Brian Schorr is an adult with ADHD. Dr. Gabrielle D'Amato, Ph.D., first diagnosed him with ADHD in 2003 when he was living in Ronkonkoma, New York. His main reason for seeking professional help at that time was that he was unable to understand why he had so many piles of papers in his office, why he kept forgetting things, and why he hated a part…

In the English language arts classroom, social justice is a way to increase students' abilities to articulate their experiences, critique their world, and address those identified issues with subsequent action. Teachers who practice social justice education cultivate student voice through class activities, readings, assignments, and assessments…

When the author adopted her son, she was an early childhood educator with a Master's Degree who had taught young children for eight years and directed a child care and infant-toddler center for seven. She thought she knew something about children. Actually, she had a great deal to learn. It took years for her to learn about his needs. He slowly…

Teacher research is an extension of good teaching, observing students closely, analyzing their needs, and adjusting the curriculum to fit the needs of all. In this completely updated second edition of their definitive work, Ruth Shagoury and Brenda Miller Power present a framework for teacher research along with an extensive collection of…

During Mathematics Teaching Course-I (MT-I), the author was given the opportunity to teach a primary mathematics class at a Government school in Karachi, Pakistan while on teaching practice. The author was lucky to be able to share the lesson planning with a friend, and they found the sharing of ideas a supportive process. The focus of the lesson…

Wilhelm offers us a definition of "third spaces" as "more democratic and dialogic spaces than a classroom, as well as a metaphor for a space in which new, hybrid, and challenging discourses and real-world knowledge and applications are created." With helpful background and examples, he urges us to create such spaces for our students, adamant that…

Given current developments in contemporary art, learning theory and art education, Julia Marshall declares the timeliness for substantively new "ideas and models for art education." Clearly, the story of art education practice is ever evolving and has historically given place to new tellings. On the surface, relating professional…

This article provides a model for teachers to expand students' thinking about the liberating nature of literacy. Literacy is not just about making kids smarter or preparing them for future careers. Neither is it passive, neutral, or innocent. It is infused with values and ideology. It can be used by people to promote freedom or support tyranny. It…

In this article, the author shares her personal reflections on praxis and social justice through her work in a teacher education program in Los Angeles. She also shares her thoughts of why she became a teacher, why she became an education professor, and of those who inspired her to work in education. She describes the joy in educational work and…

Teachers say that they would gladly teach a day in the classroom if at the end of the day they could leave and have no marking. There is a common staffroom perception that mathematics teachers have it easy when it comes to marking. In arts subjects, setting an essay can be a fairly straightforward matter--a one-line question may suffice--but…

In an effort to introduce students to a relatively new genre and allow them to evaluate it in the context of how they had been taught in the past, the author created an assignment about graphic novels and literacy that guided students through four short papers, forming a longer research paper for a final project. The students would begin with a…

The author's most meaningful professional development (PD) experience was not a workshop or institute; nor did it result from a course or professional reading. Rather, it came in the form of Betsy--the second-grade teacher down the hall. This article describes the role of a mentor in professional development--and why everybody needs a Betsy!

"The Castle in the Classroom" describes a year in a kindergarten classroom as the children embark on literary exploration. Each child approaches the journey from a different perspective--some are self-sufficient, others more hesitant; some are literary adventurers, others shyly reluctant. The detailed focus lessons throughout the book…

When students feel comfortable in the learning environment and are being given authority to make their own choices about what they want to create, they can create significant artworks with different personal expressions through the form of narratives. Students feel this freedom especially when they are not in the regular school environment where…

In this article, the authors document their experiences with a new resource called "My Money." The resource consists of units for teaching financial capability at key stages 3 and 4, and is broken into six main sections: (1) "Money--What is it?"; (2) "Earning it"; (3) "Spending it"; (4) "Investing…