Discusses and problematizes the notion of agency in the English classroom. Considers both teachers and students to be constructed agents in the classroom. Focuses on an excerpt from a first-year writing class. Provides comments from the teacher and four students in the class. (HB)

Offers an account of the changes one teacher observed in her reading/writing workshop in a middle school classroom when she and her students took the time to focus on ways of talking to one another, building their speaking and listening skills. (SR)

Differences between Teachers of the Year and inservice teachers and the effect of teachers' gender, years of teaching, grade level taught, and highest degree earned were evaluated using the Teacher Belief Questionnaire. Results indicated that Teachers of the Year were significantly more humanistic in their student control beliefs than were matched…

This study found that, on average, signed messages sent by teachers and students in a school for the deaf were seen less than half the time by the deaf students; students frequently engaged in collateral conversations. Intervention strategies call for changes in teaching techniques, classroom layout, and the use of computer-communication…

Outlines a framework for examining children's socialization that combines microlevels and macrolevels. Applies the framework to a case study of student failure in the Solomon Islands. Concludes that children's failure had less to do with home socialization than with larger societal processes that shape schooling in the Solomons. (MM)

Examines the relationship between new biology teachers' subject matter knowledge and classroom discourse, contrasting classroom discourse during laboratory investigation with discourse during other classroom activities. Data analysis suggests that knowledge and control are related but in ways unique to the communicative context of the laboratory.…

This study investigated the effect of FM (frequency modulation) auditory trainer use on attending behaviors of 36 students (ages 5-10) with learning disabilities. Children wearing the auditory trainers scored better than control students on eye contact, having body turned toward sound source, and absence of extraneous body movement and vocal…

Five educators respond to a hypothetical college classroom interaction in which the teacher struggles with students' emotional responses to course content. The comments focus on these issues: resistance to difficult concepts, optimism, the teacher's role, and the relationship of emotional response and the learning process. (MSE)

Special problems in assessing how college students use technology and the products they create with it are discussed using the examples of listserv discussions (student participation, quality and coherence of discussion, selection of postings) and a computer-based data analysis in a graduate statistics course. Rubrics for evaluating each are…

Presents the results of an analysis of science-classroom lab talk which focuses on topics and manner of talk as an approach to understanding the social context of undergraduate lab work. Argues that lab instructors should pay attention to how "scientific" the lab talk is, and to sociability among students. Contains 32 references.…

Illustrates, through the example of a classroom "trial" in an urban junior high school, how letting students control classroom discussion (within an orderly overall framework) set the stage for increased learning and better student participation. (SLD)

Discusses programmatic and curricular modifications often needed for students included in public school settings who are deaf or hard of hearing, such as adapting the mode/flow of classroom communication, linguistic-level changes, and adapting the listening and physical environment. Possible curricular modifications are suggested for…

Addresses the importance and advantages of building a classroom community in which the physical, emotional, and cognitive needs of the learners are considered. Recommends three student-centered activities that enable children to become members of the classroom community by sharing their personal experiences with one another and practicing…

A study explored effects of a multimedia-based anchored instruction intervention on student/teacher interactions in a social studies classroom with 19 eighth graders, 9 with mild disabilities. Overall, instruction became more interactive as observational and interview data indicated a twofold increase in the number of daily student/teacher…

Contrasts experiences of two children during the first week of kindergarten to illustrate the importance of the classroom environment for inviting children to become full participants in the learning process. (KB)