Off to a Good Start: Launching the School Year (The Responsive Classroom Series, #1)

Here are nine of the most frequently requested Responsive Classroom newsletter articles featuring ideas for building a strong and caring learning community. Useful at any time in the school year, this book includes strategies for:

• Establishing rules
• Building a sense of community
• Making lunch a positive experience
• Introducing and caring for materials
• Displaying students' work
• Involving parents

Marlynn K. Clayton, co-founder of Northeast Foundation for Children, is currently NEFC's director of Professional Development. She has run her own preschool, taught in primary grades, and has worked with teachers nationwide through workshops and consulting. She co-authored A Notebook for Teachers.

Mary Beth Forton has taught in grades kindergarten through eight, has run a summer camp for elementary school children, and has worked with children with special needs. She currently works in the Publishing Division at Northeast Foundation for Children.

Ruth Sidney Charney, author of Teaching Children to Care and Habits of Goodness: Case Studies in the Social Curriculum, has taught grades kindergarten through eight and has worked as a teacher educator as well. Ruth is a co-founder of Northeast Foundation for Children and currently teaches grades seven and eight.

Chip Wood, author of Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14, is a co-founder of Northeast Foundation for Children. He has worked for over 25 years as a classroom teacher, teaching principal, and teacher educator. Currently he directs NEFC's Consulting Teachers.