ABSTRACT
Barbara’s class displays seemingly automatic, smooth functioning in which her students spend most of their time productively involved in lessons and learning activities. We have described how she sets the stage for this development by taking a lot of time during the first few weeks to socialize her students to learning community norms and make sure that they learn and follow basic rules and routines. Her heavy focus on socialization at this time might strike some observers as unnecessarily rigid or directive, but it reflects the respect she has for her young students’ potential for regulating their own learning and social behavior productively.
