Establishing a communication-rich classroom can be difficult. This article describes the process and findings of a practitioner action research study addressing the question of how teachers can interact with their students while they are working in groups to encourage and enhance student-to-student communication. Recommended research-based teacher…

"Improving Your Reflective Practice through Stories of Practitioner Research" shows how research has informed and created effective and valuable reflective practice in early years education, and offers depth to the arguments for a research-orientated stance to this vital field of study. This thought-provoking text explores and documents a variety…

In the January 1980 issue of "Teacher," the author proposed handling discipline problems through classroom trials. In this column, he expands on that scenario in response to critics worried about the civil rights of the child on trial, guarantees of fairness, and the role of the defendant's parents. (SJL)

Describes a variety of activities for the basic business classroom, such as having guest speakers, question-and-answer sessions, simulations, role playing, debates, small group work, field trips, games, and individualized instruction. Includes a report of business teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward these activities. (MF)

Presents one teacher's classroom techniques for teaching responsibility through real-world learning experiences. Wall charts rotate everyday jobs. Students apply for challenging jobs. A lottery system determines who gets favorite jobs. Students vote on who organizes special events. (SM)

Maintains that it is difficult to recruit and retain male students into vocal music programs. Asserts that if student attitudes are shaped positively in the early grades, it is more likely that male students will continue to participate. Provides five suggestions for recruiting male students at the middle and secondary grade levels. (CFR)

Describes a teaching technique for preparing students for film viewing. (MH)

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an observation measure designed to capture teachers' use of interactive teaching skills within the delivery of the All Stars substance use prevention program. Coders counted the number of times teachers praised and encouraged students, accepted and used students' ideas, asked questions,…

Some methods for getting adult learners to participate in classroom discussions are offered by a training manager. The trainer's attitude and the classroom environment contribute to motivating all trainees to participate, stimulate the nonparticipant to join in, and control the aggressiveness of the overparticipant. (MF)

Using elementary and secondary school teaching methods in the college classroom is proposed, and examples of class activities are described. Incorporating elementary or junior high style in-class activity that nevertheless uses and is geared to college-level material, can be successful in making a dull course interesting. Although the classroom…

A secondary program for emotionally disturbed students in a Wisconsin school district is described in terms of assessment procedures, classroom management, classroom materials, mainstreaming, parental and community involvement, and its token reinforcement system. (CL)

Describes several strategies designed to increase audience participation in role play and simulation activities in the foreign language classroom, including audience feedback, role switching, voting, instant replay, cultural discussion, audience direction, press conference, and class soap opera. These strategies make the role play more productive…

Physical educators should feel comfortable in teaching the handicapped child in a regular classroom because the training and experience they have acquired make them good teachers to handicapped and nonhandicapped alike. (MJB)

This article discusses the National Issues Forum (NIF), a national, nonpartisan program designed to encourage citizen discussion of important public issues. The programs try to recreate the town meeting concept of reaching consensus on public issues. Short workbooks are available on two reading levels for issues such as the superpowers, crime,…

A teacher who returned to the classroom after 11 years of absence notes that discipline is much more a problem now than before and attributes much of the change to the way parents excuse their children's behavior. (IRT)