- Begin the lesson for classroom discipline by showing a brief clip from a movie depicting a classroom in chaos. Do not explain that your motivations for showing the clip involve a lesson in classroom discipline. Movies such as "Stand and Deliver" or "To Sir, with Love" offer suitable scenes. Be sure to show a clip that shows both the students' misbehavior and the face of the teacher at a point where disappointment, frustration or sadness visibly appears. After showing the clip, ask students to put themselves in the place of the teacher and imagine what emotions he feels. Also, ask students to imagine what the motivation for the students' behavior was during the clip. In groups, have students brainstorm a list of emotions the teacher feels and student motivations. Discuss the changes that need to occur to make the classroom in the movie a successful learning environment. Students usually express disbelief that a class could be so unruly and offer many examples for ways the students should change their behavior.
- As students discuss ways the classroom in the movie needs to change, write their answers on a piece of chart paper or the white board so they are visible to all. Explain that the purpose of the movie clip was to begin an activity to create classroom expectations. Have students in each group work together on a short, simple skit that shows the same movie clip with changed behaviors. They refer to the chart paper list of ways the movie classroom needed to change for ideas when creating the skit. Each group then presents the skit of improved behaviors to the class. Ask students which environment, the movie clips or the skits, offers a better learning environment. Next, have students brainstorm together to create three classroom rules or expectations for the classroom.
- When groups finish creating the lists of proposed expectations, have each group read the list to the class. Discuss the common expectations all groups proposed as well as any that are unnecessary or inappropriate. Students also may find that some expectations can be combined into one, such as "Do not talk when the teacher talks" and "Do not talk when other students talk," which combined might read "Do not talk when others have permission to speak to the class." Finalize the list verbally with the class then create a chart tablet listing of the final classroom discipline expectations. Once finished, all students and the teacher sign the agreed upon expectations and post them visibly in the room as a reference and reminder for the class.
