Educators and administrators in higher education are currently grappling with the effects of individual and collective trauma as it relates to college students' academic performance. A plethora of research points to the inimical effects that trauma can have on students' learning and persistence. This article outlines common trauma terms and…

When students walk into a classroom, often the first question is, "What are we going to do today?" It is easy for educators to fall into the trap of using activities exclusively without considering the value or intent of the content. After all, the students are engaged, and if they are busy they must be learning. Simply being busy,…

If you are seeking greater student engagement and growth, you need to integrate high-impact formative assessment practices into daily instruction. Read the final article in our five-part series to find advice aimed at leaders determined to bring classroom formative assessment practices district wide. Learn: (1) what you MUST consider when…

The video modeling (VM) teaching strategy is one in which a student watches a video of someone performing a specific behavior, skill, or task and is then expected to complete the behavior, skill, or task. This column discusses the variety of ways in which VM has been documented within the literature and supports teacher interest in the strategy by…

This updated edition of the bestselling book on the brain's natural learning process brings new research results and applications in a power-packed teacher tool kit. Rita Smilkstein shows teachers how to create and deliver curricula that help students become the motivated, successful, and natural learners they were born to be. Updated features…

Background: Despite years of intense criticism of contrastive (intercultural) rhetoric, theoretical debate, and controversy, there has been a recent resurgence in the number of high quality pedagogical studies concerning the teaching of intercultural rhetoric in university writing classes for East-Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) writers.…

With an increasing emphasis on creativity and innovation in the twenty-first century, teachers need to be creative professionals just as students must learn to be creative. And yet, schools are institutions with many important structures and guidelines that teachers must follow. Effective creative teaching strikes a delicate balance between…

This documentary account describes professional development for teachers in the USA serving culturally and linguistically diverse students. The purpose of the project was to monitor effectiveness of training in Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and to assess the value of cognitive coaching. Quantitative and qualitative data sources…

Team-based learning (TBL) may rely on small group interaction more heavily than any other commonly used instructional strategy in postsecondary education. This conclusion is based on three facts: (1) Group work with TBL is central to exposing students to and improving their ability to apply course content; (2) Majority of class time with TBL is…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) connects standards-based content to real-world scenarios through the use of projects to improve student achievement. By engaging students in authentic problems that do not have a predetermined solution, students learn both subject matter and critical 21st-century skills. This "Focus On" addresses what…

Two experienced teacher educators describe a framework for effective teaching that can be applied in any subject area and grade level. Their detailed review of the structures, processes, and content of effective practice provides you with lots of practical tips you can use right away, including: (1) How to teach both the depth and the breadth of…

This paper presents the results of a small-scale study of codeswitching (CS) between Chinese and English in primary English classrooms with a view to informing classroom interaction with young learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It analyzes CS of two teachers participating in the Primary English Curriculum Innovation (PECI) project in…

In a test-driven society such as ours, the reasons not to take on the time-consuming and controversial topic of critical literacy are many; however, this article hopes to convince educators at all levels that the benefits of engaging students in questioning, reflecting, and taking action are well worth the effort. The article begins with a…

This bulletin describes practices in one- and two-teacher schools that are helping rural boys and girls get a good education. It contains suggestions for improving the programs of schools that do not meet the needs of boys and girls in the country today. In the school year 1947-48, there were approximately 75,000 one-teacher schools and 18,000…