Start as you mean to go on. It’s a big ask for the first week of school, especially when it comes to setting up classroom expectations in middle school. Having clear expectations for your students is so worth it in the long run. The problem? You have to actually know what those expectations are.
1. Expectations to Start the Day
Make sure to be at the door to greet your students at the beginning of the day. In the busyness of the day, this (sadly) might be the only contact you have with some students. You can have a fancy handshake or a high-five if you like that kind of thing. I’m more of a “Good morning” type of person, although I do make sure my students make eye contact and say “Good morning” back before they enter the classroom.
What do your students do once they enter the classroom? Have a spot for them to hand in their work and then have something for them to do right away. I used to give them a Quick Write to do as soon as they came in but I found soft starts worked better for me. Not sure what a soft start is? You can read a little bit about it here.
Once all of the logistics are taken care of, start the day off with a morning meeting. Morning meeting in middle school?!?! Yes! It doesn’t have to be long but it is so important to gather together as a class, do a little bit of sharing or play a game, and talk about the day.
2. Expectations for How to Treat One Another
These expectations need to be established on the first day of school but should really be revisited throughout the school year. Some teachers create classroom contracts or constitutions with their students. In order for classroom expectations in middle school to be effective, they need to be student driven.
By the time students reach middle school they know what is expected of them. This Classroom Expectations Web causes students to reflect on how they want to treat each other, how they want the teacher to treat them, how the teacher wants to be treated and how to solve problems when conflict occurs. You can use any prompts that fit with how you want your classroom to operate, though. Click here if you want to see a different take on this idea.
Post your prompts on chart paper and have students respond to each prompt on a sticky note that they then stick on the appropriate paper.
Split students up into 4 groups and give each group one of the pieces of chart paper. Instruct them to remove any duplicates and draw a small line branching off from each of the ideas. As a group, they will describe what that idea “looks like” in the classroom. If a student wrote, “Be kind” they would give an example of what kindness would look like – “Give someone a pencil if they lost theirs.”
Rotate the chart paper, and draw a line to branch off again but this time focus on what that idea would “sound like.” Then, repeat the activity but with what the idea would “feel like.”
Hang the webs up in your classroom as a daily reminder of how your students want their classroom to look like, sound like and feel like.
You can find this activity and a digital version (see picture below) that you can use on Jamboard or Google Slides with your class right here.
3. Expectations for Classroom Procedures
Classroom procedures should also be addressed during the first week of school. These may change throughout the year depending on the needs of your students. Some things to consider:
- What will your students do in the morning, after recess, after lunch, and before the end of the day?
- How is attendance taken?
- What are the expectations for large group, small group and independent work?
- How will you get students’ attention?
- What are the washroom procedures?
- Where do they store personal belongings, completed work, work to be completed, student resources and tools, art supplies or general supplies?
- How is work or notices to be sent home distributed to students?
- How do you collect completed work?
It helps to take a bit of time and actually write out how you envision these routines and procedures going.
4. Expectations for Using Digital Tools
This is a big one and something that I was guilty of skipping over. It’s importance was brought to the forefront during the school closure in the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Students who I thought had a good understanding of how Google Classroom worked STRUGGLED. I’m talking about not actually knowing how to find assignments and clicking submit when they actually didn’t do the work. Maybe you experienced that, too.
One solution is to actually break down and guide students through how to use these digital tools, step by step by step. Even if they are familiar with them they need to be explicitly taught. Do not assume that they know what you want them to know.
My friend Branda, from The Relevant Classroom, has created an amazing Google Classroom Crash Course for students. It walks them through how to use all of Google Classroom’s features through mini-lessons and assessments. Click here to check it out. You will love it!
4. Expectations for How to End the Day
Be sure to have procedures in place for how you want your students to leave the classroom or you will be left with a giant mess.
- Do your students use agendas?
- Do you have a spot that lists their homework?
- Who is responsible for filling out the homework board? (Suggestion: have your students do it).
- Are you signing agendas? (I recommend checking at the beginning of the year and easing up once they show responsibility).
- Who is responsible for cleaning up shared workspaces?
- Will you assign that job to other students in the class?
Say goodbye to your students! Just like how you greeted them at the door in the morning, take the time to say goodbye to them as they leave. It’s just another small way to connect that makes a big impact.
Setting up classroom expectations in middle school does take work. Making sure your students follow those expectations takes even more work. But in February (or sooner) when your classroom is running itself and you can sit back and drink some of your tea or coffee (while it’s still hot), you will be congratulating yourself for doing that work. Your students will be thanking you, too – just not with actual words because middle schoolers don’t do that.
Looking for other ideas to build classroom community? Sign up below to get three freebies to kick-start your classroom community.
