Explores the role of teachers focusing on the importance of their enthusiasm for teaching. Discusses such topics as teaching styles, the topical coverage of courses, and the attitudes teachers have toward students. Addresses the issues of personal taste and relevance within the realm of topical content. (CMK)

Argues that the way teachers and students transact with a piece of literature needs to change if teachers are to change the way students read and see themselves as readers. Suggests teachers need to support a variety of responses and avoid the tendency to reduce discussion to a search for a single main idea. Includes a brief response by Susan…

Presents a call to action (including an outline of specific ideas) to educators to resist high-stakes testing, and encourages them to stand up for what they know about how and why children learn (not by the threat of being retained or not graduating) and how and what to teach (not teaching to the tests). (SR)

Expresses concern that instructors have become less creative and less skilled at eliciting student creativity as a result of proliferating planning processes and workshops. Gives new and startling descriptions of how life creates and develops more life. Asserts that instructors need clear intent in the classroom but should not always expect…

Survey responses of 166 administrators and 300 teachers in Alberta schools indicate that most respondents were motivated by personal interest to learn to use the Internet and learned by trial and error. Administrators were more positive than were teachers about the adequacy of school support for Internet use. Administrator and teacher uses of the…

Argues that teachers' perspectives prompt a particular interpretation of Donald Schon's "reflection-in-action" theory that justifies individualistic, immediate, and limited change strategies in professional development. Maintains that reflective teaching requires an approach that is social and collaborative rather than only individualistic in…

An interview with educator-author Alfie Kohn discusses student motivation and the need to move away from giving rewards, praise as a form of control, the importance of genuine encouragement that fosters intrinsic motivation and lifelong learning, and the role of mentors in supporting teachers who seek to change or improve traditional teaching…

Observed all 12 kindergarten classrooms from a small town/rural Midwestern county for the full session on the first day of school to determine teachers' language and classroom practices. Found evidence of demands for entering kindergartners to process complex language, organize themselves and their materials, and comply with many new rules and…

This study examined the effect of a self-evaluation intervention using audiotaped samples of 20 teachers' instructional behavior on the rates of praise in classrooms for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Results indicated the intervention had positive short-term effects on teacher praise and correct academic responses by students.…

The Job Demands-Resources Model was used as the basis of the proposal that there are two parallel processes involved in work-related well-being among teachers, namely an energetical process (i.e., job demands --> burnout --> ill health) and a motivational process (i.e., job resources --> engagement --> organizational…

Observations of 780 third-grade classrooms described classroom activities, child-teacher interactions, and dimensions of the global classroom environment, which were examined in relation to structural aspects of the classroom and child behavior. 1 child per classroom was targeted for observation in relation to classroom quality and teacher and…

This study investigated the effect of teacher misbehavior on student affect for the teacher and teacher credibility. Participants completed an Affect Toward Teacher Scale and a Source Credibility Scale in reference to one of four experimental conditions. The first two research questions examined the effect of misbehaviors on student affect for the…

With the continued explosive growth of personalized websites, more and more public school administrators can expect to face situations in which inappropriate materials have been posted by a teacher, staff member or student. While failing to recognize employees' rights of free speech can result in legal liability, administrators also must be…

This contribution reviews research that links students' and teachers' ethnic background to students' perceptions of teacher interpersonal behavior, teacher treatment of individual students, and student achievement and subject-related attitudes. The review mainly includes studies from the United States, Australia and the Netherlands and a few Asian…

Numerous classroom-based research projects have examined the important role social skills play in an elementary classroom (Browning, Davis, and Resta 2000; Burns 2003; Palmer and Wehmeyer 2003; Stone 2001). As Stone (2001, 18) suggested, "Teachers have an enormous influence on children's behavior by speaking directly and honestly to them,…