Argues that children's responses to the literature in their classroom need not always be formal and structured and that spontaneous, informal responses are equally meaningful. (DF)

The paper considers the value and implementation of routines in the educational setting with learners who have severe handicaps. Part I outlines the importance of routines as an intrinsic part of the teaching process, and reviews the potential benefits to the student of routine-based teaching. Benefits include the observations that routines:…

The classroom setting is a source for daily and creative writing material for teachers as well as students. Teacher and student writing samples help to illustrate classrooms as cultures-in-the-making in which new rules are invented every day and suggest that stories of classroom life must of necessity end in question marks and untied threads.…

Focusing on humor as a powerful instructional resource, this booklet addresses a variety of issues regarding humor in the elementary and secondary classroom. Thirteen ways in which humor can help teachers to achieve educational goals are presented, specifically that it (1) attracts attention and provokes thought, (2) liberates creative capacities,…

Compulsory attendance policies have been instituted in higher education with the expectation that academic achievement will improve, but empirical research on this relationship is equivocal. One theory of motivation posits that students' motivational beliefs, classroom context, and student behaviors are important variables in academic achievement.…

A major problem in many composition classes is the unwillingness of the instructor to relinquish control in the classroom. Because students are excluded from having control in the classroom and control over their own writing, they become disenchanted with the processes of learning and discovery and the power those processes create. Students should…

This paper discusses inequities and injustices toward women and advocates remedies through education. Practical suggestions based upon expectations theory and the Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement Test (TESA) program offer teachers ways to reduce discrimination and improve achievement in classrooms, especially for those denied an equal…

Focusing on children's developmental use of written language in kindergarten and first grade, this report looks at connections between the social and academic dimensions of classroom life. The first section examines literacy as an aspect of growing up and becoming a member of society. By highlighting the social and academic divisiveness schooling…