A week-by-week readiness program for preschool and early primary children. (Editor)

Examines how conceptions of what it means to read and discuss literature shaped peer-led discussions in the classroom. Explores the relationship between social and interpretive expectations in the classroom and the positions students took during literature discussions. Shows that students worked to create solidarity. Complicates the role that…

This study examined the effects of three reinforcement histories on the persistence of task engagement by two students (ages 9-10) who were off task during independent seat work. Results found the reinforcement history that contained an instructional control component produced the greatest persistence in student engagement. (Author/CR)

Two studies were conducted to examine characteristics of teacher communications to 32 students (ages 5-17) with severe and profound disabilities. Results found the forms of communication selected were less related to the student's communicative ability or responsiveness to particular forms than they were to the teacher's intention in…

The Internet environment is suitable for many types of learning activities and teaching and learning styles. Every World Wide Web-based course should provide: home page; introduction; course overview; course requirements, vital information; roles and responsibilities; assignments; schedule; resources; sample tests; teacher biography; course…

Examines the relationship between kindergartners' (N=168) perceptions of competence and teacher comments. Results indicate that teachers did not more frequently praise students who had higher perceptions of competence than students with lower perceptions. No relationship emerged concerning the effects of teacher praise or criticism on changes in…

Discusses factors that affect how well students with hearing loss and typical students can hear in classrooms. Soundfield equalization is discussed as a way to create an environment where each child is at a favorable speaker-listener distance by routing the teacher's voice to loudspeakers around the classroom. (CR)

Finds an inverse relationship between student perceptions of teacher misbehaviors and (1) teacher assertiveness, (2) teacher responsiveness, (3) positive affect for the teacher, and (4) positive affect for the course material. Shows that instructor type (graduate assistant versus professor) was not related to perceptions of teacher misbehaviors.…

Describes desktop teaching which involves giving students individual topics and having them prepare lessons on those topics to share with the class. Presents the structure of desktop teaching including how to prepare, introduce, set up, implement, and evaluate it. Emphasizes that desktop teaching helps students engage in discussing and learning…

Based on a variety of recorded classroom data, this article focuses on language teachers' classroom explanations and suggests that teacher talk in the form of explanations can be a source of valuable language input for learners. The article emphasizes that in language teaching, explaining is a central and difficult part of any teacher's work. (38…

Presents a description and qualitative case study of three high school classrooms, in two of which the teachers actively elicited student dialog and thereby improved writing. Draws on M. Bakhtin, R. Rommetveit and Y. M. Lotman to suggest that a combination of writing and dialogue (spoken interaction) lead to more chances to learn than either…

Describes teachers as often being in a place of tension between responding to students as persons and responding to students in their institutional-defined roles. Studies the significance of communicative ambiguity for responsibility, and explores what is ethically at stake for teachers in erotic form of communication. Contains 14 references. (JS)

Argues that achievement gains in literacy in the middle school classroom revolve around the three elements of "dialogic instruction" orchestrated to support "envisionment-building classrooms" centered around substantive and sustained "curricular conversations." Asserts that effective classroom practices that include…

Finds that a significant relationship exists between teachers' use of affinity-seeking strategies and student perceptions of classroom climate. Shows that 19 of the 25 strategies were correlated with classroom climate, and that communication teachers regularly used 19 of the 25 strategies. (SR)

Investigates what constitutes effective and ineffective tone management in English-as-a-Foreign-Language classrooms with specific reference to tertiary level context in China. Findings indicate that effective tone management is likely to lead to a more congenial and contingent pattern of classroom interaction, where students become symmetrical…