"Animals" is a three-part lesson plan for young learners with a zoo animal theme. The first lesson is full of activities to describe animals, with Simon Says, guessing games, and learning stations. The second lesson is about desert animals, but other types of animals could be chosen depending on student interest. This lesson teaches…

The authors describe their experience using a learner-centered approach to turn learner writing into booklets. When students write about their own lives, they can focus on the language they need to express their ideas. Interaction increases because interest is high. Near beginners can create fact sheets about themselves, and more advanced students…

According to a study of 944 two- and four-year colleges, "caring attitude of faculty and staff" was listed as the most important factor for retaining students (Roueche, 1993). This article will explain how one teacher demonstrates genuine concern for students while demanding high standards of excellence and student accountability. This…

An innovative way to add opportunities for the development of personal and professional competencies without adding any additional courses to a curriculum is to add individual assignments to already existing courses--a curriculum model presented in this paper as a "parallel curriculum" to the existing curriculum. The advantages of the…

The ancient Silk Routes connecting China to Europe across the rugged mountains and deserts of central Asia are one of the primary examples of transculturation in world history. Traders on these routes dealt not only in goods such as silk and horses but also made possible the spread of art forms as well as two major religions, Buddhism and Islam. …

Written by experienced language educator Paula Patrick, this 96-page book offers detailed guidelines to help new classroom teachers gain confidence and direction as they begin their teaching careers. In addition to step-by-step strategies for everything from classroom organization to navigating Back-to-School Night, the book includes sample lesson…

The World Wide Web offers a global database of authentic materials that can enhance language learning and teaching. This study examines the use of the web for language learning through a study of English as a second language (ESL) learners' experiences in web-based language learning (WBLL) activities in an English language intensive course for…

Biochemistry courses at Seattle University have been taught exclusively using process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) without any traditional lecture component since 1997. In these courses, students participate in a structured learning environment, which includes a preparatory assignment, an in-class activity, and a follow-up skill…

This article presents four Idea-Sparkers that were submitted by Jason McKinney, a graduate student at Southern Mississippi University and a 1st-grade teacher at Pisgah Elementary in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. First is entitled, "Raceway in the Classroom." This activity can help increase children's fluency and ability to identify numerous…

The relationship between teachers and Computer Algebra Systems is generally problematic. The extensive capabilities of CAS provide opportunities for learning but also bring a new complexity that makes it difficult for teachers to take advantage of these opportunities. Barzel's paper contrasts with this observation: in a "Lernwerkstatt"…

In many education systems, young peoples' "disaffection" is increasingly equated with non-participation in education, training and employment. There is also an expectation that educational activity can provide a key response to this situation. Drawing upon a case study of a successful development project based in Bristol, England which…

In every way that matters, advising is a form of teaching. Using Bloom's (1956) taxonomy of educational outcomes, I explain how to develop learning objectives within advising contexts. The article also suggests commonly available educational materials, such as university catalogs, as content delivery mechanisms for students; in addition, it offers…

Preschool teachers rely on several strategies for motivating children to participate in learning activities. In the current study, we evaluated the effectiveness of and preference for three teaching contexts in which embedded, sequential, or no programmed reinforcement was arranged. The embedded context included highly preferred teaching…

This article describes six games that instructors of German can use with students from the first year of high school or first semester of German through the fourth year of high school or fourth semester of college German and beyond. Unlike other games in which students must wait their turn to practice their language skills, these games engage the…

In this article, the author describes a 200-year-old ladder problem that can carry learners to high levels of mathematical thinking and activity. This problem requires learners to go from a word problem to an equation to a graph and from there to a solution. As this problem of specifics is turned into a problem using variables, technology,…