Reading workshop is a way for students to find what kinds of books they love, practice reading independently, and move up to higher levels of reading with teacher guidance. This type of workshop can develop a lifelong love of reading in children. But several conditions need to be met to make it successful. The authors discuss those conditions,…

In this article, John Larmer paints the picture of the ideal high-school graduate--one who is ready for college, career, and life in general. Among other qualities, this student is a problem solver, manages time effectively, works well with others, is open to feedback, and is innovative and creative. How do K-12 schools go about building this…

On an unseasonably cool morning in May 2010, scores of educators arrived in a room in Philadelphia. As the group mingled and chatted over coffee, individuals jotted down ideas for learning sessions and pinned them up on a big sheet of paper. The first EdCamp had begun. EdCamps are free, participatory events organized by educators for educators.…

In this article, the author shares her experience that illustrates that the feedback students give is just as important as the feedback they get. For her, the idea that students giving her feedback was more powerful than her giving them feedback sounded too good to be true. If she could come up with a system to regularly collect feedback that did…

A program to involve parents fully in the education of their children is described. (CK)

The skills acquired in a Job-Alike Workshop can go a long way toward reducing the "I don't get no respect" syndrome compounded by high student/supervisor ratios. When support personnel learn student management strategies, their daily tasks are easier, and the positive effects are noticeable throughout the entire school. (MLH)

Educators commonly believe that praising students' intelligence builds their confidence and motivation to learn and that students' inherent intelligence is the major cause of their school achievement. The author's research shows that, on the contrary, praising students' intelligence can be problematic. Praise is intricately connected to how…

Maria Center for Learning and Life Enrichment in St. Louis (Missouri) offers a leadership training program for youth. (JM)

Opening activities at meetings should provide opportunities for people to get acquainted. Some examples are provided. (Author/MLF)

Reflection is the practice of analyzing our actions, decisions, or products by focusing on the process for achieving them. This article describes three types of reflection (reflection-on-action, reflection-in-action, and reflection-for-action) and a workshop that helps teachers gain insight into beneficial teaching and learning practices. (MLH)

When teachers promote rote memorization as a single strategy, they foster only limited, short-term information retention. Elaboration strategies (creating analogies, paraphrasing, and summarizing) are stressed by the Cognitive Learning Strategies Project at the University of Texas. Includes three references. (MLH)

A special type of meeting between a new school principal and the school staff resulted in clarification of concerns and expectations, reduction of stress, and establishment of the new leadership. (MLF)

A facilitator of workshops and assemblies on social skills recounts revealing dialogs with elementary and middle-level students. Discussion, often accompanied by singing and guitar music, focuses on the issues of belonging, fitting in, making friends, offering support, and practicing empathy. The music is the vehicle for helping students express…

Five useful tools developed by Connecticut consultants can help teachers make sense of standards, design classroom activities, and differentiate achievement levels. These include the sentence diagram, a roll of the die, the mannequin (wardrobe metaphor), Twenty Questions, and the four-rung ladder exercise. (MLH)

The author's work has produced numerous instances in which barely literate students have improved dramatically because poetry composition provided them with the motivation to write. (Author/MLF)