TL;DR:
- Replace classroom rules with classroom expectations for more clarity.
- The value of expectations over rigid rules draws parallels with the experience of enjoying club sandwiches with slight variations at different places.
- The post encourages educators to have clear expectations collaboratively set with students rather than an exhaustive list of rules. This allows for flexibility and creativity.
Club Sandwiches and Expectations
I teach an early morning scripture study class for high schoolers in my home each school day. Toward the end of the year, the following discussion (lightly paraphrased) took place:
Student: I think we should replace our classroom expectations and norms with rules.
Me: Oh? Why is that?
Student: The expectations are too vague and allow other students to do things that I don’t think they should be doing.
Me: Interesting. And you think having rules would change this?
Student: Yes! For example, we could have a rule that says that the music we listen to can only be from our church hymnal.
Me: Okay, but what about the music we have used in class that is specifically written for the teens in the church? Those songs are not in the hymnal.
Student: Well, that’s true. Maybe the rule could be, “Students can only pick music that is approved by the church.”
Me: I understand your point, but what about this song we listened to that everyone felt was positive, uplifting, and spiritual? It was from a secular artist.
Student: Well…
Me: One of our expectations is to respect one another’s views. We also have established a class norm to open our minds to diverse views. If we were to adopt this rule, would it supersede the expectations and norms?
Other student: If we are going to have rules, how about these? Students must take off their shoes after coming into the house. Students must always use a coaster when putting a drink on the table. They must carefully and quietly put down their belongings so as to not disrupt others. They must sit properly in their chairs.
Student: Hold on! Those all sound like things that I do that you don’t like!
Other student: Exactly! If you want rules to stop me from selecting music you don’t like, then I should be able to make rules to stop you from doing things I don’t like!
Me: Or we could continue with our expectation to respect one another’s views. Or maybe we shorten it to just “respect one another.”
Student: Hm…
Other student: Hm…
Me: Mm hm!
Discovering the Classic Club Sandwich
Many, many years ago, I went on a short road trip with three of my older brothers. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and, on a whim, I decided to order something I had never had before: a club sandwich. I immediately fell in love with this sandwich that had multiple layers of ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, and toasted bread. (A club sandwich usually has tomatoes on it, but I have a deep aversion to tomatoes, so I always ask for those to be excluded.)
In the decades since that fateful day, I have developed the habit of ordering club sandwiches whenever I am at a new restaurant that has this staple of sandwich options on the menu. I have found that there are many small variations to how diners prepare club sandwiches, but the expectations stay the same: sliced turkey, sliced ham, bacon, lettuce, mayonnaise, and tomatoes served on toasted bread. Some diners serve it as a stacked sandwich with multiple layers with slices of bread between each set of core ingredients. Others stack everything between just two pieces of bread. Some just use white bread, while others offer a variety of breads. There are no rules dictating what constitutes a club sandwich, but there are expectations!
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Fishy Rules
Back to my students and the discussion about rules and expectations. I agree with Jim Fay and David Funk, authors of Teaching with Love and Logic, who made this argument about rules and expectations:
There was a school that had a lot of rules for their students. In fact, the school handbook had 324 rules that students, teachers, and families were expected to know and follow. One day, a boy in a teacher’s class threw a dead fish at a girl in his class. The teacher began to chastise him and he said, “But teacher, there’s no rule against it!” He was right: there was no rule that said, “Students may not throw fish at each other.”
Fay and Funk suggested that it was nearly impossible for any student to be able to keep track of 324 rules and that they could all be replaced with one generalised expectation: “You can do anything you want in this class, provided it doesn’t cause a problem for anyone else.”
Clear Expectations
I was eating lunch at a cafe in Nebraska not too long ago and, of course, ordered a club sandwich. While enjoying my meal, I was thinking about how awful it would be if there were hundreds of rules dictating exactly what constituted a club sandwich. While every club sandwich would be nearly identical, there would be no room for creativity or innovation. However, with clear expectations, I was able to try a club sandwich at a diner in Iowa a few days later and knew that the essence of the sandwich would be the same, even though different cooks would try different ideas. (And yes, the two sandwiches had slight variations!)
Likewise with my early morning religious class. If we tried to make a list of rules dictating every possible infraction, we would never get around to learning. But with a few clear expectations, many of those rules would be covered by these expectations.
Consider replacing your rules with expectations.
If you have rules in your classroom, consider replacing them with expectations that are set collaboratively with your students. If you already have expectations, take time to review them periodically to identify any needed changes.
And the next time you find yourself eating lunch in a diner, cafe, or other restaurant, try the club sandwich and let me know what you think!
About Alex T. Valencic
Alex Valencic is an educator, former small business owner, Boy Scout, volunteer drug prevention specialist, unrepentant bibliophile, and a geek of all things. He worked as a substitute teacher for three years before achieving his lifelong dream of teaching fourth grade, which he did for seven years in Urbana, Illinois, before accepting his current position as the Curriculum Coordinator for 21st Century Teaching and Learning in Freeport, Illinois, where he not only supports innovative educational practices in the classroom but also oversees social studies, science, and nearly all of the elective courses in the district.
