Describes the development and field-testing of an interaction analysis instrument that focused on language usage and discussion skills development. Also presents background information related to such interaction analysis instruments for use in linguistically/culturally different settings and a rationale for development of effective teacher…

Discusses using two class periods to discuss a short story--the first to discuss individually chosen material related to the story, author, or setting; the second to discuss the story itself with references to the related readings. Also discusses related writing assignments. (TJ)

Describes a systematic way of increasing empathy of children through use of a daily class dialogue period, planned use of creativity techniques and action projects. (RH)

Describes preparation and implementation of a lesson using student activity, material in the textbook, and the concept of the time line to teach the chronological order of events in history. The lesson is designed for use by junior high school students during one class period. (CK)

Designed to help school speech and language clinicians who work with parents of handicapped children, the article provides suggestions on group leadership strategies. (CL)

Describes a group discussion process for helping students make use of the vocabulary that normally lies dormant in their minds. (TJ)

With the energy crisis still very much with us, here is a program that is getting New Jersey's students involved in energy conservation. (Editor)

In an attempt to develop a widely applicable, practical means of reducing students' alienation from school, family, and community by increasing self-ideal congruence, encounter groups were offered as elective courses to 10th-grade students; results suggest limited positive results. (MM)

How to deal with profanity and other unacceptable language in the classroom is a subject all of us deal with daily. And, if the problem isn't handled sensitively, it can be explosive. Presents a few practices that seem to reduce the incidence of profane language in the classroom. (Author/RK)

Suggests teaching techniques which make class discussion more relevant to social studies instruction on the secondary level. Problem-solving, adversarial, and moral discussion structures are described. (Author/DB)

Describes discussion group activities which foster student interaction. (DD)

Examines the effect of communication media on group processes and the consequent effect of processes on group cohesiveness, satisfaction, and productivity using mediated regression analysis. Supports previous findings about group outcomes by showing that communication media groups expressed lower cohesiveness than did face-to-face groups. (AEF)

Describes a three-step process of description, interpretation, and evaluation intended to empower students in visual communication classes to examine and critique their work in a self-directed way. Offers a framework for directing the discussion of student work through directed questioning. (SR)

This group of classroom tips discusses the benefits of peer coaching, peer group conversation about teachers' classroom experiences, using visual displays for collegial sharing, using cultural brokers in educational settings, and the role of picture books in developing literacy skills in diverse students with disabilities. (Author/CK)

Presents one aspect that makes mathematics the final word in many discussions, the ideology of certainty. Argues that one way of challenging the ideology of certainty is to change classroom practice by introducing a landscape of discussion on chaotic nature where relativity, provisional starting points, different points of view, and uncertainty…