Discusses the benefits of a classroom pet. Presents guidelines to determine whether a classroom pet is really needed and some suggestions for improving existing conditions for animals you may already have. Includes chart for choosing the right pet, which compares the life span, size, diet, and pros and cons for guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits,…

Based on recent research and the author's site visits, this article describes six attributes characterizing an Information Age school: interactivity, self-initiated learning, a changing teacher role, media and technology specialists as central participants, continuous evaluation, and a discussion-centered classroom environment. Contact information…

This article presents activities to help teachers explore the issue of tattling and help students learn when to tell and when to work it out themselves. Both activities require several 20-minute periods in which teachers explain the issue and involve students in discussions of appropriate behavior and responses. (SM)

Explains how reading strategy strips were developed to focus students' attention on specific reading steps. Notes that students became more personally knowledgeable and independent by using reading strategy strips. Proposes that their small-group participation helped them progress as collaborative thinkers. (PM)

Discusses how a focus on learning can change teaching and identifies five key changes to practice that come out of a focus on learning. They are changes in: (1) the balance of power; (2) the role of the teacher; (3) the responsibility for learning; (4) the function of content; and (5) the purposes and processes of evaluation. (SLD)

Describes college students' role in the detection of teaching misconduct, providing results from a study suggesting that the role undergraduate students can play in detecting teaching wrongdoing is tenuous at best and asserting that the graduate school socialization process, institutional codes of conduct, and faculty peer sanctions must assume…

Elementary-school students with hearing impairments need preparation for transition to junior high school, where students receive less individual support from teachers and must accept more responsibility. Such preparation should focus on keeping up with the class, following a personal class schedule, accepting responsibility, keeping track of…

Provides text of policies of National Association of College Admission Counselors revised in 1988: (1) Statement of Principles of Good Practice for Members of the National Association of College Admission Counselors; (2) Statement of Students' Rights and Responsibilities in the College Admission Process; and (3) Statement of Transfer Students'…

Describes an upstate New York high school's success at restructuring its schedule according to a modified Copernican Plan. The Dover Renew 2000 block schedule divides the school year into trimesters; each term has two 120-minute periods and a shorter interest block. This approach "dejuvenilizes" the high school and allows more focused,…

Discusses common challenges in motivating student employees, recommends motivational methods and supervisory management styles, and describes how the system works when these recommendations are used. It is concluded that supervisors need to implement student employment policies and activities that maximize student employee usefulness and…

Investigated relationship between beliefs about drinking and alcohol use and abuse among college students (n=526). Results indicated overall students agreed with responsible drinking statements, but when effects of intervening variables were assessed, men, fraternity and sorority members, and students living in fraternity houses were much more…

Research shows that peer tutoring is more cost effective than many other instructional strategies. Parsons (Kansas) High School grants credit for tutoring and being tutored. Participating juniors and seniors enroll in regularly scheduled elective course that meets daily. Tutors work with partners on everything from solving quadratic equations to…

Describes the environmental activities of two PTA members, noting the responsibility and power of the PTA to join their environmental efforts. The article discusses the PTA's leadership role and provides a sample of ideas for ways children and PTAs can help save the environment. (SM)

Today's children must be educated about solid waste management and recycling to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills. The article describes what can be recycled (newspapers, corrugated cardboard, paper, glass, aluminum, textiles, motor oil, organic wastes, appliances, steel cans, and plastics). It also lists student environment…

Teachers using the whole-language approach to reading instruction (instead of phonics readers and worksheets) claim this practice is child centered, allows student reading choices, develops the whole child, makes learning relevant, and promotes a lifelong love of learning. Whole-language teachers should adopt a transactional pedagogy and link…