The first week of school is critical to fostering success for the entire year. The beginning of each new school term provides savvy teachers with the chance to create a classroom culture that is grounded in their unique personality, life experiences, and above all, their expectations for the way they want their classroom to look and feel throughout the year. Most educators today seek to establish a learning environment that promotes respect and trust and a strong sense of community, a place where students can take risks, ask questions, and experience freedom from bullying and intimidation. A component of this culture-building process includes a highly visible and thoroughly considered element of structure: well-devised rules or behavioral expectations, thoughtful classroom procedures, and a matrix of realistic, appropriate disciplinary consequences. This paper offers strategies for effective classroom management.