Submitted by Tami Mangusso, Aurora, Colorado

Idea posted August 26, 2003

My rules are pretty simple, and they follow the school's overall rules:

  1. Have respect for each other.
  2. Treat property with respect.
  3. Respect yourself.

Then I have a Music Time Expectation wall that spells everything out. There's alway some wise kid in the class who tries to put things to the test. I like arts and crafts, so I have made music tiles that create a colorful border. The tiles are made from card stock. I used two pieces (both a different color), and then I put a big music note in the middle of it. I typed out the expectations on my computer and then cut them into strips. I put one strip on each tile. Then I numbered each tile. When a student breaks a rule, I will ask the student which rule he/she broke. A lot of times he/she will say, "I don't know." Then I will direct him/her to the tiles by saying "Please read tile #____," and then I will ask the student, "Which rule do you think this expectation falls under?" At this point the student realizes that he/she has broken a rule and usually will make better choices.

My consequences are:

If a student gets his/her name and two checks by the name, he/she sits at the "Compose Yourself" table (got this idea from the MusicK8.com Mailing List). At the "Compose Yourself" table, the student fills out a form that asks him/her questions, such as: What did I do wrong?, Which rule did I break?, What can I do better the next time? (also got this idea from the MusicK8.com Mailing List). Then he/she will copy the rule and expectation that has been broken one time. I will then confer with the student to make sure that he/she understands what he/she did and that it is not acceptable. I usually do this conference at the end of class, while the other students are leaving, by pulling him/her to the side. If I don't have time to do it at the end of class, I will find another time and go to his/her classroom to pull him/her out into the hallway, or I'll wait until the next time he/she has music.

To discourage repeat offenders, I make the consequence a little more painful each time. For example, instead of copying just the rule and expectation that he/she has broken, he/she now has to copy all the rules and the expectations (12 expectations total). Sometimes I will have him/her copy the words to the song if it's a singing day. This really works well.

If a student just can't get his/her act together, then I will send him/her out of the room, either back to the classroom or to the office. He/she also gets a Discipline Slip.

This year I plan on rapping the rules and expectations to each class. I'm still working on writing this rap, trying to get everything to rhyme.