This guide is designed to increase the effectiveness of using portable videotape equipment in classrooms for improving instruction. A first section stresses the importance of defining goals before taping and selecting the particular type of taping best suited to the goal. Another section details technical procedures for the videotape operator in setting up and placing equipment in the classroom, guides for the operator while taping, and suggestions for minimizing technical interruptions. A third section offers essential items needed for a minimum portable videotaping system and advice on purchasing, and a fourth presents three levels of videotape viewing for teacher self-analysis; casual viewing from which the teacher derives points for improvement; structured viewing during which the teacher observes specifically those points derived from the casual viewing, and interdisciplinary analysis of language features, interpersonal relations, sociological features, and educational features in the classroom. The final section reiterates the usefulness of videotape recordings in professionalizing the relationship between teachers and administrators and in improving instruction through developing a capacity for self-evaluation in teachers. (SP)