This paper situates dialogue with students about their learning (descriptive feedback) within the larger frame of reflection, examining how teachers involved in inservice teacher education have used descriptive feedback and noting its impact on their teaching and on students' learning. It presents case studies of teachers and describes the role of…

This paper describes how one university professor discovered a gap between her explanation of a class assignment (analyzing a content textbook) and students' comprehension of the assignment. After attending a workshop, she revised all assignments for the content reading course and designed a grading rubric for each assignment. The assignment…

This paper describes the use of reflection journals in a teacher education course with a field experience, analyzing and discussing the results of using these reflective journals. Information comes from Education 75 (ED 75), "The Teacher, the Learner, and the Curriculum," which is offered at a small, Texas, liberal arts institution. The…

The first volume in a series and the foundation on which future volumes will build, this book explains the goals of the "Kids InSight" series, then highlights the threads that will run throughout all the books in the series. The goals of the book are to: encourage teachers to reflect on and reconsider their instruction; change their…

This publication presents a collection of tools that promote instructional coherence. It focuses on the importance of teachers collaborating to develop a deeper understanding of how children learn and exploring relationships between teaching and learning. Coherence leads to improved educational experiences for learners as teachers make their…

This paper suggests that if reflection is a powerful vehicle in assisting the individual in grappling with complex ideas and concepts and it facilitates the assimilation of such ideas into a person's belief system, then reflection should be considered an integral part of teacher education programs. This study investigated whether the reflections…

A 3-year study of 50 health occupations and trade and industrial preservice teachers in an alternative teacher education program included a simulation work exercise and analysis of instructional materials. Informal workplace learning resulted in implicit knowledge in the first year of practice. Critical practice was shown to be an important model…

Three teachers describe classroom experiences with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. These narratives demonstrate the importance of the process of conversational classroom transactions in the development of basic writing, reading, and teaching skills. (DB)

A personal reflection on the author's professional development applies the principles of thematic cycling to identify six cycles from "a beginner's initial questions," through "more teaching, more questions, and more study," to "taking stock of where I am." Forty years of changes in the field of educating students who are deaf or hard of hearing…

Examines how experienced teachers are trained to act as support providers, understandings they glean from the training, and their interpretation and presentation of these understandings during interactions with beginning teachers. The paper explains that the link between support providers and beginning teachers is the core of the induction…

Proposes that general education curricula often have difficulty remaining faithful to goals of student empowerment. Provides case study of first year composition (FYC). Suggests that a strong commitment to reflection and revision of programs will create curricula that are more questioning and less comfortable with their own assumptions. Proposes…

Examined the Instructional Conversation (IC) as a socioculturally based professional development tool and how it encouraged knowledge construction as it was assisted through dynamic participation among mainstream and bilingual teachers of English language learners. Found that the IC could be instrumental in training teachers about theoretical…

Notes that reflection can support both teachers and students in the aftermath of a disaster. Examines the visual and written works of North Dakota and Minnesota children who were victims of the flooding of the Red River in 1997 as a representational way to gain a broad perspective on children's thinking about their experiences surrounding the…

Describes a theoretical framework for a university master's module for teachers who want to improve their practice and move beyond the intuitive. Discusses an example assignment. (EV)

Describes the experience of a returning, nontraditional, first-generation college student as seen through the eyes of an English instructor who is substantially younger. Discusses the author's anxiety about teaching and relates it to her students' learning processes. (SG)