Offers a peek inside the journals kept by a well-known language-arts educator, which he uses as a repository for his thoughts, drawings, articles of interest, notes from conversations with others on his own work, the work of others, and education in general. Shows how the journal is an "audit trail" of its owner's learning. (SR)

Examines research supporting the term "teacher empowerment" and some of the implications that this term has for principals. Includes 23 references. (Author/MD)

Reading teachers need to have ample opportunities to experience professional growth. Teachers first need to experience excellent role models in reading instruction. Modeling new curriculum provides teachers opportunities to observe, reflect upon, and ask questions about proposed methods. Literature on new programs should also be passed out to…

Offers strategies teachers can use to keep their teaching fresh. Discusses what gives teachers energy and what takes away energy. Notes that when teachers had strong emotional connections with colleagues their teaching energy was high. (SG)

Describes how a teacher energizes his teaching by participating in a writing group consisting of three other English teachers from another school district. Discusses how participation in the writing group counters the alienation of the classroom. (RS)

Argues that building commitment through cooperative efforts, influencing colleagues through participation, highlighting staff development, and applying developmental supervision can create a favorable attitude toward using school time for independent reading. (RS)

This guide answers three basic questions on how to develop a professional community of learners: (1) What type of polices, structures, and procedures will help staff to connect with and learn from one another? (2) What incentives help schools to undertake community-wide learning? and (3) How can schools transform themselves into professional…

Examines methods of reducing teacher burnout, including strong peer support systems, teacher participation in decisions that directly affect their job performance, flexible scheduling, provision of advancement opportunities, inservice training programs, fair wage scales, and the understanding of school administration. (CT)

Identifies the slippage that often occurs between graduate school in English and the actual classroom realities of professional life. Suggests six areas of professional development for graduate students in English. Claims that such development might help teachers achieve greater happiness and success in their new surroundings. (HB)

Following a brief discussion of the "occupational diseases" of teaching are some questions which teachers can ask themselves to help define for themselves how they might use the teaching process to enrich themselves as people. (KC)

Describes symptoms of teacher burnout, notes specific problems faced by reading teachers, and suggests ways reading teachers can treat professional burnout and enhance their personal lives. (GT)

This article discusses changes in effective teaching practice and characteristics of different levels of acceptance of school cultures. It reports the results of a survey of 72 inclusion teachers showing that teachers believed their attitude toward students was the first or second most important condition needed for successful inclusion. (Contains…

Examines self-assessment techniques that early childhood teachers can use to avoid "burnout" and rejuvenate their personal and professional lives. Suggests that professional books and articles, personal journals, reflection and other techniques can be used to create a web of self-assessment that allows teachers to better understand their…

Describes practical questioning strategies for use in adult literacy classrooms where teachers attempt to balance the daily needs of literacy learning with the broader issue of education for social change. Also discussed is a study of one such classroom and its implications for adult literacy teacher education. (15 references) (MDM)

Teachers' personal concerns related to the tension between a bureaucratic and a professional conception of teacher evaluation are seen as a major roadblock to school reform. Suggests strategies for using the Stages of Concern Model to address the concerns of teachers as they implement an educational innovation. (16 references) (MLF)