Successful Classroom Research Articles

Meeting First‐Year Challenges in Reading Instruction

AbstractThe first year of teaching is often the hardest for most beginners as knowledge and skills gained from teacher preparation meet real world challenges. This article follows two teachers into their first year and describes how they adapt and align what they know about reading best practices to their local situations. Two all‐too‐common challenges are explored: filling curriculum gaps and ensuring systematic instruction of essential skills. The pair find that collaboration with their mentor teachers and their own preparation help them to creatively meet the challenges they face. They demonstrate that there is no substitute for strong teacher preparation that develops the knowledge and skills beginners need for classroom success.

Pointing Forward: Typing for Academic Access

Abstract For students who do not demonstrate reliable verbal speech, utilization of augmentative and alternative communication, both low-tech and high-tech, can be an effective way of engaging meaningfully in the academic and social opportunities of the classroom. This article discusses the benefits of drawing on a variety of communication supports, including typing to communicate, and outlines key principles and practices for the successful inclusion of students who type in academic classes. Key principles include universal design, presuming competence, writing effective IEP goals, and successful classroom strategies.

‘The Transpoemations Project’: digital storytelling, contemporary poetry, and refugee boys

This article describes a five-week summer literacy program designed for a group of 70 multilingual refugee boys resettled from their home countries in Africa and Asia to a city in the Southeastern USA. The students attended local public schools but struggled to experience academic success in the traditional classroom. The summer program addressed this issue by offering the students a curriculum in which they worked, alongside American teachers, in small learning groups, completing activities premised on specific twenty-first century literacies, such as critical thinking and the creative manipulation of texts and technologies. The students interacted with high-interest literature written in English and with selected productivity tools, including the filmmaking software MovieMaker. The program culminated with each student producing a digital story – a ‘transpoemation’ – adapted from an autobiographical response to George Ella Lyon’s poem, ‘Where I’m From.’ The students translated their own poems through a series of scaffolded steps in order to create short films for preview and critique. Working with the computer, with texts they had generated, and with images and music, the students showcased their facility with storytelling, with the English vocabulary they were acquiring, and with visual media, demonstrating a growing sense of academic confidence.

Tools and Strategies for Making Co-teaching Work

A large percentage of students with disabilities are being educated in the general education environment for a majority of the academic day. Many educators have chosen co-teaching as the most appropriate method of educational service delivery to meet the needs of this population of students. To ensure the success of this delivery method, co-teaching teams should engage in active communication, co-planning and preparation, shared instructional delivery and assessment, and conflict resolution. This article presents a variety of tools and resources that co-teaching teams might use to establish a successful classroom environment for all students.

Literature Circles: A Perfect Match for Online Instruction

This article describes the author’s search for an appropriate and satisfying online teaching method. After experimenting with several methods (chat room, discussion board, studentled discussion), the author reached back to his face-to-face classroom success with literature circles. This article reports the results of research conducted by the author while implementing online literature circles. The author adapted literature circles for us in an online environment with great success.

Virtual Health Assessment: An Impossible Task?

