J. Casey Hurley asked: What does it look like to apply research findings to classroom practice? Theoretical responses, ("It would look like this. . .") do not count. I am looking for actual descriptions of what teachers did to apply specific findings in their classrooms. I would welcome responses from researchers and teachers. As I wrote last week, there is often a disconnect between education research and classroom application, and it appears that researchers, as well as teachers, know it. Education Week writer Sarah Sparks writes a blog here about ed research, and has shared reflections like these from researchers: Educators and ...

J. Casey Hurley asks: What does it look like to apply research findings to classroom practice? Theoretical responses, ("It would look like this. . .") do not count. I am looking for actual descriptions of what teachers did to apply specific findings in their classrooms. I would welcome responses from researchers and teachers. There is often a disconnect between education research and classroom application, and it appears that researchers, as well as teachers, know it. Education Week writer Sarah Sparks writes a blog here about ed research, and has shared reflections like these from researchers: Educators and policy makers frequently argue that ...

Jay Sugerman asked: With our school about to install Smart Boards, I'm getting in touch to ask if you'd please recommend the best sites to learn how to incorporate this tool as well as any collections of good interactive sites and lessons. I'm not a big fan of schools using their limited funds to purchase high-tech Interactive White Boards and, instead, am a proponent of low-tech versions -- the small handheld ones that each student can have along with a marker and an eraser. They're great for using in learning games, as I wrote about last week elsewhere in Education ...

Jay Sugerman asks: With our school about to install Smart Boards, I'm getting in touch to ask if you'd please recommend the best sites to learn how to incorporate this tool as well as any collections of good interactive sites and lessons. Though I'm not a big fan of schools using their limited funds to purchase Interactive White Boards, many schools do have them. What are your ideas on how teachers can use them most effectively? And also feel free to comment if you think IWB's are worth -- or not worth -- their expense.... Please share your thoughts in ...

(Note: This is the final post in a four-part series on teaching science. You can see Part One here, Part Two here and Part Three here) Two weeks ago I posed this question: What is the best advice you would give to help an educator become better at teaching science? I've been posting various guest responses in this four-part series, and invited readers to share their comments, too. Part One appeared last Monday, and featured advice from Dr. Carl Wieman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001. Linda Shore, director of the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, and high school ...

(Note: This is the third post in a four-part series on teaching science. You can see Part One here and Part Two here) Two weeks ago I posed this question: What is the best advice you would give to help an educator become better at teaching science? I've been posting various guest responses in this four-part series, and invite readers to share their comments, too. I'll publish ideas from readers in the final post this Thursday. Part One appeared last Monday, and featured advice from Dr. Carl Wieman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001. Linda Shore, director ...

(Note: This is the second post in a several-part series on teaching science. You can see Part One here) Last week's question was: What is the best advice you would give to help an educator become better at teaching science? I'll be posting a number of guest responses over the next ten days, and invite readers to share their comments, too. I'll publish ideas from readers in the final post in this series. Part One appeared on Monday, and featured advice from Dr. Carl Wieman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001. Today, Linda Shore, director of the ...

(Note: This is the first post in a several-part series on teaching science) Last week's question was: What is the best advice you would give to help an educator become better at teaching science? I'll be posting a number of guest responses over the next two weeks, and invite readers to share their comments, too. I'll publish ideas from readers in the final post in this series. Today, Dr. Carl Wieman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 and well-known for his advocacy of cooperative and engaging methods for teaching science, has agreed to share his thoughts, and ...

This week's question is: What is the best advice you would give to help an educator become better at teaching science? I have some special guests lined-up to respond to the question, and I also hope that readers will contribute your ideas. Please share your thoughts in the comments, or, if you prefer, feel free to email them to me. Anyone whose question is selected for this weekly column can choose one free book from a selection of seven published by published by Jossey-Bass. You can send questions to me at [email protected] you send in your question, ...

(Note: This is Part Two of a multi-post series on teaching character in schools. You can see Part One here) I asked: Should we teach "character" in our schools? If so, what does it look like? If not, why not? I posted an interview with journalist Paul Tough discussing this issue last week. Today, I'd like to share my response (including links to many helpful resources, which can be found later in this post); a guest response from educator/author Debbie Silver; and comments from readers. I raised this question of teaching character in schools for several reasons. One, journalist ...