My First Year Using Ron Clark's Essential 55

Last summer was the first time I read Ron Clark's The Essential 55. It, of course, was amazing. I knew instantly I wanted to incorporate this ideology into my classroom, but implementing it was a little intimidating to say the least! I was thinking "How am I going to implement and stay consistent with 55 rules, while learning about 22 new friends, and still function during the first week of school?" So, I decided to not introduce all 55 rules last year. Instead, I picked 10 to introduce. In this post I will go through the 10 rules I introduced and go over what worked and what didn't! Also, I'll go over how it impacted my class for the better! I hope this helps some of you wanting to implement this in your classroom as well!

At the beginning of last school year I introduced and went over 2-3 rules a day. For me it worked best to discuss the rules first thing in the morning. I used Ron Clark's Essential 55 Classroom Companion: Posters, Parent Letter, Mini Book by Sassy Schoolhouse. This is a $3 resource on TPT. I did not end up using the student book, but her insight on how she implemented the 55 rules, and the posters were very useful. The student book was neat, and may work for you. I found we spent more time discussing, and working through scenarios. There are tons of other resources including free ones! If you find one you like let me know!

The Rules:

When responding to any adult, you must answer by saying “Yes ma’am” or “No sir.” 

We started off with this rule. I explained to them how it is a sign of respect, and is a good tool to have when talking with others. This rule did not take much time to discuss, but had to be reinforced routinely. I really wanted them to do this outside of the classroom, which they did often. I had one little boy who needed some coaching on timing. He had troubles with blurting it out before the sentence was finished. So, we did more role playing practice in class.  

Make eye contact. When someone is speaking, keep your eyes on him or her at all times. If someone makes a comment, turn and face that person.

Our school already uses Boys Town Social Skills, so our students have heard quite a bit about the importance of eye contact, especially in one-on-one conversations. Last year, I did lots of reminding, and practicing of this skill. One way we practiced eye contact was every morning we met by the door and I give them a hug. As I gave them a hug and asked how they were doing they would make sure to give me eye contact. They could not enter until they gave me eye contact. I made this a big deal, because I had many boys who seemed to have an aversion to eye contact. I had read in another book (Conscious Discipline, which is an amazing book) that students who have not experienced appropriate social interaction with others do this as a defense mechanism. We all have them the kid who always seems angry. He comes in with no eye contact and goes straight to his seat. When we make eye contact with this child first thing in the morning it helps to set the tone of the day. It helps to break away at this wall they have created, and helps to teach them proper social etiquette. It is a seriously interesting book.

We also focused on making eye contact with our peers as they are speaking in class. I recently got back from the Get Your Teach On Conference and Hope King called this tracking. She discussed a great way to practice this skill the first week of school.  All you do is pass a ball around the room while answering questions. It is a physical reminder to students to look at who is speaking. I will be adding this in this year.

If someone in the class wins a game or does something well, we will congratulate that person by clapping and telling them good job.

This one is one of my favorites. It took a bit to master though! As Ron Clark discusses in his book students should not be clapping for every single thing.  Don't get discouraged, I promise they will pick it up. We practiced clapping altogether (Weird I know, but your ears will thank you.) and we only had 3 seconds to do it. We practiced the 3 second rule A LOT! I had my students clap for 3 seconds, and immediately place their hands on top of their desks. They really followed the rules well. We have what we call an ELA teacher for second grade. She comes and pulls students for reading groups, and pushes in to teach writing. She said they would even clap for each other in her room during small group, and it never got in the way of her teaching. This made me feel better knowing not only do they keep this rule up, but the fact they do it appropriately Trust me, the first time she told me about this my heart sank. I was thinking my kids are being crazy with a rule I taught them, but no they actually were doing it effectively! Mine mastered this rule, so yours can too! 

During discussions, respect other students’ comments, opinions, and ideas.

This is a big one we went over. I feel like this rule tied in with rule # 8, which is do not smack your lips, tsk, roll your eyes, or show disrespect with gestures. We really broke this down and discussed what disrespectful gestures were. I then acted them out, with student volunteers. We use Dojo, and this is one of the points they can lose. It also has one of the highest values on ClassDojo.  

