In this article, the author describes how four seasoned Chicago educators keep their teaching fresh. He learned that none of them do quite the same thing in the classroom twice, and none teaches like the other. They do, however, have one key trait in common: they are self-propelled. Their best source of professional development is not a mandated…

This article tells about how teachers with little or no background in music at Aynor Elementary School in South Carolina are using the guitar to reinforce spelling, rhyming patterns, vocabulary words, history lessons, and math and science facts. Since 2003, 24 of the school's 30-odd teachers have learned to play well enough to accompany their…

Describes the Lab School of Washington, a private school for students with moderate to severe learning disabilities which focuses on students' strengths and teaches students using a blend of arts, multisensory learning, individualized attention, and nontraditional school experiences. About 90 percent of students from this successful school go on…

Describes the Detroit Dance Collective, a group of professional dancers who work in K-12 schools to infuse schoolwork with movement, finding areas where curricula link. The group attempts to motivate all types of learners through movement. Michigan officials contend that using dance in the classroom is a critical teaching strategy that reaches…

In this article, the author discusses how children's book character Flat Stanley has linked students around the world and describes how teachers used the appealing character as a tool to bring reading, writing, geography, and other subjects to life through a classroom exercise. Often folded or laminated for protection and accompanied by…

Reports on the use of simulators to provide students with field trips of the future. This technology offers convincing, real-world, first-hand experiences in a small space within a few minutes. Simulators have found their way into museums and science centers around the nation, although they are still too expensive for most school districts. (SM)

Describes the work of Storytelling Arts Inc, a nonprofit group that sends storytellers into New Jersey schools to spin age-old yarns and encourage young children and their teachers to speak their mind. The nonprofit's main goal is to inspire low income children to master the language arts. Teachers note that storytelling helps students with their…

In this article, the author relates how a summer class he taught has reminded him of why he wanted to return to teaching. Having a master's degree in English and little training in the sciences, he relates how he had been reluctant at first to take up the high school geology class which was offered to him by a friend. However, during the course of…

The Highland School, located in the remote hills of West Virginia, is modeled on John Dewey's ideas. This laboratory school promotes experiential learning and believes that interaction between children, teachers, and the environment is the key to learning. The article describes the schools' founding and the philosophy behind it. (SM)

Project SEED is a successful program that teaches elementary school students advanced math. Specialists conduct 45-minute lessons, asking questions designed to help students discover mathematical logic. Students respond with a system of SEED hand signals which allow everyone to participate and be monitored at once. (SM)

Describes the development of a multisensory, mnemonic, whole-body teaching approach by one staff developer, who believes that her Rap, Rhythm, and Rhyme techniques can propel at-risk students with different learning styles toward excellence. Her unorthodox techniques have helped inspire two nationally acclaimed charter schools. (SM)

In this article, the author describes his use of an old obsolete and quaintly archaic form of entertainment in order to create a more lively academic discussion. He introduced the songs of Scottish folk/pop singer, Al Stewart, as an effective teaching tool in his class. Students listened to several Al Stewart songs: (1) "A League of Notions"--a…

Special section on teaching with technology offers eight articles on how to get over technophobia, how to overcome obstacles and "do-it-yourself," teacher training, what teachers are currently doing with technology, how one school uses technology, whether technology works, how to buy a computer, and available resources. (SM)