This companion guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) Integration Approach School Leader and Educator Self-Reflection Tools. This companion guide focuses on the following area of reflection: Teach vocabulary, skills, and strategies related to SEL in explicit ways that involve input from and…

To work productively with all students, teachers need to examine four major determinants of human learning: neural equipment; learning history; learning strategies, such as imaging, paraphrasing, summarizing, and generating examples; and quality of teaching. (JDD)

Describes the Cognitive Credit Card, an individualized approach to helping students with learning disabilities select and apply appropriate learning strategies. The CCC is a credit card-sized laminated set of cognitive or metacognitive cues for a specific topic. Feedback from students, teachers, and parents has been highly positive. (DB)

Describes how to gain optimal learning in the classroom by activating different parts of the brain. Neural systems fatigue very quickly and need to rest. Only a few minutes of factual lecture can be tolerated before the brain seeks other stimuli. The most effective presentation must move back and forth through interrelated neural systems, weaving…

A music reading program for developmentally disabled children is based on 16 teaching principles drawn from research. The "Shapes and Sounds" method concentrates first on counting rhythms, then introduces notes using different shapes for each. Case studies introducing piano to three handicapped children, ages 6, 8, and 13, are given. (VW)

A variety of memory strategies can be used to retrain an individual's ability to process information in working memory. This article provides step-by-step instructions for various memory encoding strategies. These strategies include training in perceptual grouping of number series, organization, mediation, mental imagery, and associative memory.…

Guidelines are offered for speech-language pathologists who seek to evaluate and enhance idiom comprehension in language-disordered students. The long-term goal of the treatment approach is for the student to acquire a specific comprehension strategy for determining the meanings of unfamiliar idioms. (Author/JDD)

The spelling difficulties of the adolescent dyslexic student are described, and techniques are presented to provide the student with the tools needed to cope with spelling requirements, including the study of vowel sounds, doubling the consonant following a short vowel, root words, and laws of probabilities. (JDD)

This pamphlet offers guidelines for educators who want to improve their use of strategy instruction with students who have inefficient and/or ineffective learning strategies. Specific examples of strategic teaching are provided for improving general and academic performance, and suggestions are given on how to create a strategic environment…

The instructional techniques currently in use in many classrooms across the country were developed to teach children the "basics" and to instill good working habits adaptable to the industrial age. Although the term "learning style" first appeared in research literature in the 1950s, it did not burst upon the education scene significantly until…

Suggestions are offered for applying learning techniques for a variety of learning situations. The approaches are applicable to learning medical school content as well as other advanced educational content. Ways to control external distractors are suggested, including a systematic approach to completing large tasks, such as writing a research…

The article gives suggestions for teaching mainstreamed secondary level learning-disabled and other students notetaking skills. Adaptations to help the student when notes are taken from a lecture and when notes are taken from the chalkboard are offered and include giving the student a lecture outline on which to add notes. (DB)

The STAR (Stop, Think, Ask, Recite) strategy was developed to help a kindergarten student write numerals. The child was encouraged to recite a "saying" while he formed each numeral. For example, to make a "5," the child would say "the man went down the street, around the corner, and his hat blew off." (JDD)

This booklet summarizes research on best practices for implementing successful small learning communities and career academies. When well implemented, improvements in instructional and personalization strategies in combination with structural supports have demonstrated improved student attendance and learning. "From High School to Learning…

Intended to assist teachers in evaluation of specific learning strategies for learning disabled students, the article summarizes 14 metacognitive strategies (sets of steps used by the student to talk his or her way through a problem) based on principles of rehearsal, transformation, organization, mnemonics, monitoring, motivation, and…