Student-Guided Classroom Creed

It's been a few weeks since this little blog of mine has had any attention! Too much of my time has been spent focused on taming the craziness in my class- and watching Big Brother. (#teamderrick!) 

If you've read my previous classroom reveal post, you know that I am all about Great Expectations with my kids! My students are held to high standards and are expected to follow 8 expectations each day. Part of the GE "gig" is to have a Classroom Creed that your students create and recite each morning during the Call to Excellence (or Morning Meeting). When I had this group in kindergarten last year, they weren't ready to help create the creed. Instead, I had them recite the standard "classroom pledge" I found ...thank you Google!

In first grade, I knew I had to make the kids step it up a bit. The pledge in the picture above wasn't meaningful to them- they couldn't own it because they didn't get to have their voice in it. 

We had to change some things this year. 

In order to do so, I created two interactive flaps to have the kids glue in their journal as a brainstorming activity.

Under each flap, students would list attributes of each. Example: A great student is responsible, caring, and respectful. A great student follows directions, shows good character, and helps others. 

The next day, I had them get out their finished notebook entry to share with friends what they believe makes a good student. 

The kids were then placed in groups to use their "great student answers" as a guide to fill in the blanks of our empty creed.

Now- don't think this task came easy to them. I heard MUCH debate between the groups on what they felt was the perfect word to use for each blank. In order to help them in the process, I showed them this example I created-and encouraged them to use their own creativity instead of copying my words. 

The process continued with the kids working (and arguing) to make the perfect creed to fit our class. Y'all. I was BLOWN away with their ideas. Each group pitched their ideas- and it was so hard to pick one! Here's a couple for you to take a peek at...

Told ya- my kids ROCK! Their FAVORITE word is "integrity", can't you tell? :) 

We loved everybody's hard work so much that we decided to morph ALL of them into one Creed. Here was the final result: 

I LOVE it. More importantly- THEY love it! 

And OWN it! 

And ABIDE by it! 

I strongly suggest helping your classroom community by having your kiddos create their own creed. It's the perfect way to start our morning, and I love being able to refer to it throughout the day. 

Want to grab your own FREE and EDITABLE copies? Click on the pic below! 

(Please be kind and return the favor by leaving a comment and follow me!) 

Have a fabulous weekend!!