Discusses three unresolved issues regarding at-risk students: educators and parents often blame at-risk students for their problems; all students demonstrate at-risk conditions at some time; and schools actually contribute to students being at risk. (SR)

Offers and discusses eight suggestions for secondary teachers who plan on giving cooperative learning a fair trial: (1) start slow, start short; (2) design clear activities; (3) make each student accountable; (4) monitor the groups; (5) identify teams as mixtures of strengths; (6) use grades wisely; (7) use teams every day; and (8) leave teams…

Proposes a hybrid grading system for composition papers which combines numbers and letters (thus providing some objectivity while preserving flexibility) that awards points on a sliding scale (with substantial rewards for content and readability and more limited rewards for mechanics and format) and that helps students see how their papers were…

Discusses briefly five books that can help teachers learn about how conversation works and help their students gain language competence. (SR)

Examines Carl Jung's concept of the "persona" (his term for the masks people wear). Notes how teachers use personae and suggests ways to restore the energy that teachers lose when hiding inside their personae. (SR)

Examines reasons given by high school students that they do not do homework. Argues that teachers must stop dismissing students' criticisms of homework; ask themselves if the criticism is deserved; and start thinking critically about exactly what they assign, under what conditions, and why. (SR)

Reprints an article originally published in 1920 concerning how to establish a feeling of good will in junior high schools. Lists 19 brief things teachers can do, including always greeting pupils, be as ready to praise virtues as to condemn faults, never lose poise, become acquainted with parents, and assign interesting outside work. (RS)

Describes briefly e-mail and listservs. Discusses the promise and perils of e-mail for teacher-student electronic communication, and shows how listservs can provide solutions for e-mail problems involving communicating with large groups of students. (SR)

Suggests that a school-based antisuicide plan should have three components: identification of suicidal warning indicators; monitoring of students predisposed to suicide; and crisis intervention. Concludes that the caring middle school teacher can be effective in observing students for suicide warning signs. (SG)

Offers a brief outline of Buddhist psychology as it relates to the student-teacher relationship. Outlines a classroom process to help students and teachers learn about their inner obstacles to the teacher-student relationship and to develop classroom trust. (SR)

Discusses some major changes that computers, calculators, and graphing calculators have brought to the mathematics classroom, including quasi-empirical studies in the classroom, use of multiple representations, emphasis on visualization, emphasis on tables, an altered classroom "ecology," and increasing complexity for students. (SR)

Discusses the use of "real talk" in the classroom (to develop critical thinking skills), where teachers share their views and reasoning processes with students and listen to students' points of view about topics they care about. (SR)

Discusses the possible causes of violence by students in the secondary classroom. Outlines steps that teachers and administrators should take to prevent or reduce the impact of students who do exhibit violent behaviors. (HB)

Offers tips for maintaining classroom discipline based on several years of teaching experience. (FL)

Discusses the importance of establishing early with a new class the routines and associated rules that the teacher wants to use. Discusses attending to cultural differences, and the consequences of inadequately established routines. (SR)