I think this pretty much covers it. As I discipline students for various transgressions, I sometimes get told "but you don't have that rule on your sign." As I suppress my sigh and eye roll, I remind them that whatever it is they have done contradicts one of these rules. If you are continuously not completing homework, then you are not following the "work hard" rule.
In the interest of avoiding conversations like that this year, I am going to do a "rule sort" on the first (or second--let's be honest) day of school. I have made a chart with these three rules listed, then listed out quite a few expectations I have for my students. They will cut the expectations apart and then glue them under the appropriate category. This will provide a time for me to set forth my expectations for the use of glue and scissors, and will provide an instant conversation as they decide which category each expectation belongs under. Some expectations will fall into more than one category, and I plan on making students decide and then defend their choice. From the first day, students will express their opinions and provide their evidence for making their selections.
You can find the editable rule sort here.
Hopefully this will help them focus on the rules in my classroom and convey that their thinking, reasoning, and opinions are important from the very beginning.
