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#3871. The Importance of Rules

other, level: all
Posted Mon Jan 22 14:21:26 PST 2007 by Ruth Wells (dwells@youthchg.com).
Classroom Management Lesson
Youth Change, Woodburn, OR, USA
Materials Required: see below
Activity Time: 15 min
Concepts Taught: An Activity to Help Students Understand the Importance of Rules

Ask students to play Tic Tac Toe without any rules. Offer a big prize to the winner. The students will quickly discover they can't play games without rules. Now, repeat in your classroom or group room by allowing a student to assume the role of teacher in a class without rules. Distribute food, radios, etc. and allow the students to involve themselves in problem behaviors while the role-play teacher attempts to teach in this class without rules. The role-play teacher will soon demand and make rules. Your students will have crafted and requested the rules you end up using to manage your classroom. Instead of fighting these rules, they will have created and feel ownership of these guidelines.