Class Expectations

Following the Responsive Classroom approach, I co-create class expectations with my kids. We do this after discussing our learning goals for the year. (I suggest searching "Responsive Classroom Hopes and Dreams" for ideas on setting goals before diving into class expectations.) Here is a great clip from an article on the Responsive Classroom website:

View the whole article HERE.

When we begin discussing our class expectations, I have my kids brainstorm on sticky notes. Then we group similar ideas to come up with four or five more general expectations. Here are the expectations we created the first year I used this approach:

Once we decided on our expectations, I had the kids work in groups to create these to hang in the classroom all year. (I would have liked to narrow it down to just four or five expectations, but the kids were very set on each of these that year!)

The next year I decided to save the sticky notes we used to create the expectations. I continued to do this the following years, as I feel like it not only gives the kids ownership but also serves as a reminder that they really did have a voice in creating these expectations.

Download the template for these posters for free HERE.