Culturally responsive educational practices have arisen as effective means of increasing culturally diverse students' academic achievement and psychological well-being; however, the relational processes involved are not well understood. Using grounded theory, this study examines the relational processes of one culturally responsive teacher and her fifth grade African American students. A dimension that emerged from the data was "emotional connectedness". It includes the connective interactions between the teacher and student, the connective interactions between the teacher and the whole class, and teacher transparency and joining. Rich descriptions of each theme are provided as well as implications for teacher practice and preparation. (Contains 1 table.)