The author defines and describes authentic materials and discusses their benefits--citing the Input Hypothesis and the Output Principle in support of such materials--as well as some challenges of using authentic materials. Five categories of authentic materials are presented, and sources for materials and ways to use them in the EFL classroom are…

Just as with print resources, as the number of Web-based resources continues to soar, the need to evaluate them has become a critical information skill for both children and adults. This is particularly true for schools where librarians often are called on to recommend Web resources to classroom teachers, parents, and students, and to support…

The school library profession has begun to develop a reputation for tech-savviness. Several school librarians are nationally recognized technology leaders and present at conferences where instructional technology is at the forefront. Unfortunately, while school librarians have done a wonderful job of marketing their technological expertise in the…

Physical education classes at the authors' high school expose students to a variety of activities that are specifically geared toward their interests. The teachers and students also assess learning with the goal of attaining physical education standards including skills, strategies, rules, and personal/social responsibility. Seven years ago…

The Will to Adorn is a project that began with the idea to work with scholars, educators, students, and cultural practitioners to document the arts of everyday dressing. Dress represents a multifaceted aesthetic tradition closely related to identity, but not often recognized as an art form. This article describes how the Will To Adorn initiative…

Strong, positive coparenting alliances play adaptive functions in a wide variety of family systems. For unmarried, expectant parents in nonromantic relationships, impediments to developing a positive coparenting alliance are formidable. However, these obstacles must be overcome if unmarried fathers are to stay engaged and coparent their child…

This article describes the role of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to represent the best interests of children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. CASA volunteers are everyday citizens who have undergone screening and training with their local CASA program (National…

This essay uses the experience of one community engagement program at the American University of Beirut (AUB), a prominent private university in Lebanon, to reflect on the value and challenges of civic engagement in a non-Western context. It describes the Lebanese sectarian political system, provides an overview of the AUB Neighborhood Initiative,…

As an extension to various sponsored summer undergraduate research programs, academic year research for undergraduate students is becoming popular. Mathematics faculty around the country are getting involved with this type of research and administrators are encouraging this effort. Since 2007, we have been conducting academic year research at…

Evaluation occurs within a specific context and is influenced by the economic, political, historical, and social forces that shape that context. The culture of evaluation is thus very much embedded in the culture of accountability that currently prevails in public sector institutions, policies, and program. As such, our understanding of the…

In North America, and worldwide, Indigenous languages are disappearing at an alarming rate. There are, however, models of success for language revitalization in immersion language programs, usually found in tribal colleges and universities. Whether the language learners are tribal college students greeting one another in their native language,…

A well-designed professional development program can help first- and second-year faculty thrive in their new academic environment. Faculty developers must consider the length and frequency of such programs and their focus; requirements for participation; the role of mentors; ways to establish collegiality; and opportunities for developing the…

As the coauthor (with Susan Dean) of a formally for-profit and now open (i.e., free on the web) textbook, "Collaborative Statistics," this author has received many questions about open educational resources (OER), which can be summarized as follows: (1) What are OER?; (2) Why do you support, actively promote, and speak about OER?; (3) If a book is…

With online programs growing across the nation, virtual teachers are continually working to reengage students. Online learning has the potential to reach a diverse group of students and offer them equal access to learning. In this article, the author describes her online English class for high school students, and states that she has been…

On a Thursday night in December 2010, a Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) first-year student stepped in front of a train and killed himself. Because it took some time for the news to reach campus and be confirmed, the student was "funeralized," as they say in the South, and buried before his professors or peers could be informed. That left…