The author teaches at a small, rural school district (K-12 enrollment is 280) in New York's northern Catskill Mountains. According to him, there is no industry in this area and little in the way of commercial business, so when they need to raise money for "extra expenses," it requires a lot of effort. When the cost of publishing their…

This book is a tell-all guide to the euphoric highs and unimaginable lows of teaching. Mahoney and Purr present the naked truth of their own blunder-laden first few years in order to help new teachers, those who think they might want to become teachers, and those in the business of training and hiring new teachers, see the realities that cannot be…

This paper explores the implications of spirituality for teaching and learning in multicultural state schools through the examination of several teachers' personal and professional narratives. In attempting to capture the intangible, these narratives provide insights into the possibilities, both conscious and unconscious, of creating a climate…

The author shares insights gained through teaching middle and high school struggling readers and raises issues related to the complexity of addressing the literacy needs of adolescents for whom reading is difficult. The role of university-based reading clinics in helping inservice teachers' think differently about struggling readers and the…

Nausea, sweating, weak knees, and a dry mouth are all symptoms associated with the fear of standing in front of an audience. Considering the anxiety that public speaking produces, students of any age are facing a significant challenge when they speak in front of a group. While speaking is considered to be an integral part of language arts, it…

Many teachers, fueled by their passion, classroom experience, and entrepreneurial verve, decide to start their own schools. With the needs of children driving their every decision, teachers can create successful schools where students thrive. In this article, teachers who established their own schools--from public charters to private…

Early days on the job can be less than joyful for new teachers who regularly find themselves in seemingly impossible situations. Four educators who survived to tell the tale share their experiences and offer insight into what gave them the strength to continue on their chosen path.

This article deals with an educational structure where students' personal narratives are used to deepen their understanding of what reactions to crises may imply. Through writing about experienced violence the students introduced into the learning environment stories that could be analyzed and serve as illustrations of ways of reacting to crises.…

In this paper we will show some of the results of research which took place in the Principality of Asturias (Spain). Its purpose was finding out the gender discourses used by nursery teachers. Although we will not provide an exhaustive list of all the conclusions reached so far, we will put forward one of the aspects which has been developed…

"Teaching for Joy and Justice" is the much-anticipated sequel to Linda Christensen's bestselling, "Reading, Writing, and Rising Up." Christensen is recognized as one of the country's finest teachers. Her latest book shows why. Through story upon story, Christensen demonstrates how she draws on students' lives and the world to teach poetry, essay,…

Educators concerned with diversity, equity, and human rights in schools share their personal and professional narratives as impetus for developing suggestions and strategies designed to help teachers, students, and administrators deepen their understandings of gender identity educational issues in an effort to support transitioning teachers in…

Social class remains one of the chief prisms through which reality is interpreted. It is vital for a student to understand how this prism influences their internal representations of themselves and others. In this activity, social class is viewed as a social construction of perceived financial and/or economic status developed through societal…

Conflicts happen all the time in early childhood classrooms--and just about everywhere else in life. Conflict management includes the ability to: (1) prevent conflicts from becoming too serious to resolve easily and (2) resolve conflicts peaceably no matter how serious they get. When a third person assists others in resolving a conflict, this is…

Relates experiences of an elementary school reading teacher and a group of fifth- and sixth-grade students in exploring the computer programing language Logo. Use of a tree-like figure as an illustration for the concept of recursion is described. Programing commands and graphic illustrations are included. (EJS)

This book presents the lives, stories, and photographs of Canadian adults who are literacy learners. Each of the seven features in the book tells one aspect of Canada's literacy story. "Orval: The Stories of Orval Daugherty," includes: "Time is Short" (Bounchanh Chanthavimone); "Flash Back" (Wendi Rooks); "The…