23 Classroom Rules for Middle School: a Full List

I suggest that you use the following list of 23 rules in your middle school lessons.

For students, middle school is a difficult time. For the first time, they are adjusting to changing classes and instructors. At the same time that their bodies are changing and their emotions are in charge, students are adjusting to a changing classroom environment.

Making clear rules and routines is the best approach for teachers to take when managing their classrooms. Your students will perform better when they know what to expect when they walk in your door until the second they exit your class.

There are a lot of different strategies that teachers employ to keep their classes moving along without too many distractions. We have shared classroom rules for high school, kindergarten, elementary, and preschool before. We’ve provided a list of some key guidelines for your middle school classroom.

Establish How to Enter the Classroom

Start your routines before your students enter the classroom if you have hallway duty. Make a place where students can wait in line before you let them in. By doing this, you can be certain that no students will cause trouble in your room while you’re in the hallway.

Create Seating Charts

allow middle school students some autonomy in seating, helping to establish ownership in the classroom. Additionally, they tend to gravitate toward friends, making it easy to spot early on who should sit apart!

Define Tardy for Your Class

There will be a general tardy policy in place for the school corporation, but I think it’s best to be clear about what you expect. Make certain they understand what you mean by arriving at class promptly. What if they are seated but not quite ready for class to start? Student behavior improves when they understand what is expected.

Use An Agenda

A slide with an agenda or one written on the board lets students know what the day’s activities are in class and establishes norms with them. Stress levels among students are reduced when they are aware of what to expect. Because of the supportive classroom atmosphere, students can concentrate more on their academics the less stressed they are.

“Do Now” Assignments

Bell ringers and other “do now” assignments cue students that it’s time to work. They become commonplace, which is more significant. Prior to them becoming routine, you will need to set an example for your students, but the reward will be worthwhile.

How to Get Attention from Students

Middle School students are social to their core. If given the chance, they will talk with friends during valuable class time. Including attention-getters in your classroom management strategy gives students a clear signal that they need to concentrate. Give me five, pick one, and leave, snap, and reply!

Take Responsibility

Students should be encouraged, and then expected, to take responsibility for small tasks such as ensuring that their pencils are sharpened and that they have everything they need at the start of the day. There is no need for a parade of students to leave class to attend to such matters.

Be Prepared

Middle school students need to understand the value of being prepared every day, just like in the rule above. This entails finishing all of your assignments, having the right tools, and paying attention in class.

Teaching your students about preparation is a great way to show them how putting in extra effort at the start of the day or on a project can make everything go much more smoothly.

Co-grading and Collaboration

The concept of co-grading is one advantageous tactic. Students grade their papers as they review the right answers while exchanging papers with a partner. Make sure to set aside time for real-time discussion of any queries or comments during the co-grading. You won’t have as much work to grade with this approach!

The children may feel more invested in their overall learning if this method is used for simple quizzes like vocabulary or multiple-choice tests.

Hall Pass Procedure

There will be times when your students need to leave the classroom, say, to use the restroom. Make sure a process is in place for obtaining hall passes. Encourage your students to make the most of their break time, and try to reduce the number of times they use their passes.

Show Respect for Other Students, the Teacher, and Yourself

Another fundamental classroom rule and expectation for middle school students is to always act with respect. This can be explained as taking into account others’ feelings before speaking or acting. Students should treat others how they would like to be treated.

Paying attention to the speaker, waiting for your turn to speak, using kind words when speaking to others, and keeping your hands to yourself are just a few of the more detailed rules that make up respect.

Show Respect for Your Classroom

The classroom should also be respected by the students in addition to everyone else in it. Respecting the classroom entails working to keep the area tidy, keeping desks free of writing or other graffiti, and making proper use of the materials provided so as not to waste or damage them.

Build Academic Vocabulary

As part of establishing the learning environment, many schools mandate that teachers post standards and objectives. A lot of the time, these are created by adults for adults. Give your students the translation so they can comprehend it.

