At the beginning of the school year, it can be tempting to pull out a list of classroom rules and expectations and start reviewing them with students. But instead of beginning with a list of things I expect my students to do, I like to start with a different question:

What do we want our classroom to be like?

I begin by creating a poster that says:

“We want our classroom to look, feel, and sound…”

Then, I lead students in a conversation about what they want our classroom to look, feel, and sound like. I guide the discussion and give examples when students need a little help getting started, but I want the ideas to come from them.

Students might say things like:

• “We want our classroom to feel calm.”
• “We want our classroom to sound happy.”
• “We want our classroom to look clean.”
• “We want our classroom to feel safe.”
• “We want our classroom to sound peaceful.”

I write their ideas down, and students add their own responses to the poster using sticky notes. It becomes a visual representation of the kind of classroom we want to create together.

And the word we is important.

Turning Our Vision Into Expectations

Once we’ve established what we want our classroom to look, feel, and sound like, we have another conversation:

“So, what do we need to do to make that happen?”

This is where our classroom expectations come from.

For example, if we decide we want our classroom to sound happy, we might decide that we need to speak to one another with kindness.

If we want our classroom to look clean, we might decide that we need to take care of our classroom supplies and clean up after ourselves.

If we want our classroom to feel calm, we might decide that we need to stay in our seats when we’re supposed to and use appropriate voices.

The important distinction is that I’m not simply handing students a list of rules and asking them to follow it. We’re connecting each expectation to something they said they wanted for our classroom.

That gives the expectations a purpose.

Instead of “Don’t talk disrespectfully because that’s a rule,” the conversation becomes, “We said we wanted our classroom to sound happy. What can we do to make sure everyone feels respected?”

Why Student Ownership Matters

There is research to support giving students a meaningful voice in creating classroom expectations.

Student voice and autonomy are connected to motivation, engagement, and a greater sense of ownership over learning. Self-Determination Theory, developed by researchers Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as important psychological needs that support motivation. Giving students appropriate choices and opportunities to contribute to their environment can help support that sense of autonomy.

There is also a strong connection between students’ sense of belonging and their experience at school. When students feel that they are valued members of the classroom community, not simply people who are expected to comply with adult-created rules, they are more likely to feel connected to the environment and the people in it.

For students receiving special education services, I think this is particularly important. We spend a lot of time talking about what students need to change or work on. I want to make sure we’re also creating opportunities for students to contribute, make decisions, and have their voices heard.

Creating Our Class Contract

Once we’ve worked together to turn our ideas into specific expectations, we write them down as our class contract.

Everyone signs it, including me.

This isn’t meant to be a legally binding document or a way to “catch” students breaking rules. Instead, it serves as a reminder of the classroom community we agreed we wanted to create.

And when expectations need to be revisited, which they inevitably will be, we can return to our original question:

“Is what we’re doing helping our classroom look, feel, and sound the way we said we wanted it to?”

That shifts the conversation from punishment and compliance to reflection and responsibility.

Ultimately, I don’t want my students to feel like the classroom is simply a place where adults make the rules and students follow them.

It’s our classroom.

And if we’re going to ask students to take responsibility for the environment we create together, I think they should have a voice in deciding what that environment looks, feels, and sounds like in the first place.