Teaching School-Wide Expectations (Ron Clark Academy Inspired)

This post about Teaching School-Wide Behavior Expectations is part of my Visit to Ron Clark Academy series.  You can find all of the posts in that series here.

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When we visited the Ron Clark Academy, one of the things that really impressed my colleagues and I was the fact that the students were SO well behaved!  

I have already shared the 55 Essential Rules that the students follow at the school, and how I have adapted them in my own classroom, but today I am going to share how we implemented the idea of having school-wide behavior expectations.

My Principal was most impressed with the fact that the students followed essentially the same rules in all of the classrooms, and in all areas of the school.  If we could get the students at our school to do the same, we could accomplish so much more!

We put together a plan that involved the students rotating through behavior stations where the school expectations were taught.  Students rotated with their teacher as a class, so that everyone received the same information.

We go through these rotations once at the beginning of the school year, and then again when we return from Winter Break.

One of the stations was the cafeteria.  Our Dean of Students reminded the students of cafeteria expectations including: cleaning up after yourself, speaking volume, and using manners with the cafeteria staff.

At the Ron Clark Academy during educator training days, students are asked to pair up with several of the teachers to eat lunch together.  I was very impressed with the way that the students interacted with us and were able to answer our questions about the school and their experiences there.

I occasionally share lunch with my students so that we can practice these skills as well.

Another station students attend teaches them our school-wide expectation for assembly behavior.  During this station, our principal also reviews ideas we learned at the Ron Clark Academy such as tracking the speaker, and staying engaged.  She reminds the students that they can use these skills not only during assemblies, but in class as well.

The bathroom expectations station is another important place where we teach school-wide behavior expectations.  We have a sign that is displayed in front of the bathroom to remind students of what is expected when they need to use the restroom.

One thing that I loved about the Ron Clark Academy was how clean the bathrooms were.  You can see pictures of them here.  

There ALWAYS seem to be problems at recess, so one of the stations focused on a problem-solving wheel that is painted on our building.  

The school counselor spoke with the students about coming to the problem solving wheel so that students can learn to solve their own problems.

Here is a close-up picture of the problem solving wheel.

In the past year that we have been teaching the school-wide behavior expectations, we have seen a dramatic increase in on-task behavior and a decrease in problem behavior.

Do you teach school-wide behavior expectations? How are they taught at your school?  I would love to hear your ideas as well! Leave a comment below or tag me on Twitter or Instagram!

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