Paper reviews a collection of essays on the experiences of beginning teachers. The essays were written mainly by English and elementary school teachers after many years of successful teaching. All of the authors became effective career teachers. The authors write about the rewards of affecting and changing lives. (SM)

A former teacher reminisces about her teaching experiences during the 1920s in a rural school along the Aroostook River in Wade, Maine. Each year, when the boat carrying the cook for loggers upriver arrived, she and her students went aboard and received a special treat of warm molasses cake. (LP)

A resource room teacher of elementary students with mild disabilities and behavior disorders describes student successes in running the school store, telling Appalachian folk tales to primary classes, and carrying out other Foxfire-inspired projects. Student comments are included. (SV)

A physics and chemistry teacher from rural Elmira High School (Oregon) describes his own and his students' experiences with the LabNet teacher telecommunications network and related project-based science instruction; the reactions of teacher colleagues and administrators to LabNet; and technological, psychological, and resource-related barriers to…

Presents information on beginning teaching experiences from the journals and taped conversations of six novice teachers. The article discusses the influence of teacher background and examines teachers' opinions that they learn more through teaching and daily encounters with students than through inservice workshops and university courses. (SM)

Two teachers discuss their experiences implementing Foxfire practices in an alternative high school. One teacher was apprehensive about changing from the "traditional" approach to "student-initiated learning." The other teacher also experienced moments of doubt, but both teachers realized the benefits of the Foxfire approach…

Mr. Leidig discusses his English teaching career at Emory and Henry College (Virginia), where for many years he offered courses in poetry and folk literature. He believes these courses were influential with Appalachian students because they encouraged the connection between the study of literary works and student experience. (LP)

The author of this article recounts his experience of teaching English literature at Plymouth High School. The course description was simple and straightforward--Semester 1: historical survey of English literature up to Wordsworth; Semester 2: historical survey from Wordsworth to the present. Evaluation will include tests, essays, and a research…

For many years I have engaged future mathematics teachers in activities that focus on emotional dimensions of their learning. Even those teachers who were able to reconstruct themselves as learners of mathematics had difficulties with changing their practice. Through a series of autobiographical stories, I examine my own experiences as a teacher…

This study is based on personal experiences. It adopts an auto ethnographic approach and action research perspective in an attempt to describe and reflect on my experience as a teacher in a University where I have worked for just over a year; the study also examines factors that have helped me in my role as a teacher to effect change in my praxis.…

In this article I attempt, through stories and reflections, to give voice to some contemporary experiences, including fears and difficulties, of being a teacher in the early 21st century. I explore the idea that contemplative practices might open paths for negotiating and rediscovering depth, grace, and courage in our work as teachers, in a time…

This publication is a collection of 25 personal stories from a multitude of perspectives on the joys of teaching and learning. The stories emphasize active learning; respect for differences; creativity; willingness to make mistakes; a love of life, school, and family relationships; and the quest for personal meaning. The stories are: (1) "Richard"…

In contrast to case study, where participants learn vicariously through other peoples' cases, the case story approach invites people to learn through writing and telling about their own experiences as practitioners. This study of school leaders using case stories in university classrooms and in-service leadership academies focused on what is said…

This document reports on the use of personal narratives about teaching in early childhood preservice teacher education programs. The first part of the paper outlines a study which examined staff and student perceptions of the use of stories about teaching practice in a teacher education program in Brisbane, Australia. The second part of the paper…

For the past three years, case studies have been conducted of a school district's implementation of the California Mentor Teacher Program. For two of the case studies, interview data of mentors and their mentees were distilled into vignettes about how mentors and teachers worked together. At the end of this project, researchers used several…