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.

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…

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…

In today's ethnically and linguistically diverse classrooms, teachers need a notion of "relevant" that allows students from vastly different backgrounds to make personal purposeful connections with their academic work. To make instruction relevant, the author suggests that it has to be meaningful and engaging to a broad range of students.…

The purpose of this study was to examine how the infusion of theatre arts into the language arts and social studies curricula in grades 4 and 5 impacted the cognitive and prosocial development of special populations, as well as the students' attitudes toward learning. An experimental/control group design was employed. Various instruments were used…

Each year, teachers are overwhelmed with too much to cover and an endless list of things to accomplish between the first bell and the final report card. In addition to helping students master mandated curriculum and prep for standardized tests, there seems to be a never-ending stream of surprise fire drills and last-minute assemblies that rob…

The idea of believing in oneself is a construct that goes by several names: (1) self-efficacy; (2) self-concept; and (3) self-esteem. How well a person thinks he or she will do in the completion of a task plays a significant role in how well that person will actually do. Positive self-beliefs have been linked to many benefits, including increased…

Education in a democracy is geared toward and powered by a particularly precious and fragile ideal, which can be simply stated: every human being is of infinite and incalculable value; each a unique intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, moral, and creative force; each person is born free and equal in dignity and rights; each endowed with…

Action research is a form of enquiry that enables practitioners everywhere to investigate and evaluate their work. This type of research allows the practitioner--whether classroom teacher, principal, or counselor--to take the lead in improving and better understanding the inner-workings of your classroom, school, or students. Conducting action…

Teacher education programs in Vietnam, like their counterparts in most multicultural societies, struggle to address the issues of access, equity, and excellence. The nation's minority groups, about 13 percent of the population, traditionally have not gained admission to educational opportunities on a par with members of the majority group,…

Teaching in the affective domain, or "domain of emotional response," challenges teachers to focus objectives on their students' attitudes and feelings (Woolfolk 2003). Affective domain teaching occurs simultaneously with teaching in the cognitive domain, never in lieu of it. In this essay, the acronym CRIER (complaining, responding, initiating,…

Most teachers have been good students. Some students are fast learners and attain the required knowledge and skills easily; others are obedient, hard workers. In either case, teachers are likely to believe that if students really try, they will do well. Listening to students over many years, the author has learned that this is probably not true.…

Modeling caring behavior, role playing, and creating and enforcing classroom and school rules are all time-honored strategies used by teachers to create classroom environments that foster safety, empathy, a sense of belonging, and respect for self, others, and property. During times of crises in children's lives, these strategies are heightened in…

In this article, the author invites students to reflect on the characteristics of their own teachers. The author contends that this reflection can be a methodological process and model toward a better understanding of what identifies teachers as professionals. To "constructively reflect" on teacher professionalism, it is imperative that the four…

In this article, the authors present the lessons learned by the teaching community from the September 11 attack and the ongoing war on terror. The ongoing war against terrorism presents some unique challenges to the nation's educators. Classroom teachers must cope with explaining to their students the daily war news and acts of violence. Decisions…