Describes the use of television as a tool to start parents and kids talking to each other about sensitive, serious issues. (Author/JM)

The reading workshop is not based on ability groups, but provides a venue to focus on each student's strengths and needs. Components include a teacher-sharing time, focus lesson, state-of-the-class conference, self-selected reading and responding time, and student-sharing time. (MLH)

By leaving school and home routines behind, a group of Maine elementary teachers have found grant-funded summer retreats an excellent source of renewal. Teachers have a chance to pursue chosen professional activities, participate in data- driven conversations, and spend time together with no competing concerns. (MLH)

Three central Minnesota school districts, the Chamber of Commerce, business representatives, and public service organizations decided to help teachers translate workplace expectations into school lessons. The result was the "Relevance Counts Institute," which shows teachers specific occupational skills one day and employee applications…

The High Expectations Learning Process for Standards-Driven Units of Study (HELPS) enables teachers to connect classroom teaching to standards and assessment. Workshops take teachers through a seven-step process: identifying standards, developing ideas for a culminating event, aligning this event with standards, identifying unit blocks, creating…

Teacher training programs must go beyond "how-to" workshops to facilitate understanding about technology's relationship to learning. An International School of Bangkok training program transforms teachers into learners immersed in technology-rich environments. The process involves seven phases: getting ready, learning about technology,…

Notes that teaching social and emotional skills can have a long-term positive effect on academic achievement. The University of Washington's Raising Healthy Children Project tries to reduce children's risk of developing problems in adolescence by providing interventions that bond students to family and school. The program features staff…