The aims of the present study are to investigate whether and how teachers change in their observed classroom quality (emotional and instructional support, classroom organization, and students' engagement; measured with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System observation measure for secondary school [CLASS-S]; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2006)…

The quality of classroom interactions has typically been studied using aggregates of ratings over time. However, within-day ratings may contain important variability. This study investigated within-day variability using the NICHD Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development's observational data during grades 3 and 5. The first question examined…

Dealing with difficult behavior is a matter of awareness of the factors involved in prediction, prevention, and instruction. This means three things: Teachers know, or can be assisted in thinking through the environmental events and contexts that are associated with higher probabilities of problem behavior. Second, teachers can actively manipulate…

The term "interactive" appears in two distinct strands of educational research discourse: one concerning pedagogy and the other concerning new technologies in education. As new technology increasingly pervades most classrooms in the UK, it seems likely that it would be fruitful to explore, both theoretically and empirically, links…

Seating arrangements are important classroom setting events because they have the potential to help prevent problem behaviours that decrease student attention and diminish available instructional time. The purpose of this synthesis of empirical literature is to determine which arrangements of desks best facilitate positive academic and behavioural…

Teacher organization is a crucial part of classroom functioning; however, its relation to student achievement has not been investigated as extensively as that of instruction. In this study, organization is defined as the amount of time teachers spend explaining the purpose and procedures of learning activities and daily routines. Data from…

Background/Context: A common perspective found in the literature on classroom activity structures hypothesizes that a whole-class mode of instruction is linked with increased problems of achievement motivation for low-achieving students. If whole-class methods of instruction (e.g., recitation-style question-and-answer sessions) are rich in…

Previous research has examined factors influencing teacher decisions to integrate technology using between-teacher designs. This study used a within-teacher design to compare students who were assigned multi-media learning objects for learning fractions with students taught by the same teachers who were not assigned to the technology. There were…

The main aim of this article is to explore models of a teacher addressing a class sitting in a rectangular classroom or lecture theatre and derive central measures of the distance between the teacher and the class or between a lecturer and an audience. This involves an interesting range of mathematics and two metrics. A secondary aim is to discuss…

The author of this article shares some of her own solutions to some common problems on classroom management at the start of school year. Problems such as taking the pushing and shoving out of lining up, simplifying taking attendance and lunch count, and keeping the noise level low during "silent" reading time can be quite complicated to solve for…

In this article, the author provides ten strategies to help make choral rehearsals more productive. The strategies, that are described in detail in this article, include: (1) Start on time; (2) Make taking attendance the students' responsibility; (3) Take time to warm up; (4) Include sight-singing; (5) Post the order of music before each…

This article offers some organizational solutions to help teachers better manage their classrooms and their time. To assist with the room arrangement, notebooks, and file cabinets, teachers may find it helpful to use color coding. Most teachers will have more than one class to teach during the course of a day, and, perhaps, more than one course to…

The authors present results from an experiment that tested the effect of seat location on student performance and attitudes in an undergraduate biology class. The seat assignments were randomly assigned on the first day of class. The authors did not find that students sitting in the front did any better than students sitting in the back. (Contains…

The amount of paperwork in teaching often seems overwhelming. This being the case, organization is essential for effective teaching. Several ideas for dealing with paper flow are useful. Box file folders or durable plastic file cases, plus an ample supply of file folders, are excellent for storing papers. Papers used in a particular class can be…

Presents 35 time-management techniques to help teachers efficiently organize their school duties, their paperwork, and their personal lives. (SJL)