For me, classroom agreements are a little different than just your classroom rules. Classroom Agreements set the culture of your classroom. They are more like a classroom social contract. What do you want your class to be known for? What will classmates always do? If a fly sat on the wall, what values would it see your class following?

Learn exactly how I introduce a class agreement in my first week of school plans. This is a free google docs where I have typed up everything I do the first week of school and you can tweak things to your needs. Get your free copy here. It also comes with my Back to School Checklist to help you save time and brain power this back to school season!

In this blog post, I will be showing you how you can make a classroom agreement in your elementary classroom.

First, brainstorm ideas with your students of values they want to live by. If you want them to find specific values, bring in picture books that talk about those values. Write down any ideas students may have. I am usually looking for values like:

• We work hard
• We do our best
• We work together
• We are kind no matter what

Next, finalize as a class what ones are most important. Have students vote. Or you can have a discussion on what one they think is most important. Then write them down on your final copy.

I use a Classroom Agreement PDF in my classroom. I type up our values and print it out. Find the one I use in my classroom here.

Finally, have students sign their name on a page. As they do this, tell them that they are showing they will follow these values by signing their name. They are agreeing to always follow these.

Now there will come times in your classroom when students don’t follow these. Talk to them about what they agreed to and the importance of the classroom agreement. I even like to get my students writing about these and our class rules. Just to let them sink in a bit more.

For other classroom management tips, check out this blog post Meaningful Classroom Management Techniques.

Looking for everything you need for Back to School? Check out this bundle where you get all of my classroom management tools plus other back to school essentials in this Back to School Mega Bundle here. 

On another note, did you know that it is my passion to help students become fluent in math facts? I love to help them learn their math facts in a fun and meaningful way. I put together a 7 step guide to help you do they same. Get you FREE guide here.