If you win or do well at something, do not brag. If you lose, do not show anger.

Oh my, my! This was one of the hardest for me. I had a room of 12 boys and 8 girls. Needless to say, we liked some competition! We also did not like to lose. We really worked on this. We of course discussed, and modeled behavior, but as we know that can go out the window when emotions are involved. Gym is where we had our biggest issues. To help reinforce this issue I let coach know what we were working on, and if he saw a particular student or group doing this well I had a special Dojo point they would receive. This rule needed to be revisited regularly.   

If you are asked a question in conversation, you should ask a question in return.

We practiced this rule every day in the morning. When I gave them a hug I would ask them how they were doing. Once, they answered they were to ask me a question in return. This was difficult, and some times even felt rushed, but I feel that this was a meaningful encounter. Not only did I get a moment to ask each student how they were doing, but they are learning appropriate conversation skills. 

Another way we practiced this was in our writing. Whenever we wrote a friendly letter they were to make sure they included at least one question in their letter. 

Always say thank you when given something. There is no excuse for not showing appreciation. It will be taken away after 3 seconds if you have not said thank you.

In Ron Clark's book he discusses how he will take away what they are given if they do not say thank you. We started off good on this rule, but it got hard for me to follow through. For instance, it was hard for me with birthday treats, and especially if another teacher or a parent was handing out the treat. I just ended up reminding them to always say thank you. 

We were really big on telling the lunch ladies thank you whenever they received a tray. We made it a huge deal before lunch to tell the lunch ladies thank you. I asked for my students to keep an eye out for their classmates who say thank you. Whenever they got back in from lunch I would then ask the class who they heard say thank you. They would stand up and we would give them around of applause. We did this the first month of school religiously. After that, I would ask randomly to check. It did not take much time, but I felt like it did help them to get in the habit of saying thank you for gestures we take for granted.

When you are given something from someone, never insult that person by making negative comments about the gift or by insinuating that it wasn’t appreciated.

This is a big one. Over the years I have had students that respond this way whenever they are given a gift or reward. It seems so simple, but I really feel that discussing this the first day with my students had a huge impact, and making it a visible rule. I explained to them how it was hurtful, and appropriate responses they should have in this situation. We really did not have issues with this during the year, and the few issues that we did have were corrected quickly by classmates. If we were about to have a party or activity where I knew students would be receiving a treat we would be reminded of this rule.

Random fun fact: I had one little girl who always started the class in the old saying, " We get what we get, and we don't throw a fit." Haha. It was a good reminder, and I am so thankful to have had her in my classroom.

Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness

I'm not going to write much on this. Many of us do tons of these types of activities in our classrooms regularly. Instead, I am just going to share my favorite books on this topic. Let me know if there are others I should check out!

I also added a picture below that from our Random Acts of Kindness Wall for no reason. Haha. It makes me happy to see, so I hope it makes you happy too!

Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and say “Excuse me”.

Not much to write here. 😊

Overall: 

 A lot of these rules seem like common sense, but going over them was so important. The main thing is to be consistent with the rules and to model appropriate behaviors. It was tons of modeling and reminding. I spent quite a bit of time on this at the beginning. At one point I was worried about being excessive, but it was worth it. I also thought gosh my kids aren't going to get this, but they did. So, don't give it up! You can do it! I also liked breaking the rules up. It made it way less overwhelming and makes me feel confident in adding more this year! 

I can say these rules had a visible impact on my classroom. Last year was my 4th year of teaching and I could tell a difference. Other teachers noticed how well they gave eye contact not only with teachers, but also when their peers were speaking. They often got compliments about being polite, even when they were in trouble. 

Now do you need to choose these 10 rules? Or only pick 10 to add? No! You do what works for you! 

Let me know what you think of this post, or any suggestions you might want to add! Good Luck!!
 (P.S. this is my first post and I had a lot of trouble with formatting! Feel free to add suggestions for that too!)