4.

1 Expectations of behaviour
With any new class (adults or children), it is always worth taking the time to
communicate your expectations to your students, and to engage in dialogue as to
what is and what isn’t “acceptable” classroom behaviour.

Negotiate the classroom norms with your students at the beginning of the
term/course and pin up a short list of rules (maximum 5) somewhere in the class.
Refer to the list either verbally or with a gesture when students are in danger of
breaking the rules.

In order to emphasise your expectations of appropriate behaviour the rules should

be stated in a positive way, rather than negative. For example, “Remember to
switch off your mobile phones” rather than “No mobile phones allowed”. A catch-all
rule such as “Follow directions the first time they are given” will help to cover
problems that are not addressed specifically.

With adults, frequently a simple reminder will suffice, and with younger learners
your school will already have in place a system of consequences for infraction of
rules. Make sure your students know what the consequences* are for each
infraction (*please note we do not talk about “punishment”!!!).