Teacher John Hayward believes no classroom can advance far academically unless the teacher has first guided the class to become a community. With a focus on the first days and weeks of school, the author shares strategies any teacher can use to help everyone in the room learn about one another and to show students that he or she will be a transparent and trustworthy instructor. Hayward suggests alternatives to publically correcting students whose behavior disrupts and ways to carefully observe students as they learn--to lay a foundation for both knowing them well and for helping them.