Middle Years kids LOVE to break the rules, so I don't tell them what they are, so to speak. My rational comes from the "outside" world. Do they post the rules at the Bank that list all the ways you are not to rob the bank? What about at the mall, do they post the rules there about lining up outside the stores waiting for them to open? I tell my class that there are general "rules" for life that we follow,and that they are different for different places. You behave differently at home than you do at grandma's, and differently again at a baseball game or church. The "rules" are all based on the current location and activity of the time. They need to adjust accordingly. Of course I give them guidlines, plenty of reminders, we take time to talk about behaviour in general, and they get a wole lot of help. But as soon as I took down the rules and "consequences", my life as a teacher got a lot better. I don't expect that this would work for every teacher, but it works for me.

Angus - you make a lot of good points about rules and real life - that is exactly how I think of that - especially as students get older. I think that with regards to posting rules, the age of the students and the setting are a determinant in terms of making that decision - for example, as some have posted here, younger students having them for guidelines as they are learning some self-control. When I used to run the computer lab I posted rules regarding equipment use (no food or drinks, etc.) but not consequences. However, I teach middle school, and I must confess that although my school has this requirement for posting rules, I have never followed it (but luckily have never been called on it). Once, mid year, I asked my grade 8 students to take a minute to write down what they thought the "rules" of my classroom were, since I had none posted. They almost all wrote down the same things, like "show up prepared", "don't waste time", "participate in the discussion", etc. I was elated! That told me that I had been strongly communicating my expectations to them, and that they understood them.

My classroom rules that are DEFINITELY posted on the wall:

1. Follow all school rules
2. Follow teacher directions promptly
3. Support the learning momentum of the class

#3 is probably the most controversial but my absolute favorite -- That catches everything-- and also hits the heart of why we have rules to keep learning happening in our classrooms.

Right out of college I taught a semester of high school which I wasn't ready for because high schoolers know how to work the system and play in the Gray area. Next thing you know you are having nightmares and you can't quite nail them to the wall but it could quickly escalate to a major teacher-student conflict because they've been pushing you for weeks.
I switched to middle school for three years.

Now I'm back in high school and loving it! That rule tackles the gray area -- you're socializing to your buddy while I'm giving directions, not supporting the learning momentum, you're purposefully kicking the back of your neighbors chair, not supporting the learning momentum, etc.

Don't worry they don't get in huge trouble when they break the rules, but I can now enforce what I care about.

The Ohio public schools have actively promoted conflict resolution skills for teachers via support from the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution & Conflict Management. Teachers who have been involved in training get an impressive resource guide of activities to use that relate to conflict management in various ways. A sample from this collection on creating classroom rules is available as a pdf here.

I wonder, does the example activity give the students too much input into the rule-making process?

Not to put you on the spot or get too far off topic, but I recall reading in WSJ in 1990s that Ohio still had corporal punishment, is that still the case? How does that affect your work with schools there?