Meme rules!

Like most of you, I have been hard at work getting my classroom ready. I am moving into a new room and at the same time the previous teacher is moving out, so I'm still all over the place. I haven't even picked up my technologies (projector and all that) yet.

What I did today is something I have wanted to do for a while - made a meme rules wall.

By the time kids get to high school, they know the rules. They've been over it. Doing the same old rules taught with the same old activities won't phase them. That does not mean that we should abandon the idea. Instead, we just need to do it a bit differently. Some high school teachers make this very severe and serious. I used to be one of them. Rules are important for teenagers, after all. I have found that approach didn't really help me. It just made for a boring first day.

I have 3 rules - Respect yourself, respect others, and respect our school. That is both specific and vague, which high school kids can handle. There are obviously a ton of other rules and procedures that fit in those categories. To try to write that all out would be boring, and every teenager alive would outright ignore it.

Enter the memes. (I found them all on pinterest. If you've been on the internet - which, obviously, you have - you've probably seen these.)

Disclaimer - I'm not sure who made these memes. You know how things spread on the internet. They belong to whomever it was that created them. If you are that person, please let me know so that I can give you credit.

I think the memes serve two purposes:

1. The rules and procedures for my class are explained. Students have an idea of what things are acceptable. For example, my school allows students to have cell phones, but they cannot have them out in class. Teachers are allowed to take phones if we see them. Under the "respect our school" rule, I have the Darth Vader meme - "Your teacher took your phone? Mine took my legs." 

2. I incorporate all of these rules and procedures with humor in a way that engages my students. Would any average teenager stop and read a list of rules? (I mean really read them, not just glance at them and pretend.) No way! Would an average teenager stop and look at a wall of internet memes? You bet!

I'll be interested to see how this works out for my students. I have seen it work with success in other classrooms. I will update you later!

Cheers!

- S

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