I NEVER HAD TOO MANY RULES

The first days of school were always a good time for me. As a student and a teacher.

But I think I enjoyed them more as a teacher. It was always good to see some of the old students after they'd summered and grown wiser away from textbooks. It was always fun to see the Honors freshmen I had and how scared they were.

One of the first things I always did was ask if any of the teachers had given the students a list of rules for their class. Refusing to let them name the teacher, I asked them what some of the more surprising rules were. They'd read them and we'd laugh. And while none ever got out a measuring tape to see if the outfit was suitable or not, some administrators and some schools had rules based on shortness of skirts, length of sideburns and hair, and whether a teacher would allow a student to go to the bathroom or not.

I found it best not to tell specific rules for my classroom. I didn't want to give them any ideas. For fear of experimentation.

So I just reviewed school policy and told them I would be sure to tell them when they did something that was not acceptable. And I did. And it made it much easier to discipline.

My favorite rule and consequence was when a former Spanish teacher told his class that no gum chewing was allowed. There would be much conversation in the class and one shouldn't converse with gum in mouth. If a student chewed gum he/she would lose one point per day. But he didn't tell them when he spotted gum usage. He just marked it down in his gradebook. One of my students in the Spanish class thought he was being undetected with his gum. Until grades came out. A straight A student, he received his first B in Spanish I because of his gum chewing.

Oh well, lucky he got quarter grades instead of one final one. He would (and probably did) get a way with it in my class. My (unwritten and unspoken) rule, at least that first day was if I can't see it, then you can have it. That went for gum, candy, hotdogs, cigarettes...Ok, I wasn't that cool.