With games captivating the minds of many children in the United States, educators may be interested in trying to introduce games into their classrooms. This article offers educators insights into how to understand and incorporate games that are inherently social, promoting effective discourse in their classrooms. Although educational games and…

Despite broad recognition that teaching excellence requires meeting students' intellectual and social needs, teachers struggle to manage--and learning theory struggles to explain--the interplay between the academic and social dimensions of classroom life. Drawing from research on parenting and child development, the author offers parenting style…

This article explores how teachers manage classrooms to facilitate the intellectual engagement of disengaged students. The author proposes that teachers create an environment conducive to intellectual engagement when students perceive: (a) that there are opportunities for them to succeed, (b) that flexible avenues exist through which learning can…

Educational reformers often partner with others to make change happen in their schools. But few reformers look to students as agents of change. In this article, the authors discuss how students are an often under-utilized, and yet crucial, educational partner. They share their student voice work in the San Diego Unified School District's high…

Person-centered instruction recognizes the importance of internal motivation in learning. It is difficult, however, for many teachers to hold on to their early visions of interacting in classrooms filled with internally motivated students. This may be due to escalating demands for test score accountability. It may be due to reliance on packaged…