In a multi-grade class of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, students learn to work and communicate in teams. Through projects and a class structure that supports differentiation, Ms. Ehrke is able to keep students challenged and engaged. Her strategies for differentiation and communication can be used in any classroom.

In this teaching instruction video Ms. Yim explains the benefits of a rule where students ask 3 before her.

This video demonstrates how to help students learn to expect direction from one spot in the classroom. Teachers will consider why it is effective to have students' full attention before teaching or giving directions; how teacher consistency improves student response; and what additional cues or signals may be used to capture students' attention?

7th Grade Math Teacher Chris McCloud from the School of the Future in New York gives us a 1-minute show and tell of how he interacts with students to ensure class participation during group work and how he Ňbrings it back to the frontÓ to debrief the group activity.McCloud shows and explains simple verbal cues and pointing to the class ŇRespectÓ sign as strategies any teacher of any grade and subject can implement in their classroom.

Ryan Berger is in the middle of his first year as a new Kindergarten teacher. He asks Jim Knight to observe a lesson and share strategies to help him specifically with transitioning students between centers. Mr. Knight looks for classroom management strategies he can recommend to help Mr. Berger improve class structure.Mr. Berger shares that transitioning from working with 5th graders to kindergarteners has been stressful and some of the strategies he previously used do not work as well with kindergarteners.Time used during transitions is a major focus of the discussion. They discuss ways to address content during transitions in order to make effective use of time. Finally, they discuss the importance for taking a step back to observe what students are doing well and what needs to be clarified.

Suney Park wants her students to know that what they learn in class is relevant to their lives and the world. In this introduction, she shows us how her students come up with a plan to recreate the Earth and its atmosphere and test their own hypotheses about rising CO2 levels.

Suney Park's hands-on activity has her students making the greenhouse effect happen in a model. Using a light bulb for the sun, they create different control groups that imitate Earth's atmosphere with the help of a soda bottle. This adds up to a meaningful experience that connects what students learn in class to real-world events.

After a month studying climate change, students create models of the earth and its atmosphere, and design experiments to test the variables involved in climate change. Students write their own driving questions, develop hypotheses, and build the models to use in their experiments.

Suney Park has her class of scientists set up their experiments step-by-step. Even though it can be chaotic and mistakes can be made, there is purpose and meaning to having the kids be responsible for all aspects of the experiment and the learning that goes on in that process.

Galeet Cohen, 10th Grade Language Arts teacher at Central High in Pennsylvania, believes that adding humor to her interaction is essential. Galeet reminds us that teachers and students spend long days in classrooms, and humor can make it a good time.Ms. Cohen also uses humor to let students know she is aware of what they are doing and prefers her humor approach to strict rules or detention. She shares that sometimes students are "just testing you" and you can easily diffuse a situation calmly and with humor.

Ms. Noonan has class meetings every morning as part of her daily routine. She demonstrates here how toset ups systems and structures that integrate English Language Arts throughout the day.

In a multi-grade class of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, students learn to work and communicate in teams. Through projects and a class structure that supports differentiation, Ms. Ehrke is able to keep students challenged and engaged. Her strategies for differentiation and communication can be used in any classroom.

High school science teacher Kate Summers has her students work collaboratively to create technology-enhanced presentations on basic chemistry concepts. Students work in pairs to develop a chemistry lesson to teach to their peers. Each pair's presentation needs to have a visual, a handout, and an engaging interactive activity. As they work, students use Google Docs and Google presentations. Kate explains how using Google Docs enables students to work collaboratively from different places and allows teachers to check in on their students' work. After planning their lessons, each pair delivers their presentation to the class.

King Middle School in Portland Maine provides a glimpse into the inner-workings and experiences of an expeditionary learning approach. A look at three expeditions for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, gives great insight as to what an in-depth expedition looks like and how several weeks of activities lead up to the culminating event for the project.Expeditionary learning is a relatively new approach to education aimed at transforming school culture, how teaching and learning occur, and greatly enhancing student engagement and achievement.

Isabella Yurkovetsky fosters language acquisition by integrating explicit vocabulary instruction into every part of her students' day. A visit to her classroom highlights the challenges of meeting the needs of students with wide ranging levels of English proficiency, but also proves a strong classroom culture can be built despite communication barriers.

Instructional expert Jim Knight visits John Cusick to observe a small groups project and discuss the classroom management techniques he is using. John and Jim discuss structured lessons, giving students respect, and finding the key to unlocking their love of learning.

3rd Grade Reading teacher Katie Bannon from PS 110 in New York explains how she validates student responses with meaningful feedback when their responses are not quite on track. Rather than saying "no, thats not right", she comments on the response and then poses additional questions to guide their thinking. Katie also shares that she focuses on improving her questioning which she says takes practice, and she tries to avoid questions that elicit a yes or no response.

Janelle Jacksons classroom is observed by teacher evaluator Barbara VanDenberg. She suggests Ms. Jackson try pushing her students to work in groups and new questioning strategies. Watch the changes as Ms. J puts these suggestions in action.

In this five part series, see all the pieces that come together for guided reading in Jenna Ogiers classroom. Students learn to work independently and rotate through stations, while Ms. Ogier meets with small groups of students and delivers a lesson at their level.

In this five part series, see all the pieces that come together for guided reading in Jenna Ogiers classroom. Students learn to work independently and rotate through stations, while Ms. Ogier meets with small groups of students and delivers a lesson at their level.