Every new teacher soon realizes the importance of principals, those often put-upon school leaders who play a key role in determining the direction and quality of education in their buildings. In this article, the author focuses on differently spelled but equally important "principles"--the kind that guide one's decision making. While principals…

While it may be true that different interpretations of Shakespeare's words elicit varied responses, Shakespeare's popularity in Renaissance England was due in large part to his ability to appeal to a socially and educationally diverse audience. Shakespeare knew what it took to fill the seats. To encourage appreciation of Shakespeare's universal…

The use of electronic audience response systems (ARS) in undergraduate science instruction is increasing. In this article, we argue for combining such a teaching approach with a more active use of student small-group discussions, demonstrating with examples from a Norwegian physics course how "talking physics" is central to the…

A critical stage in the process of developing a conceptual understanding of organic chemistry is learning to use curved arrow notation. From this stems the ability to predict reaction products and mechanisms beyond the realm of memorization. Since evaluation (i.e., testing) is known to be a key driver of student learning, it follows that a new…

Aiming for experiences that are both culturally responsible and personally meaningful, the author offers guidelines to help museum educators and art teachers negotiate contextual information within group investigations of works of art. In people's encounters with art, dialogue exists on several levels. There is dialogue between a viewer and a…

In this installment of "Members Speak Out," the author discusses a game that teachers can play with their band and orchestra students. Called "Drop the Needle," it involves starting a musical recording in the middle and trying to determine what period it is from and who might have composed it. This game allows more experienced…

Presents findings of a study of viewers' ability to detect changes in conducting beat patterns. Reports that music education majors were significantly better able to detect tempo decreases than increases and better able than nonmajors to detect decreases. Indicates that nonmajors were better able than majors to identify tempo increases. (SG)

Audience response systems (ARS) or clickers, as they are commonly called, offer a management tool for engaging students in the large classroom. Basic elements of the technology are discussed. These systems have been used in a variety of fields and at all levels of education. Typical goals of ARS questions are discussed, as well as methods of…

This paper offers some guidelines, to be shared with students, that can help make the evaluation of creative responses and projects affirmative, honest, and heartfelt. What should teachers look for in a creative project? The project should move the audience in some deeply personal way, contain some element of surprise, and fulfill the spirit--if…

This paper discusses the use of bibliotherapy with gifted students and introduces "cinematherapy," the use of movies to help students explore important issues in their lives. Plot summaries, post-viewing discussion questions, and questions relating movies to gifted students' lives are presented for "Stand and Deliver" and "Wargames." A list of…

A composition teacher's suggestion to students to read personal compositions to others and to act on their reactions took on new meaning when the teacher read his own works to a writer's group. The teacher then began to realize the real implications of this method for writing instruction. Student reactions to their classmates' compositions can…

Teachers of public speaking need to provide the educational leadership necessary for students to become responsible for their presentational interaction. Several instructional practices can help students re-position themselves in what they do with their presentational interaction to make it meaningful. For example, teachers can respond to student…

Peer feedback by students, both positive and negative, has proven to be helpful to many public speaking educators. Asking students to design their own evaluation sheets can not only guarantee the numbers of evaluations they receive, but also assist them to do more audience analysis during the preparation process for their speeches. In designing…

Working with schools and communities across the United States, the Education Commission of the States has learned that people want to express their opinions about schools in their communities. This guide was designed to help engage all sectors of the community in conversations about education. It is suggested that holding a series of meetings…

An advanced college-level composition course highlighting differences in writing intended for different cultural groups was designed to teach American students how to communicate thoughts and feelings effectively to various international audiences. (MSE)