This document explores how teachers can connect the instructional and interpersonal approaches embedded in middle-school philosophy to effective classroom management. It describes the current mismatch between middle-school philosophy and practice and how the creation of middle-school grades introduced a volatile mismatch between a school's organization and the intellectual and emotional needs of young adolescents. Traditional methods of dealing with classroom misbehavior, left over from the eras of K-8 schools and junior highs, and the goals and philosophy of the middle school have not been fully reconciled. To correct this, schools need to create small communities. They also should teach a core academic program that helps students become critical thinkers, should foster students' health and fitness, and should re-engage families in education. Schools can move toward a positive classroom climate by making rules and consequences clear to everyone, by arranging classrooms so that they can be easily managed, by showing respect for students, by involving parents in all facets of their children's education, and by making team rules that establish parameters for student conduct. Finally, the school principal should establish an atmosphere of prevention and should work with teachers to manage behavior in order to avoid removing students from the classroom. (Contains 33 references.) (RJM)