laminate the kids promises, and have them kept in their take home binder, or the teacher can keep them in a behavior binder to refer back to when one of your sweet little angels needs a reminder of what they promised. ;)

After the promise has been made and signed, I like to give students the chance to add an even bigger personal touch. Students are either given a heart or an silhouette outline (teacher's choice) to create a craft to help decorate around the promise posted in the room. If you choose to go with the heart, students can draw a picture of themselves keeping the promise. If students are creating a silhouette of themselves, they can design a picture of themselves with crayons, markers, yarn for hair, googly eyes, whatever! They can get creative! (If the students didn't make them 3D, I always laminated them to ensure they lasted throughout the year!)

* Also included is a "Our Class Promise" banner to really set up your display!

As a reflection piece, students can think, discuss, and share how they plan on keeping their promise. To ensure the classroom promise is kept throughout the school year, students can occasionally reflect back on how they feel they’re doing with keeping their promise. Students can share what they think they’re doing great at, and what promises should they improve.

This was one of my FAVORITE activities to do with the kids at the beginning of the year.
It really sets the kids up to take accountability for their actions and learning, plus keeps the expectations for the classroom POSITIVE.