A solution to staff development and instructional improvement for rural and small school teachers is through self-initiated and/or self-styled improvement programs using the mental rehearsal strategy. Mental rehearsal is the process of using imagery to practice teaching behavior before actually teaching. If rural educators can be trained to mentally rehearse methods, activities, demonstrations, and teaching behavior, they can provide themselves with a means of instructional improvement through their own self-initiated, self-improvement program. Common purposes of mental rehearsal are relaxation, positive thinking, and psychological preparation of a task. Mental rehearsal can be used to focus on specific verbal cues (accepting emotion, praising, questioning, lecturing, or criticizing) and nonverbal cues (energy level, touching, use of time, teacher travel, eye contact, posture, silence, facial features, or use of space) during classroom interaction and classroom teaching. Questions pertaining to mental rehearsal are discussed, such as what types of mental rehearsal are possible, when does mental rehearsal occur, how frequently should mental rehearsal occur, and where should mental rehearsal occur. (ERB)