Despite evidence that play supports learning and development across a range of domains in early childhood, play time has been decreasing for many young children in recent years. Early care and education (ECE) teachers are in a unique position to promote developmentally appropriate play as a way to help young children learn, and ECE teachers'…

We designed and implemented an innovative teacher learning activity within the context of a graduate course. Course-takers created and completed a teaching demonstration and their "students" (i.e., fellow course-takers) were each assigned a specific role to play (e.g., disengaged) in order to provide the "teachers" with…

The development of videoconferencing technology has enabled new modes of combining in-person and remote teaching. In this article, we investigate interactional practices in hybrid language classrooms that combine on-site and remote participation by way of telepresence technology. Telepresence robots are videoconferencing tools that can be remotely…

Debates remain popular in English language courses, and this activity gives students a low-stress opportunity to develop their speaking debating skills. This lesson plan is appropriate for upper intermediate or advanced students. Goals of the activity are to present an oral argument using evidence and use functional language related to agreeing,…

Even though previous research points to the significance of kindergarten teachers' practices which consider the nature of children and how they learn, there is still limited research regarding how learning activities impact children's development. To address this gap in literature, a qualitative multi-case study into teachers' perceptions of…

"Teaching Bad Apples" is a game developed in 2014 for current and future teachers. It plays much like "Apples to Apples" or "Cards Against Humanity," with each player in turn reading a situation card, followed by the other players choosing their response cards. Each situation, however dramatic or bizarre, is…

Despite the popular belief that fun has a positive impact in learning contexts, empirical research on fun in the classroom has been limited. To extend research in this area, the goal of this study was to develop and validate a new scale to assess fun in the classroom and examine its relationship with student engagement. The multi-stage scale…

Learning how to manage a classroom effectively is a difficult task for preservice teachers. This is compounded by the lack of attention that classroom management receives in many teacher preparation programs and in the field of education in general. This article offers a rationale for the lack of attention to classroom management in teacher…

One way to engage all students and ensure that they feel valued within a classroom is to provide opportunities for learning that tap into varied intelligences. According to Howard Gardner, "It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied human intelligences, and all of the combinations of intelligences."…

Perfect for self-help and professional learning communities, this handbook makes it much easier to apply the teaching practices from the ASCD-McREL best-seller "Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, 2nd Edition." The authors take you through the refined Instructional Planning Guide, so you…

Adding movement to classroom activities not only engages students, but also may improve the classroom climate and reduce disruptions. In this article, the author discusses four simple activities to add movement in daily lessons. These activities are: (1) Vocabulary/Notes around the Room; (2) Cooperative Learning: Posting Task Assignments; (3)…

This exercise is designed to illustrate how challenging it is to listen. Although listening is an activity that people use more than speaking, reading, or writing, it is typically not afforded the same level of instruction and focus (Adler & Rodman, 2011). In addition, humans are subject to such continual and diverse stimuli; most do not even…

Children living with uncertainty and insecurity often have difficulty focusing on learning. They might demonstrate disrespectful or defiant behaviors, act out, or act with aggression. As an educator, you may provide the only stability in their otherwise turbulent world. "Making It Better" explains trauma-­informed education, an approach…

In this article, we explore challenges encountered by K-12 educators in establishing classroom cultures that support creative learning activities with the Scratch programming language. Providing opportunities for students to understand and to build capacities for creative work was described by many of the teachers that we interviewed as a central…

Although the necessary role of differentiation in special education is well established in the literature, little is known about its social and peer interaction implications from the student perspective. The present qualitative study aims at offering detailed observational analyses of the meanings that 7- to 9-year-old students give to…