Although teachers can build positive relationships with students throughout the school year, the first weeks are crucial, writes Wormeli. They set the tone and conditions for the year ahead, creating a more effective teaching and learning enterprise for everyone. Wormeli tells how, as a middle school teacher, he set a goal of learning the names of all 185 students in his teaching team by the end of the first four-day week. This was just the first leg of the year's journey in relationship building. Other strategies the author recommends are inviting parents to respond to the prompt, "In a million words or less, tell me about your child"; asking students to "write a letter from your parents describing you," soliciting students' input about the best ways for them to learn, and building esprit de corps through shared efforts like a full-day hike or a service project. The author also describes how teachers can make sure students feel safe (for example, by responding to students' inappropriate comments with concern instead of taking them personally) and for displaying empathy (for example, by sitting in students' desks and seeing things from their point of view). The goal of these efforts is to create a classroom ethos of respect, in which the teacher conveys to students, "I see you, I accept you, and I value time in your company."