This article provides insight into how teachers can listen to students' stories about themselves and mathematics to understand the characteristics that students attribute to themselves. The article also explains how to use stories to inspire and motivate children in mathematics. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Traveling to other countries to see other cultures rejuvenates one's spirit and broadens one's perspective. In this article, the author, who is an elementary art teacher shares his experiences on his visit to South Korea in the spring of 2005. The purpose of the tour was to visit potters who fire their work in traditional wood fired, hill-climbing…

This book documents the real-life story of Kendra Yoshinaga, a young speller who won her first qualifying bee at the young age of nine. Now eleven years old, she is preparing for future events after tying for 27th in the 2004 National Spelling Bee. Gail Small, author of Joyful Learning: No One Ever Wants To Go To Recess!, taught Kendra for first,…

James Gee has suggested that video games can teach us important lessons about learning and that we can learn about teaching from these games. Reading research and the words of the author's daughter are the basis of an exploration of the learning principles Gee identifies. He explains that video games are successful in engaging children and…

The leadership and career experiences of the principal in other eras are relatively missing from both the writings about school administration nowadays and the social history of schools. Exploring past forms of leadership might shed light on enduring aspects of leadership and its contextual-historical influences as well as on the development of…

This paper presents a longitudinal insight into the experiences of "Adam," a young boy who lives with his single-parent father (a farmer and builder) in a rural working-class community on the outskirts of a provincial town in Tasmania, Australia. Adam's story juxtaposes my representations of him as an eight year old in 1999 and as a 12…

This research was carried out during a study which focused upon the rough and tumble play of children in the early years department of a suburban primary school in northern England. The child sample's playtime activities were ethnographically observed over a period of 18 calendar months, during which time interviews were also carried out with the…

The increasing number of English language learners in schools has motivated educators to seek more effective language and instructional programs to serve them. While the norm in American schools favors an English-only environment, there is a growing interest and support for the dual language approach to bilingual education. This qualitative study…

In interviews, first graders share their views on who they are as writers.

Few men choose to become primary school teachers. Those who do move into a world often thought of as feminized and contend with a publicly-voiced rhetoric which simultaneously idealizes and demonizes them. This paper turns a spotlight on one student's stories of being a man and a student primary school teacher. It considers how he negotiates 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…

The purpose of this explorative study was to trace the career experiences, problems, and issues of school principals in late-career stage, the place given to this stage in the principal's career cycle, and the way by which late career is interpreted in principals' life accounts. Based on life story interviews with twelve male and female principals…

For seven years, the author has been the parent of a wonderfully uniquely gifted little boy, who has taught her all about "exceptional" parenting. Her child, Adrian, is a "twice-exceptional" child who is both intellectually gifted and has special needs that negatively impact his development and learning. Initially, the contradictions of parenting…

This study examined the impact of the high-stakes testing on caring practices from the perspectives of teachers in Grades 3 and 5. These teachers, located in an East Texas school district with high percentages of low socioeconomic students, were identified as caring practitioners by their respective principals. Through the qualitative method of…

Three experiments with a total of 120 children between 4 and 9 years of age revealed systematic errors in the recall of deictic terms from a narrative. In some cases, the terms were inconsistent with the perspective of a protagonist. The errors occurred in all age groups and were at the same level whether the protagonist was "good" or "bad" but…