Classroom Foundations: Expectations, the Four Rs, and Repair

The bones of a calm classroom, in four pieces: how we move in the hallway, the four words we live by, how we make things right when something goes wrong, and how a grown-up runs that conversation. Nothing here is a punishment. The repair piece ends with the line I mean most: this is a promise to each other, not a punishment.

What's inside (5 pages): Hallway Expectations chart: Ready, Respectful, Responsible, Resilient, each with short lines a child can read and do. The Four Words poster: Ready, my body is calm and I have what I need. Respectful, I use kind words and gentle hands. Responsible, I take care of my work, my things, and my choices. Resilient, hard things can happen, I can breathe and try again. Our Repair Agreement: what happened, who was affected and how, what I need, what I will do to make it right, what we will do if it happens again, plus a big draw-what-happened box for younger children. A Restorative Conversation checklist: a one-page guide for grown-ups, from listen first to close with connection.

How it works: Print the charts for the wall, teach them on a calm day, and keep the repair agreements in a folder where you can reach one in the moment. The checklist is written to be read in the two minutes before you sit down with a child, not studied in advance.

Formats: US Letter (8.5 x 11 in).

One honest note: The restorative pieces come from restorative practices training and from using them in a real school building, with real children, on real hard days. They are my own pages, written in my own words.