Twitter, Google Docs and their cousins shrink the spaces between cultures even as they expand the reach of a typical classroom. How can a teacher use them to promote social justice? In Sarah Brown Wessling's English class, students are about to give Little Red Riding Hood a makeover. For weeks, her students at Johnston High School in Johnston,…

Faculty teaching courses at the higher education level employ a wide variety of strategies on the first day of class. Little research has been conducted on the efficacy of these practices. This study examines the first-day practices of instructors of higher education classes who have been recognized as outstanding practitioners by their respective…

There is little research in the field of physical education on whether technology can help decrease the level of childhood obesity in physical education classes or on why physical educators choose to use or not use technology in their programs. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine physical educators' beliefs and practices…

Among teachers' various classroom discourse strategies, teacher questions are a powerful tool for guiding the linguistic and cognitive development of English as a second language (ESL) students (Gerstein, 1996; Gibbons, 2003). Because we do not know much about effective questioning strategies that support the growth of ESL students' thinking and…

The purpose of this study was to explore the teaching practices of an ESL (English as a second language) teacher with regard to middle school English-language learners' participation in classroom activities. Findings suggest that the teacher's approach based on the students' sociocultural needs--more so than their linguistic needs--promoted their…

The topic of selection interviewing lends itself well to experience-based teaching methods. Instructors often teach this topic by using a two-step process. The first step consists of lecturing students on the basic principles of effective interviewing. During the second step, students apply these principles by role-playing mock interviews with…

Recent literature on the role of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) has indicated numerous ways in which teachers make use of the IWB to support children's learning. In these studies there is a growing awareness of changing roles in the classroom as teachers gain confidence in the use of new technologies. This study describes how a researcher worked…

This article presents an activity in which students use narrative theory as a conceptual canvas for understanding resumes as autobiographical performances shaped by social and material forces. By asking students to story their lives in both conventional and creative resumes, this assignment invites students to produce autobiographical discourse…

This article presents a class activity where students work in dyads to select an artifact related to a course topic and, using this artifact, develop discussion questions to engage their classmates. This cultural artifact assignment is intended to, in part, answer John Dewey's call to cultivate connections between subject matter and life…

The divider dimensions of a range of maps of Ireland dating from 1567 to 1893 are evaluated, and it is shown that for maps produced before 1650 the fractal dimension of the map can be correlated to its date of publication. Various classroom uses and extensions are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)

This paper describes a "crazy about crocheting class" and shows how crocheting became a literacy event that promoted student empowerment and classroom community while engaging second grade students in authentic literacy practices. We document how crocheting evolved from a classroom management activity that also encouraged fine motor skills to a…

The aim of this paper is to present some good practices for integrating Intercultural Education in History class. The activities presented in the article are developed during the ICTime course in Seixal, Portugal.

Visual art, music and literature, are part of the culture. Thus Art shows the interactions between different cultures. The aim of the article is to present some activities to include intercultural issues in Art and Mother Language classes. Art classes also give the opportunity to do Media Education.

The purpose of the study was to identify American and English secondary students' determinants of enjoyment in physical education using Scanlan and Lewthwaite's (1986) Sport Enjoyment Model as a theoretical and conceptual framework. Open-ended semi-structured interviews, lasting between 30 and 75 minutes were conducted. Using open and axial…

The controversial and complicated nature of the "N" word is examined in a multicultural classroom project. Utilizing both old and new literature, pop culture, historical lenses, and contemporary interpretations, the word proves extremely relevant in today's language arts classroom. By examining students' perceptions and experiences as well as the…