Common-Sense Classroom Management: Surviving September and Beyond in the Elementary Classroom

"This is an invaluable, child centered "must-have" book for new and veteran teachers alike. It offers practical solutions that can be applied immediately in the classroom to the day-to-day challenges of teaching. The authors are to be commnded for offering strategies that assume that all children will be included in today′s classrooms."
Carol Topinka, Director
Division of Special Services
Milwaukee Public Schools

Simple solutions and strategies to combat classroom chaos!

An indispensable manual for new teachers, teacher trainers, and mentor teachers, this compact yet comprehensive book is chock-full of easy-to-implement techniques for creating a successful teaching and learning environment.

Through humor, drawings, and a conversational tone, this well-organized resource provides specific suggestions for how to teach effectively and efficiently, including practical tips on organization, planning, classroom atmosphere, discipline, rewards, and maximizing the usefulness of teacher aides.

The nuts-and-bolts approach offers invaluable, quick-reference insights into the most common issues and concerns faced by all teachers. Special highlights include:

• Straightforward five-step-or-less strategies that can be adapted easily into any classroom
• Outline of best practices for every aspect of a typical school day
• "IDEA" sections throughout that tailor strategies to special education students and "LIGT BULB" sections that work for K–1 students
• Proven tactics for working with non-English speakers and dealing with challenging students

Jill A. Lindberg retired from Milwaukee Public Schools in June 2003 and is currently a supervising teacher for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her teaching experience includes six years as a mentor teacher, assisting both general and special education teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools. She has taught students with specific learning disabilities, students with emotional/behavior disabilities, and students with hearing impairment.  She has coauthored five books in the Common-Sense Classroom Management series with educators from the Milwaukee area. She has a degree in exceptional education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

April M. Swick was assigned to Clement Avenue Elementary School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in August 1990 and began with a class of combined fourth and fifth graders. She was a highly involved staff member, concerned not only with the success of the children in her classroom but also with the betterment of the entire school population. She belonged to a wide variety of com-mittees and worked to ensure schoolwide discipline, a positive climate, and school spirit. After teaching for several more years, she and her current coauthor and friend, Jill Lindberg, became the first full-inclusion teaching team in the school. In the fall of 2002, April was appointed Principal of Clement Avenue School. She has earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin―Milwaukee, and she is pursuing a doctorate in education. Sharing her good ideas with young teachers and colleagues has been an extremely fulfilling experience. In the future, she would love to write and illustrate children’s books.