Eventually, the standards and objectives will be a part of their vocabulary and you will be able to refer to them without having to define them.

Include Brain Breaks

Since they are still more emotionally than cognitively developed, middle schoolers have trouble controlling their behavior. Students can be recentered or centered by tapping, moving, and breathing. Since the breaks between classes can be a time of dysregulation, building mindfulness in the class meeting promotes a better learning environment.

Cell Phones Usage

Every Middle School teacher’s life is made miserable by cell phones. The best course of action is to establish and adhere to a clear usage policy for your classroom. Many teachers now use phone jails or phone lockers to secure phones until the end of the lesson.

Technology Rules the Day

You should establish clear boundaries for your students in light of the trend toward 1:1 technology adoption in schools, particularly if your institution does not automatically block websites. You’ll want to make sure that students are fully aware of what they can and cannot do on their devices, similar to how you would with cell phones.

Pay Attention and Participate

If you want your students to learn, paying attention is crucial. Additionally, they ought to be required to take part in class discussions and exercises since these can help them reinforce what they have learned.

Explain to the students what it means to pay attention as you go over this rule. Examples include paying attention to the speaker, keeping your backpack free of any distractions, taking notes, and reflecting on and drawing connections to prior knowledge.

Don’t Disrupt Class

Middle school students still have a lot of exuberance that they aren’t always able to control. Teach them that it is improper to shout or get up from their desks when a favorite aide or another teacher walks into the classroom. Prompt them by saying, “Hello to Mr., everyone. Smith, class,” which allows them to show their affection in a much less disruptive manner.

Actively Listen to the Person Speaking

Another rule for middle school classrooms is that students must listen to the speaker intently. This one is related to paying attention but takes it just a step further. Rather than just looking at the person speaking, students should be thinking about what they are saying.

Simply “hearing” what someone else is saying is not considered active listening. In order to fully comprehend what they are saying, you must first understand it, give it careful thought, and then come up with questions you might ask.

Have a Procedure for Students That Are Feeling Ill

We all know how convenient a trip to the nurse’s office can be for students looking for an unscheduled break from class! To circumvent “fake” illnesses, keep a supply of band-aids on hand and have a few in-class remedies for common ailments.

Encourage your students to take a break, rest their eyes, rest their heads on their desks, or take a few deep breaths if they feel better.

Raise Your Hand and Wait to Speak

Middle school students have a lot to say. And while it is good to have them participate in your lessons, if students are just calling out their answers whenever they feel like it, it can get overwhelming and difficult for everyone to stay focused. Another classroom rule for middle school might be to require students to raise their hands and wait to be called upon.

When students raise their hand and wait to be called on, not only is the classroom more chaotic, but you as the teacher can try to make sure that all students get an opportunity to share, not only those who are the loudest.

Use Kind and Appropriate Language

The use of appropriate language in class should also be expected from the students. This prohibits using profanity or cursing. Reminding students that they shouldn’t say anything in front of their grandmother, grandfather, or another adult in their family will help them understand this.

In addition to watching their language, students should also work to make sure that the words they say are kind. Never accept insults or joking around.

Since middle school is such a crucial and formative period in a student’s life, words can hurt them. Work with the students in your class to talk about how hurtful words can be so detrimental to a student’s sense of worth.

No Cheating Or Plagiarizing

As compared to working with younger students, teaching middle school is a completely different experience. You might only be introducing chapter books to first graders, for instance.

However, in middle school, students are working on writing longer essays about the chapter books they have read. This is the perfect opportunity to emphasize how crucial it is to always submit your own work. Discuss what plagiarism is and why it is important not to copy the works of others.

Conclusion: Classroom Rules for Middle School

Middle school is an exciting class range as the students become more independent and thoughtful. Rules that help control the chaos are still crucial, despite their improved skills.

If you teach middle school, you are all too aware of the difficulties that middle schoolers can present. You probably also are aware, though, that the majority of your students are excellent young people who simply require the right support and direction in order to succeed. I hope my recommendations for middle school classroom regulations were useful.