How does one TEACH A HANDS-ON SKILL SET LIKE HEALTH ASSESSMENT WITHOUT HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT HANDS ON? That was the question I asked myself when I was invited to teach health assessment as an online/virtual course for RN-BSN students. This was not a new course, but, for the first time, students were not required to visit the campus to take part in laboratory sessions. I was eager for the challenge. My success can be attributed to a number of factors, most notably the support I received from the university. Class size was limited to 24 in contrast to the 50 or more students in face-to-face classes. The university provides introduction/orientation classes for faculty as well as technological support via a Help Desk. The computer platform system we used to provide structure for the management of course content and communication, Angel[R] (now part of Blackboard), also provides online tutorials and technical support. As I put together Health Assessment: Basis for Professional Practice, I made use of Zsohar and Smith's (2008) guidelines for success in the virtual classroom. They recommend actively involving students in the course; keeping requirements in sync with the course credits; clear deadlines for assignments, quizzes/exams, and discussion postings; and using instructional rubrics for grading each component of the course for which students receive credit. All of these suggestions proved valuable. Most important, Zsohar and Smith stress that material must be thoughtfully presented with a clear progression. The content should be diverse, with lectures, readings, and interactive assignments that engage students in their own learning (Short, 2000). In addition, students demand control over the conditions of learning (Jeffries, 2005) and flexibility is paramount. The Process The first step in designing the virtual course was to review the traditional course and see how components could be modified to the virtual environment. The traditional course encompasses two and one-half hours of didactic content weekly, plus 22.5 hours of lab over the duration of the semester. Video presentations, faculty demonstration, and hands-on practice are the cornerstones of this on-campus class. Before getting started, I prepared an orientation folder required for students to navigate through the course, find items, post a small document in a drop box, and post contributions to the Discussion Board. It was important to identify potential problems with the hardware or software interface and resolve them before assignments were due. I found that my students completed their work at different times of the day and night, with many students working nights or weekends. With the input of students, we decided that all assignments would open in the Angel system on Monday afternoon at 5 PM, and all assignments would be due at that time. Sticking to this schedule helped students know when they had to check in. I also kept track of students' discussions and would contact them if I noticed a lapse in participation. Email and telephone calls and messages were our methods of contact; students had both my office and cell phone numbers, which enabled them to reach me and get timely answers to their questions. Many of my students were voices on the telephone until graduation when I would meet them at commencement. My greatest concern was how to provide hands-on practice. Since students lived in various parts of the state, it became the student's responsibility to enlist an advanced practice RN as a preceptor and negotiate with the preceptor how to arrange lab time totaling 22.5 hours. The guidelines for choosing a preceptor were clearly outlined. Labs could not be done during the student's work time and had to follow the progression of the course for content, with a check-off sheet to use as a guideline. There was no set number of hours per week; the student and preceptor negotiated learning contracts together and formulated goals for the lab experience. …

Using Alternate Texts to Support Comprehension of the Core Content Curriculum

Although students with learning disabilities are likely to be included in general education content area classrooms, they often experience difficulties in these settings because of struggles in reading text. Curriculum complexity and difficulty accessing texts increase as students progress to the higher grades. This creates a barrier for adolescents with learning disabilities in reading to experience success in general education content area classrooms. This article helps teachers support adolescents with learning disabilities in reading to succeed with content area curriculum by incorporating readability-controlled alternate texts (e.g., trade books and magazines) during instruction. A rationale for the need to expose adolescents with learning disabilities in reading to alternate content area texts that they can read on their level is provided. Ideas for how teachers may structure planning and instruction are also discussed.

Opinions of Instructors Related to the Physical Layout Dimension of Virtual Classroom Management

Face to face and virtual classrooms that came up with different conditions and environments; but for similar purposes have different characteristics in terms of the media and the rules observed. Today, virtual learning wrap into a comprehensive model because of its mass advantages related to educational opportunities. On the other hand, using virtual classrooms in advantageous and effective way has a close relationship with successful classroom management. In this context, physical layout as one of the most important distinguishing features of virtual and face-to-face classes should be examined in detail. Another determinative issue that effects the effective management of classroom is the roles and opinions of the instructors. So it can be said that opinions of instructors related to the physical layout of virtual classes can be associated with effective management. In this study, opinions and perceptions of the teaching staff related to the physical dimensions of classroom management were determined by using qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Within the qualitative techniques focus group interview was used. On the other hand quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire, which was developed by the researchers. Analysis of the data was presented as frequencies and percentages for each item. Analysis were obtained and interpreted in relation with the qualitative data provided by focus group.

The nanny in the schoolhouse: the role of femme-Caribbean identity in attaining success in urban science classrooms

