Modeling differentiated instruction is one way to demonstrate how educators can incorporate instructional strategies to address students' needs, interests, and learning styles. This article discusses how secondary teacher candidates learn to focus on content--the "what" of instruction; process--the "how" of instruction;…

This exploratory study was designed to assess the experience of preservice teachers when integrating written language technology and their likelihood of applying that technology in their future classrooms. Results suggest that after experiencing technology integration, preservice teachers are more likely to use it in their future teaching.

Students of all ages struggle with the multiple processes involved with writing, including planning, practice, and drafting multiple revisions. This article describes four structured writing assignments in an introductory college course, as well as eight specific strategies for helping students enhance their writing abilities.

Preservice teacher education candidates identified personal and professional benefits of participating in a service-learning project helping a food pantry, culminating in a 48-hour fast. At the end of the project, student reflections revealed that the service-learning component influenced participants' preconceptions about hunger.

Co-teaching is a common practice in many P-12 schools today. An emerging trend, however, is the use of this practice in teacher preparation as one way of enhancing the development of student teachers. With the increase in teacher accountability and the heightened scrutiny of teacher evaluation, co-teaching is a strategy that can be incorporated…

This narrative considers how well equipped today's teacher education students and faculty are to meet the demands of the new Common Core State Standards. Data from the Teacher Education Accreditation Council's national evaluation of teacher education programs gives a mixed picture that, while mostly encouraging, also reveals that some…

New accreditation standards for teacher preparation programs call for more seamless and effective connections between methods courses, clinical experiences, and school-based mentoring. Intentional clinical experiences and intermediate instructional strategies can foster collaboration between teacher preparation programs and teacher leaders in K-12…

Using Tomlinson's (2004) framework, the post-secondary classroom can be transformed into a community of learners where different avenues are provided for effectively acquiring content, processing ideas, and developing products. This article explores how instructors can differentiate instruction in teacher-education methods courses by…

In this article, the authors advocate the practice of reflection and reflective thinking skill development. More specifically, they offer definitions of reflection, identify reasons that may inhibit preservice teachers' reflection, and suggest practices that specifically encourage reflection on teaching among preservice and inservice…

A primary goal of all teacher educators is to provide preservice teachers with meaningful professional development opportunities that will help them succeed in making the transition into their own classrooms. Through these experiences, individuals develop the requisite knowledge and skills to become effective classroom leaders capable of…

In this article the authors reason that current reform efforts in education--such as those fueled by Race to the Top (www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop) or the Common Core Standards (www.commoncorestandards.org)--emphasize the need to improve teacher preparation programs in ways that ensure graduates are ready for the realities in today's…

A disconnect exists between teaching and research; and it has become easy, if not automatic, for K-12 teachers to be enthusiastic about teaching and less supportive of research. As a student teacher, the first author found herself adopting the stereotype that research is associated with the sciences and is less pertinent to K-12 education. She…

Students are coming to school with more and more exposure to digital tools, such as smartphones, tablets, and social networking apps (Rideout, Foehr, and Roberts 2010). Though teachers are trying to "catch up" with their students, many were not provided instruction in these skills during their preservice training, and technology is only one among…

This article begins with a scenario that reflects a growing concern for both teacher and adult learner in today's college history classroom. A student in his sixties remembers his experience as a young man growing up during this time period in American history, while the professor knows only what others have told him plus the scholarly works he…

On their way to a state English board meeting, Susan Kelly, a curriculum director, and Louisa Kramer-Vida, a university professor, used their travel time as an opportunity to converse about pedagogy (McAdamis 2010). Specifically, they reflected about enhancing K-12 writing in a suburban, middle class school district. "We need to introduce a…