[…] Time, but it is a delicate and important process in our attempt to understand each other. This blog, from the IB website, is a great resource for those who are interested in formulating essential agreements […] The word shows the keywords in the original student list, which helps them learn. We believe it is important to have an essential agreement based on creating an environment conducive to learning and not on rules and regulations. Our teaching and learning team has an “essential agreement” inspired by this clip: while some teachers no longer use the term “rules” in their classrooms, others still use it because they might think about what their classroom would look like without rules. They don`t want a chaotic class, so they prefer to use the “rules” instead of “agreement” In a PYP school, every class, every team, even the whole school has an essential agreement that sets the tone for collaboration and teamwork. Otherwise, how could we know what the common standards and expectations are? There are endless opportunities to develop such agreements, and since the start of a new school year in Australia, all our teams and classes have been working on theirs. We then thought about what our classroom should be, and the children left in pairs to chat. The next day, we asked, “What are the most important things for you?” Teachers in some schools are now starting to move from the use of the word “rules” to the use of the word “agreements.” What are the differences between rules and consistency in the classroom? Rules are imposed. They are defined for compliance purposes. Any violation of the rules should be punished in order to obtain the power of the rule.
The rules are “above people.” The place of control is external and teaches us that we do not have power – so we are pushed towards obedience rather than inner motivation. Michelle Twining enjoys teaching with a holistic, demand-based approach and creating a culture of thought in her classroom. She`s tweeting @smwhreinbetween. This is one of the best I have read so far on discussion and creating an essential agreement. Teachers and students are sometimes so “accustomed” to creating them, but they have not understood why they did it. The best thing would be to leave the value to the class. It`s a great contribution! Essential agreements are not rules and directions, but essential agreements indicate common standards and expectations. This is a joint action by all the staff in this classroom or all the teams involved to outline the environment that will help everyone learn and achieve their best. […] A key agreement has been reached in our classroom. He focused on two areas: how we deal with each other and how we […] As far as I`m concerned, since I teach in an IB school, I prefer to start my class by creating an “essential agreement” to make sure my class is working well and well.