One way to create more class time and not lose education time is to have students take notes at home and do the work in class. This article describes "flipping the classroom," a new instructional model that allows an educator to record a lesson plan on video in the same fashion it would be presented to students. The structure of the…

This article presents a rationale for using active involvement techniques, describes large- and small-group methods based on their documented effectiveness and applicability to K-12 classrooms, and illustrates their use. These approaches include ways of engaging students in large groups (e.g., unison responses, response cards, dry-erase boards,…

Math discussions allow all students to get involved and take ownership of their mathematical knowledge. They allow students to think about what they are doing, reason about why it works, and understand the underlying concept. Teachers will be able to learn so much about their students through the discussions. They will be able to tell when their…

The field of education bubbles over with controversies. It's not unusual for intelligent people of good will to disagree passionately about what should happen in schools. But there are certain precepts that aren't debatable, that just about anyone would have to acknowledge are true. While many such statements are banal, some are worth noticing…

The word "cyberbullying" didn't even exist a decade ago, yet the problem is pervasive today. Simply put, cyberbullying is the repeated use of technology to harass, humiliate, or threaten. When people take to the keyboard or cell phone and craft messages of hate or malice about a specific person, cyberbullying is emerging. And unlike…

The application of social-emotional and character development (SECD) in classrooms is about teaching, practicing, and modeling essential personal and civic life habits and skills that are almost universally understood as making people good human beings. Among these habits are respect, responsibility, integrity, caring, fairness, and constructive…

Young children's beliefs about what is right and wrong traditionally have been strongly influenced by their families. However, today children often come to school with problematic behaviors and attitudes. Character education has become a necessity. Character education programs have a positive effect on achievement, classroom behaviors, and…

One of the greatest misconceptions still found in public schools is the erroneous belief that parents of immigrant students do not care about their children's education. However, the fact is, these parents care and are able to demonstrate it when they are respectfully embraced by a school community that recognizes how much they can contribute to…

For students born into poverty, grades 4-5 are a boundary where their learning needs change dramatically and in ways that have been consistently misunderstood throughout the many waves of well-intentioned reform over the past century. As a result, these needs have remained unaddressed, and grades 4-5 have become the boundary line where they start…

Teachers know from their training and experience that questioning plays an important role in today's instruction. Modern lessons are fast-paced and interactive, with teachers asking a lot of questions. Because this instructional strategy dominates class time and because students are active during the lesson, there are more chances for management…

There has been a great deal of focus in recent years on high school reform as a way to ensure all students graduate ready for a skilled job or additional postsecondary education. As expectations for a more highly educated American citizenry rise, what happens in the middle grades--the beginning of the secondary-to-postsecondary education…

In academia, there is much discussion about "millennial" students--those born between 1982 and 2002. Although there is a mix of students in college classes, particularly at community colleges, the influx of millennials is notable in terms of their sheer numbers. This year will see the largest high school graduation class ever--even…

This article features Project 540, a national civic education program directly engaging high-schoolers in the democratic process. Project 540 is a dynamic and moving initiative that brings students full-circle to produce civic action plans based on what their school and community have to offer. The author emphasizes that civic participation based…

Condensed from "Media & Methods, V (February 1969), 44.

Organizational competence is what makes schools smarter, and such competence is typically found to reside in the relationships, norms, memories, habits, and collective skills of a network of people. Simply put, organizational competence is the sum of everything that everybody knows and uses that leads to increased learning. In an organizationally…