We introduce Lesson Play as an imaginary interaction between teacher and students presented in a form of a dialogue or play. We suggest that lesson plays are a valuable professional development tool in preparing for teaching that can be juxtaposed with, or used as a replacement for, traditional lesson planning. The article begins with an…

The controversial and complicated nature of the "N" word is examined in a multicultural classroom project. Utilizing both old and new literature, pop culture, historical lenses, and contemporary interpretations, the word proves extremely relevant in today's language arts classroom. By examining students' perceptions and experiences as well as the…

Through the qualitative interviews of five implementers of primary school mathematics curriculum, this study addresses the ways in which mathematics lessons are evaluated. Results show that each evaluator recognizes different aspects of a "good lesson," however, among all criteria, the design of the lesson plan, realization of the lesson…

In this article, the author discusses how she developed an innovative, interdisciplinary unit in eighth-grade English that links with the history teacher's Civil War studies. When constructing lesson plans, the author needed to rely on her sympathetic connection with students. To determine the best way to help students learn, the author had to ask…

Preparing teacher candidates to be reflective professionals is a critical component of physical education teacher education programs. Although many specific strategies have been developed to facilitate post-lesson reflection, strategies for reflecting on future work and professional life have not been widely explored. As a way to facilitate…

The law of conservation of mass can be counterintuitive for most students because they often think the mass of a substance is related to its physical state. As a result, students may hold a number of alternative conceptions related to this concept, including, for example, the believe that gas has no mass, that solids have greater mass than fluids,…

Middle school students make great learning gains when they participate in lessons that invite them to practice their developing scientific reasoning skills; however, designing developmentally appropriate, clear, and structured lessons about scientific thinking and reasoning can be difficult. This challenge can be met through lessons that teach…

We discuss the results of a study aimed at shedding light on the influence that the sharing of professional teaching experiences may have on teachers' professional learning. The focus is on the uses that participants make of their notes about their lesson planning experience in an in-service blended learning course, and the mediation strategies…

With a unique focus on grades 4 and 5, this book explains how to design and implement a research-based reading program that helps all students build major literacy skills (word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). The expert authors present ready-to-use activities, strategies, and lesson plans, along with detailed guidance for…

The expectations for no child to be left behind are leading to increased emphasis on teaching math, science, and social science effectively to students with disabilities. This study utilized information collected from online surveys to examine how current LBS I teachers and individuals graduating from the Illinois State University teacher…

As early as preschool, children who struggle with emergent literacy skills can benefit from effective response to intervention. Don't wait until later grades when they've already fallen behind--improve their literacy skills now with this evidence-based Tier 2 RTI curriculum, ready for any pre-K educator to pick up and use right away. Created by…

An internationalized approach will enable classroom teachers to confidently integrate music within their classroom content and pedagogical approach to teaching within an international framework. There has been no research, however, into an internationalized approach to instruction in the music methods coursework for pre-service elementary…

A teacher's ability to present clear and appropriate movement tasks is strongly related to student learning. The purpose of this study was to describe the ability of preservice teachers to demonstrate task presentation skills following an introductory course in the basics of effective instruction. The task presentations of 15 preservice teachers…

In this paper, we report on work with eight practicing ninth grade social studies teachers to determine how they chose to integrate podcasting to help their students build on their economic literacy, which includes building both economic concepts and skills. The study is rooted in an interpretivist research paradigm, using the Council for Economic…

This article focuses on the ways world language teachers individually and collectively negotiate intercultural encounters and symbolic competence while abroad, at the art museum. In this empirical study, I locate, describe and analyze emerging third places by examining the teachers' discourse, in interaction at the museum. The data consists of a…