A growing body of teacher identity-based research has begun to embrace that the development of self-understanding about being a teacher is critical to learning how to teach. Construction of a professional teacher identity requires much more beyond mere content, skills and a foundational pedagogy. It also includes an intersection of the personal and professional self, which gives way to the emergence of multiple identities in the classroom. An educator’s gender, nationality, language and interests among other tenets all permeate the classroom field and coexist alongside the professional role identity. This paper aims to use narrative as a way to discuss how science educators can mediate holding several identities in the classroom in order to create an environment characterized by successful teaching and learning. Drawing from an array of sociocultural theoretical perspectives, complementary constructs of identity by Jonathan Turner (Face to face: toward a sociological theory of interpersonal behavior. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2002) and Amartya Sen (Identity and violence: the illusion of destiny. W. W. Norton, New York, 2006), George Lakoff’s (Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1980) work on metonymy, and David Bloome’s (2005) theorization of the power of caring relationships, I explore the ways in which my Black female Caribbean identity has transformed the science classroom field and created positive resonance for some of my privileged White students who have Caribbean caretakers at home. To begin, I unpack how Afro-Caribbean immigration to urban centers in the United States continues to produce childcare occupational opportunities in places like New York City. Being a first generation Trinidadian immigrant, my many identities have structured my science teaching praxis and consequently transformed the way my students learn science. A significant part of this paper is a reflexive account of experiences (primarily dialogue) with science students situated both within and outside the science classroom. Conversations with students who were raised through the hired help of Caribbean nannies have revealed that there is a strong resemblance to the way they perceive their caretakers as they do me—their instructor. These conversations serve as a backdrop to illuminate the dynamic nature of identity construction and its relationship to the development of ongoing dialogue. The hope is that this autoethnographic work illustrates the salience of student lifeworlds in affording opportunities for success in the science classroom. Additionally, this research seeks to illustrate how understanding the unconscious ‘backgrounding’ and ‘foregrounding’ of certain identities in the classroom can improve one’s praxis in the urban science classroom and possibly increase student success in science. It is also hoped that this story reiterates the importance of using stories for purposes of scholarship, for moving towards better understandings of the social situations we are concerned to investigate as researchers and for better communication of those understandings.

Constellations of Support and Impediment: Understanding Early Implementation Dynamics in the Research and Development of an Online Multimodal Writing and Peer Review Environment

In this article, the authors trace teachers' experiences while participating in an educational technology development and research project focused on the creation and use of an online writing and peer review environment. They follow teachers from their initial expectations of the program, to their response to professional development training sessions, planning sessions, student account setup, and to their initial attempts at utilizing the digital learning environment in the classroom. In so doing, the authors suggest that the path toward and away from successful classroom implementation of emerging learning technologies is a multiple, shifting, and interrelational one, influenced by constellations of factors including affect, administrator support, student buy-in, research and development team knowledge and availability, district priorities, and the amount of upheaval in the personal lives of teachers.

Students′ Attitude and Achievement in Chemistry with Teacher Classroom Management

In science teaching and learning, the teacher is seen as playing the crucial role of harnessing all resources and evoking students activity for classroom success. This study investigated students attitude and achievement in Chemistry as a correlate of teacher classroom management behaviors (TCMB). A random sample of primary school chemistry students and teachers were selected from 5 junior primary Schools in Debre Markos town Amhara region. A sample size of 50 students and 5 teachers were selected. Data were collected using direct-observation instruments and questionnaires. Pearson product moment coefficient was used to test the null hypothesis for significance at 0.05 error margin. On the average, TCMB was found to have no significant correlation with attitude and achievement. However, the TCMB categories: Interest boosting, Student involvement and Varying instruction were found to have a strong, positive and significant correlation achievement in chemistry (r = .637, .641, .648 respectively; p < 0.05). The implications for policy formulation, teacher training, teaching and learning in science education were discussed.

Best Practices: Using Popular Media for Active Learning: Engaging Students Outside of the Classroom

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Creating engaging, interactive, online learning models may be a good first step to improving classroom success and possibly student learning outcomes. One way this can be achieved is by using SoftChalk, an educational software program that allows teachers to create user-friendly interactive lessons delivered via any standard web browser. The lesson discussed in this paper, “Eminem is Not Afraid,” engages students by recreating the experience of surfing the internet while guiding them through the stages of researching and writing a paper in a Freshman English composition class.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Zero Margin for Error

Although music teachers are likely to encounter students with emotional disturbances in the classroom, many educators are overwhelmed by the challenges presented by the needs of these students. Limited preservice training and a lack of professional development addressing the disability further compound the issue. Available resources often address an audience of psychologists, crisis interventionists, and classroom teachers, but seldom music teachers. Based on the experience of a practicing music teacher, this article offers strategies and considerations for the music teacher to support students dealing with emotional challenges. With greater attention to consistency, structure, room setup, proper planning, and the identification of emotional triggers, students with emotional disturbances (and their teachers) can find success in the music classroom.

