Trauma is just a word. It doesn't have to be a life sentence, argue education experts Kristin Souers and Pete Hall. They also explain what a "culture of safety" is in schools and how educators can create one for students living with trauma.

The design of a classroom space can make a big difference in student behavior and learning. The use of color, sound, light, furniture arrangements and more can help foster community and culture and promote understanding. Dillon discusses some easy ways to transform the classroom space that can help with classroom management.

Drawing on their research in creating the Vibrant School Scale, Megan Tschannen-Moran and Davis Clement describe the three characteristics of vibrant schools: enlivened minds, emboldened voices, and playful learning. The authors also detail a four-step, strengths-based process called appreciative inquiry that can help school members have…

When faced with students who have learning skills, styles, and backgrounds very different from their own, teachers can promote academic rigor by engaging in reality pedagogy. This approach proposes seven strategies, or Cs: Cogenerative dialogues (in which teachers solicit feedback from a dissimilar group of students); coteaching (in which students…

Teachers can accommodate differences in student learning styles by creating an environment in which individuals feel free to be themselves. (Author)

An analysis of 50 years of research reveals that direct influences such as classroom management affect student learning more than indirect influences such as policies. Findings based on standardized tests and essay examinations showed student aptitude as the most influential variable, followed by classroom instruction and climate, context, program…

Discusses connections between Madeline Hunter's elements of effective teaching and current brain research. Hunter's emphasis on setting the stage for learning fits precisely with research on the brain's attentional mechanisms. Other Hunter elements, including level of concern (challenge), task analysis, procedural memory, and prior learning, are…

Most teachers can respond to differences in student learning styles. Eighteen elements of learning style, categorized as environmental, emotional, sociological, and physical are described. (Author/MLF)

Noted educator Carol Ann Tomlinson shares the insights that shaped her thinking about informative assessment. Informative assessment goes beyond tests and the grade book. It means assessing students both formally and informally in multiple ways and giving frequent, productive feedback on student work. Informative assessment isn't separate from…

When children feel threatened by environmental factors (abuse, poverty, malnourishment, family violence, or the traditional schooling system), they downshift their thinking and limit their behavior choices. To think critically, children must feel safe to take risks. They learn best when immersed in complex experiences and when allowed to process…

Enlarges the phonics/whole language debate by focusing on the classroom teacher's evolving role. Whole language instruction involves a fundamental change in a teacher's belief system concerning classroom culture. A complex paradigm shift is needed from teachers' transmission of knowledge to students' transaction or engagement with constructing…

In seeking to nurture the human spirit while improving intellectual ability and performance, holistic learning tries to provide a broader vision of education and human development. This process is assisted by three key elements: balance, inclusion, and connection. Balance is needed among transmission, transaction, and transformational learning…

Teachers in an elementary school decide not to match students with teachers. Instead, the teachers learn a variety of styles. (Author)

Unlike the open-classroom movement, which operated on a slim theoretical base, current spiritual pedagogies reflect the work of respected theorists and researchers. The term "holistic" has advanced the idea of universal interconnectedness. Spirituality grows in classrooms when teachers act as agents of joy and conduits of transcendence, rather…

Describes the Three Dimensional Project", a program which has been established in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to utilize the community as a learning laboratory and to expand and redefine the classroom. (Author/DR)