O Is For Obedience

Today we're talking about obedience 

with Katie at Teacher to the Core.

A first-grade teacher out in CA, Katie candidly discusses citizenship in her post about obedience and ... drum roll please ... has a freebie download for us. Thank you, Katie, for your exquisite take on helping nurture an obedient heart in our superheroes.

Before we talk rules here, let's talk bulletin boards. 

Click picture to download lettering from google docs.

If you've been a reader for a while, then you know that I take care of about ten boards at my school, so yesterday I went up there to get my first one put together. I was feeling really good about it, until Mrs. Huckabee came by and asked why I was decorating the new teacher's bulletin board. Sometimes we need to be flexible, don't we. Maybe Fred can just take this one down and swap boards? Yeah, probably not. Fingers crossed the superheroes just happens to be her theme, too. If not, I've already had two Westwood moms offer to help me move this design to another one of my boards. Our Principal said if I do move it, to make sure that it's in a high-visibility area. Isn't that all so super sweet?

Anyway, on to obedience. Superheroes obey the rules. In fact, they fight for justice against those who don't, which is why I felt like it was important to talk about obedience in the book.

At different times and for different reasons, we may want to skirt or stretch the rules. Ever find yourself in the fast check-out at the grocery store with more than twelve items? Ever know anyone who drives with a radar detector in his/her car? Have you ever been tempted to order off the kids' menu for a child who was older than the specified age limit?

Rules are in place to keep us safe, so it's important that we follow them. Ask your superheroes if it's ever okay to question those rules; it'll make for a riveting discussion. There are, in fact, rules that it's appropriate to challenge. 

This would be a good time to pose the question: What rule might you consider a peaceful protest against? It might even be engaging to let students stage a protest. {Just a thought ...}

Use a bubble map to compare and contrast these two books:

What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick

and If Everybody Did by JoAnn Stoval.

How do you teach obedience in your classroom?

And is there room for flexibility, discussion, negotiation? 

And if you'd like to be transparent with your students, answer this with them: What rules do you personally find most difficult to abide by and/or obey? I was the one tempted to order those kids' meals a little longer than we qualified for them ... well, sure, it's says up to age ten, but she only turned eleven eleven days months ago ... O is for obedience.