This paper presents two reflection activities that supported the creation of community and a sense of caring for students learning in an online environment in the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first activity, students indicated how they were feeling in terms of hope/despair, stress/calm and energy level in a "check-in" slide at the beginning…

Community college faculty have always been more than classroom teachers, but during the pandemic their roles as counselors, navigators and sources of needed referrals perhaps have never been more paramount--or appreciated. Beyond the dizzying logistics and scrambled pedagogy involved in switching from in-person to online learning, faculty have…

This article addresses reflections of one University instructor's teaching and her pre-teacher education students' innovative digital learning practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020. The question of "How has one instructor embedded digital practices in her virtual teaching to engage and purposefully introduce and connect…

Co-inquiry represents a distinctive relational model for partnering with students in SoTL that focuses on the process of seeking itself, and in particular, the importance of shared questions. We use case studies from two institutions to illustrate "co-inquiry" in action and highlight the importance of shared questions in changing the…

Recent trends in higher education have called for renewed vitality in the connections between the in-class and out-of-class experiences. This movement has sparked increased interest in the interactions students have with each other, with instructional faculty, and with Student Affairs professionals. This article describes how residential learning…

Colleges, schools, and faculties at large universities form strong academic bonds with students. So is it any wonder they want a say in keeping these students engaged as alumni? To provide that input, many larger institutions are decentralizing their alumni operations, meaning that colleges, schools, and faculties have their own alumni staff…

Sunnyside High School in rural Washington faces many tough issues common to urban schools but has shown a remarkable ability to help students at risk for academic failure. The Sunnyside Intervention Program was developed for students with a history of poor academic performance, many of whom were involved in dangerous activities, including gangs.…

One way to approach the improvement of instruction is for educators to learn from student interactions in cultural events that fully engage students' motivation and curiosity. In such a context, educators get to know students in new ways and to connect student strengths to classroom instruction. This can be especially powerful when the learning…

Teachers rarely live in the same neighborhoods as their students and the natural connections that once came from living nearby have eroded. This change makes it hard for educators to get to know students' families beyond formal connections like Back to School Night. The gap between teachers' and students' worlds is especially worrisome when there…

In this article we provide a "portrait" of an exemplary writing teacher and the social construction of authority he established with students in two courses. The portrait demonstrates that teacher authority is most essentially a form of professional authority granted by students who affirm the teacher's expertise, self-confidence, and…

With budgets and staff stretched thin, schools are turning tech-savvy students into technology leaders and a popular, important source of IT support. Providing professional tech support is a very expensive a proposition, so districts from Tupelo to Greenville, and from Hattiesburg to Columbia, are enlisting students to fill the gaps. This article…

A Washington principal has developed nine strategies to increase parent-teacher conferences' value. Teachers should identify a student's strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing, listening, and speaking; highlight areas where progress is lacking; provide parents with work samples; discuss the student's participation level; and identify growth…

This report includes observations from the first year of a three-year study of seven small high schools in Washington State. It discusses the results schools are beginning to see from knowing students and their learning needs more deeply. Progress to date includes teachers recognizing the need for personalization, designing structures to support…

In this article, the author explores her teaching experiences in order to better understand the nature of the professional knowledge needed to make use of conflict and to manage a particular teaching dilemma. The author's intention is to show that such a personal inquiry can reveal ways in which her story is a telling case that may enable others…

Describes a two-week visit to a private alternative secondary school near Seattle, Washington. The school is committed to holistic forms of learning through integrated and experience-based learning programs that allow students more freedom, trust, and responsibility than traditional schools. Academic structure is built around six core programs:…