The manual is intended to help new teachers in North Carolina provide education and related services to handicapped and gifted students. The first section discusses general resources for beginning teachers. Topics covered include getting the room ready, preparing to manage behavior, enjoying the first day of school, managing classroom problems, keeping records, developing parent involvement, and avoiding early burnout. The second section provides overviews (with definitions, a checklist of behaviors, considerations for the classroom environment, curriculum resources, support organizations, and training and technical assistance) for the following types of exceptionalities: autism, giftedness and talent, hearing impairments, mental handicaps, multiple handicaps, orthopedic impairements, health impairments, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairements, and visual impairments. (CL)