John Quincy Adams brought his pet alligator to the White House He also liked to skinny deep in the Potomac River. A reporter once sat on his clothes until he gave her an interview! John F. Kennedy was the first president to have been a Boy Scout James Garfield was the first president to be left- handed AND could write with both hands(and different languages at the same time-Greek and Latin) George Washington was a spelunker, loved searching in caves. Presidents' Weekend is almost here. I...

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What's in it for me? That's a question we all ask when sitting in front of a teacher or speaker or someone who is taking upour time. It is also a question your students ask themselves constantly, and if you can't provide a strong answer, you can bet that you're going to have attention and discipline problems in the classroom.

So much of classroom discipline deals with keeping student in line through incentives, consequences and other techniques....

Being an observer in a classroom can be extremely enlightening or extremely frustrating. Students can be engaged in learning or engaged in what they are currently playing with in their desks. Unfortunately when a teacher is trying to teach 20 or more students at one time, that task may seem almost impossible because he or she is attempting to maneuver content, control large behaviors, and keep all students learning at the same speed.

How can new teachers be prepared for the challenges of the urban classroom? College professor Dave Weiss, who taught for more than 30 years in Chicago, offers some personal suggestions in this week's Pulse blog post.
Some school districts have already instituted a one-year student teaching program. This allows the novice to experience the practicalities of beginning the first day of school and the end of the school year. This would be an excellent program if instituted...