Invitational theory addresses the total educational environment and culture of the classroom and school, focusing on the people, places, policies, programs, and processes that constitute any school culture. Invitational teaching is a process for communicating caring and appropriate messages to nurture the realization of student potential as well as for identifying and changing those forces that defeat and destroy potential. Principles of invitational teaching include respect, trust, optimism, and intentionality. Applying this theory of invitational education to managing student behavior in middle schools, this book presents a color-coded approach to classroom management. The metaphor of blue and orange cards is used as a framework for describing the underlying positive and negative social processes that shape the school environment. The book provides examples to illustrate how teachers in a variety of settings have placed the invitational teacher theory into practice. The chapters of the book are: (1) "Invitational Teaching: A Color-Coded Approach to Classroom Management," presenting the basic concepts of invitational teaching; (2) "What Color Is Your Classroom?," presenting four levels of professional functioning; (3) "The Five Powerful Ps: Creating School Cultures That Promote Self-Discipline," showing how the dynamics of invitational teaching are stronger when supported by a school culture nurturing success and self-discipline; (4) "The Invitational Framework in Action," focusing on basic areas of the teacher's life where invitational teaching can be applied; (5) "Classroom Practices that Promote Self-Discipline," detailing the three-stage process of preparation, interaction, and follow-up; and (6) "An Invitational Approach to Conflict Management," describing inviting ways to manage conflict. (Contains 67 references.) (KB)