Table of Contents | June 2008

Up Front: What Works in Public Education

Together, we can save our schools.

Feedback: Useful Skepticism

Big concerns about the big test.

Dispatches: Beat the Cheat: Teaching Students (and Parents) It's Not OK to Copy

When a teacher takes a stand against plagiarism, the ensuing showdown can be painful.

Sage Advice: Getting IT Right in the Classroom

What kind of tech support do you have at your school?

Ask Ellen: TLC Through PLCs

Professional learning communities enhance knowledge and teamwork.

Pop Quiz: Jeff Corwin

The "Animal Planet" host talks the talk of ecology and environmental preservation.

Features

The 21st-Century Digital Learner

How tech-obsessed iKids would improve our schools.

Schools Exercise Fresh Methods to Keep Kids Active

Roll over, dodgeball. Bold new activities put the fizz back in phys ed.

Shark Tale: Learning to Treasure the Ancient, Endangered, and Misunderstood Predator

A traveling marine biologist in a snappy sharkmobile fosters stewardship for the ocean's fragile ecosystem.

Cool Schools

Rigor and (Civil) Rights: Helping Mississippi Students See Beyond the Delta

The Freedom Project uses the hard-fought history of racial equality to inspire power and perseverance.

How to Build Instruction Around Your Region's History

Find surprising teaching opportunities for hands-on learning in underresourced areas.

Design

Big Easy, Meet the Big Apple: New York City's Cooper-Hewitt Museum Reaches out to New Orleans Schools

From devastated New Orleans they came, to learn and to heal.

Heart and Soul

Room to Grow: A School on the Subcontinent Celebrates Creativity and Environmentalism

In the hardscrabble farmlands of rural India, dance and song help build pride for impoverished children.

Head of Class

Get in Gear: A Tech-Driven Twist on Drivers' Ed

High tech auto safety starts when kids can barely reach the brakes.

By the Numbers: Math Anathema

The experts (and most kids) declare U.S. math education "broken."

A Growing Number of Concerned Families Exempt Children from Required Shots

As more parents refuse vaccines for their kids, health officials worry.

Tech Teacher: Do-It-Yourself Projects Enhance Learning

Some inexpensive tech tricks yield big classroom dividends.

Paean to Poetry: An Island of Sanity Amid the Daily Media Storm

Garrison Keillor brings stanza and sonnet to life with the Writer's Almanac radio show.

Hot Stuff: Media for Educators

G-rated search, a browser for autistic children, free online ecology and alternative-energy games, electronic science labs, and a new, affordable, lightweight PC.

Field Trips: Events for Educators

Find out how game playing enhances learning, plus the Public Charter School conference, the NECC's national ed-tech blowout, and more.