This book offers beginning teachers daily step-by-step plans for the first 4 weeks of school. It is based on a survey of first year teachers that examined their problems, concerns, needs, and feelings. It is also based on a task force of preservice and inservice teachers who set an agenda and tasks to find out more about beginning teacher needs.…

Working reflectively with the whole self entails harnessing artistic talents alongside other talents. If practice itself is an art, then reflection upon it is also an artistic process (Bleakley 1999; Winter et al. 1999). Expressive and explorative writing relies on habitual communicating medium, words, gives validity, form and coherence over time…

The fields of instructional supervision, adult development, teacher education and mentoring, and ongoing professional development are synthesized in this text. Examples and case studies are drawn from local systems in North Carolina as well as state, national, and international public school/university consortia to identify emerging trends in…

In the years since its origin in 1997, the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT) project has become a wellspring of human stories about teaching and changing, about reaching across cultural and language divides to find deep conceptual and interpersonal harmonies that lead to reform. This collection presents chapters written by educators…

This book explores the opportunities that technology provides to empower students to learn how to learn. Chapter 1 "Teaching and Learning the Structure of Information" covers information literacy, MAPping (Met-Web Information, Author, Purpose) the Internet, confusing technical mastery with critical thinking, and blocking versus access.…

Based on the experience of two early childhood teachers in a research-based collaborative effort to join a preschool class with a first-second grade class for various learning projects, this book offers a model for an approach to early childhood curriculum. The curriculum integrates art, science, gardening, celebrations, intergenerational program…

This book draws on recent scholarship in adult education to provide practical ideas for adult educators on how to stimulate and support their own development as educators and better understand the process of professional development as adult learning. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the diverse contexts within which educators work and the nature…

For years, the classic supervision model has frustrated both principals and teachers by fostering superior-subordinate relationships, focusing on teacher conformity rather than growth, or producing checklist data that is irrelevant to the curriculum. This book offers a practical, time-saving alternative that impacts student achievement by…

The founders of Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound drew on the metaphor of a wilderness expedition to develop a framework for curriculum design. During "learning expeditions," teachers and students pursue long-term intellectual investigations build around significant projects and performances. The investigations take students out into…

This collection of 19 essays is organized into a narrative of the teaching-research dilemma. The essays include: (1) "Struggling With Balance" (Cynthia V. Fukami); (2) "My Career as a Teacher: Promise, Failure, Redemption" (Howard E. Aldrich); (3) "Teaching and Research: A Puzzling Dichotomy" (Barbara A. Gutek); (4)…

Aiming to disprove the media's insistence that American schools are typically ill-equipped to teach children from low-income neighborhoods, this book describes a primary school teacher's use of a blend of meaningful and interesting reading material, early writing practice, speaking, and explicit instruction. It describes teaching methods in great…

This collection of papers focuses on collaboration in two interconnected themes: the improvement of teaching practice through collaborative research and reflection on the role of collaboration in educational change. The 19 papers are: (1) "The Collaborative Lens: A New Look at an Old Research Study" (Phyllis Kapuscinski); (2)…

This book suggests that portfolios can become a new kind of credential of competent and effective teachers. The book includes 5 parts with 16 chapters. Part 1, "Prologue," offers: (1) "Portfolio Possibilities: Validating a New Teacher Professionalism" (Nona Lyons) and (2) "Teacher Portfolios: A Theoretical Activity"…

This book presents information on action research for teachers and administrators. Chapter 1, Reflective Professional Practice, discusses reflective professionals, urges active use of solitary dialogue and personal journals to enhance reflectiveness, delineates concerns of maturing educators, and summarizes meditative steps of reflective practice…

The first few years of teaching are the most challenging. During these years, teachers are most likely to become discouraged and disillusioned. Yet these early years are also the time when teachers establish practices that last throughout their careers. This book focuses on new teachers' needs while emphasizing high-quality teaching through the…