Students With Learning Disabilities in the Music Classroom

There are a number of disabilities that music educators may never encounter among their students in the music classroom; however, all music educators will have students with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities may have a variety of “presenting problems” that limit their academic and social success in the music classroom. The students’ level of difficulty or success in music will depend on how the disability presents itself and how music learning is subsequently affected. This column highlights the benefits of music instruction for students with learning disabilities and the benefits for music educators who have these students in class.

Capturing essential understandings of the urban science learning environment

This research is distinctive in that a mixed-methods approach, employing both cogenerative dialogues and student responses from the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), was used to help to understand 9th grade urban students’ experiences in their biochemistry class in New York City. Factor analyses of student responses demonstrated that empirically there were four robust scales rather than five. Qualitative analyses, using cogenerative dialogues and informal interviewing, demonstrated that more adaptable forms of teaching, learning and assessing could support a variety of students. Shared with students, the contents of the CLES and cogenerative dialogues created opportunities for understanding ontologies and helped to create, access and appropriate resources that assist in bringing about success in the science classroom.

Apprenticing Wise Interpreters

Describe a successful classroom teaching tactic that could be replicated by other instructors. The context: I have used this strategy in classes on Christian scripture, but it could be replicated in classes on other religious texts (or non-religious texts). The pedagogical purpose: This exercise is designed to help students grow in interpretive wisdom by putting them in weekly “conversation” with three reading communities: with classmates and professor, with a contemporary, scholarly commentator, and with a pre-modern commentator. It assumes that growth in wisdom (1) is an essentially communal process, (2) requires apprenticeship to wise interpreters, and (3) that wisdom is as much caught as taught. Description of the strategy: Students complete a four-part interpretation worksheet. I assign this activity weekly for an extended period of the semester, but it could be used intermittently as well. Part 1: Students read an assigned text and record at least three notes on their worksheet. The notes should demonstrate attentive reading: purpose/result, verb tenses, chiasm, comparison, repetition, contrasts, conditional clauses, contextual allusions, etc. In class I facilitate a discussion while also sharing my observations. My goals are that students carefully attend to the passage and develop receptivity to the observations of others. Part 2: For the second class, students read a contemporary commentator on the same text and add at least three further notes to their worksheet. In class I work to help students form connections between their initial observations and those gained from the commentator. Parts 3 and 4: For the third class, students read a pre-modern interpreter and complete another set of notes on their worksheet. They also record at least three “final observations” which facilitates seeing connections and drawing together the week's three re-readings. Why it is effective: By apprenticing students to multiple interpretive communities this activity provides opportunities for students to develop interpretive wisdom, including: (1) honesty (recognizing presuppositions and prejudgments); (2) receptivity (encountering readings dissimilar to their own); and (3) patience (attending to the same text three times over encourages slow, attentive reading habits). Further, because this activity requires no specialized hermeneutical training or knowledge of ancient languages it is accessible for non-majors.

What Works for Me

What Works for Me includes brief descriptions of successful classroom practices.

Enhancing student success: Taking the classroom success seriously

Professor Vincent Tinto opens this issue of the International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education by highlighting the importance of paying attention to students' experiences in the classroom. With the classroom experience of students in the United States college system firmly in mind, Tinto draws attention to what he calls the of effective classrooms. The classroom attributes he describes, such as clear expectations, timely support, feedback on assessment, engaging pedagogies and enhancing teaching skills, though drawn from the United States experience, are universal and as such are transferrable across national boundaries and applicable to higher education educators, leaders and policy makers globally. You can assess this universality by relating Tinto's criteria to your teaching environment.

Maximizing educational achievement of youth in foster care and alumni: Factors associated with success

Abstract The challenges faced by the United States and other countries with respect to education are particularly acute with respect to youth placed in out of home care and alumni of foster care. After describing the number of youth in foster care in the United States and recent research on their outcomes, this article will describe what factors have been linked with educational success for these youth and young adults. Strategies for improvement outlined in the article include pursuing permanency to help youth find enduring mentors, maximizing placement and school stability, conducting strengths-based assessment, aggressively pursuing educational supports, and treating mental health problems that may act as barriers to classroom success.

Classroom Management For Achieving Readers

AbstractFrom the Start: The Effective Reading Teacher is a new department that addresses matters related to implementing and maintaining a successful classroom environment.