Table of Contents | June 2006

Editor's Note: Think Before You Leap

First, see what students really need. Then we can figure out how to fix our schools.

Letters: Teaching Tolerance

We could all use a little more.

Dispatches: Diverse, Not Equal: Segregation Persists at the Classroom Level

School integration must go beyond the numbers.

Sage Advice: Learning from Hurricane Katrina

After surviving Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed our school, I have learned the following:

Features

A Guide to Summer-Vacation Professional and Personal Development

Whether educational or merely entertaining, a rich variety of summertime experiences awaits teachers.

Hard Times in the Big Easy: Putting the Pieces Back Together After Hurricane Katrina

A full academic year after the storm hit, New Orleans has a grand plan to remake its battered schools. Making it a reality will take unity and money, two commodities rare in this fabled city.

Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving

Project-based learning teaches kids the collaborative and critical-thinking abilities they'll need to compete.

Cool Schools

Vital Signs: Learning Is Alive and Well at Faubion Elementary

Through teamwork and testing, a struggling school bounces back.

How to Teach Character in the Classroom

This school's Community Circle builds much more than a sense of community.

Design

Master Classroom: Designs Inspired by Creative Minds

Let Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Jamie Oliver show you the future.

Heart and Soul

Principals Are Key Players in School Reform

Thomas Payzant, the outgoing head of the Boston Public Schools, talks about how to best attract -- and keep -- school leaders.

Muse: The Trouble with Poetry: A Poem of Explanation

A U.S. poet laureate shares.

Head of Class

Good-Bye, Miss Haley: Retiring, But Never to Be Forgotten

Longest-serving teacher offers farewell tips.

Extra Credit: Goodies for the Teacher and Student

Great things for class -- tested in our secret underground labs.

28 Percent: Students Nodding Off

Mr. Sandman strikes.

Listening to Literature: Struggling Readers Respond to Recorded Books

Teachers find that audio books are sound reading tools.

Field Trips: Events for Educators

Places to go, people to see, things to do.

Recess

A Texas Transformation: If You Like Art, Get Yourself to Marfa

An art mecca in the Lone Star State.

Go-Go Goji: They're Berry Good For You

The next hot health item (no. 3271 and counting).

White Noise: The Radio, Morphed

A great new design takes the podcast to class.