"The goal of Colvin′s work is teacher fluency in their first response to behavior. Every career teacher needs to be equipped with the concepts in this book."

—Krista D. Parent, Superintendent

South Lane School District, Cottage Grove, OR

"Geoff Colvin provides teachers a set of very useful, clear, and sensible tools to manage the behavior of a very important, often-overlooked contributor to their classroom environment: themselves."

—Mike McCornack, Technology Coordinator/Choral Director

Willamette High School, Eugene, OR

"Colvin empowers teachers with specific, practical, research-based strategies to prevent problem behaviors from occurring and to respond effectively when problems do occur. Each strategy is grounded not only in applied behavior analytic techniques, but also respectful approaches to fostering more positive student-teacher interactions."

—Kathleen Lane, Associate Professor of Special Education

Vanderbilt Peabody College

"This is exactly what every teacher needs when dealing with problem behavior! I tried Colvin′s strategies in my classroom and the students who had problems have done a total turnaround!"

—Jennifer Stargel, Fifth-Grade Teacher

Allen Elementary School, Marion, IN

The ultimate guide to handling problem behavior "in the heat of the moment"!

When disruptive behavior occurs, your first response can determine the outcome of the situation and how quickly it is resolved. This practical resource offers teachers approaches for immediately defusing disruptive situations, avoiding escalation, and correcting behaviors.

An expert in behavior management, Geoff Colvin introduces seven key behavioral principles and offers specific, research-based strategies for handling disruptions. This resource features:

• Strategies that target specific behaviors, including off-task behavior, rule violations, disrespect, agitation, noncompliance, and threats and intimidation


• Common classroom scenarios and solutions for K–12 general and special education teachers


• Checklists and action plans for applying the strategies while maintaining the flow of instruction

Defusing Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom helps teachers respond in a way that immediately corrects the misbehavior and smoothly returns the class to learning.