A study of the full-time faculty rated highest by students and peers found that they used distinctive classroom interaction patterns including criterion-based praise of student verbal communication, expansion on student ideas, encouragement after error, provide alternatives for students to choose, and other indirect support of student…

Central to a pedagogy of work education is a practice that must acknowledge experience as legitimate curricular content while simultaneously challenging both its substance and its form. Several variations of how work experience is constituted by students are discussed, and the pedagogical implications of each is explored. (Author/BJV)

A discussion of techniques for creating active listening in the French conversation class looks at preconceptions about conversational language classes, the responsibility of each partner in the interaction (speaker and listener), choice of materials for discussion, preparation of classroom presentations, and the teacher's responsibility in…

Examines the metaphors used by two teachers when they speak about their professional work. Describes the major metaphorical figures found in the language of each teacher (e.g., lessons as moving objects, time and attention as commodities, control as something exerted from above), and examines ways in which these are conceptually related. (JG)

Evaluates an individualized reading program in which elementary school teachers prepared written prescriptions for students, targeting specific deficiencies for remediation. Finds that among students, preferences for independent modes of learning are significant predictors of positive reading attitudes. (MM)

Describes some practical techniques that lead to effective classroom discipline and that maintain an optimal learning environment. Suggestions include (1) spending time with students individually; (2) using a variety of techniques to help students make smooth transitions from one activity to another; and (3) constructing contingency contracts to…

Reviews the results of six studies which indicated that the output of students involved in an immersion program was linguistically faulty, and suggests ways in which immersion programs can be made more effective and lead to greater linguistic competence as well as communicative competence in its students. (CB)

A training course providing German primary school teachers with techniques for asking classroom questions resulted in increases in the questions using higher cognitive processes and in the correspondence between levels of questions and responses, maintained over a three-month period. (MSE)

Provides a descriptive account of how and what seven university lecturers thought about the progress of their courses and identifies the major issues receiving their attention. Highlights include student communication; course planning; class process; student-teacher relationship; teaching methods and morale; and student behavior, intellectual…

Major functions of teaching assistants (TAs) and innovative methods are proposed. TAs help students learn through interaction, coach students in higher thinking skills, and provide a communication channel to integrate the course. A course planning guide based on performance objectives and classroom activities to stimulate student participation are…

Educating youth about the goals of the social/cultural system in which we live is largely the responsibility of teachers. Enthusiastic and dedicated teachers are able to transform the classroom into a place where the values, habits, and patterns of behavior that are a part of this culture are passed on to the future generation. (MD)

Describes learning-teaching styles characteristic of educators and students who flourish in the experiential environment of investigation, process-orientation, experimentation, and stimulation. Explains three other mind-styles and points out how recognizing them can enhance communication, enrich curriculum, and help students and teachers cultivate…

Illustrates how school writing environments that encourage talk between peers can help children learn about writing and the writing process. Describes recurring patterns of language behavior at a kindergarten writing table and shows how children's natural conversations are often reminiscent of adult-child interaction in the home. (HTH)

Describes a program offered to preservice and inservice reading teachers as an alternative to reading methods classes that was structured to reconcile the demands of critical theorists for change with the actualities of classroom life. (FL)

Presents contributors' suggestions concerning (1) creative responses to recreational reading, (2) multisensory approches to spelling, (3) writing assignments for remedial readers, and (4) ways to keep track of students' reading interests. (FL)