Teaching: the best job in the world. Yet, increasingly, it is considered one of the toughest professions. In recent years, practices have arisen and become widespread which overcomplicate teaching and increase teacher workload, while only having a marginal impact on pupil learning. "Simplicity Rules" explores how children learn and the…

We are just at the beginning stages of applying neuroscientific findings to music teaching. A simple model of the learning cycle based on neuroscience is Sense [right arrow] Integrate [right arrow] Act (sometimes modified as Act [right arrow] Sense [right arrow] Integrate). Additional components can be added to the model, including such concepts…

Teach well. Be happy. In this book, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, author of the popular education blog "Tweenteacher" shares ideas for teaching an age group that too often presents a challenge for educators. With sparkling humor and a unique, fundamental understanding of the middle children of education, the award-winning teacher offers tried-and-true…

Students must have uninterrupted periods of time to process information, to reflect on what has been said, observed, or done, and to consider what their personal responses will be. After at least three seconds of uninterrupted silence, a significant number of positive outcomes occur for students and teachers. Students are more effective in…

A study was conducted to examine the effect of factors related to the format, presentation style, and order in which ideas are presented on students' recall of chemistry material. Data were obtained from students who viewed three different multi-image presentations in a large lecture hall setting. Following the presentations, students were…

A category system for organizing six thinking skills and methods for teaching these skills, using the concept of time, are provided. Representing a proposed sequential order of development, the six thinking skills are: (1) imaging--the creating of an internal mental representation of an external thing and the labeling of that representation, (2)…

Language teachers are encouraged to find innovative ways to teach vocabulary, particularly illustrating the relationships between words and spatial and temporal relationships in meaning. The concept of the teachable moment is also discussed briefly. (MSE)

This article offers guidelines for using timed drills to achieve computational fluency in elementary students. It considers the acquisition and practice stages of learning, setting fluency aims and objectives, measuring fluency, research supporting time trials, how to do time trials, and 11 specific guidelines for conducting time trials. (DB)

The popular view that children have an advantage in learning a second language has considerable support in research, although it is not uncontested. One approach proposes that the child possesses a unique capacity for language that the adult no longer has. Another view argues that the child's brain is more flexible. A third approach assumes that…

A French professor teaching in Australia, and learning to cope with the distinctive features of Australian English, reflects on second-language learning processes and their implications for language teaching. Topics discussed include verbal versus nonverbal communication, authentic language situations, cultural context, developing…

Observes that children's interests, especially their fascination with personal changes in height, weight, and abilities, can be used to help teach concepts of time and change. Illustrates how family and community contexts can be incorporated into this teaching. Includes suggested learning activities. (MJP)

Generalizations arising from effective teaching studies are vulnerable because they are not based on a theoretical perspective of how learning occurs or can be improved, but have resulted from observations of what teachers appear to be doing when students are learning. Critics of teacher effectiveness studies contend that good instruction requires…

The purpose of this fastback is to help teachers find out how children acquire a second language and explore the linguistic foundations on which sound English as a Second Language (ESL) curricula can be developed. It is intended for the regular classroom teacher, not the ESL specialist. Central findings in research on second language learning…

Recounts a portfolio writing assignment designed to help students develop better study skills, increase metacognitive awareness, and use self-reflection to evaluate their performance during the semester. Students completed surveys and journal entries assessing their strategies for reading and studying, as well as, performance goals, emotional…

This completely revised and updated ASCD best-seller is loaded with ideas for how to improve student achievement and create a more effective classroom by applying brain research to your teaching. Renowned author and educator Eric Jensen translates the latest scientific findings into effective instructional strategies, including: (1) Why to start…