Just as a thermostat adjusts room temperature, effective feedback helps maintain a supportive environment for learning. Because of the many factors affecting how recipients respond to feedback, research offers no simple prescription for making feedback work effectively. What works in one classroom for one teacher will not work for another teacher.…

The authors have seen an inspiring phenomenon in certain classrooms--students thinking through their answers to teacher questions, responding thoughtfully to other students' answers, even self-correcting or providing more information after they've answered a teacher aloud. The strategy behind these student actions is a skillful use of "wait…

A survey of students in Channel One and control schools showed that regular viewing of Channel One reinforces materialistic attitudes. Youngsters are bombarded daily with advertising from adolescent-oriented radio stations, magazines, and TV programs outside school. Channel One does provide educators with a excellent opportunity to educate youth…

Following the Oklahoma City bombing, fifth graders at a nearby elementary school coped with ensuing uncertainty, pain, and loss. They wrote appreciative letters to fire and rescue workers; shared personal stories with classmates; compiled an anthology of poems, prayers, and stories; attended an assembly to honor parents participating in rescue…

At Arizona State University, undergraduate teacher candidates were asked to make biweekly journal entries relating course content to beliefs and knowledge about teaching, classroom applications, children's probable responses, and personal reflections about teaching and learning. Many students organized their entries according to a…

Describes the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in students. Suggests ways that teachers can help students cope with catastrophic events such as the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (PKP)

An El Paso middle-school teacher and her barrio students corrected each other and learned from each other daily. Her most difficult challenge was convincing kids to become more assertive when they felt they were mistreated by other teachers. Students wanted others to respect them and to refrain from prejudging them, laughing at their English, or…

Accused of promoting everything from Satanism to homosexuality, the "Impressions" reading series has come under attack in many of the 34 states using it. A teacher educator expresses chagrin at her "dream" students' half-hearted reactions to controversial articles about a series that they had judged superior. The silence of one…

A seventh-grader explains why the Virginia Standards of Learning tests unfairly pressure her and her teachers. She wants her free reading time restored and wishes politicians would worry more about students understanding--not just memorizing--facts. She praises teachers who go beyond the SOL. (MLH)

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to operationalize a number of Gall's criteria in order to measure whether there is any empirical relationship between these criteria and the level of teacher questions. (Author)

Student response to learning styles at a private middle school in Minnesota has been overwhelmingly positive. The information in a student's Learning Style Inventory profile often helps parents grasp their child's approach to learning. Learning styles practices are encouraged by faculty miniworkshops and inhouse training sessions. (MLH)

Although an Illinois district had worked successfully with the Thoughtful Education model for instructional and curriculum reform, its tests still focused students' attention on grades. Using personalized learning principles stressing choice, understanding, motivation, engagement, critical thinking, and reflection, faculty created tests compatible…

Reseach on use of questioning in classroom teaching reveals that recitation is a poor method, but teachers use it anyway because it is effective in teaching curriculum that is largely textbook based. Teacher educators may be advised to help teachers learn to use recitation well. (MD)

Students generally do better on outcome-based performance tasks than on domain-specific tasks. Results on performance tasks must be interpreted in the context of instruction or guidance provided before or during their administration. Reliability is sometimes questionable, since teachers are highly influenced by students' overall academic…

A visit to Ketchikan, Alaska, reveals a floating, one-teacher logging-camp school that uses multiage grouping and interdisciplinary teaching. There are 10 students. The school gym and playground, bunkhouse, fuel tanks, mess hall, and students' homes bob up and down and are often moved to other sites. (MLH)