“Stop running.” “Clean up your mess.” “Quiet in the hall.”
These are some phrases you may hear throughout the day in a school setting. Teachers can sometimes feel exhausted from giving constant reminders to their students.
Did you know that frequent reminders like this can be avoided? By giving students some voice and choice in the decision making process, they are able to better follow the expectations.
When students are active decision makers in their environment, they are more connected to their choices. Including children in the expectation setting process allows them to have ownership of their actions. As a result, they will act more responsibly and be able to remind themselves of their own pre-decided set of rules.
The above photo was created with a group of students I work with on Mondays in a STEM workshop after school. Each listed expectation was introduced by them and signed as a way to confirm their 'promise'. Now, students have a mutual agreement of how we will be when we are in this space.
Check out this article about school leadership that includes Student Voice.
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