Research studies show that all students--young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural--benefit immensely from classrooms filled with art, creativity, and laughter. Fun, playfulness, creative thinking, and individual expression reinforce positive experiences, which in turn lead to more engaged students, better classroom environments, and…

Based on semi-structured interviews with Tibetan teachers in Qinghai Province in Northwest China, this article explores how the teachers, who hold subject positions as pedagogical professionals and local intellectual elites, understand the value and implications of education for Tibetan people, and how they navigate their profession in the local…

When a school weaves social-emotional learning throughout its curriculum and culture--both helping students tune in to emotions and teaching "emotional skills" for handling difficult feelings--students and teachers thrive. Brackett discusses ways to develop the emotional intelligence of everyone in the school and lists five key emotion…

Teachers play a significant role in their students' lives. To support this important work, "A Teacher's Guide to Excellence in Every Classroom" details how K-12 educators can use the Hierarchy of Instructional Excellence and the Student Excellence Support System to maximize their impact and increase student success. Discover how to build…

Schools seeking to develop students' social, emotional, and academic skills should consider service learning as one way to help students apply those skills. As of the 2017-18 school year, 37 states and the District of Columbia required or encouraged school districts to offer community service education and service-learning programs. This NASBE…

This research aims to compare the social studies curricula of Thailand and New York State, USA, analyze their similarities and differences, and propose guidelines for improving the Thai social studies curriculum. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, using documentary analysis of the Thai Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551…

How do we ensure that all students are engaged each day in meaningful, challenging, and joyful work and have equal opportunity to learn? That is the central question Regie Routman addresses in "Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence, and Equity for All Learners." Her response is that such an outcome is only possible within a culture…

The impetus behind the design and implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was to establish nationwide criteria in preparing students to be college or career ready by the end of high school. The standards require students to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate text across a wide range of disciplines. Essential to the mastery of the…

"The Practice Base for How We Learn: Supporting Students' Social, Emotional, and Academic Development" outlines promising practices that show how students, teachers, parents, and administrators can integrate social, emotional, and academic learning in preK-12 education. The report, which represents the vision of the 34-member Council of…

This article describes a teachers reflections on the matter of student expectations. Santini begins with a common understanding of the "Pygmalion effect" from research projects conducted in earlier years that intimated "people's expectations could influence other people in the world around them." In the world of deaf…

Ensemble directors have a special interest in helping students learn to practice effectively. Practice is also an essential component of musical development. Music educators need to both teach effective practice strategies and guide students toward meaningful, thoughtful practice. Metacognition strategies are one way to accomplish this. Current…

Here's an awesome thought! Teaching means a teacher's impact on students will last a lifetime. And despite the negatives one hears in the news, a 2010 ING Foundation poll found that 98 percent of adults believe a good teacher can "change the course of a child's life." This year, a teacher will affect every child in his/her class. Over the course…

This article proposes four key developmental stages and various underpinning factors pertaining to the practices of setting up and supporting group learning in the classroom setting. The discussion is mostly explained conceptually, with some compelling examples from the field. The authors subsequently advise that three elements of…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) incorporates challenging literacy standards into middle grades and high school content areas within a variety of academic disciplines, not just English/language arts courses. The Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC) provides schools with instructional tools needed to help teachers understand and implement…

Approaches to classroom instruction have evolved considerably over the past 50 years. This progress has been spurred by the development of several learning principles and methods of instruction, including active learning, student-centered learning, collaborative learning, experiential learning, and problem-based learning. In the present paper, we…