This book takes the elementary school teacher through all the paces needed to conduct a 2-day writing marathon in the classroom. According to the book, working as a team and having the opportunity to write without interruption are the main goals of a "write-a-thon," but play is a key element to its success. The book explains step-by-step…

The whole language approach was used with a "well" or successful adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) group. Literature was chosen as a curriculum for which group work could be devised that was geared to all levels of students. The book used was "Choices" by George Ella Lyon, a book of short stories written by characters who live in a small…

Studies show that training students in the use of social and cognitive strategies contributes to learning; however, low-achieving students seem unable to benefit from such interventions. This intervention study addressed the following question: In secondary mathematics, what are the general and differential effects of training students in social…

Using a brief experiential group activity called "Choosing a Color Exercise" as an introductory measure, this paper explains the basics of group dynamics and reviews the major theoretical relationships between the group's structure, the dynamics of maintenance and task behaviors, and effective individual performances. The types of functional and…

Innovations for dealing with large classes (defined as those with over 60 pupils) are offered in this guide for teachers and administrators. Based on a systems approach, this document describes the difficulties with which teachers of large classes must cope and lists solutions that can be introduced by teachers and administrators at various…

Because interest in oral proficiency on the part of foreign language educators has persisted on several fronts, the common problems that teachers face in implementing oral testing are discussed, and possible solutions are offered. The problems discussed include the following: (1) how to find the time; (2) how to develop tests; and (3) how to…

Studies examining the topics of attitude and achievement, attitudes of males and females, and grade level and gender have produced a variety of inconsistent or weak results. This study investigated elements of science classrooms that are influential in forming the attitudes of students. The study used projective and cross-sex probes in two new…

Focusing on one aspect of a school-based project that examined the development of young children's communication skills, this study investigated variations in the balance and type of questions found in dialogues between preschool children interacting together and interacting with an adult. Subjects were 60 children, ages 4 to 5 years, who were…

If the principles of feminism are to be enacted and nurtured in their development, then there must be an understanding of: (1) psychological, social, economic, legal, and cultural obstacles confronting women; and (2) assumption and expectations surrounding the feminist perspective. The classroom offers a unique context for developing these…

The use of groups in both the workplace and schools has been increasing. In the workplace, groups reflective of a growing trend toward worker participation in management have been variously referred to as self-managing work teams, self-directed work groups, quality circles, autonomous work groups, and cross-functional teams. Schools have used many…

The procedures outlined in this paper have been used in English as a second language (ESL) conversation classes at the University of Guam. The technique is based on the training-group model used in sensitivity training and the "buzz group" technique taught in communications courses. The procedure is found useful because it provides an economic use…

An investigation of the relative effectiveness of the case-study and lecture methods. Results suggest that both methods are equally effective for producing knowledge and understanding of management topics but the case-study method is significantly more effective in teaching their application. (Author)

This paper reflects on the experiences of two colleagues who co-taught a larger-than-traditional online graduate class in a Master of Continuing Education program in the fall of 2002. Their goal was to test a number of design and facilitation assumptions that had been successful in smaller online graduate-level classes. They began with a set of…

A study investigated the actual and ideal size of English second language classes in areas of Africa, and the problems associated with teaching large classes. Data were obtained from teachers from South Africa and Botswana attending a course at Leeds University (England). The two questionnaires used gathered information on (1) class size,…

This study examined the language of teachers and children during small group instruction in two cognitively oriented preschools. A total of 22 small group instruction sessions were videofilmed in each preschool. Lesson relevant utterances from the 44 videotapes were coded for grammatical and cognitive variables. In an examination of five specific…