Book excerpt: Stressing the need to build caring, supportive relationships with and among students, this trusted text offers research-based guidance on effective classroom management. It addresses current concerns about student motivation and helps prospective and beginning teachers develop a philosophy of classroom management that focuses on building connections with students and creating safe, caring classrooms. The text profiles five master teachers (grades K, 1, 3, 4 and 5) in very different school settings as they create classrooms that are orderly and productive, humane and caring. The integration of the thinking and the actual management practices of five real elementary teachers into discussions of research-based management principles prompts readers to connect theories with actual results. Further, the text demonstrates how real teachers can adapt to any circumstances--physical room constraints, curriculum requirements, challenging behaviors--and still be successful.