Why Can't You Behave?: The Teacher's Guide to Creative Classroom Management, K-3

Why is it that some classes are peaceful and industrious, filled with attentive, hard-working kids-while others are a primary teacher's nightmare?

Shouting out
Interrupting
Cutting in line
Sassing
Whining
Teasing
Fighting

Paula Rogovin has answers to these questions, and she's also got hard-won remedies for your worst classroom discipline problems. Ideal for preservice and new teachers as well as veterans, Why Can't You Behave? takes you inside Rogovin's classroom to see how she deals with challenging behavior and how to intertwine classroom management and curriculum to end nightmarish behavior.

You will learn how to reinforce positive behaviors and promote a safe, cooperative classroom community while solving perennial problems including maintaining fruitful whole-class discussions and mediating disputes between children. You'll see firsthand how simple, smart techniques like complimenting, role-playing, and using examples from children's literature encourage students to become fully absorbed by the curriculum and less intrigued by the allure of acting out. And if you are uneasy with parent participation, you'll find out how to successfully involve families in your classroom, forging strong home-school alliances that support your curricular activities.

If you're tired of shouting, weary of blinking the lights, and besieged by inappropriate behaviors, there is hope. Turn to Paula Rogovin for the answers you need and build an engaged, productive classroom community.

A teacher in the New York City public schools for thirty-five years, Paula Rogovin continues to love teaching, especially inquiry, which makes her teaching fulfilling and joyous. Paula currently teaches first grade at the Manhattan New School, P.S. 290, and is the author of Why Can't You Behave?: The Teacher's Guide to Creative Classroom Management, K - 3 (Heinemann, 2004), The Research Workshop: Bringing the World into Your Classroom (Heinemann 2001), and Classroom Interviews: A World of Learning (Heinemann, 1998). She is a longtime social activist and mother of three adult sons.