The use of a group process approach to social problem solving with 32 12- and 13-year-old hearing impaired adolescents is described. It is explained that the classroom meetings lasted about 15 minutes and that the initial sessions focused on student's reactions to the class bully. The roles of the teacher in the group are discussed. (PHR)

Describes a group discussion process for helping students make use of the vocabulary that normally lies dormant in their minds. (TJ)

With the energy crisis still very much with us, here is a program that is getting New Jersey's students involved in energy conservation. (Editor)

In an attempt to develop a widely applicable, practical means of reducing students' alienation from school, family, and community by increasing self-ideal congruence, encounter groups were offered as elective courses to 10th-grade students; results suggest limited positive results. (MM)

Examines the effect of communication media on group processes and the consequent effect of processes on group cohesiveness, satisfaction, and productivity using mediated regression analysis. Supports previous findings about group outcomes by showing that communication media groups expressed lower cohesiveness than did face-to-face groups. (AEF)

This group of classroom tips discusses the benefits of peer coaching, peer group conversation about teachers' classroom experiences, using visual displays for collegial sharing, using cultural brokers in educational settings, and the role of picture books in developing literacy skills in diverse students with disabilities. (Author/CK)

Presents an activity for students to investigate equal parts and area and the connection between area and fractions. Highlights the importance of such a lesson in which children explore rich mathematical ideas, share their thinking and their work with one another, and make connections to other mathematical ideas. (ASK)

Outlines current ideas about the use of focus groups in library and information science and considers advantages and disadvantages of different types of focus group discussions. Discusses reasons for choosing this research method. (AEF)

The author tells how he began storytelling to teen audiences, how fairy tales were originally geared toward adult audiences, and highlights some of his favorites. Violent, gory, and humorous stories appeal to teens but invoke discussion and promote reading. Provides a list of storytelling hints and finding, learning, and practicing the story. (LAM)

Explores connections to be made between literature and life by using "Cinderella" as an occasion for classroom drama and personal discussion. Explains how the instructor assumes the role of a reporter as students tell their own Cinderella stories. (TB)

Examines online discussions using lexical scoring techniques. Suggests that online conversations become more sophisticated as learners interact with each other over the duration of a course, that collaboration among learners fosters the social construction of knowledge and that evidence of such knowledge-building activities is embodied in the tone…

Advocates the use of Socratic dialogue as a paradigm of classroom organization that supports the primary goals of Montessori secondary education. Describes similarities between the structure of the Socratic seminar and first- and second-period Montessori lessons. Argues that Socratic practice provides a safe, structured environment in which…

Presents a guide, derived from the Situational Leadership model, which describes the process that should be used in facilitating a group discussion. The process includes preparation, assessment, diagnosis, prescription, development, reinforcement, and follow-up. Three figures depict the Situational Leadership model, the facilitation process, and…

Describes the nature of online chats in terms of how graduate students structured their conversations in online group discussions, and how they participated and conversed in and across concurrent conversations. Characteristics of the computer medium contributed to the conversational structures and the kinds of structures affected interactivity and…

An Internet user talks about her experiences as a result of a graduate-level class, "Telecommunications in the Classroom," at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Discussion focuses on the Internet community and the various kinds of talk on the Internet, including bulletin boards, real time, creative, political, expert, international,…