Responds to Sweet's (Steven) essay on radical pedagogy in the teaching of sociology. Discusses what it means to be a radical teacher. Presents ideas for beginning radical pedagogs to gain support for their initiatives from other instructors, their own institutions, and their students. (DSK)

Presents suggestions for bringing reading and writing to life in the classroom and helping students develop a lifelong love of both. Includes creating a refrigerator door for displaying student work, using digital notebooks, establishing a publishing center, holding lunch-bunch meetings, binding students' writing into class collections, reading…

Provides a conceptual framework for understanding both positive and negative anxiety, drawing on perspectives from existential philosophy and an artistic metaphor in musical performance to examine the implications for creative teaching. Discusses the positive side of anxiety and its corollary, self-knowledge. (Author/SLD)

In this era of high-stakes testing, many teachers feel forced to aim instruction toward what will be assessed and ignore what students really want to learn. Publishers create materials guaranteed to boost students' test scores, but they neither broaden students' understanding nor increase their interest in learning. When the textbook becomes the…

This article provides some strategies that might help a teacher in dealing with a new course or new content, or just get the year off to a good start. The following strategies are described: (1) Review the new content; (2) Seek help from every resource; (3) Capitalize on what you know; (4) Be organized; (5) Remember the basic science processes;…

The mathematician Charles Dodgson delighted in creating mathematical puzzles for his friends and students. This article describes some items that he included in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and explores ways of helping students become aware of the mathematics in the book. (Contains 6 figures.)

In the wake of No Child Left Behind, school districts increasingly are being held accountable for demonstrating improved student achievement in English language literacy. This article discusses the current state of literacy in the nation, why physical education teachers need to promote literacy practices, and creative ways that physical education…

This article describes the Spare Tyre Theatre Company, which has been creating theatre about gay issues including homophobia since the mid-nineties. They have worked with a variety of groups and over the years have aimed their projects at a younger and younger age group. Shows are accompanied by workshops run by the actors, and audiences are…

Despite government rhetoric, higher education lecturers and schoolteachers in the UK remain under pressure to focus on standards and measurement in the core curriculum at the relative expense of a wider and more creative education. This article argues that the balance needs redressing and explores the nature of creative teaching in the context of…

This paper is an exploration of the ways in which the concept of montage (a principle of film editing developed first by a group of Russian film makers in the 1920s) might be mobilised in support of the teaching of English, in particular the teaching of poetry. I will argue that montage can be used as the basis of a different kind of pedagogy in…

In this article, the author presents a poem on the distribution and adaptation of blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria). The poem describes some of the diverse habitats of cyanobacteria including examples from extreme and unique environments such as hot springs, and polar bear hair. The poem also describes some of the adaptations of cyanobacteria…

This article presents song activities that incorporate music and math into group time. In the version of "I Caught a Fish Alive," children are introduced to simple addition and subtraction activity.

Traveling classrooms for carnival kids didn't really come on the scene until the 1990s when Linda Brewer, a teacher of the Conklin International Academy, helped the idea get off the ground. The trade publication "Amusement Business" lists 325 carnivals in its annual booking guide, but fewer than a dozen shows have schools because it is expensive…

Many elementary vocal teachers experience a certain amount of trepidation about teaching students to sing in harmony. In the general music classroom, they face uncertain singers, inaccurate singers, and uninterested or defiant singers, as well as eager children who sing with appropriate head tone and good intonation. Often this colorful mix makes…

A wonderful way to engage science students is to make them think a demonstration is not turning out the way the instructor intended. Basically, throw a little humor into teaching, and they will be hooked. Described in this article is a demonstration that uses Milk of Magnesia (MOM) as a visual and humorous method to review equilibrium chemistry…