Approaches a writing assignment in an all-girls classroom by differentiating between what men think is funny ("guyfun") and what women think is funny ("galfun"). (NKA)

A panel of 11 human resource development (HRD) practitioners (2 session chairs and 9 panelists) participated in an innovation session devoted to critical thinking in HRD. The session objectives were as follows: (1) share knowledge, views, and beliefs about the relevance of critical management theory and research to the HRD community; (2) provide a…

Excessive drinking creates countless personal disasters, including job losses, bankruptcies, suicides, divorces, crimes, lost friendships, and ruined family life. Nearly 1 in 10 adults meets criteria for chronic alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction, and 1 in 4 Americans feels the pain caused by alcohol problems. How can a democratic society safely…

A group of eight educators and one law student discusses the most recent changes in the Scholastic Aptitude Test content and format, which will include a reasoning test and a battery of subject tests. Comments focus on general reactions, specific additions and deletions, test bias, implications for admissions, and coaching. (MSE)

Provides activities to be used when teaching novels, including reading aloud to students, using student-generated questions for discussion, having students write on key words selected from the text, having students brainstorm together on butcher-block paper before writing an essay, and playing bingo with students to help them recall the…

Three teachers (one university professor, one secondary teacher, and one K-12 language arts coordinator) formed a writing group to generate texts about the phenomenon of student autobiographical writing in the classroom. The paper discusses the benefits of autobiographical writing to students and describes teachers' experiences with student…

Recounts a teacher's experience at the week-long IFTE (International Federation of Teachers of English) conference at New York University, which attempted to help educators respond to conservative criticism of educational pedagogical approaches and trends. Describes a small group experience. (TB)

Presents the results of a study of two fifth-grade reading groups, one comprised of all girls and the other of mixed gender. Discusses results in a reflective essay format, suggesting that the group of girls was more emotional in their observations and the mixed group was more action and plot oriented. (TB)

In this article, the author talks about the Critical Friends Group, which she and her colleagues at Souhegan High School created. They hold monthly meetings in order to help everyone with their work. Here, she discusses her experiences of CFG, as well as that of her colleagues' experiences and what they had to say about the CFG. Among other…

While university researchers cannot agree on a model for teaching literature, or even what literary knowing is, the training for literature that prospective elementary teachers receive is totally that of teaching reading. Such education is unrelated to reading and responding to literature. Even when preservice elementary teachers do receive…

This essay argues that the development of leadership skills in the education of college students should be on the agenda of all faculty and describes ways to build the development of leadership skills into virtually any course or program of study through a technique called Reflective Controversy. An opening phase of the essay describes the signs…

Using a brief experiential group activity called "Choosing a Color Exercise" as an introductory measure, this paper explains the basics of group dynamics and reviews the major theoretical relationships between the group's structure, the dynamics of maintenance and task behaviors, and effective individual performances. The types of functional and…

This booklet is a collection of stories by people who have facilitated Personal Futures Planning groups. The groups provide an individualized, structured approach to life planning for people with developmental or other disabilities and have been implemented since 1988 in Minnesota. Introductory material describes the process, which starts when a…

Addresses aspects of talking with young children about their dreams. Explains why dreams are worthwhile topics of conversation with young children and what approaches are effective in facilitating discussion of dreams in class. (BB)

Discusses influences on the English curriculum of the l966 Dartmouth Conference and the educational and societal changes since then, some differences between British and American education, beginning language study with the language of speakers and writers in the classroom, and an interview with John Dixon about gaining knowledge from…