This is a report of a study designed to discover the nature of interactions between teachers and students in regular-size classes (25 or more students) and small-size classes (fewer than 18 students). It also describes the efforts of one public school to maintain smaller classes. A review of the literature and observations of 11 primary classrooms in a public-school district in southern Louisiana were used for the study. The study analyzed nonverbal behaviors of teachers and compared acknowledgement, positive example, negative example, directives, and procedural remarks (emergent categories) with institutional, task, and personal events (a priori categories). Following are some of the findings. Teachers in small-size classes used more facial expressions and more eye contact than did teachers in regular-size classes. Teachers in small classes used many more positive than negative remarks with their students. Students in the small-size classes worked more often in small groups than they did in the regular-size classes. Teachers of small-size classes generally spent more time on direct instruction than on classroom management. The study concludes that students and teachers benefit from reflective practices involving productive, nurturing interactions, which may, in part, explain higher achievement in small classes. (Contains 2 tables, 6 graphs, and 30 references.) (WFA)