In this latest installment of an ongoing series of "Kappan" articles revealing the power of student-involved classroom assessment FOR learning, Rick Stiggins examines how the emotional dynamics of student success or failure impact each learner's sense of academic confidence or self-doubt moving forward. Those dynamics, he contends, have…

Problem behavior disrupts classrooms across the United States, impacting student learning. Despite the adverse consequences, teachers often exclude disruptive students from school as a punitive and default response to problem behavior. Alternatives to exclusion are becoming increasingly popular in many school districts to improve behavior and keep…

Former elementary school teacher Kasandra Singh shares how she used gamification to encourage her 5th-grade students to drive their own learning. Students were initially divided into groups based on their demonstrated ability to get their work done. Those in Level 1 were given direct instruction, those in Level 2 worked together to complete…

When Amber Northern was a beginning teacher 30 years ago, one of her students, Earl, was in 9th-grade English for the third time. He only came to class once or twice a week and intended to quit school, with his father's permission, once he turned 17. Northern delves into the research on chronic absenteeism and considers which, if any,…

Although most teachers are familiar with growth mindsets, many conflate it with other terms or concepts or have difficulties understanding how to best foster growth mindsets in their students. Shelby Clark and Madora Soutter describe how growth mindsets are related to, yet distinct from, intellectual risk-taking and share strategies for fostering…

Structured academic discussions can focus too much on academic language to the detriment of actual discussion, disempowering students with the very tools intended to enhance student voice. The author suggests a new goal for such classroom talk: encouraging students to generate ideas and questions that engage their peers by focusing on the…

Almost a third of adolescents have struggled with an anxiety disorder during their childhood, yet teachers are often unsure how to help students with anxiety. Anxiety is characterized by rumination and negative or distracting thoughts, so teachers can help by disrupting those negative thoughts. Jessica Minahan provides a series of practical…

K-12 educators often overlook the needs, talents, and skills of neurodiverse learners, including students with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. However, while such human differences tend to be misunderstood and even pathologized, there are distinct strengths associated with each unique neurological design. Drawing on their own experiences as students,…

This article describes one secondary social studies teacher's attempts to build a pedagogically democratic classroom. The teacher designs curriculum around large essential questions, connects content to the present lives of students, and creates space for students to make their own decisions and choices. The teacher is convinced that she has…

In a divisive age, how do we support beginning teachers in taking up the challenge of teaching controversial topics and creating classroom environments that promote civil discourse? For insights, the author looked to the work of teacher educators in Northern Ireland, a region that is still affected by many generations of intense sectarian…

Teachers at all levels have reported a stark decline in students' ability to interact with others face-to-face in a technology-driven world. In the world of work, communicative soft skills have surfaced as both a concern and focal point for potential employers. Schools can teach these skills using an approach called S.P.E.C.I.A.L, which focuses on…

Teacher stress takes a measurable toll on the teaching workforce, as many teachers become burned out and decide to leave the profession. Christopher McCarthy explains that stress is a psychological process that results from how teachers appraise the balance between the demands in their classrooms and the resources they have to meet those demands.…

Students in Shanghai, China, get much more recess time than their U.S. counterparts throughout their education. As U.S. education reform efforts seek ways of raising achievement, they have begun replacing recess with academic time. The lesson from Shanghai is that this may not be the best strategy. But whether the Shanghai system of more and…

In many primary classrooms, the prospect of addressing standards threatens to rob young children of the joy of learning. Teachers who feel pressed to move students of all backgrounds toward mastery of increasingly complex standards may abandon rich curriculum and move toward isolated "skill drills." This may be counterproductive. The…

The author spins a tale of how she learned classroom management largely by trial and error and by making a commitment to never give up on her students. Classroom management done well provides the signposts that give students direction and enables them to reach their destination as learners and human beings. Classroom management is one of the most…