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The students in my classroom monitor their own behaviors with Class Court.
We have the following roles: - Teacher role - judge
- Student roles -
- 2 court recorders (either records or writes down nearly everything voiced
in court)
- 6-12 jury members (records important info during testimonies, sentences,
etc...)
- 6-12 officers (give out tickets)
- 1 chief officer (keeps track of tickets)
- 1 bailiff (swears people in, has court rise when judge enters)
- 2 prosecuting attorneys (defend rights of class to learn, etc...)
- 2 defending attorneys (defend those accused of crime)
During court, officers are in audience monitoring to make sure audience is
quiet; jury, attorneys, and recorders take notes. Tickets: In the beginning of the school year the kids had 3 chances, by end
only had two. First two were warnings, third "See you in court." I
created the forms on the computer with spaces for Defendant's Name, Officer's
Name, Description of crime, time and date, and witnesses. Day of Court took place every other week, and was a "dress for success
day" which meant everyone dressed up for that time. Jury, when deliberating for sentencing, had to make sure that punishments fit
the crimes... no lunch detention. For example, if a person was talking during
a silent time, the sentence was isolation for a week. Also, if a defendant plead
guilty, thereby wasting less of the courts time, the sentence was reduced. In
this case, it could have been, for example, three days instead of a week of
isolation. Roles were determined by class election - new every quarter. Roles were lost
if a student showed up in court more than 2 times. With roles, came the expectation
of being above disruptive behavior. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at gigglessdd@hotmail.com. | 
