Class Wishes

No Rules - Class Wishes Instead:  (Beginning of School)  I always love to start my school year by establishing our class culture.  I love telling my students that we have NO RULES in our classroom.  The students' faces look shocked - and excited.  I tell them that in our classroom we will have "wishes" instead.  We brainstorm together on chart paper the way we "wish" everyone would act in the classroom.  The students are amazing - they know exactly what they wish everyone would do.  I have the students pick their favorite wish and write it on a heart.  This gives them ownership.  I then have the students cut out their heart and glue it on the class chart labeled  - Class Wishes.  I then tally the wishes after school and come up with our top five wishes.  The next day we agree on the posted wishes and I have the kiddos each sign the chart showing their agreement.  It is a totally different feel when I approach a student and say... Janeen, you are not making our class wish of being kind to others when you pushed your friend.  You will need to pull your card.  Janeen realizes that our goal is to make our class wishes come true - it helps her understand our vision for the classroom.  Try it out!  You can download the Class Wishes - heart FREE at my TPT store!