In this retrospective commentary on "Acceptability of Behavioral Interventions Used in Classrooms: The Influence of Amount of Teacher Time, Severity of Behavior Problem, and Type of Intervention," I first examine the concept of social validity and related measurement challenges per Wolf's concerns about consumers' subjective reactions to…

When Alexis Wiggins returned to full-time teaching after having a baby, she took with her an idea from the book "A Path With Heart" by Buddhist Jack Kornfield. The idea was that each day might go better if she viewed everyone she encountered during that day, including any student or parent who seemed to make her teaching life harder, as…

School discipline is a critical area for research, as student interaction with school institutional authority is one of the primary mechanisms whereby young people come into contact with and internalize societal norms, values, and rules. It is thus significant that the number of cases reaching state and federal appellate courts has surged back up…

A few years ago, in a tutorial in an advanced level undergraduate subject that she teaches--"Emotions, Culture and Community"--the author was a witness and participant in a pedagogical event that moved and provoked the class: It incited response-ability. This article is about that event, the meaning of response-ability, and the window…

The classroom assessment process can have encouraging results when it begins with "early assessment" that addresses student learning, as well as the social and emotional needs of student(s) in the classroom. This paper presents a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis for classroom assessment. It will review literature…

Addressing the problem of children being emotionally abusive to each other in the form of heckling and the more serious "put-down," this paper suggests that this behavior can stem from a need for attention, resistance, an inability to express feelings more appropriately, or a desire to test an adult's strength. It is important to listen…

Relations between Islam and the West have seldom been easy. Enmities and resentments date back centuries. So do cultural contacts, economic ties and periods of relative cooperation. Today, however, nothing symbolizes that unsteady and often tense relationship more than the events of 11 September, 2001 and the bloodshed that has followed in…

Discusses the problem of school safety and classroom disruption resulting from a few students' acts and threats of violence, and offers advice on how to deal with it. The article reviews how these disruptions harm other students' education and addresses administrative roadblocks and legal problems in curbing student violence and bad behavior. (GR)

This article describes a teacher's experience with a child who had emotional and behavioral problems in the regular classroom. At the beginning of first grade, the student had a negative reputation with the staff based on his previous behavior. The teacher shares ways in which the child was given support in school. Generosity, belonging, mastery,…

Eight theme articles discuss discipline in the classroom, including a definition of student management, ways to recognize and ward off problems, and how to cope. (JOW)

Every professor encounters difficult students. Some students are simply uninterested, while others are more troublesome. The aggressive passive-aggressive student, the interrupter, the hijacker, the shy student--most faculty members are familiar with them all. In this article, the author offers a few tips on how faculty members should approach…

In this article, the author addresses the concern of a teacher with students who exhibit discipline problems. She presents several suggestions to help make children obey and respect the teacher. Some of her suggestions include: (1) greeting each child by name at the door as they arrive; (2) standing tall and using a firm voice to convey authority;…

Assesses the concept of "backwash" in language teaching. The two processes of testing and teaching are considered to be necessary but distinct. A system is described for distinguishing between them which is applied to developing classroom activities for examination preparation classes to help teachers move from testing to teaching…

In an intriguing account, the hypothesis is proposed that elevating effects of quantity of childcare on aggression might not, as other research has suggested, be dissipating over time, but instead be diffusing across groups of children. Paradoxically, this diffusion may also affect children with little or no experience with non-maternal care. If…

In this essay, the authors argue that only by sharing their mistakes and uncertainty can they fully reflect on their own process as teachers, only by understanding their process can they begin to identify the many factors that contribute to classroom messes in the first place, and only by acknowledging the perpetual messiness of their practice can…