10/10 Rule – Classroom Management Toolbox (2024)

4 thoughts on “10/10 Rule”

1. One of the tools I chose for my 6th grade middle school class was the 10/10 rule. The rule is simple in that students are not to leave the room for the first and last 10 minutes of class. This rule helps the teacher and students from confusion of directions or expectations because students are in the class when instructions are being told as well as helps during the last 10 minutes of class. During the last 10 minutes of class there is usually some sort of class summary of what we did or discussion of what we learned.
   This was a pretty easy tool to prepare for because there is no prep, only enforcing the rule. As long as the teacher was consistent with not letting people leave for the first and last 10 minutes, students wouldn’t try to leave leading to better understanding for the students. This was a preventative phase tool because it stopped students from missing out on important instruction and information. Something to make it better for the classroom could be talking about when would be an appropriate time for students to leave the room for whatever reason. Giving students explicit reasoning helps with establishing classroom expectations.

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2. Grade Level: Middle School 6th-8th
   # of Students: 5-12
   Rural Area
   The 10/10 rule was easy to prepare, teach and use. There is close to no preparation that goes into it, simply implementing it in your classroom and sticking to it. In our middle school classroom, we explained the importance of the student being there for the first and last ten minutes. We always start our day with a number talk, so students were able to see their importance in being there to participate in that aspect. We have had some issues with students wanting to leave during number talks. We always ask if it is an emergency and they always say ‘yes’, which is why we decided this may be a good preventative measure to try out.
   When we first implemented, students understood their role. There were a few eye rolls and groans, as expected, but students adapted to it very quickly. We did have one student who would test us quite a bit, always wanting to go to the bathroom 5 minutes into the start of class. We would remind her of the 10/10 rule and give her time that she can go and she would sit back down and wait until the time we gave her. The implementation of the 10/10 rule went well, I was expecting more pushback from a few students, but they did well. I think it helps that this is a fairly common rule that they have in other classrooms. The only adjustment I would make would be to implement this earlier!

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3. Grade Level: 7th and 8th Grade
   # of Students: 26 to 29
   Rural Area

   The 10/10 Rule was really simple for me to implement into the classroom. There is none to little preparation for this strategy. In my middle school classroom, I talked with the students about why it’s important for them to be there during the first and last 10 minutes of class. Because we start everyday with a Warm-Up that the kids are just to attempt and try to get the correct answer, but we will go over it as a class. And that with the last 10 minutes of class we save for any important announcements that we might need to let the class know about.
   When we started using it in the classroom some of the classes cared more than others because they already have a hall pass system in place. And Most of the kids ended up while they were walking to our class instead of waiting for class to start to go to the bathroom they would ask and quickly go during the passing period still and be to class before the bell rang. For some of my classes i expected a lot more push back when it came to this rule, but for the most part none of them minded it too much and ended up a few comments of how they were happy about the rule because they found themselves asking at the very end of class to go to the bathroom and the bell would only ring a minute or two later.

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4. Grade level: 4th grade
   number of students: 22
   Rural

   I enjoyed the 10/10 rule as a classroom tool. It was something that I was able to easily incorporate into their day without much confusion. We spoke in depth about the importance of not leaving during these times. The discussion focused on the reasons why we shouldn’t be leaving with the main point being they miss important things during this time. The students had a very good understanding of the reasons we were implementing this; there was very little pushback.
   I would defiantly say this is a middle or high school tool. It did work in the elementary school but not as beneficial as it would be in older grades. I say this because the students are in the same classroom, with the same teacher for most of the day. They have an oppurunity to ask their peers, ask their teacher, or wait till the end of the day where daily planners and review takes place. In the older grades this does not happen the student would leave their class and move to the next teacher. Often the student is not able to find the information they missed as they were gone. This fact makes it much more suitable for middle or high school.

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