Renate Caine has taught middle school in Reno, Nevada, and high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, and helped to establish a small charter school in her local community. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, where her dissertation revealed that teachers' use of "I" messages and active-listening strategies in the classroom positively affected students' self-concepts and attitude toward school and teachers after only six months of use. She recently retired from 20 years as a college professor and is currently the executive director of the Natural Learning Research Institute. She is the coauthor of the original ASCD publication Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain and nine others. By employing many of the strategies in this publication over the years, Renate eliminated almost all discipline problems, and her students have won awards for their high academic achievement. She can be reached at renate@nlri.org.