Many behavioral problems are just students who enjoy talking a lot and not getting their work done. We control our class by having a salary system. They earn a salary for working, they are able to get bonuses a good job well done and on the flip side can be fined for misconduct. Parents donate pencils, erasers, used toys etc. Ownership and choice are critical to how our class is run.
Parents play a vital part in ensuring that our classroom is well maintained.
I communicate weekly via a Newletter to let parents know what we are doing and what our class needs for the upcoming week as well as thanking parents who helped our class and publishing student work. I give students a lot of choices. We discuss our learning processes together. Many of the things we learn in our class comes from good literature books. Students enjoy doing, making, talking, and planning their learning.