Classroom rules should be reviewed on the first day of school. These rules should also be posted in a highly visible area that students can see every day. In addition, teachers should make a hard copy of these rules and have students sign the rules and have their parents or guardians sign the rules to acknowledge that everyone understands the rules and is on the same page. If you take these steps to make sure everyone understands the rules clearly, the class overall will be better behaved, and the students will know what is expected of them.
Along with clearly explaining the rules, the consequences attached to these rules should also be covered on the first day of school and in the rules sheet. Outlining the consequences before a rule is broken will also be a time saver for the teacher, because students already know their punishment and you will not have to come up with one on the spot. This action also helps further enforce the expectations the teacher has, which will contribute to a more efficient, well-behaved class.
Sometimes the most difficult part of the rules and consequences is enforcing them. Students will come up with reasons they had to break the rule, but the truth is that these are usually excuses. They will try to play on your compassion, but it is part of your job to be consistent and enforce the punishment under almost any circumstance. Consistent enforcement will make the rules and consequences standard, which means that the students will eventually stop trying to make excuses and will do what is expected of them, which means a smoother day for everyone.
Consistently enforcing the rules and consequences also has the added benefit of helping students see you as a fair teacher that does not play favorites. Children of all ages have a major interest in and awareness of fairness and will pick up on your letting one person or a few people get away with breaking a rule and not having to suffer the consequence. They will view this as favoritism, which will make classroom management much more difficult. Sometimes enforcing the rules makes the teacher the villain, but in the long run, everyone will respect you more for your consistency, which is a big contributing factor in the classroom atmosphere.