Post the rules of your classroom in a visible place on the wall so that students can see them at all times. To help students not yet able to read, post photos next to each rule to help all children remember the rules. You may also let your students participate in making rules on the first day of class. Participating in such an important task makes children feel a greater sense of respect, which encourages them to behave accordingly in following rules they helped create.
Keep the rules simple. Kindergarten children are too young to overwhelm with a bevy of regulations; sticking to the basics -- such as requiring that children treat everyone with kindness and respect, share items and raise their hands before speaking -- will help.
Explain the rules to your students on their first day of class and tell them what consequences they face for neglecting the rules. Letting children know from the start that misbehaving results in loss of outdoor play time, for example, will encourage the majority of children to behave.
Notify parents of your classroom rules and consequences for breaking them. Share the rules at your school's open house when parents and children are invited to meet the teachers, tour the school and see the child's classroom prior to the start of the school year. Parents' support for the rules means students are more apt to behave.
Discipline your students appropriately when the rules are broken. Assess the situation and decide whether requires immediate action or a simple warning. Consider following the LEAST approach to discipline, created by the National Education Association, in which LEAST stands for: Leave It Alone; End the Action Indirectly; Attend More Fully; Spell Out Directions; and Treat Student Progress. Leave minor disturbances alone if they are not likely to recur. End a disturbing action with a firm look, using the name or names of the students involved or conveying your displeasure with your body language. Obtain the who, what, when, where and why of the incident from those involved and objectively handle the situation. Interrupt disruptive behavior that gets out of hand by repeating the consequences of the behavior and follow through. Keeping a written record of the incident, witnesses and how the situation was resolved.