Examines the concept of professional development for librarians. Topics include lifelong learning; continuing education to learn new techniques and to develop special skills; conferences, workshops, institutes, and seminars; transfer of training; adult learning; and an example of an institute for professional development. (LRW)

Argues that conference attendees must approach their training with preplanning and flexibility in order to maximize the experience. Presents guidelines for successful conference attendance, including fitting the conference into a personal training plan, anticipating conference offerings, minimizing registration problems, planning attendance…

Discusses the strategies and structures necessary for fostering social competence in all children, especially those at risk of academic or social failure. Discusses strategies for assessing and understanding social skills problems, teaching social skills, and preferred practices for achieving generalized responding. Also provides guidelines for…

Educational gymnastics uses a problem-solving approach to accommodate multiple correct solutions to open-ended movement problems in gymnastics. A four-stage framework is outlined to help teachers systematically increase and decrease task difficulty in educational gymnastics. Answers to common questions about educational gymnastics are provided.…

Presents a lesson plan designed for high school juniors about the U.S. conservatist movement in the 1920s and 1980s. Explains that the students learn about comparative analysis during this lesson. Focuses on the development of conservatism and the role of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Includes background information and a handout. (CMK)

Discusses how teachers can include their students in classroom management by building a teacher-student partnership in the classroom. Explains that an increased role for students will enable them to practice their citizenship skills, improve instruction, and instill order in the classroom. Addresses how to expand the students/teacher roles. (CMK)

Describes Kodaly-based music programs. Focuses on three problems with this instruction method: (1) when one or more beliefs are focused upon to the detriment of the program as a whole; (2) the Kodaly program was created in a different culture and time; and (3) the program's emphasis on specific musical skills is limiting. (CMK)

Describes an art project that allows seventh and eighth grade students to participate in the "Middfest" in Middletown, Ohio, that honors a different country each year. Explains that the students created 10 feet high paintings of Greek philosophers for the Middfest focus on Greece. (CMK)

Presents the use of a seven-stage peer assessment process and peer learning in an online, constructivist, higher education distance learning context to develop desired skills and capabilities. Authentic assessments included case studies, projects, critique and portfolio of evidence. Discusses assessment in a system of constructive alignment…

Less experienced teachers may present skill tasks to physical education students and athletes in a manner that is too complicated. This paper explains how beginning and intermediate learning of motor skills occur, noting implications for teaching in the verbal-cognitive stage for beginners and the motor- associative stage for intermediate…

Focuses on the importance of developing student listening skills. Describes a classroom project for fifth-grade students in which they created a music video, addressing the roles of the students and the teacher. Includes a section detailing the steps involved in completing this project. (CMK)

Discusses a study that investigated the use of word processing for literacy teaching in primary schools in Great Britain. Considers the use of word processing and the attempts to integrate other information and communication technologies into schools; enhancing the curriculum; and shifting focus away from technology and toward the development of…

Describes the development of a Web-based staff development course by the Glynn County School System (Georgia) for their teachers that focused on use of the Internet. Discusses the use of WebCT software; pretest and posttest results of skill levels; participant reactions; and instructor reactions. (LRW)

Argues that course syllabi and instructors' presentation of them set a tone for interaction with students. Relates incident in which a student in the author's class disrupted the class by regularly leaving to feed a parking meter. Student's behavior sparked discussions among colleagues regarding ways of presenting syllabi in relation to classroom…

Discussed are the limitations of teaching general problem-solving strategies and techniques and their relationship to transfer of learning. The lack of evidence for effective teaching strategies, curriculum reform ramifications, and alternative teaching techniques are considered. (KR)