When I started teaching, I kept hearing things like, “You’ll want to make sure you set classroom norms in the first week.”

When I heard this, I nodded confidently, but really I was thinking, “OK, what is a ‘norm’ and how do I set it?”

This is the article I needed back then. I hope it’s useful to you.

What’s a “Norm”?

A norm is a standard of behavior in a social group. Your family has norms, your soccer team has norms, a group of strangers squished into a train together has norms.

Every class you teach has norms. Have you ever seen Mean Girls? Regina George, head of the Plastics—the clique at the heart of the film—is an expert at setting norms.

Often (as in the case of Mean Girls) classes find themselves governed by norms that most people would not have chosen. This is why it is ideal to set norms deliberately, as a group.

A Simple Way to Set Norms in Your Class

When I set norms in my classroom,  I include everybody in the process, and it takes less than an hour.

I learned this technique from Megan Willis, who teaches engineering at High Tech High Chula Vista.

What you need

• Your own version of a “Norms slideshow”
  • You can copy this one and customize it, or make your own from scratch
• Music to accompany the slideshow (I use “The Staunton Lick” by Lemon Jelly)
• A printout of the Norms Note Catcher for every student
• Chart paper
• Markers that can write on chart paper (enough so each student has one)
• A big version of the Norms Note Catcher that you can write on. You can:
  • make this on a whiteboard (blue tape works well for the squares)
  • put it on a classroom projector and type in it
  • draw it on chart paper
  • print it out, if you have access to a plotter printer

Classroom set-up

• Students should be in groups of four, positioned so everyone can see where you posted or projected the large Norms Note Catcher.
• Every student should have their own copy of the Norms Note Catcher and a pen or pencil.

Step 1: Show the norms slideshow

To show the slideshow, I dim the lights, put on background music, and go through the slides silently, making sure students have time to read each one.

Step 2: On their own, each student fills in the four categories of their note catcher

The prompt for this writing task is, “Write what you need from the four categories in order to be successful in this class.”

Step 3: In groups of four, students draw the four squares on a piece of chart paper and list the norms they recommend for each category

Students can do this by sharing what they wrote on their note catchers and deciding which norms they want to include, combine, or modify to guide everyone in class.

It’s a good idea to nominate someone to write on the chart paper. You can say something like, “The person with the lightest color shoes in the group should be the scribe.”

Step 4: Norms gallery walk

To set this up, each group should display their chart prominently, either by posting it on a wall or by clearing their table so the chart is easy to see. This is the “gallery.”

Once the gallery is set up, each student should pick up a marker and walk around the room reading each chart.

When they see a norm that will help them be successful in class, they should draw a star next to it. I recommend playing instrumental music for this, and making it a silent activity.

Step 5: The teacher combines the proposed norms into a set of class norms and puts them to the class for approval

You can decide whether to do this right away or wait until the next day. I recommend getting consensus by asking students if there’s anything they have concerns about. If no one says anything, you can assume consensus. You can also ask everyone to raise hands or give a thumbs up to register approval.

Once the norms are approved, display them prominently in the classroom. If you have access to a plotter printer, print them out as a poster. Otherwise, hand-write a poster (or ask a student with nice handwriting and a flair for design to make it). Post this in an impossible-to-miss location, like the wall next to the whiteboard or near the doorway in the classroom.

Here is a poster I made for one of my classes:

Integrating the Norms into your Classroom

Once you have set your class norms, make sure you refer to them regularly so they become familiar. Here are four ways to do this:

• Use the specific language of the norms when redirecting students.
• Use the norms as prompts for reflective writing, such as self-assessments and exit tickets. For example, “Which norm are you finding easiest/hardest to follow when working in your group?”
• Share the norms that you’re finding easiest/hardest to follow as a teacher in the class.
• Remind students of the norms at the beginning of each new unit or project. This can also be an opportunity to update or revise the norms.