Describes the author's recent out-of-classroom experience which got him thinking about teaching, about school literacy experiences, and about the way that truly skillful teachers are probably the best listeners, who recognize their own skillfulness and are able to share their expertise with their students. (SR)

States that a teacher-researcher is an observer, a questioner, and learner. (DF)

Reviews materials in the ERIC system dealing with teachers' questioning behaviors. (HTH)

Shows, in one teacher's autobiographical account, that understanding connections between teachers' lives outside of school and themselves as teachers helps them to see how to link the worlds of home and school for their students. (SR)

Describes the philosophy and practices of a number of elementary teachers and the literary experiences of a few second graders in great detail. Finds that, although children may be enjoying worthwhile literary experiences in individual classrooms, they have yet to be exposed to a coherent, "institutionalized" literature program across…

Considers what it means to listen in the context of teaching, and what it means to teach in the context of listening. Explores the character of listening as it is lived in teaching by drawing from stories told during conversations among three teachers about particular students (SG)

Relates the author's experiences in his first few years as a primary teacher in Ontario, Canada, struggling for survival in the face of bureaucracy and questioning his choice of profession. Claims that most teachers go through a similar reexamination process as they face the realities of their work and develop professionally. (JD)

Discusses a classroom where children from many cultures use talk to share and discover the "big" questions in their lives and where the teacher discovers what the critical issues for her and her students really are. (RS)

Offers reflections by a teacher educator who spent a year teaching a third-grade class. Discusses the realities of a teacher's internal decision-making process and day-to-day interactions with children in the classroom. Notes that uncertainty is what keeps the inquiry process going. (SR)

Argues that focusing vision and going beyond imitation is the path by which the teacher becomes a learner and, as a result, a better teacher. Illustrates the individual search for authority of two teachers through two personal stories. (SR)

Discusses literacy experiences in a multiage classroom, noting different kinds of groupings and showing how the teacher grouped and regrouped the children on a typical school day. Argues that flexible grouping is an effective organizational approach appropriate to any classroom. (SR)

Argues that explicit instruction is not a characteristic of teaching practices as much as an aspect of the negotiated space between teaching and learning. Describes how three teaching strategies that shift focus from teachers' explicit telling to learners' explicit thinking (demonstration, assisted performance, and reflective description) make…

Cites materials in the ERIC system concerning research on classroom communication and its implications, and notes some of the problems with that research. (HTH)

Tells the story of two schools involved in an education reform initiative in a large, urban district. Argues that teachers who see themselves as learners create a supportive environment and are much better prepared for the massive challenges, the continual setbacks, and the incremental successes that enduring educational reform entails. (SR)

Describes a teacher's journey toward creating authentic assessment and how it matches the instruction in her classroom. Suggests that the process of documenting the students' stories about learning and reflecting upon them has the potential to solve some of the difficulties with testing, evaluation, and assessment. (RS)